My point is that I would never tell a developer how to code. Why would you tell someone who has and still works as a marketing, brand, innovation and product strategist (and also brings management consulting and operations experience) how to market?
If memory serves, Dug is a lawyer and not a marketer by trade. I’ll leave that at that.
Even though the price of BTC has risen so much?
Which is why I (and I’m sure others in this community) would be willing to volunteer our time.
I hope that MaidSafe is able to take advantage of these favorable market conditions before it’s too late.
May be she is a good marketer or not. I don’t know. but since launching is top priority of this project, coding and debugging and error handling will be urgent of this project. Not marketing.
BTC has risen does not mean it can be spent on not priority field. Also BTC price can collapse anytime. This project is uncharted voyage so needs lots of emergency fund to secure its development. no one can sure when this development will be stablized.
Perhaps I am not being clear enough. We have not set any budget for any of these things so have zero ideas how much is enough. We could say give us what you can, but we need to be very careful to know what we are spending our investor’s cash on and why. Then pass it via the board etc.
I am happy to kick this off, but I think we need some kind of plan/rationale etc.
So I am not saying we cannot have a budget, but we do need to take care, currently for instance board have spent today balancing what btc/£ and maid we have to best provide us with liquidity.
Coming up we have marketing, PR, security audits, strengthen dev team a bit more, if possible and potentially even look at ways to sell utility tokens via some online mechanism, direct to users for $,£ etc. So a lot to do with a wee pot if you see what I mean.
One area that I feel would raise eyebrows from HRMC etc. is funding exchanges as this get’s into the realm of investment company instead of a product/service company.
So that’s where my mind is just now, but I caution I have not thought too much as I am very very focussed on launch of the product, perhaps too much, but I feel that is an absolute requirement after all this time.
So happy to take any ideas/notions/recommendations on board and 100% fully appreciate your input here @Sotros25 it’s impressive and amazing at the same time.
Maybe because he just does not know your experience? Maybe he just needs some more data to give you the trust… Maybe some of your opinions are strongly in disagreement with his conviction.
Can you give us some resume of yours? Since you call for support to get you into paid position, it would be also good to know how much would you want to charge for your services.
Did everyone look past the word volunteer? I am assuming everyone is just looking for a blessing from @maidsafe so it’s considered a more official position but one that isn’t compensated. That way you can act in a more official capacity is marketing and outreach. @dirvine@Sotros25 do I have this right? Budget isn’t an issue when the time and effort is volunteered freely.
As do many of us - when Dug is ready to come back to this, I am sure he will. Like a shot. In the meantime I believe he has other priorities - like earning a living and a young family gives him little free time.
Meantime we have a seasoned pro in @Sotros25 who is in a better position to give us some of her time and expertise - let us use that expertise.
And if its not what you want to hear then that is merely unfortunate.
Also remember this @Sotros25 is a marketing pro @dugcampbell is a lawyer who happens to be a most assured and competent communicator – Two different beasties with different strengths. Id like to think at some time in the future we get to deploy them both. For now I am happy with @Sotros25 attention to detail and dispassionate analysis. And anyway Dug is busy.
True, but at the same time @Sotros25 should not be expected to work for zero. So I feel that moving on and getting results then we should include a payment in some form. It’s only fair really.
Why not both? If @Sotros25 is volunteering time for marketing initiatives, then it shouldn’t affect project development. Cryptocurrency is hot right now with the Bitcoin ATH, so it’s a good opportunity to bring more attention to this project.
Crypto is hot right now, but it can be cold tomorrow. This development is uncharted voyage. we need to save as much as possible in order to secure its development. I really think this project is too important to fail for humanity.
I agree but volunteering can be rewarding to both parties. It is a genuine offer and think it deserves more consideration. It’s a kind act because it would be a huge help.
Guys please, we’ve waited for five years some even more, what’s one more year. Marketing isn’t just something you start without thinking about it. What are we going to market, how are we going to market it, what lines of communication do we prefer, how do you want the world to see us? In times in which the SEC is going after a lot of privacy driven projects, do we even want to draw attention to ourselves without working project?
Let the team focus on the network, then we can discuss marketing.
Nobody (I hope) is suggesting that the foot is taken off the development pedal AT ALL.
Any marketing effort should be volunteer driven and absolutely in ADDITION to dev effort.
If due to happy circs on the BTC market , the team has a little more leeway, then that’s cool and I have utterly no doubt will be spent wisely - and if that includes allocating @Sotros25 some funds to work with , that all good.
Thinking that volunteers kicking of marketing isn’t going to draw attention away from the developers is utopia.
Marketing done right will draw attention to the project, good and bad. Sometimes you can ignore the bad, sometimes you gotta respond. That’s not always a simple yes or no, it’s a complex project, ethics are involved too.
I’ve always admired the teams transparency on things, but we as a community don’t know all the considerations. I have full faith in David to know whats best for the network in the long run.
@Sotros25 seems well qualified in this field and given that it’s a voluntary position I would assume it would be taking care of essentials and maybe coming up with a future marketing plan. By essentials I believe she is intending to reach out to reputable exchanges and fill out the proper materials. I’m sure she will share exactly her goals that would be no cost to Maidsafe or the community. It’s a very generous offer much like what @DeusNexus is doing for the project/community.
These two efforts in conjunction could be great for Maidsafe’s runway and future budget so that we can more easily market when the network is about to go live.
My point flew over your head.
I understand your concerns, but let me try to explain from another point of view, because the role of marketing is as crucial as having a working product.
Think a company like a body.
You might argue you that your brain is the most important organ in your body, but that doesn’t mean that it has to be at cost of shutting down the rest of your bodily functions.
There are moments where, yes, you must constrict the blood vessels in cases of trauma or hypothermia to protect “essential organs”, but we can agree that it is not a condition where a healthy body that can thrive or sustain for a prolonged period. In fact that is the condition where we get in survival mode.
From the neuron in the brain to the goblet cell in your rectum, every single cell in your body is actually essential for a healthy body.
Marketing and product development should be a in a feedback loop as both depends on the other.
In fact, marketing is done before a product is even conceptualized, it is done while the product is developed, it is done while it is getting ready to be sold, it is done while it is being sold, and after it was sold.
So whenever I hear that there are things more important than marketing, you are actually telling there are other things more important than your product.
This is so pertinent. If you were on the outside looking in, with little or no knowledge of Safe Network, how much attention would you pay to someone shouting about a new product with hard-to-describe characteristics and no working product? A beta version would be hard enough to promote and that, I believe, is some distance down the road. With many of the important details of the project still in flux how could you form a cohesive, informative marketing campaign that could be assured of not becoming irrelevant and, thus confusing, to the marketing audience, in short time?
Yes, marketing will be needed at the appropriate time but imo it should wait until there is more clarity and maturity with the project.
