Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds.
– Albert Einstein.
In a rare show of positivity and praise for Steemit – I wanted to explain why I am investing in Steem Power.
I am the target investor – someone who uses the site and who is willing to invest in Steem on an ongoing basis. I think people misunderstand Steem the same way some of the people who comment on my posts don’t understand some of my writing (unable to tell fiction from fact, or they liked the story but wished I had added a Cat).
There has been a lot of negative talk lately about the platform and economy. I am a not a traditional investor – I am aware of the risks inherently involved in the crypto world. This is a small bet on the future. That is why I didn’t power up 100k Steem (not to say I won’t in the future). Win. Lose or draw – I am going to be contributing to this site. I have no problem committing a few dollars to something I use every day (even if I view it as a simple hobby).
There are a lot of armchair economists on this site – talking about the sky failing – or cashing out every last Steem they earn even at a ridiculously low exchange rate.
I expect people to do this – that is part of the allure of Steemit – a little monetary gain and a little longer term investment (in SP). We need people to get out so new investors can get in. The more liquidity we offer Steem Power holders – the more guys like me will invest. If there was a secondary market for SP (if it were transferable) some of us would have a "field day" - it would be an even better investment at a discount!
With all the negativity you read on this site – one would think that this site was run on someone’s homebrew PC in their basement.
This is not the case.
Steem is not a stock, neither is Steem Power. It gives you about as much say on what goes on at Steem Inc as a blade of grass. So why buy SP?
I think Steem is cheap. I believe in the concept. I know that start-ups go through cycles. I thought of running a witness and seed node at one point (which would be a few hundred a month in server costs) – with the new fork and the fact that so many people are interested in being a witness – I calculated that it makes more sense for me to buy SP than try to ARB a witness system.
Steem has its share of haters. When grouped together it seems as if the tail can wag the dog. As if a user's long winded article - complete with mathematical calculations - is going to to change the business plan of a corporation. The "Inc" in Steem Inc means Steem is a corporation - a separate legal entity under law - controlled solely by its directors and shareholders.
A convertible bond (SP), the SBD or liquid Steem do not give you any say in how the corporation operates (no matter how much you own).
Steem Inc. is a private business that has their own share structure and their own development plan. It is a business with employees, overhead and the same challenges an infighting every business faces. Employees are likely compensated at least partially in common shares. Those shares would give you a say (but not much) – apply for a job and maybe you can get your hands on some!
Steemit has publicly admitted to having 18 months of runway. As a private corporation they don’t have to answer to anyone on this website. They don't need to give powerpoint demonstrations or distribute quarterly financials. Regardless - sometimes @Ned or @Dan or whomever will swoop in and let everyone know that the building isn’t burning. This obviously shows they care. I don’t think this is their duty. Nobody is discouraging anybody from taking their content to another outlet if they feel they can either monetize it better (not likely) or gain a bigger following.
This site probably should have been an invite only closed beta to keep things contained– but the owners took another approach (which was probably appropriate at the time). I own convertible debt in the form of Steem Power which does not allow me the right to question their approach (which is why I bought it). I don't want to tell anyone how to run their business - but I do want to contribute to something I think has the potential to be great. I have fun on Steemit and I am not embarrassed to say it. I like to write - I like to read - I like to vote and be up-voted - I could care less about the UI - I'm happy with the way things are today - which means as the system gets developed there is only more to love.
I have owned a number of businesses in the past – these guys/girls have a plan - no matter how ad-hoc you might think it is. There is no way that they are adding features, showing their faces in public and making major changes to the economic situation if they are trying to “pull a fast one”.
The stickiness of the users who take to this site is amazing. Look at the collaborations like @Steemdrive who are crowd-sourcing money and using their time to negotiate for billboard space around the world. These are average people trying to do something extraordinary with a platform they believe in. I've never taken out an ad in the paper or put up a billboard because I thought a website was "cool". @SteemSports has close to 20 people working on it. Digests such as Curie and Steam Guild have developed communal voting and have shared the weight of the projects with voting power and time. Digests like cure have helped level the playing field for the "little guy" - shows us content we may have never seen - and encourages good content producers to stick around.
This is a growing community - real people are forming real bonds. I don't think original plan accounted for the social aspect of this site to be as big as it is. The fact that this is happening and we are using stop gap measures to talk like "Rocket Chat" or "Discourse" - shows me that people are looking for a new community - and even on a beta platform lacking some basic social functionality - some people are finding that here .
The average person on this site probably doesn’t know Python and has no idea what this technology is capable of. Rather than bore you with the ins and outs - I will just say its exciting. The good new is you don't need to know anything about a blockchain or Python to buy SP. I’m buying into something where I am willing to give control of my money and of the overall project to the ones who have built it so far (and understand it far better than any of us on here) .
I used to work for Microsoft when I was younger. I alpha and beta tested a TON of their products. I would even work on the final release when it came out (still full of bugs).
The user interface on Steemit will look better - one line of code could change the color scheme - they are obviously testing and waiting to implement features (like the profile picture and notifications that recently showed up).
In a beta you don’t need to be the slickest site on the block (look at Google before they had $70b in their checking account). Did any of you graduate from BBS to Usenet to Forums to IRC to ICQ/MSN/AIM to Myspace to Facebook and I guess then to Instagram and Pinterest? All of these site were revolutionary - and the technology was nowhere near as sophisticated . I rebuilt Facebook 1.0 in a few hours one day (as close as I could). Remember signing guestbooks on websites? Facebook wasn't much more than that at one time.
Facebook was embarrassing when I first signed up. I had to be invited in by one of my friends who was invited by another of our friends from Harvard. It seemed to be a crippled Myspace – it was terrible – but it had something beautiful in its simplicity.
Facebook survived because it was a magic time when a few lines of PHP and a Database made you a player. Blockchain is not simple technology to understand. This is not a simple php/mysql based site.
I was an Director of I.T once upon a time - development at most companies - in simpler situations - can take months or longer to roll out simple features. Adding a feature to a site that sees a few thousand unique visitors a day is NOT the same as a few lines of code on your WordPress blog (I read a lot of people who think things can change quicker than they understand).
There is also an economy behind the website which makes it unique - rolling out a bad feature could cause everyone and their dog to take short positions on Steem (hang out on the Poloniex chat channel if you don't believe me)
I was one of the first Gmail users and I remember thinking what a joke it was at first. I swore I I would never “put up with ads”. I ended up moving all my email over there during their beta release and never switched (now I own their stock). This site might not be Gmail - but Steemit certainly is something nobody else is: A blockchain based social media platform built on a cryptocurrency incentive model.
There will be tough changes that the management may need to make. Maybe the UI will move away from the “Reddit” style. Maybe the back-end will look better and we will be able to have more of a social presence. One thing we do know - is this is a site that is different from Twitter and Facebook - and many authors and artists have found a comfortable home here - both for the reward and the socialization,
I think the new changes to the system reflect what many investors on the side have been waiting for.
I am a content writer, curator and working on a side project specifically for this community. Ive brought aboard my Mother and Father and only need to work on my Wife (I am explicit in my sales pitch - its a beta site.. dont expect much ... but the idea.. a glimpse of the future).
This site will not blow up and disappear like some people have suggested. There will always be someone willing to buy at least whatever is left of Steemit - I certainly would at the right price .
I don’t need to defend Steemit much more. The company has a vision it doesn’t need to share with me or you because you have to be blind to miss the potential. I can see 10 years down the road – if you don’t understand that the Blockchain and revolutionary ideas like Steemit are going to shape in the future – I am not going to be the one to persuade you.
The real elephant in the room is adult content (porn). Like it or not it will and should have a home somewhere on Steemit. It might not be part of the official plan but if Iv'e learned anything over my career in Internet Advertising - its that where the Adult content goes - so does the market (and the money).
I'm sure this will be something segmented from the rest of the site, games, video and other media will need to be segmented too (there is no way your short story can compete with 1000 votes on a game asking you to solve a riddle.
If you have a few bucks in cash hanging around and you think Steem is going places the same places I do - I encourage you to put your money where your mouth is and power up with me!