As in our previous post Onboarding FC Barcelona - Trust between People & Technology that Builds Trust, it all could be summarized in two words: Building trust: Trust between people & Technology that builds trust.
Build trust around shared values
A tweet by Kriss Baird, Project Catalyst Lead 
This quote is from a livestream that we held with the leads of the organizations that make up the team behind Barça Vision's Project Catalyst Fund 12 proposal.
Another important quote from that same livestream:
“Once you understand what FC Barcelona is, it is a different team than what you expect. Everyone knows Barca as a top sports club, probably the biggest multi-sport club in the world. But not so many people know the unique things of FC Barcelona, which are super aligned with the proposal. Sure, this is a global sports brand. but it's so much more than that!” - Jordi Mompart, Director of Research at FC Barcelona
Here are some important ways why Barça is different in Jordi's words:
1. The club belongs to its members
“150,000 members that are the owners of the club, this means that we have democracy, we have elections, the president is elected from different candidates”
Barça has first-hand experience with global democratic governance. A perfect fit for Cardano at this moment!
2. Women & Sports
“The team that we are more proud of currently is the women's team. They are the European champion[s], they played in the final for three years in a row, we have the two best women players in the world. [..] Web3 Technology is [too 'male-dominated']. From Barça, we would like to encourage change and make it a more sustainable, feminine-focused, and empowered young generation."
3. Giving back to the Community
"The first time we sponsored the jersey was with UNICEF, and we invented reverse sponsorship. We paid to sponsor, but we have not received any money [..], and now, we have the United Nations office for refugees."
4. Més que un Club
"More than a club, it is not only about football. It is about sustainability, it is about equaslity [for women], it is about any single thing a simple person could stand for. It is about values & purpose that any single person can relate to. This is why so many of us are in Cardano."
Check out Barça Vision's to see that they are doing what they preach.
Trust Between People
Building trust takes time. It is usually achieved through numerous meetings and overcoming challenges together.
Plastiks.io has been collaborating with the Barca Vision team for over two years. Both teams are based in Barcelona, which allowed them to meet regularly and build a strong personal relationship based on shared values and dedication to concrete actions.
Meanwhile, I have been working with Plastiks as an advisor for the past 12+ months. I met Andre and the team in Davos in January 2022, and there was an immediate connection, not only on a personal level but also in recognizing Plastiks' innovative approach to clear impact verification—a critical factor in impact ventures. Since then, we have built good trust through various joint activities and overcoming challenges.
When the Andamio and Barca Vision teams connected, the strong foundation of trust and alignment in values led to an immediate desire for collaboration.
Matching Goals
Barça Vision's Brief How can Barça Vision positively impact women and foster economic sustainability using Discord as the hub for its Web3 social media community?
This was a perfect pitch for Andamio and the introduction of our blockchain-enabled Trust Layer. Andamio is designed to help build trust through actions. It uses blockchain technology to create credentials that represent an individual’s skills and contributions and provides a Web 3 platform to teach new skills, connect to contribution opportunities, and build reputation while also generating rewards for users. This is a great match with the Barca Vision brief.
As Jordi mentioned in last week's livestream, there was a strong alignment of Barça Vision's values, it's goals for their social network, and Andamio. Onboarding the right partners to the project - Women in Tech Global, Plastiks, and NMKR - completed the picture and made it a strong collaborative proposal.
Timing, Community, and Luck
Thanks to the Project Catalyst team, Fund 12 was the first time that a funding round was launched in a specific physical location. The community then voted to have it in Barcelona, where the Plastiks and Barça Vision teams are based.
The Plastiks team joined the event, and when Kriss Bird and Daniel Ribar announced the new partner category for Fund 12, it was a great trigger to invite the Barça Vision team, which luckily was available to join.
The event took place in the W Hotel Barcelona with over 100 community members in attendance and provided the perfect setting for the Barça Vision team to meet the community and understand the spirit of our ecosystem.
JJ Siler from IOG and Alex Mazza from the Cardano Foundation were present at the event and provided important “institutional” support. Alex was also active in connecting women in tech and supporting the onboarding process.
We thank the Catalyst team, the Community, IOG, and CF for their support.
What is Next
As Anna, Senior Web3 Project Manager at FC Barcelona, mentioned in the livestream, they consider five pillars around Web 3:
- Ticket sales & merchandise
- NFT & collectibles
- The Barça Fan Token
- The Barça Wallet
- Web3 social media
“This technology is something that will change the way every single person will access questions like jobs and empowerment” - Anna Soler
Our joint proposal focuses on building infrastructure for the Discord social network platform. We believe this could be a long-term collaboration that supports fan engagement for years to come.
As we build trust and relationships, as we learn more about Barca Vision's needs, and as they learn more about the Cardano ecosystem of solutions, we aim to offer more support and collaboration by Cardano companies.
We are at a great starting point. Building trust and relationships. This project is just the beginning…
A Word about Technology
You might be asking: but what about Cardano technology, UTxO, security and scalability?
When we look at enterprise adoption, those are essentials and should be given; otherwise, there is no solution to implement them. As the technology infrastructure evolves, the key is to find the use cases that match the needs of the enterprise and develop an implementation roadmap that will match tech development with go-to-market. Again, another case that shows the interoperability between humans and technology for enterprise adoption.
Support Andamio
Here is our joint proposal FC Barcelona + Community Management + Using Cardano tech
Here is our Fund 12 page. You'll find a strong focus on development work, including concept work for a partner chain, API development for broader adoption of our technology, and Self-Sovereing On-chain Identity as part of our work building Trust Layer Infrastructure Technology.
Learn more about Andamio + please search for Andamio in the Catalyst app and support our work!