Charlie Silver is a successful entrepreneur who has founded and exited 5 startups in technology, media and finance. He co-founded Reality Shares, which has 7 publicly traded ETfs including the first blockchain equity ETF. In the dotcom era, he built RealAge which was successfully sold to Hearst for over 9 figures.

What is Permission.io and why do you think now is the right time for it to enter the market?

Permission.io is the leading provider of permission-based advertising. We have created the ASK Coin to empower consumers to own and monetize their data while delivering engaged audiences to marketers. Through Permission.io, advertisers reward consumers with ASK for interacting with brands and content, building loyalty and trust.

Since the dawn of digital advertising, brands have relied heavily on collecting personal information about users to deliver more targeted ads, without taking consumer privacy into consideration. As consumers become savvier and are understanding the value of their data, the models that drove Web 2.0 - surveillance, interruption, and exploitation of data - are no longer viable options for brands if they are looking to drive trust and long-term relationships with their customers. 

Today, we’re seeing more and more “big tech” implementing mass privacy changes in an attempt to maintain consumer relationships and further empower individuals to control how and where their data is being shared and as a result of this, there’s an opportunity for brands and advertisers to create new ways of engaging with consumers and collecting their data that is mutually beneficial - that’s where Permission.io comes in. We see a huge opportunity in this shift and see permission marketing as the way forward.

How did you come with Permission.io?

Permission.io is my second venture into the permission marketing space. Years ago, I launched RealAge, a successful permission marketing company, which helped further solidify the fact that when a brand asks for permission and an individual consents, ROI goes up exponentially. As a result of RealAge’s success, we wanted to develop a solution that allows permission marketing on a larger scale and drives immense value for both consumers and marketers.

Why blockchain technology?

Blockchain technology is one of the best mechanisms for issuing digital rewards (in the form of cryptocurrency). And, the ability to issue a desirable reward is essential for those who want to succeed in the next era of digital advertising, which will be permission-based. Brands and developers must ASK for permission to interact with consumers in exchange for their data, and they need to be prepared to reward them for sharing that data - this is the equitable and right thing to do. Crypto is the most desirable digital reward because it’s liquid and global. However, today, most other cryptocurrencies must be bought or traded -ASK is different because it can be earned (and is currently being earned by hundreds of thousands of users) via the Permission platform in exchange for an individual’s most valuable asset- their data.

What impact do you think blockchain will have on the advertising industry?

The issuance of rewards through blockchain technology is definitely one I see being very prominent. In addition to this, the blockchains ability to further privacy and transparency is indisputable when it comes to data and as we know, this is a key area of focus for the advertising industry as a whole today. Decentralized, fully transparent and trustless, blockchain can’t be swayed or corrupted the way government officials or data brokers can. Innovators from the private sector like the Data Privacy Protocol Alliance and other groups are creating blockchain-based data-sharing and storage systems that will reinforce data control, and in some cases, businesses are enabling data ownership through the ability to earn cryptocurrency in exchange for their data’s collection and use - as we do at Permission.io. 

This will be revolutionary, and it’s the beginning of the end of the data monopoly tech companies have enjoyed for decades. It’s the end of online labor for consumers, and the beginning of an internet that belongs to everyone, and benefits all of its users equally.

How do you think blockchain differs from traditional databases? What gives it a greater advantage?

The blockchain is completely decentralized and it cannot be altered by external entities, making them immutable. Traditional databases have difficulty running in a decentralized manner and are easily altered.

What’s the added value of Permission.io in comparison to your competitors?

Privacy is a hot topic right now amongst the tech community and we’re seeing more and more businesses large and small enforce new ways of advocating for privacy in an attempt to grow trust with their customers. While privacy is important, our mission at Permission.io is more about ownership and transparency. The market could become far more efficient and a good deal fairer if individuals had the ability to integrate, manage and grant permission for the use of their personal data.
From a business standpoint, Permission.io offers advertisers a way to directly engage with their consumers and reward them through our currency, ASK, which has been developed specifically for the advertising ecosystem. We allow advertisers to increase ROI through superior targeting to receptive and verified audiences, drive conversions with actionable, permissioned data and build long term trust and loyalty through their engagements.

How has Permission.io evolved throughout the pandemic?

For Permission.io, it has remained business as usual. Much of our team was already remote so we have been used to operating through Zoom and other communications solutions. The biggest difficulty has probably been not being able to build one-to-one relationships with other core constituents like investors.

I like the idea behind giving permission as a consumer, before sharing data. Where do you see advertising in regards to data mining over the next five years?

The core principle that will be established over the next years is that for brands to use consumer data, brands will have to ask for permission and consumers will need to explicitly opt in to allow for it. In order for this to happen, consumers need to be rewarded and incentivized to opt-in. This is being driven not only by awareness, but by regulation.

Thinking about the future, do you have any strategic partnerships or upgrades in the pipeline?

We do have a series of exciting partnerships in the works, many of which will be announced publicly in Q4.

What keeps you motivated as an entrepreneur when you hit bumps in the road?

There are always bumps in the road. You have to be willing to accept that fact and roll with the punches.  Building a company always brings to light the famous Mike Tyson quote." Everyone has a plan until you get hit in the nose".  The bottom line is that our mission and values keep everyone motivated to handle whatever comes at them.  You have to enjoy and embrace the fight like a professional boxer.

What’s next for Permission.io?

We are still in the early stages - we have a slew of products and use cases in the pipelines for consumers, advertisers and business owners to further enable a transparent permissioned advertising system through the issuance of ASK rewards.