GTM: Who are the first segment of customers / partners you are targeting? What types of use-cases / onchain actions are most top-of-mind?

Figure 1.0 Customer persona breakdown from pre-orders

Based on current pre-orders, we’ve identified two key customer personas:

1. Advanced crypto users (40%): Tired of compromises - seeking a trustworthy alternative to Ledger and Trezor
2. Novice crypto users (60%): Despite understanding self-custody and security, they prefer centralized exchanges for ease of use.

More details on these personas can be found in this GTM doc. Their primary activities, based on our data, include:

• Off-ramp/On-ramp
• Swaps
• Staking
• Once Ryder’s infrastructure and tech stack (see explanation below) are in place, aside from the primary on-chain activities above we can unlock new on-chain use cases like Point-of-sales (PoS) system, building one’s social graphs, POAPs, real-life peer-to-and more. We’re all about bringing on-chain experiences into the physical world.

Biz Model: Do you foresee software vs hardware revenue being the main driver over time? How does this view change when working as a security option for other wallets (like a Smart Account)

Yes. We are convinced that smart wallets and hardware wallets will grow in tandem. Our strategy for Ryder One is to position it as the n°1 solution for secure long-term storage when used with our Ryder App, and for secure transactions when used with smart wallets. While it’s true that Ryder will receive fewer tx fees when used with smart wallets, it will promote our product as a reliable storage solution. We believe that users will adopt both use cases rather than committing exclusively to one. What’s more, users purchasing Ryder One for secure signing with smart wallets will need to activate the device through our Ryder App. We believe that this step will convert users to keep Ryder One as a secure storage solution (on top of using smart wallets for other use cases), hence ensuring ongoing tx fees and staking for us too. This is a win-win which we are super excited about and we’re already in preliminary conversation with both Fuse and OKX wallet for this.

Comps: What is unique about the Ryder tech stack (vs Ledger) that allows it to be compatible with Smart Accounts.

Ryder's technology stack, leveraging NFC (Near Field Communication) and Shamir's Secret Sharing algorithm, offers key advantages that allows it to be more compatible with smart accounts

For this vision of self-custody with smart wallets to be fully realized, you’ll need a hardware device with the best signing experience to act as a signer and recovery tool. It should be hassle-free and easy enough for anyone to use—even your mom and dad. Current MPC and email authentication have significant centralization concerns that introduce risks across security, regulatory, and compliance areas, which defeats the vision of true self-custody.

Ryder as a “Smart wallet Signer” provides the best signing experience

• Ryder offers a familiar tap-to-X experience: The blend of NFC and Shamir’s algorithm allows users to quickly and easily sign, set up, and recover actions with a tap, much like Apple Pay—something most people are familiar with.
• Offline security: NFC requires close proximity (5-10 cm), making remote hacking attempts nearly impossible and minimizing the attack surface both online and offline.
• Mobile-first: Smart accounts are primarily mobile-first, and Ryder embraces this approach in its design and functionality:
  • The Ryder One hardware wallet integrates seamlessly with the smart wallet mobile app, authorized via NFC by bringing Ryder One close to the phone.
  • Signing actions involve simply tapping Ryder One on the user’s phone, emphasizing its mobile focus.
  • A mobile SDK enables easy integration of Ryder into mobile apps.
  • The user experience is described as "the Apple Pay for web3," reinforcing its mobile-centric design.

Ryder as a “Smart Wallet Recoverer” providing effortless recovery process

As users, there's currently no recovery process that is fully self-custodial and 100% offline. You either have to trust a centralized third party, like Ledger Recover, or rely on “magic incantation” seed phrases on hardware wallets. We all know the horror stories that come with that. To truly achieve the vision of “self-custody,” we need social recovery with an easy-to-use app interface and a hardware or offline storage recovery option that can serve as a reliable backup. Ryder provides both.

• 4-of-n Recovery: Ryder introduces a new backup mechanism called TapSafe. Instead of a providing seed phrase, it splits a wallet into multiple shares. These shares cannot individually be used to guess or brute force the original wallet private keys. Since each individual share is not a single point of failure, they can more safely be stored in different locations. What makes TapSafe powerful is that you can collect any combination of shares as long as you reach a predefined minimum number. Shares are stored on recovery tags and mobile phones through a tap via NFC.
• Simplified backup process: TapSafe removes the need for traditional seed phrases, simplifying wallet setup and recovery under 60 seconds.
• Recovery Tags for maximum security: Users can boost security by appointing trusted contacts as part of the recovery system or buying more recovery tags.

These features address major pain points in existing hardware wallets, positioning Ryder as the market leader in becoming the best signer and recoverer for smart wallets as illustrated by Jesse Pollak in the image above.

Appendix

Ryder - Product, Market and Business Overview

Ryder GTM Strategy Year 1 and 2

Technical blog for VCs: The big technical challenges leading to asset loss and how Ryder solves them