Hello!

Hive account@ned, failure on some level was expected after the past months. Communication, planning and delivering was almost non existent, at least this was felt outside. The presentation at SteemFest was disappointing. The felt message was that you don't ant to deal with Steem anymore and the focus would be on destiny.

Laying off people is mostly a bad idea, especially the key players like a business development manager. Maybe a step back from CEO level and being a member of the board would be an option. CEO does not need to have the most stake in it.

I will not go into the bad management aspect on costs and constant failures as this have been addressed and are futile at the moment. Even if I think that with the funds present there would be so many solutions to get out of the mess.

There are two major problems at Steem Inc, one is planning and the other is the delivery. I'm not a huge fan of your ex partner, but he had something that is missing now on Steem and this is sticking to deadlines and constant delivering.

Also another issue is that Steem Inc does not accept criticism, even if the criticism comes from people who care the most. It is constructive. Stop surrounding yourself with yes sayers, they will not bring you far away or in the right direction.

Ok, now that shit hit the fan we need solutions, which mostly I don't see in your post or in 99% of the comments. I will boost this comment as I try to bring solutions from my side.

1 Relocation.
Why? Well because is expensive and seem that funds run out fast and that the US is very restrictive in terms of crypto. Wonder how SMTs will be handled on US soil.

Where? Eastern Europe but in the EU states. Examples: Romania (no income tax for devs, high internet speed, a lot of government funding available for start-ups), Estonia (very easy paper work for IT firms, high internet speed, a lot of government funding available for start-ups), Lithuania and Latvia. This are 4 countries with low cost of living, high education on IT and relative well set infrastructure.
Second tier I would Poland as it is more expensive but still a very good choice. I would definitely try to help you on this if you need it.

Third tier I would choose Zug, Switzerland for the HQ where the contacts have to be made.

Downside is that people are very direct in a good way, but some would get offended.

2 Nodes.
Baremetal nodes are needed. it is less expensive and can be upgraded on a much lower cost on the long run.
Solution: I can host a full node where I host one of my witness servers (Hive account@ro-witness), free of charge of course, as long it is helping the network.
Steem has to provide the server and we host it free of charge. Of course we sign a commitment on both sides.

3 PR
We need a different image from Steem INC, a more responsible and on the ground one. There will be no sane investor to act on the message Steem INC delivers, and it is a pity because the chain is tremendous and has so many to offer.

Solution. Speak to Hive account@steemcafe for example. That guy had so much energy in his presentation at SF3. He will give another image to Steem.

4 Planning
Sometimes I feel that Steem INC is running like a headless chicken without a plan and direction. A serious business plan needs to be present with strict deadlines. Here I can help you with that as I run an account which is higher on a yearly basis than the total market value of Steem.

So if you need help on this points and find them constructive please let me know. Also in a comment. We need solutions and actions not positive talk, lamentations or accusations at this stage.