Lets get ebay not Open Bazaar...

[Empirical1.1]

While I think the main markets we should focus on bootstrapping are the ones that could easily adopt or have a need for us (Alt-coin market & perhaps uses like OB, highly inflationary countries (just approach existing Bitcoin partners/exchanges there) & perhaps traders) vs. throwing money at mainstream when our perceived current advantages to them are small and where you can spend millions and get nowhere. However looking at the feedback regarding OB's stage of development, community and likely initial market size, it's becoming less appealing or credible as an immediate viral insertion point imo.

Also though you can argue SR gave Bitcoin its start & free publicity. I would say much of Bitcoin's wider adoption wasn't because of SR but in spite of the negative SR public perception and thanks to the Cyprus catalyst.

Now that crypto is already in the public consciousness and has a lot of penetration thanks to Bitcoin, we don't need SR as a similar leaping point. (After this marketing push, we may well have a similar CAP & adoption to BTC pre-Cyprus.) Considering the huge leap forward BitAssets are, I actually agree with trying to hook a big fish in some meaningful way particularly from a marketing and brand image POV.

We want a launch that presents BTSX as a global mainstream contender.

Where I didn't like the mainstream strategy is that I felt if BTSX wasn't at a stage where consumers were ready for it, in terms of track record, risk, utility and ease of use then I wouldn't throw too much money at incentives but rather more targetable niches and general development and then let the existing alt-coin market & other niches spread it more organically as it developed over the following year and only resort to major incentives after analysing feedback or if we smelled a big competitor.

[mbaeichapareiko]

If bitsharesx can convince  openbazaar... and ebay to accept  bitusd,   we bitshares owners would be very very happy campers.   

The beauty of bitshares is if the USD has problems, we can always peg another asset to be used such as  bitbtc.   

[svk]

Would it make sense for us (the community) to start a developer fund in order to attract more developers/freelancers to at least read into the code?

Taking a look at the github commits, most work is done by the core team .. I'd like to see this repo grow to Linux kernel repo loads ..

Would a community dev fund help? does it make sense? could we collect a reasonable amount of money?

I would love to see a fork of peer4commit using bitUSD, that could be used for exactly this purpose. I don't know ruby though and already have enough on my plate with BitsharesBlocks development.

If we have any ruby masters here, please please check this out

http://peer4commit.com/
https://github.com/sigmike/peer4commit

[xeroc]

Would it make sense for us (the community) to start a developer fund in order to attract more developers/freelancers to at least read into the code?

Taking a look at the github commits, most work is done by the core team .. I'd like to see this repo grow to Linux kernel repo loads ..

Would a community dev fund help? does it make sense? could we collect a reasonable amount of money?

[Method-X]

My point is that Open Bazaar is one use case.... and focusing on that use case we are missing out are the broader use case.

You don't see OpenBazaar as having any viral significance? The point in integrating with them is basically to leverage their spotlight as a targeted ad for BitUSD utility. Winning on OB would be like winning in many other areas BitUSD has utility. It's strategic. Low risk, high reward.

How high?  How much risk?   Lets be quantitative.   

How many users do they have in their community?
If they were a DAC what would their market cap be today?
Looking at their forum... it is a fraction the size of this one.   

So lets assume they were ready today.... they are a year behind on the viral growth curve.  By the time they are big enough to have any statistical impact on BitUSD, BitUSD will have already established itself and Open Bazaar will be implementing support for it on their own dime... or BitUSD will be dead and Open Bazaar will not be sufficient to revive it.

I like what their project stands for.  They are doing good work.  I just think perspective is needed.

Provide some numbers... quantify the gains.     They clearly have more to gain by integrating us than we do by integrating them.... which means we need to focus our efforts by building bridges where we have more to gain than the other party does.     

That said, I *FULLY* support integrating with them and it can be done by anyone in the community *WITHOUT A HARD FORK*.... BTSX blockchain supports all that is necessary... submit a wallet patch with API calls for generating the necessary transactions and we can go from there.

OpenBazaar will probably always have a relatively small userbase. I get that. When I say viral, I don't mean OpenBazaar will be the thing going viral. Although if that happens, it would certainly benefit us (I'm not counting on it though).

The SilkRoad was significant for Bitcoin because it spread Bitcoin to other areas. It was the catalyst that started Bitcoins network effect. That's what I mean by "think viral" and that's why I'm so excited about OB integration.

PayPal wasn't contained to eBay and BitUSD won't be contained to OpenBazaar. Hence, low risk, high reward.

EDIT: I agree with everything you said 100%. We're just looking at the strategic importance of OB differently. I see it as allowing for horizontal growth while you're only seeing the vertical growth.

[bytemaster]

My point is that Open Bazaar is one use case.... and focusing on that use case we are missing out are the broader use case.

You don't see OpenBazaar as having any viral significance? The point in integrating with them is basically to leverage their spotlight as a targeted ad for BitUSD utility. Winning on OB would be like winning in many other areas BitUSD has utility. It's strategic. Low risk, high reward.

How high?  How much risk?   Lets be quantitative.   

How many users do they have in their community?
If they were a DAC what would their market cap be today?
Looking at their forum... it is a fraction the size of this one.   

So lets assume they were ready today.... they are a year behind on the viral growth curve.  By the time they are big enough to have any statistical impact on BitUSD, BitUSD will have already established itself and Open Bazaar will be implementing support for it on their own dime... or BitUSD will be dead and Open Bazaar will not be sufficient to revive it.

I like what their project stands for.  They are doing good work.  I just think perspective is needed.

Provide some numbers... quantify the gains.     They clearly have more to gain by integrating us than we do by integrating them.... which means we need to focus our efforts by building bridges where we have more to gain than the other party does.     

That said, I *FULLY* support integrating with them and it can be done by anyone in the community *WITHOUT A HARD FORK*.... BTSX blockchain supports all that is necessary... submit a wallet patch with API calls for generating the necessary transactions and we can go from there.

[Method-X]

My point is that Open Bazaar is one use case.... and focusing on that use case we are missing out are the broader use case.

You don't see OpenBazaar as having any viral significance? The point of integrating with them is basically to leverage their spotlight as a targeted ad for BitUSD utility. Winning on OB would be like winning in many other areas BitUSD currently has utility. It's strategic. Low risk, high reward.

[hpenvy]

My point is that Open Bazaar is one use case.... and focusing on that use case we are missing out are the broader use case.

I understand where you are coming from.. and being on the inside, I'm sure there's quite a few exciting marketing opportunities developing. From this side of the fence, I'm in the dark.  Like others willing to donate for development, I just want to know what it would cost and if we have the resources. Maybe you have a payment processor in the works, maybe EBay is around the corner, I wouldn't know.  I just know about opportunities I can evaluate and fund.

I promise I'm not wearing my "I Love Open Bazaar" fanboy signed t-shirt. I like the opportunity, I'm just sharing my thoughts.

[eagleeye]

My point is that Open Bazaar is one use case.... and focusing on that use case we are missing out are the broader use case.

If you make bitWALMART which is pegging the stock, we will get people.

[bytemaster]

My point is that Open Bazaar is one use case.... and focusing on that use case we are missing out are the broader use case.   

[hpenvy]

Like others have said, if you can get eBay to accept BitUSD, great. That would obviously do us a lot of good. But how realistic is it to expect eBay/PayPal to integrate BitUSD into their platform? Especially considering BitUSD hasn't proven itself anywhere else and it's hard enough getting big businesses to accept Bitcoin. I'd really like to shoot for something actually achievable.

OpenBazaar is like a cheap and effective advertisement for the utility of BitUSD. A lot of very important businesses are watching what happens there. If we can get a solid footing on OB, I fully expect BitUSD to spread to other areas.

100%. I don't even know what to add to that point, it's spot on.  It's an advertisement above anything else.

[luckybit]

@all preferring the conservative approach!

Every 20 years or so the marketing makes a 180 degree turn... don't you think BTSX is the right thing/technology that deserves the next change in marketing strategy?

Targeting people who don't want or care about our product isn't brilliant marketing.

You have to make people care by showing them the utility. People didn't care about Ebay until they wanted to buy something which required Ebay.

The way to promote BitUSD is to only accept bitUSD as payment.

[luckybit]

Users of ebay can settle in any payment form they desire.... marketing to ebay users / merchants is likely to gain us far more users than Open Bazaar.

Great idea.

[Method-X]

[cgafeng]

It's good to get both