Old Swarm Thread

[Swarmpath]

Office in Berlin, was temporary for launch.  It is now vacated as the core team is all on its way back to our respective home locations.

But, it was at Bülowstr. 74

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[robbo389]

Office in Berlin, was temporary for launch.  It is now vacated as the core team is all on its way back to our respective home locations.

But, it was at Bülowstr. 74

Why did DistributedBUZZ imply the head office would be open today? Late last night he said "the headoffice in Berlin is closed as its the middle of the night".

Hi Marcus - I am chatting with you in the Skype right now and taking in all your concerns, please bear in mind that the headoffice in Berlin is closed as its the middle of the night there and I would like to ensure you are getting your concerns addresssed

[Swarmpath]

Office in Berlin, was temporary for launch.  It is now vacated as the core team is all on its way back to our respective home locations.

But, it was at Bülowstr. 74

Why did DistributedBUZZ imply the head office would be open today? Late last night he said "the headoffice in Berlin is closed as its the middle of the night".

Hi Marcus - I am chatting with you in the Skype right now and taking in all your concerns, please bear in mind that the headoffice in Berlin is closed as its the middle of the night there and I would like to ensure you are getting your concerns addresssed

Because it was open, from 8am till 11.30 am, when the last of the team departed,  I now write this from my hotel lobby from which I shall shortly depart, London bound.  This will restrict my ability to respond for many hours.  Sorry.

No nefarious intent, just logistics.

When did phase 1 funding begin?

what i cant understand is phase 1 funding was at ~25% 1 day ago, and is now ~26%, so a 1% increase in over 24hrs.  at this rate there is no way to reach 4500 BTC by the 27th.

Phase 1 began Tuesday at midnight.

There are upcoming local 'launch' events in cities all over the world,  it's a chance for us to meet (you) discuss at length, and of course, the goal for swarm is to raise more btc at each.  

We are trying to create a combination of incubator and kickstarter.  There are many worthy projects which need promotion and assistance at grass roots level.  That's the intention of this enterprise.  If you don't like the idea, please don't participate.  If you do, then please work with us.

[aeternum.in]

Hi all,  

I want to clarify a couple of things.
We are a small team, which is not an excuse, just fact.
We are trying to cover, and I'm sure I'll forget something,  
1. Phone
2. Twitter
3. Facebook
4. Email
5. Reddit
6. (A lot of) forums
7. Skype
8. Webchat

It's quite a few channels, and I'm sure that we can improve.  We are not a help desk team, we are developers and business people.  I personally would be ashamed of fronting our fledgling company with inexperienced help desk people charged with making reassuring but meaningless responses!

You are trying to do too much with too little. Cover one communication channel, and one channel only. Drop the Skype, Webchat, Facebook, Phone, (Lot of Forums) and get one simple place you can stay in touch. Run your own simple discussion forum or just use Reddit. Period. I understand you are very talented and have a great track record, and I'm as excited about swarm as anyone, but you are freaking me the heck out concerning your abilities to pull this off by focusing on a 8+ channels of communication with 3 dudes that can't get back in touch using a single one of them. It's screaming style over substance (Like that 24/7 chat room that is empty). PLEASE cut out all of this and just stick to either your own forum, or better yet JUST stick to reddit (So you don't have to actually run the forum yourself). Nothing else. Screw the twitter, facebook, Skype, etc.. until you actually have a product and not just our money. In the meantime, keep in touch non-stop, but one channel of communication, and skip the chatrooms. Honestly. If your developers have time at this point in the project to chat to anyone who drops into the skype lounge, then please let me have my Bitcoin back. Because those are not the developers I thought I was funding.

EDIT: I don't mean to be harsh. Sorry if I sound that way. Maybe instead of Reddit, just use this thread here. Keep it simple. Answer everyones questions in one go. :-)  
EDIT2: Maybe just pick a time of day questions will be answered as well IE: 10am each day, all the questions from the previous day will be address. It's a simple way to wait until everything has been asked, and that way people know when to expect and answer, and you get a chance to carefully think through each answer so it's comprehensive, well composed and clear. Also it will cut down on needing to answer the same "Whats the golden ticket?" question that gets asked over and over. And People can be refered to earlier answers if they are being repetitive. You can then just compile each daily answer into an FAQ that gts uploaded to the site. So you don't have to answer old questions more then once, you just say, "See FAQ". Simple.

[Swarmpath]

Hi all, 

I want to clarify a couple of things.
We are a small team, which is not an excuse, just fact.
We are trying to cover, and I'm sure I'll forget something, 
1. Phone
2. Twitter
3. Facebook
4. Email
5. Reddit
6. (A lot of) forums
7. Skype
8. Webchat

It's quite a few channels, and I'm sure that we can improve.  We are not a help desk team, we are developers and business people.  I personally would be ashamed of fronting our fledgling company with inexperienced help desk people charged with making reassuring but meaningless responses!

You are trying to do too much with too little. Cover one communication channel, and one channel only. Drop the Skype, Webchat, Facebook, Phone, (Lot of Forums) and get one simple place you can stay in touch. Run your own simple discussion forum or just use Reddit. Period. I understand you are very talented and have a great track record, and I'm as excited about swarm as anyone, but you are freaking me the heck out concerning your abilities to pull this off by focusing on a 8+ channels of communication with 3 dudes that can't get back in touch using a single one of them. It's screaming style over substance (Like that 24/7 chat room that is empty). PLEASE cut out all of this and just stick to either your own forum, or better yet JUST stick to reddit (So you don't have to actually run the forum yourself). Nothing else. Screw the twitter, facebook, Skype, etc.. until you actually have a product and not just our money. In the meantime, keep in touch non-stop, but one channel of communication, and skip the chatrooms. Honestly. If your developers have time at this point in the project to chat to anyone who drops into the skype lounge, then please let me have my Bitcoin back. Because those are not the developers I thought I was funding.

Good suggestions, and I will say, that from my perspective I absolutely agree with reduction of channels.
It's a balance between that, and satisfying the many who conversely seem to demand that we are available by whatever channels they prefer.

Also, there is still an outstanding need to market, promote and fundraise, which is better suited to other channels. 

Finally, our devs, are sheltered.  We keep them away from this.  I often wish I could put my head down, headphones on and crunch away some more too.  But it's a balance.

I'm resigned to the idiom that we won't please all the people all the time.  But I'll try.

[Crypto_Enthusiast]

Hi all, 

I want to clarify a couple of things.
We are a small team, which is not an excuse, just fact.
We are trying to cover, and I'm sure I'll forget something, 
1. Phone
2. Twitter
3. Facebook
4. Email
5. Reddit
6. (A lot of) forums
7. Skype
8. Webchat

It's quite a few channels, and I'm sure that we can improve.  We are not a help desk team, we are developers and business people.  I personally would be ashamed of fronting our fledgling company with inexperienced help desk people charged with making reassuring but meaningless responses!

You are trying to do too much with too little. Cover one communication channel, and one channel only. Drop the Skype, Webchat, Facebook, Phone, (Lot of Forums) and get one simple place you can stay in touch. Run your own simple discussion forum or just use Reddit. Period. I understand you are very talented and have a great track record, and I'm as excited about swarm as anyone, but you are freaking me the heck out concerning your abilities to pull this off by focusing on a 8+ channels of communication with 3 dudes that can't get back in touch using a single one of them. It's screaming style over substance (Like that 24/7 chat room that is empty). PLEASE cut out all of this and just stick to either your own forum, or better yet JUST stick to reddit (So you don't have to actually run the forum yourself). Nothing else. Screw the twitter, facebook, Skype, etc.. until you actually have a product and not just our money. In the meantime, keep in touch non-stop, but one channel of communication, and skip the chatrooms. Honestly. If your developers have time at this point in the project to chat to anyone who drops into the skype lounge, then please let me have my Bitcoin back. Because those are not the developers I thought I was funding.

I agree with the above. My experience so far as an investor has been nothing short of shocking. In fact, I want out. I have placed a sell order below market price at www.counterwallet.co/#pages/buysell.html

You have our hard earned money, but you fail to earn our trust.

For a project of this magnitude with this much funding, it is inconceivable to me that minimal planning has been put in place to support investors.

[dulac97]

I second that!  Wish there were better communication.  Would like regular email updates targeted to swarmcoin holders.  The newsletter has not told me much other than promote the launch party.

[Swarmpath]

I second that!  Wish there were better communication.  Would like regular email updates targeted to swarmcoin holders.  The newsletter has not told me much other than promote the launch party.

Understood, and I apologise, but we are working on improving it.

Emails to swarm holders may seem very obvious, but please consider, that the nature of our coin purchase process, does NOT provide us with coin purchaser contact information.

Update - I have promised for Monday, and we will then provide weekly updates from that point forward.
Each week our tools, will improve, and the team will grow.


NOW - I am about to leave for the airport.  I will likely be offline for some hours. 

Sorry a few are upset, we have others who are happy and enthusiastic.  Quite honestly, I do only want the latter, and will try to fix.

[aeternum.in]

Hi all, 

I want to clarify a couple of things.
We are a small team, which is not an excuse, just fact.
We are trying to cover, and I'm sure I'll forget something, 
1. Phone
2. Twitter
3. Facebook
4. Email
5. Reddit
6. (A lot of) forums
7. Skype
8. Webchat

It's quite a few channels, and I'm sure that we can improve.  We are not a help desk team, we are developers and business people.  I personally would be ashamed of fronting our fledgling company with inexperienced help desk people charged with making reassuring but meaningless responses!

You are trying to do too much with too little. Cover one communication channel, and one channel only. Drop the Skype, Webchat, Facebook, Phone, (Lot of Forums) and get one simple place you can stay in touch. Run your own simple discussion forum or just use Reddit. Period. I understand you are very talented and have a great track record, and I'm as excited about swarm as anyone, but you are freaking me the heck out concerning your abilities to pull this off by focusing on a 8+ channels of communication with 3 dudes that can't get back in touch using a single one of them. It's screaming style over substance (Like that 24/7 chat room that is empty). PLEASE cut out all of this and just stick to either your own forum, or better yet JUST stick to reddit (So you don't have to actually run the forum yourself). Nothing else. Screw the twitter, facebook, Skype, etc.. until you actually have a product and not just our money. In the meantime, keep in touch non-stop, but one channel of communication, and skip the chatrooms. Honestly. If your developers have time at this point in the project to chat to anyone who drops into the skype lounge, then please let me have my Bitcoin back. Because those are not the developers I thought I was funding.

I agree with the above. My experience so far as an investor has been nothing short of shocking. In fact, I want out. I have placed a sell order below market price at www.counterwallet.co/#pages/buysell.html

You have our hard earned money, but you fail to earn our trust.

For a project of this magnitude with this much funding, it is inconceivable to me that minimal planning has been put in place to support investors.

Well, give them a little bit of a break- It's only been a couple days. stuff takes months to take shape. I think they get the point and will get on it.  Good luck with your sell- but saying you want out because you think it's maybe a failure isn't really such a good way to make a sale! :-)

[Crypto_Enthusiast]

Thank you for removing me from the Skype channel, despite myself being polite & not swearing.

Might want to work on your PR a little. Just saying.

[Crypto_Enthusiast]

Hi all, 

I want to clarify a couple of things.
We are a small team, which is not an excuse, just fact.
We are trying to cover, and I'm sure I'll forget something, 
1. Phone
2. Twitter
3. Facebook
4. Email
5. Reddit
6. (A lot of) forums
7. Skype
8. Webchat

It's quite a few channels, and I'm sure that we can improve.  We are not a help desk team, we are developers and business people.  I personally would be ashamed of fronting our fledgling company with inexperienced help desk people charged with making reassuring but meaningless responses!

You are trying to do too much with too little. Cover one communication channel, and one channel only. Drop the Skype, Webchat, Facebook, Phone, (Lot of Forums) and get one simple place you can stay in touch. Run your own simple discussion forum or just use Reddit. Period. I understand you are very talented and have a great track record, and I'm as excited about swarm as anyone, but you are freaking me the heck out concerning your abilities to pull this off by focusing on a 8+ channels of communication with 3 dudes that can't get back in touch using a single one of them. It's screaming style over substance (Like that 24/7 chat room that is empty). PLEASE cut out all of this and just stick to either your own forum, or better yet JUST stick to reddit (So you don't have to actually run the forum yourself). Nothing else. Screw the twitter, facebook, Skype, etc.. until you actually have a product and not just our money. In the meantime, keep in touch non-stop, but one channel of communication, and skip the chatrooms. Honestly. If your developers have time at this point in the project to chat to anyone who drops into the skype lounge, then please let me have my Bitcoin back. Because those are not the developers I thought I was funding.

I agree with the above. My experience so far as an investor has been nothing short of shocking. In fact, I want out. I have placed a sell order below market price at www.counterwallet.co/#pages/buysell.html

You have our hard earned money, but you fail to earn our trust.

For a project of this magnitude with this much funding, it is inconceivable to me that minimal planning has been put in place to support investors.

Well, give them a little bit of a break- It's only been a couple days. stuff takes months to take shape. I think they get the point and will get on it.  Good luck with your sell- but saying you want out because you think it's maybe a failure isn't really such a good way to make a sale! :-)

Perhaps I value honesty above money.

[Chang Hum]

I think swarm is da best coin, dis will end well 

[TheMightyX]

This screams scam from the highest reaches of planet Earth.

Why are you the only person who sounds logical in this entire thread?

1000 BTC just for salaries? (1000 * ($600 * BTC)) = $600,000
So... I guess you are paying 10 people 60k a year salaries? for a startup?
what? you have less than 10 people? now thats interesting, how much are you expecting as a salary?
Are you expecting to secure salaries for multiple years? Oh wouldn't that be nice!
Do you understand the concept of bootstrapping?
To successfully start a business you should be asking for ONLY WHAT YOU NEED.
What are your bills? $2000 a month? why should you expect any more than $24,000 a year? to start a business that is going to pay you? If you need $24,000 a year, why are you asking for $600,000?
Where is the breakdown?

People I could hire two programmers and build a crowdfunding platform, release a copycoin that it runs on and still not spend over $100,000. There seems to be $500,000 unaccounted for or severely mismanaged.

Please think before you invest. There are a lot of problems with this picture.

[tonyk]

Assuming you have already decided to jump and invest in SWARM, something that is not the wisest of choices BTW, imho.

I  read in the other thread that there is limited supply of swarms on the secondary market (i.e. counterwallet) that offer a better rate, something like 5500+ swarmspre/btc. So chance for those that feel confident that this project is good to get a better price.

2c

[mishax1]

Assuming you have already decided to jump and invest in SWARM, something that is not the wisest of choices BTW, imho.

I  read in the other thread that there is limited supply of swarms on the secondary market (i.e. counterwallet) that offer a better rate, something like 5500+ swarmspre/btc. So chance for those that feel confident that this project is good to get a better price.

2c

No surprise there since the closed pre-sale was initiated at 8000 per btc.

[Mrrr]

Guys you gotta do better than this really. I sent some pocket change your way because I like the idea and I honestly think it could work but still. People are voicing honest concerns here and you should be wise and put someone on the forums 24/7 to answer questions and act as a liaison to the community.

You can't act the 2.0 wonder crypto entrepreneur here and just ignore what is being posted on these forums. As I have told you, Ethereum has met its Waterloo here before. And if you think you can just go ahead and ignore the community its probably going to cost you. Google has a long memory.

Sorry for being so aggressive. But you're asking for A LOT of money here. And the community is willing to pay up. But that comes with certain respect and responsibility. And right now I'm not sure whether you fully realize that.

[fordlincoln]

There's a lot of feedback here and we should keep in mind that the people behind this project are known to the community, and they are not scammers.

When we evaluate the budget breakdown - which we should be thankful that this was even shared, it is not uncommon for startups to pay their employees a high starting salary. This is very common in many parts of the world to secure top talent. I live in Canada and reached this salary bracket during my corporate career in tech when I was 25.

The numbers reflect the magnitude of this project and the amount of effort required to see it through.

As Ben the COO of Swarm explains, they have bootstrapped this project.

This screams scam from the highest reaches of planet Earth.

Why are you the only person who sounds logical in this entire thread?

1000 BTC just for salaries? (1000 * ($600 * BTC)) = $600,000
So... I guess you are paying 10 people 60k a year salaries? for a startup?
what? you have less than 10 people? now thats interesting, how much are you expecting as a salary?
Are you expecting to secure salaries for multiple years? Oh wouldn't that be nice!
Do you understand the concept of bootstrapping?
To successfully start a business you should be asking for ONLY WHAT YOU NEED.
What are your bills? $2000 a month? why should you expect any more than $24,000 a year? to start a business that is going to pay you? If you need $24,000 a year, why are you asking for $600,000?
Where is the breakdown?

People I could hire two programmers and build a crowdfunding platform, release a copycoin that it runs on and still not spend over $100,000. There seems to be $500,000 unaccounted for or severely mismanaged.

Please think before you invest. There are a lot of problems with this picture.

[fractastical]

Here are some general answers to some common critiques while we work on a more robust FAQ.

First, there are no six figure salaries.  All of our salaries are calculated on minimum "startup salary" given the cost of living in Silicon Valley. Although it is possible to work for less or elsewhere, I find that there are tons of advantages to hiring top talent and working in Silicon Valley and you need a bit of money to do these things.

Second, we did take in some XCP (and even some MSC and DOGE) in our presale, which is why some of the numbers don't add up perfectly when it comes to the percentage. We are planning to start accepting XCP officially early next week and when we do that we will make sure that all of the funds raised are auditable so people can see exactly how much has come in.

Third, the initial target of 1,000 BTC was done with the idea of what we would need to support operations to build a very robust platform. This was actually my original targeted raise. We've already achieved this goal and thank you for everyone who supported us.

Our decision to accept 21,500 BTC if the market decides that our project is with goals were developed with the idea of what we could do to actually support other project as an "accelerator." If we do a large raise then we will have a lot of funds to use to support other types of coin-powered incubator in a couple different cities, including projects like Ethereum. 

I had a major concern that if we raised such a large amount we wouldn't spend it well, so I put together an advisory board that includes Vitalik Buterin, one of the Counterparty core devs, David Johnston of DApps Fund / Bitangels, and some people who haven't been announced yet.

The format for the advisory board is this:

Advisory

  My desire for the advisory board is to have one monthly meeting at the end of the month.

  It will have the following agenda:
 
    (1) Reporting on the previous month's accomplishments

 You can see the sort of reporting i did for my last startup here:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AkAYilpVrnk4dHQ2R0UyVzAtM05faER6M1RoWXpUZFE&usp=drive_web#gid=3

   This includes detailed breakdowns of code commits, lines of code, and growth metrics like number of active users, ideally with associated graphs.

    (2) Reviewing the past month's expenditures

    (3) Approving projected expenditures for the next month expenditures

The goal is that this takes no more than one hour once a month. Reports are obviously to be prepared in advance.

Also, I don't think we need more than 1-2 advisors, but meeting notes should be transcribed and made available to the public.

   I would like to have the first advisors' meeting at some point towards the end of June.

I expect we will have this meeting in the next week with this format. This way people can see what we are doing and will do with the funds raised.

Feel free to ask more questions. Sorry again we aren't getting back to them immediately but we were super busy in the couple days post launch.

[doremi]

i'm waiting to watch a bunch of stupid investers crawling back here and crying for scam pretty soon!!

[mishax1]

So.... what is a GOLDTICKET ? and why do I have it ?