This is a GREAT topic and one i've been discussing recently with Dan and others on the core team.  I wrote this up just a couple days ago in fact, and looking to get feedback on what you may think of the quality of the questions, and of course the answers to these.  This is a perfect time to clarify and find focus for BitShares, with all the upcoming changes:

BITSHARES:  BRAND, MESSAGE AND MISSION


WHAT IS OUR MISSION?
Why are we in business? What is our highest value? What is our purpose for existing?


WHAT BUSINESS ARE WE IN?
In one sentence, what do we do? What IS BitShares?  If we can’t explain it in a tweet (140 characters), we don’t know what business we’re in. (very challening to do that now).


WHAT DO WE DO BEST?
We need to do ONE thing well and we need to be the BEST at doing that thing. 
What do we do better than anyone else in the world?   


IS IT EASY TO UNDERSTAND?
Our business needs to be CLEAR to understand. 
People should “get it” immediately.


IS OUR SERVICE INTUITIVE TO USE?
BitShares software needs to be easy to use and intuitive. 
Is it fast and easy to download? Is it easy to use and share it with others?


WHY SHOULD ANYONE CARE ABOUT BITSHARES?
Why would most people be interested in what we have to offer?
Do people know WIIFM (what’s in it for me?)

Yes, things are on track and moving forward. We're coordinating our plan with the release of the new GUI, so there are a lot of moving parts to align.  b

GREAT point Mysto. 

We are building both a "company" and and "currency" in that sense.  The only reason we keep preaching the "Bitcoin is an unprofitable company" is to show the absolute lunacy and waste that's built into the mining paradigm.  One day I predict we'll all look back and laugh at the silly idea of mining and all the wasted wealth used to support it over the last 5 years.  It will seem archaic and like most hindsight perspectives, unnecessary with the adoption of newer technologies.   

A great example to compare Bitcoin to is gold.  Gold is valuable because it represents an ENORMOUS amount of effort to excavate, move, and process hundreds of tons of rock, just to get a very small ounce of gold out of the ground.  It's rare, it lasts for ever and its finite.  It has tremendous value over say, sand, because sand is not rare and requires nearly zero effort to acquire. (Is gold money or a commodity, I wont go into here - this is more a comment on waste vs value).

Bitcoin too requires an ENORMOUS amount of resources, money, equipment, manpower, etc to get to the good stuff.  Yes, technically it's finite but the difference is that none of this "work" is required any longer, and thus is wasteful and ultimately costly to the users.   But Bitcoin is and will always be extremely volatile, something a currency by definition can NOT be, if it to function as a medium of exchange for the long term. While currencies are always inflating and trade against each other, they are stable enough that they can be used for long term planning and budgeting, saving, etc.  This is something Bitcoin can never do, but bitUSD and other bitAsset "currencies" can.   Long live bitAssets and BitShares.

Just my 2 cents,
b

For your listening pleasure. Two interviews, one with Dan and one with me for cryptobizmagaine.com at Inside Bitcoins Las Vegas. 

Daniel Larimer CEO Bitshares with CryptoBiz Magazine at INSIDE BITCOINS Las Vegas
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mv9eGvMsVL0

Bitshares Marketing Director Brian Page with CryptoBiz Magazine at INSIDE BITCOINS Las Vegas
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CkzYapXqpSY&feature=em-upload_owner#action=share

yeah, I met them in LA at the LA Bitcoin Job Fair.  We're looking into it for sure, but first priority is on/off ramps for BTSX and bitUSD.  -B

Thanks guys!  I have a TON of interviews lined up...one today as well and one with Fortune soon.  The pace and amout of press I'm doing now is picking up.... B

Hey guys.   

Quick update.....I can assure you we are working around the clock on the marketing campaign.  Just like the many months Dan and the devs were working on BitSharesX - where it seemed like nothing at all was happening, this too isn't as easy (or as fast) as any of us would expect or want it to be.   

The marketing team has been spending nearly every day (and most of the event in Vegas) speaking with "on-ramp" service companies in order to find the best solution for getting USD into BTSX and bitUSD.  We are VERY close, btw, with one of them.  In addition, we are working on an "off-ramp" partner who can provide a bitUSD direct to a prepaid credit card to allow users to get out of bitUSD without needing a normal crypto exchange.  We were hoping to find one company to do both, but no one is able to do both at this time so we have two different sides to develop for this platform. 

On top of both of those partnerships, we're looking for "backup" service providers in the event either one cant handle the volume we intend to push.  We need to tie in the API's on the back end for a seamless experience, build a separate site, finish producing the multiple videos that explain what/how/why of BTSX and bitUSD, and so much more. 

This project is more involved than it may look from the outside, but I can assure you everything is moving forward.  Like Dan, I'm not going to put a specific date on when all this will be completed and the "go" button pushed, but it WILL happen. And when it does, it will be plainly obvious it is a DIRECT result of our efforts.

As for transparency, we are not sharing all the details of how or where we're going to get all the new users we expect to see into our system, or precisely what we are doing, for obvious reasons.  No one in the industry is doing what we are attempting to do - which is the very reason we will have the results no one else is having. 

The team I've assembled is nothing short of top notch and has knocked it out of the park in many other industries.  I have no doubt they'll do the same with us.  We expect a VERY significant increase in new users, as well as capital, into both BTSX and bitUSD, once launched, so our goal is real growth, not "pumping" the value artificially. 

I know many of you are anxious and wanting to see big returns on the of time, money and trust you've placed in BitShares.  I too want all of those things.  We will get there, I have no doubts.  Stay tuned.... The day we launch, I'll make the forum aware of it immediately so you can see exaclty what we've created and send your own friends and contacts through the site, to participate. 

Thanks! B