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Re: Looking for LTBcoin Core Thinkers and Doers

Hey Adam,  Yeah, that helps a great deal.  I didn't know if maybe you had a completely different project you had your sights set on, or if you were simply redefining your role as the network grows.  Clearly it's the latter.  Thanks for the clarification!

Re: Looking for LTBcoin Core Thinkers and Doers

Thanks for posting that Open Enterprise Video, it helps me understand your overall vision of the organizational structure for LTB.

Adam: "you can tell from the collaboration thread I am looking for other models because I want to take myself out of this role as quickly as possible but we need a way to organize and focus effort forward and overcome the hurdles that inevitably will come."

This is a curious statement and might require some elaboration. You have been pretty upfront about wanting to decentralize yourself out of the equation at LTB, or at least out of the epicenter of the network. Does this mean you hope to get to the sidelines, or what long term role do you envision for yourself in relation to LTB?

Is there any concern that the synergy between you and Andreas and some of the other key contributors that got LTB to this point might not be involved in the future of LTB?

One thing I have learned with my own experiences publishing and managing a network of contributors is that the top contributors can really grab an audience and tow a network forward by gaining and keeping followers and fans, but so-so content doesn't grow an audience and can even shrink it by diluting the overall quality. In other words, quality far outweighs quantity, especially in a world awash in content.

LTB is where it is because you and a few key players have done a great job. I hope you don't underestimate that value going forward, it will not be easily replaced.

In any case, I'll keep my head up on this forum and contribute where appropriate. I am looking forward to participating in the evolution of this project...

Re: Looking for LTBcoin Core Thinkers and Doers

Hi Adam, I am certainly interested.  We met  at the conference in Las Vegas and had some really interesting discussions. I have shared some of my ideas recently on this forum and ready to contribute any way I can. I wrote you an email yesterday about participating on the LTB project so I'll follow up with that info. 
I am not a programmer but more of a writer, editor, marketer, thinker, organizer with a fair amount of experience writing articles and essays, writing copy for sales and marketing purposes, advertising/sponsorship sales, investor relations, entrepreneurship, etc.  Also I am free to brainstorm either on or off the air.  I see a massive amount of change coming, especially with all of the advances in smart contracts, smart property, and DAOs.  A day doesn't go by when I don't have an idea about how apply these advances to real businesses but as you say there is only so much one person can do.
One thing I see a need for is more effort to bridge the gap between the newbies to Bitcoin and the experienced enthusiasts.  I think your show is attracting a lot of fairly advanced users but to capture a wider audience we might have to create a separate/ongoing program for new users.  This basic info is out there, but it is cluttered all over the Internet and most newbies don't know where to start.  I think really short instructional videos would be a good addition - how to get a wallet, where to buy bitcoin, where to spend it. etc.  LTB could work on being that easy place to get started in addition to covering the most cutting edge concepts.
There are a lot of media networks that could utilize this LTBcoin model if we can prove it works so I am pretty enthusiastic about helping to prove that it will!  Let me know what kind of help you might need. 
Best Regards, 
Michael Manville

Re: LTBCoin and the start of Private Network Tokens

Glad you like it!  The logistics will require some thought and maybe some experimentation.  
To keep it simple, I was thinking a Premium Membership might have three options, one that costs $20, one that costs $100 and one that costs $500 and each membership plan comes with X number of coins.  X might fluctuate relative to the current market value of LTBcoins at the time the member joins, and the higher membership fee (eg. $500) might get you more coins per dollar than the cheaper membership (eg. $20).  
At that point it would be up to the member to decide how to use (or not use) their coins.  The initial amount of coins they receive might last a month for some members or the whole year for others.  If they run out of coins and need more, they would have to buy them from an exchange, or qualify for coins in some other way either as a contributor or as part of one of the giveaway schemes.  Reasons to use coins beyond tipping might be to access specialized content, create forum topics of their own, get on a VIP invite list to some event, or a wide range of other possibilities.
What happens to the membership income received by LTB is related to my previous question about what happens to the advertising income.  Ideally the contributors would have a lot to gain from an increase in both advertising revenue and membership revenue, so I am not sure how you would devise that reward.
My first thought was that all revenue (incoming LTBcoins for ads and memberships) is tallied by the network admin, network admin expenses are paid first, remaining coins are distributed to contributors as a bonus in amounts proportionate to their contribution for that month/quarter/year or whatever time frame.  I am sure there are many other ways to manage this...

Re: LTBCoin and the start of Private Network Tokens

Adam said: Excellent question - I am still finishing the protocol, for the first year of the project these auction funds will go to the LTB Network, and a large portion of the newly created content coins are distributed based on the revenue generated by show sponsorships relative to how much each show/blog brings in.  For at least the first year, the distribution should be much larger than sponsor revenues.
Year two, this is 50% new coins and 50% sponsor funds, By the end of year 3 it's 100% sponsor funds, and the network switches to a "slots" model where we have a limited amount of space on the network to release content and people who produce content buy the space from the network.   Keep in mind this is a transition that happens in year three, so it's not only still under development but quite a ways off.
The funds will be split between bounties for R&D, growing the partner network and LTB corporate profit since we don't actually get any of the first distribution as profit.
This is still very much in flux.

Yeah, I grappled with this question for awhile, figuring you would have an idea for it.  I was thinking the funds (LTBcoins) coming in would go to the network to pay expenses like any other business, but any remaining funds (profits) might either go to existing coin holders as dividends, get "burnt" on a terminator address thus increasing the value of the remaining coins in circulation, or simply kept by the network executives as profits, or a solution such as the one you just described.  Let us know what you eventually come up with.  
One other idea I had was that audience members could be given the option to browse free content as usual (receive no LTBcoin) or opt to become a premium (paid) member and the membership fee would include receiving a certain number of LTBcoin (based around or below market value at the time).  
This would be another revenue source for the network and encourage premium (audience) members to use their coins to tip or perhaps access restricted functionality or areas of the network reserved for members with coins to spend.  Not sure if I like this idea but thought I would share it anyway, it would be another way to get coins into the hands of the audience without giving them away, and you might get creative about the benefits to the audience members who also hold coins.  
Obviously the idea would be that an audience member who has a few thousand coins to throw around might enjoy the process of using them, in exchange for what would be a fairly low membership fee.  Some people might opt for the paid membership just as an easy way to get their hands on some coin for future speculation, or perhaps to use toward the purchase of a sponsorship at a later date (in addition to tipping, etc).

Re: LTBCoin and the start of Private Network Tokens

I have a question:  When someone wants to purchase a sponsorship, I am assuming they will have to acquire a certain number of LTBcoins to be able to pay for the sponsorship (ad space) by purchasing them from some sort of exchange.  Now when the sponsor goes to spend those coins to purchase advertising space, who receives the spent coins and how are they used?

Re: Metacoins! Here's what I've got, which ones am I missing? Whats your favorite?

I have spent a lot of time analyzing this space so it is good to start a thread on this topic. 
I agree that all of the metacoins Adam listed hold promise and are probably worth taking a stake in.  I also agree that it is the applications built on top of these platforms that service the real economy that will eventually be the real winners from an investment standpoint and/or as a market participant.  
For example, I don't know who created HTML or why, but I know a lot of businesses have made fortunes because of it and I have no idea if those early HTML developers were met with praise, stigma, money, or none of the above - I was too young to participate in the initial dot com boom but old enough to benefit from the eventual business applications it provided.  
The difference here is that by purchasing Ethereum or BitShares or whatever metacoin you are in essence taking a stake in the future potential of that application - I mean if HTML was originally represented by a metacoin in some way early adopters would be very rich!  And it would have probably brought about a lot more innovation a lot faster due to the rewards received by the early creators.   
That's what makes this metacoin space so different (and exciting) - these concepts come with a built in mechanism for establishing monetary value for the holders of each coin.  Capitalism works by enticing and allowing speculation on the future, and never has there been a mechanism so easily adaptable for this purpose than crypto currency.  We have a mechanism for ascertaining value that enables global participation and ?? few regulatory barriers ?? 
It remains to be seen how BitShares, Ethereum et al will be met by regulators.  To date, there has been more aggressive condemnation toward anything that "smells like shares" than there has been toward "currency".  Certainly I am hoping that by design neither one will be shut down because  - as Chris Odem puts it - "because they can't".
It will be interesting to see what happens with Auroracoin - while not a metacoin it does represent a unique application for a national currency.
My favorites to this point are CounterParty and Next (for having delivered a valuable working feature with minimal initial startup funding) and Ethereum (for having delivered nothing but promising the moon).  My concerns with Mastercoin and BitShares are similar (both promise the moon, have already received ample startup cash, but have delivered next to nothing - it's harder to work on something and finish it when you have already been handsomely rewarded).  I have faith that both of the latter will develop "something" and may end up being a leader so not counting anybody out yet but watching diligently.
I think Ripple holds promise, mostly as a virtual forex market that offers significant advantages over the legacy international banking system.  However, Ripple is only as good as its "Gateways" so it will be interesting to see how that area improves or doesn't improve Ripple's ability to interact with fiat.

Re: How many total LTBcoins should there be?

I was assuming that whatever the total number of coins, there would be several decimal places to enable fractions.  Has anyone put any thought into the benefits of providing decimal places instead of/in addition to a higher number of total coins?  
Should we consider just two decimal places to make it more like the dollars and cents people are accustomed to?  I think the 8 decimal places with Bitcoin throws off a lot of newbies and if you are dealing with a large number it can be a hassle to type in four or five digits on both sides of the decimal...

Re: How many total LTBcoins should there be?

I think one idea would be to base the initial number of coins on a "visionary goal" of total market cap for LTBcoin at the end of the five years. For example, if we as participants determine the goal for LTBcoin total market cap to be worth $100 Million in 5 years (or $50 Million if that seems more realistic) then we could maintain a sort of visionary goal that one day, if our goal is reached, one LTBcoin will be worth $1 US Dollar. If we achieve that goal, not only are early holders of the coins rewarded exceptionally, but it makes the coin fairly easy to use at that point - a 2 LTB tip = $2. If we plant this idea in the minds of the contributors, we might just get there (whether it takes 5 years or 10 years who knows).

Of course we have no idea if that market cap valuation will ever be achieved but it seems like a lofty yet reasonable goal to shoot for ($50 Million) which is roughly the market cap of a small scale startup. Adam will have to determine what number he thinks is more realistic but I think the goal of 1 LTB = $1 in 5 years could be considered an important milestone, yet long term enough so it wouldn't amount to an obsession or damage the intentions of the network. So my vote is 50 Million LTBCoin.

At one time it might have seemed ridiculous that one Bitcoin would ever be worth $1.00 but now look at it...