Topic: MasterCoin: New Protocol Layer Starting From “The Exodus Address” - page 81. (Read 448462 times)

JR if you can send me the link to the google document (not the pdf version), I can use this script to do the conversion  

http://lifehacker.com/this-script-converts-google-documents-to-markdown-for-e-511746113

Or you can do it, it doesnt seem complicated

I also suggest translations. It's currently being translated into a few languages but we need videos and the whitepaper translated into at least half a dozen languages. Marketing should be global.

Slashdot is a good start

Is that like an infographic? We need some of them too.

Ah, I didn't realize Social Radius was Michael Terpin's company.

Heck yes. This needs to be added to the spec. Like so many other MasterCoin features, it will be stupidly easy to describe. Probably just a minor edit to how the betting system works.

The spec is so SO out of date. Sorry guys! If somebody manages to get that spec into github in a format like markdown (hint hint), we can at least do pull requests on it. If all I do is rubber-stamp other people's changes to the spec, that is fine by me.

J.R.,

As per your transparency request I can confirm that Michael's email included the following public Bitcoin address.

Michael Terpin:
_____
"I can confirm that I received the email (I'm in a car coming from my Bitcoin talk in Waterloo) and that the BTC address you have is correct: 1DnY4oupZSipeRVVJ3vw3zJTnEcjY5mQ2C  "
_____

I can also confirm the Board vote was unanimous for engaging Michael Terpin's Social Radius (the same group that represents BitAngels) and that the Board members had to overcome your skepticism about engaging a professional firm or paying for Press Relations at all.

Just to offer my two Bit cents, into the conversation I've been building software companies for a while (12 years) and I used to not spend much time, energy or money on engaging press. Over the last 4 or 5 years, though I've started understanding the value of spreading my message more widely and the more I've done so, the more successful my ventures have become. I think it has a lot to do with the "network effect".

Free media is great too, but the truth is Tech Crunch, Venture Beat and tech out lets with 10,000,000 + tech readers are overloaded with people emailing them about stories and end up developing reliable and trusted sources on different subjects. Michael is a trusted source on Bitcoin. Just see his recent thought leadership piece on the subject of Bitcoin, http://venturebeat.com/2013/10/18/bitcoins-road-from-perdition-what-will-hurt-and-help-the-controversial-digital-currency/

Plus in addition Michael has been into the features we are developing with Mastercoin since the early 1990's when he helped found some internet 1.0 companies. Including one that was going to do smart property on the web (but the tools didn't exist yet) so he ended up founding Market Wire (first internet Press Release company) in 1996.

I really do thing Michael is the right guy, for the right reasons, with the right experience for this task.  

-DJohnston

I'd like to point the attention of y'all to a very interesting thread that Vitalik started about implementing Contracts for Differences in Mastercoin.

I believe this is The Missing Link - a surefire way to implement any kind of asset on mastercoin (Backed Currencies is highly experimental ... might work, might fail - this one will definitely work).

Fantastic write-up indeed! Soon there will be articles about Mastercoin in mainstream media, but I can imagine the description of what it can do as Chinese whispers on steroids. I am still reading that Bitcoins are mined by "solving complex mathematical problems". So the best hope for public understanding will be seeing this tech in action.

I don't know anything about BEP, but I'm happy to learn!

Rather than PM you, I'll just say that you, and anybody else here, can reach me at jr (dot) willett (at) gmail (dot) com - I'm always eager to discuss MasterCoin marketing ideas, especially when they come from someone who until recently was heavily involved in working on the very interesting bitshares project (a project with similar goals to MasterCoin).

Alright, well no sense fretting over spilled milk. JR, let's make a video for BEP's udemy class on Mastercoin. Let's not repeat the mistakes of Ripple. PM me

dacoin et al, could it be correct to say that the ability to make Mastercoin like protocols on top of Bitcoin blockchain, strengthens it's intrinsic value?

I was watching a video talking about Bitcoin & Gold and the usual intrinsic value argument..

The value of PR does not escape me. When I founded Invictus with Daniel, we got all marketing done for free and for the Bitcoin Education Project we have nearly 10k students with no marketing cost whatsoever. The very first stage of any project like BitShares or Mastercoin is to figure out what you want to explain and who you want to explain it to. Ripple has had this issue for a long time and it isn't going away.

18K working with Adam and some tech writers/ video people would have gotten tons of professional, readable content for distribution on youtube, LTB, facebook and reddit. If your users like the message and the product, then they market for you. I hate to Monday morning quarterback, but this one was a mistake.

Holy Cow! That's an amazing write-up!

I also posted it on reddit: http://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/1pwc1d/bitcoin_magazine_on_mastercoin_a_secondgeneration/ (our reddit threads in /r/bitcoin always fill up with FUD - I appreciate anybody who has a reddit account and can answer the trolls that will come)

Nobody beats Vitalik when it comes to in-depth write-ups on bitcoin tech. I had heard he was researching MasterCoin, and I was hoping, hoping, hoping we'd see an article from him

Here's hoping we merit an article in the print edition at some point

Speaking of press - Here's a nice write up from Vitalik Buterin at bitcoin magazine

Yeah, they are writing our "facts sheet", which we will then review and correct as needed.


I realize this is a controversial expense, but I didn't assemble our board of seasoned bitcoin entrepreneurs who have made huge investments into MasterCoin just to ignore their repeatedly stated unanimous opinion. At some point I have to trust that they know what they are talking about. BigAngels has been using this very same firm to great success, and they now give SocialRadius a huge amount of credit for their rapid growth as a VC group. The bet we are making here is that SocialRadius can work that same magic for us.

I personally expect that they will not have a difficult time getting the press interested in this project, and I think SocialRadius will probably score some huge stories in mainstream press, and they will come out of this contract smelling like roses and well-positioned to pick up business from other bitcoin start-ups who see what they did for us.

For 18k BEP could have given you a hell of a lot of value. Adam could have given you a lot of value. Guys marketing is a game of finding the least bloodsucking vampire. This was a major waste of money for what you are trying to accomplish. I'm sorry to hear you weren't more transparent with your investor's money. The community would have helped you.

I think Adam has a point here. People consistently ask for easy to understand "ELI5" info on Mastercoin, yet there's next to nothing available. I'm confident that SocialRadius will do a good job in getting the word out - but what exactly will be the word?

Is it possible to somehow use the technique colored coins use to mark all existing mastercoins? If all mastercoins could be forked or alterted it would mean mastercoin could lose its dependence on having to trace all mastercoins back to the exodus address and they would be able to act similar to colored coins and would allow trustless light clients. The huge gain from the fork would be huge and everyone would still have the same number of mastercoins.

Reiterating Luckybit's suggestion two pages ago, can we leverage the first article or two and submit a good summary and direction piece to Slashdot as well?

You could have just asked me  How many stories are they going to deliver for that kind of money in three months?   Are they going do prepare any marketing collateral or explainer documents about Mastercoin or just do the cold-calling?

edit:
18k wouldn't be expensive if you were a standard corporation spending on building a brand, but that's not really what Mastercoin is.  As an innovation in and of itself and the first meta-layer being built on top of the very popular topic of Bitcoin, that doesn't really need the same sort of massaging to make it into an interesting story.  It requires people who understand it and can translate with accuracy into layman speak, specifically laymen reporter speak.    Getting concepts in front of writers is not hard at all, but getting them to understand the topic enough to accurately write about it for their audience is a much harder proposition and will be the primary barrier you face bringing Mastercoin to the masses.

That's all I'm saying, that's a big expense for something that should be free - Spend the money on developing really accessible informational and educational materials, not paying for connections.  

Yes, the board was unanimous on pushing for this, and won me over. We're essentially paying for SocialRadius to use their large rolodex to contact tech writers who might be interested in introducing the masses to our project. We're trying to reach beyond the bitcoin community, which is why it is so expensive.