July Monthly Update: A Harbinger | Impact of the Delta Variant | 35 Customers including Dead & Company | Scalability
Dear Friends of Bindle Systems,
Lots to cover this month, so we’ll get right to it.
Thanks as always for your support!
Team Bindle
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First Things First
Let’s just get this out of the way: We stand by everything we wrote in the June update. Period. Full stop.
[For those of you who missed our June update – and its unfortunate aftermath – we’d be happy to discuss. Please just reach out to Gus.]
A Harbinger
It’s important to recognize that the competitive drama of the past thirty days is part of a much bigger story: the coming battle between centralized and decentralized data platforms.
For the past three decades, large technology companies have designed their platforms to store our data, mine our data, and perfect business models off our data. And they have leveraged these centralized data architectures to enormous effect, building some of the largest, most profitable, and most powerful corporations in history.
But the tide is turning on BigTech and their use of our information. From a regulatory, legislative, and security perspective, it is only a matter of time before these centralized data models begin to crumble.
At Bindle, we see a future where data is decentralized, where each of us has complete control over our information, and if, how, when, and with whom it gets shared. This is the core premise behind self-sovereign identity platforms, and why we are potentially so disruptive to the incumbent centralized systems.
Market Update – The Impact of the Delta Variant
As vaccination rates plateau, the Delta variant takes hold, and the US once again debates the need for masks, social distancing, vaccine mandates, and boosters, we see a confirmation of both components of our founding hypothesis: 1) health verification will be necessary to safely gather, and 2) the only health verification system that will be broadly accepted in the US will be incapable of surveillance and purpose-built to protect freedom and privacy.
This is precisely why we have been so careful to design Bindle as a “third way” alternative to both the honor system and “vaccine passports”, a point we reinforced in our most recent OpEd.
Sales Update
At the end of Q2, we had 35 customers using Bindle to verify health status, up from 10 at the end of Q1, and we expect that growth rate to significantly increase as Delta-driven surges continue.
One notable new customer is Dead & Company (f.k.a. The Grateful Dead). Not only is the band, and its predecessor, one of the most iconic bands of all time, but they are also deeply rooted in the counterculture that led to both the PC and the Internet. We are thrilled to be supporting their summer tour entry pass operation (for “the GA pit”) starting next month.
We also formally announced our channel partnership with PNC for colleges and universities, to go along with our partnerships with Tessitura (700+ venues) and Envoy (14,000+ offices).
Product Update
Our new entry pass design allows venues to do a simple visual check for health status versus a formal scan. This will speed-up health check lines without sacrificing safety or increasing the risk of fraud. Venues that prefer to scan can still do so.
We’ve also had a breakthrough related to adding verified health data, including vaccination records, onto the platform. This will be important not only for interoperating with the various state systems coming online, but also for international health passes. Please reach out to anyone at Bindle to learn more.
Finally, we are endeavoring to make our app and website WCAG compliant (accessible for everyone). Please email Erica if you have experience working on this and/or know of any companies that might help us with this.
Scalability Metrics
Bindle is in many ways a non-traditional start-up because our product, engineering, and operations teams have already scaled global technology platforms in their previous roles at American Express. This experience is bearing fruit: in the past 30 days, just 1.5% of all customer sessions resulted in a customer support ticket. We’re also seeing promising data re: driving app adoption through our verifier customers. In the past 30 days, 89%+ of the individuals who have been invited to download Bindle to enter a venue have successfully created an entry pass for that venue.
Gus Warren (he/him/his)
Co-founder and CEO
Bindle Systems – A Public Benefit Corporation
Download the app: iOS and Android
Bindle’s health verification platform is designed to get us safely back together without sacrificing freedom or privacy. Individuals use Bindle as a health wallet to securely carry vaccine records, test results, and symptom surveys. Workplaces, schools, and live event venues use Bindle to quickly and anonymously verify the COVID-19 health status of employees, students, customers, and guests. Bindle is safer than the “honor system” and more private than “vaccine passports”. More information can be found at https://joinbindle.com.
