Nolan Call — 2026-04-03

60-minute call with nolan-pflug. Recording

Key takeaways

• Guest posting: exchange guest posts to build domain authority. Nolan writes for dungeonbooks blog + dungeonengineering.com; Panat writes for Nolan’s book site.
• Guild platform: Panat demoed the guild concept — gamified loyalty connecting to POS systems, turning purchases into XP, unified customer CRM.
• Strategic partnership: Nolan will be early adopter, may assist with marketing and fundraising. Multi-tenant design enables network of businesses sharing demand intelligence.
• Funding: seeking $500k–$1M seed round. Nolan’s team helped raise $75M Series D for Crowdsource — may assist with fundraising strategy. Target VC: Mana Inc. (partner Jim Lee, also a game developer).

Guest post collaboration

• Goal: build domain authority for Nolan’s upcoming book launch
• Strategy: exchange valuable, non-promotional content
• Nolan’s content: discussion-based posts (hard vs. soft magic systems), taking a stance to drive engagement
• Panat’s content: post about the guild concept for early feedback
• Placement: Nolan’s site, dungeonbooks blog (pending CMS), dungeonengineering.com

Guild platform overview (as presented)

• Concept: MMORPG for real life, inspired by RuneScape and Pokémon Go
• Core loop: earn XP from purchases (Square POS webhook) and event check-ins (NFC); spend XP on store credit, merch, VIP access, ARCs
• Progression: D&D Fighter XP table, prestige system at level 36
• Monetization: battle passes ($25/mo with XP multipliers), business subscriptions
• Tech: Payload CMS, Next.js, ShadCN UI, Railway (~$20/mo infra)

Strategic vision

1. Unified CRM — centralize customer data per business
2. Gamified engagement — drive loyalty and repeat visits
3. Network play — connect non-competing businesses to share demand intelligence
4. Supply chain — use network data for smart distribution

Action items

• Panat: launch guild for early adopters (~2 weeks from call), create Discord for JC RPG, send guild manifesto to Nolan, write guest post for Nolan’s site
• Nolan: write guest post for dungeonbooks + dungeonengineering, join guild at launch, provide feedback on marketing/fundraising

LinkedIn thread (2026-02-27 → 2026-04-01)

Nolan reached out 2026-02-27 asking how authors and bookstores can support each other. Panat shared calendar link and recommended IngramSpark for self-pub distribution. Nolan sent manuscript + cover via email (2026-03-02) — Panat forwarded to Carrie for review. Follow-up led to the guest post idea and this call.