I will start by saying I know Steemit is a private corporation that reports only to it's owners. The numbers are not public nor are they under any obligation to reveal them. Thus far, @ned decided to share some of the situation with the community.
For what he did, I do applaud him standing up and taking the heat. Being open in a time of crisis is commendable although there usually is little option.
The positive out of these entire episode is that there are a lot of people who are getting reflective. Many questions are being asked which will take the entire ecosystem to a higher level over time. We see a banding together of the community with many people stepping up with ideas. There is simply a determination on the part of many not to let this fail. Failure is being removed from the table.
One question that came to my mind is who was watching the numbers? Where was the CFO? I will say I am not sure if Steemit had one but there has to be someone responsible. Companies tend to do the numbers on a quarterly basis, at a minimum. Whether it be an accountant, bookkeeper, or someone with an excel spreadsheet, the numbers are there.
The problem with this is that only two possibilities exist. The first is the numbers did not reveal what was going on. Another possibility is they were overlooked.
Here is the bottom line: the numbers always reveal what is going on when someone looks.
Thus, we are down to someone was overlooking what was there.
I applaud the difficult decision being made to let go of staff. That is not easy especially when it is 70% of the entire company.
Yet, why were the warning signs missed? Who was minding the proverbial hen house?
Steemit did not suddenly enter into their predicament overnight. They knew what the monthly costs associated with the running the blockchain. However their revenues are derived, that is a number that is easy to monitor.
I understand that the massive price drop in STEEM caused a great many problems. The challenge I have is the price was dropping all year. If the price suddenly dropped 80% due to an insane market, then I could accept that as a cause.
The only conclusion I can make is that warnings were not heeded. Whoever was responsible for watching the financial situation feel asleep. This is of great concern.
Again, I realize that this is a private company that few of us have any involvement with. It is also true that it really should be none of our business how the operation is run and what is does financially. However, Steemit is a 3rd party risk to everyone on this blockchain. Because of the position they are in, the areas of responsibility, their financial instability puts every Steemian in jeopardy. All the businesses build upon this blockchain can be affected by Steemit.
Therefore, I think it valid to ask these questions in this time of reflection. Who was watching the numbers and how do we know this will not happen again? Even if Steemit does "catch it's breath" and move to the thriving stage, who is going to prevent this the next time?
Call me biased since I am a bit of a numbers nerd but they tell the story. We now have a community that is aware the risks Steemit poses to the entire ecosystem. While there are many questioning and coming up with solutions on the technical side, I think the financial side is worthy of similar consideration.
If Steemit insists on maintaining control over blockchain development, what assurances does the community have that it is capable of handling it's financial affairs? Who is even going to monitor it and do they understand about the need for the community to know they are financially solvent?
These are questions I hope we get an answer to over the coming months. Operating in the dark is no longer acceptable.
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