Every business is unique, which means that regardless of its size or the scope of its mission, it will face unique challenges. CFlow, an NFT marketplace, is based in the United States but has deep roots in Latin America. Their challenge was to develop their technology for that part of the world and make it user-friendly.
According to CFlow’s founder and CEO Oscar Rodriguez, the idea for the business came from seeing firsthand the damage that the Covid-19 pandemic was doing to small, independent shops in Latin America. Family businesses that had been pillars of their communities were closing down, and it made him ask a simple question – how can I help?
One type of business that was suffering from the lack of walk-in customers was the mom-and-pop flower shop. Rodriguez said that the predicament gave him the idea of creating NFTs out of floral arrangements, and if that seems like an unorthodox idea for a business, he drew upon his personal experience to conclude that it really isn’t.
“I did a little bit of math,” he said. “In my first 14 years of marriage, plus my four-plus years of dating my wife, how much have I spent on flowers? It was a couple of thousand dollars, and now the flower is gone. That entire investment is gone, except maybe the memory. So how can we create this memory and make it last forever?”
CFlow had its genesis here, but it faced several challenges before it could launch. They wanted to create an NFT marketplace and platform specifically for arts and crafts communities in Central America, with the eventual goal of expanding to Latin America. Since artists don’t always have the money handy to mint an NFT, CFlow needed a platform that allows lazy-minting, meaning that artists can upload an NFT and have the customer pay for it.
The platform also needed to be understandable to Spanish speakers, and user-friendly. When the average person hears the word “cryptocurrency,” it can sound like a very complex technological concept, so CFlow wanted to simplify the subject and make it more accessible to the user. Rodriguez has an extensive background in technology, so he already knew that hiring the correct team of developers was crucial to the success of the startup.
"For us, the most important choice was, ‘Who is going to take on this project for us and be able to deliver on several levels, not just in time but having quality work,’" Rodriguez said.
When he spoke to Hello Iconic, he was guided through a series of steps that helped shed light on his platform’s needs. This included a UX strategy process, a proof-of-concept process to test the platform’s multi-chain capabilities, and finally a full test of its UI and minimum viable product. Next, the platform was beta-tested with a small community, who gave constructive feedback about what they liked or didn’t like. Finally, Hello Iconic helped CFlow redesign its logo to make it simpler and more pleasing to the eye.
Rodriguez said that choosing Hello Iconic was the right move. He experienced easy, straightforward communication, even when discussing complex technical concepts, and there was no challenge he could present to them that they couldn’t break down into simple terms. Clear communication was always the priority.
“Whatever the situation, they were able to just make it so easy to understand, not just in technical terms but in layman's terms,” -Oscar Rodríguez, Founder and CEO at CFlow
Some of CFlow’s other features include a cryptocurrency wallet that the app can create for the user, and a marketplace for users to create NFTs with their own original arts and crafts. Finally and perhaps most importantly, it’s easy to use for the Spanish speaker.
Rodriguez also said that Hello Iconic’s leadership made themselves readily available to him. If he needed to speak with anyone from the team, he could directly reach out to them via Slack or even a quick call. This eliminated the layers of bureaucracy and red tape that are often part of communicating with a company’s founders. More importantly, it saved a lot of time.
In addition to ease of communication, Rodriguez said that Hello Iconic’s execution of CFlow’s smart contracts was immaculate from top to bottom. Whenever a new system is being developed for the cryptocurrency market, testing its integrity through an audit is an essential step to protecting it from hackers and other malicious actors. This particular audit was conducted by Solidity Finance, a firm handpicked by CFlow. Rodriguez said the firm gave its highest marks to Hello Iconic’s technology, which passed every aspect of the audit with flying colors. That may be the ultimate tribute to Hello Iconic’s talents.
Overall, Rodriguez said that CFlow’s partnership with Hello Iconic has allowed his company to achieve all of its goals, and he’s excited about what the future of this relationship holds.
“I have nothing but good things to say about the entire team in terms of professionalism, dedication, and turning things on time. If I had to do it all over again, I would definitely go with Hello Iconic again. We are very excited, and we are very proud and confident of what the future holds for CFlow, for Hello Iconic, and for this partnership.” - Oscar Rodríguez, Founder and CEO at CFlow
See some examples of the types of projects and ongoing clients we work with.
