Outlining Roles and Responsibilities

[CLains]

Very helpful! As I see it BitShares is, and will become, more than just a neutral platform for entrepreneurs. It has always been in the process of becoming a full-blown decentralized organization. If we limit our image and metaphor to "DAC entrepreneurs in a free market" we miss half the potential of BitShares - the other half is "decentralized community and organization." Strategic planning, old-calling, tech support, building community and the like is "voluntary" work that has to be paid in reputation and worker subsidy. We're falling victim to magical thinking and passive optimism (determinism) if we simply think "build it and they will come" or "referral system will take care of adoption."

[clout]

The most important departments are human resources and strategic planning. These are the backbone of any company and define where the company will be in the future.

Strategic Planning Overview
I would like to see us start with a strategic planning initiative where we start with establishing our short and long term goals. From there we will need core group of 5 to maybe 8 thoroughly analytical and businesses minded individuals to hammer out how we logistically achieve these goals, taking into consideration our strengths and weakness vs our competitors as well as the threats and opportunities of the markets we wish to position ourselves in.

Human Resources Overview
The human resource group should be comprised of the most trusted community members that have been here for the longest and have idea of who within the community is also trustworthy and capable to contribute to the roles that we are now attempting to define. I see this being a group of about 3-5 individuals.

Proxy Overview
The most important group all though unnecessary when there are no committee members to vote in are proxy voters. We need more proxy voters than witness, preferably more than 50. Each proxy is a representative that votes according to their own criteria which they outline publicly. We will have to create a standard by which these proxies submit their annotated slate to public review. This may require coordination with or IT group.

IT Overview
The IT group will be important in helping bridging the gap between those within each group that are tech savy and those that are not. We will need the IT group to provide better technical solutions to organizational communication (For example, providing a standard format for proxies to submit their annotated slates for public review either within the GUI or elsewhere)  Later on the IT group should work with the Finance and Accounting group as well as the Market Operations group to provide scripts that allow for more efficient operations of those departments. I see this group as being comprised of 3-5 individuals. I would really like these individuals be active contributors to the R & D of the core software and GUI. I see @xeroc and @svk as being the best candidates to get this group going. 

The Importance of this Initiative
I would also like to see the other groups comprised of 3-5 individuals, once we have better defined each role. There will be some that say we shouldn't do this until we are profitable and can afford to pay for this work. I disagree we won't be profitable if we don't come together as community divide up task amongst the most capable and trusted members and lay the groundwork for organization that leverages public communication  and consensus mechanisms better than our competitors. Over time we will be able to onboard better talent, but talent respects professionalism and we are not treating this endeavor professional. Talent can also be squandered if roles are not adequately defined and communication breaks down.

More than anything this initiative is about putting us in the right direction and setting a foundation for future operation and growth. I will initially begin with the strategic planning initiative. If you would like to help, please pm so we can get the ball rolling. As I said I would like to confine this group to 5-8 core members, but initially I would like to see as much community involvement as possible.

Logistics

I will be starting several threads to get the ball rolling for each of the most crucial initiatives. If you feel that you are best suited for one of the aforementioned rolls please PM me or begin a thread outlining how you would address the responsibilities that the role entails.

The time has come to play a more activist role in our investment. This is how we start. What can you do to help?

[betax]

I do agree on all these points, and I assume that CNX will have an idea of their direction.

[xeroc]

Many thanks for this initiative ..

I would love to see a business plan and some numbers considering the fees and the current (and projected) transaction volume of our products ..
at least that is what i expect from anyone wanting my votes for a committee member

[xiahui135]

The most emegency role is market and business, I think. The one need be close to the dev.
Other roles may keep the same as now and be determined later.

[matador123]

anyone interested in getting a mumble session going for people who want to see this through? something outside of the weekly Friday meeting? Paging @fuzzy

[clout]

I dont think we have to start with paid position's. There are a number of capable people who are already extremely invested that would work for no income or vested balances.

[unreadPostsSinceLastVisit]

I'm not sure the chain can afford to implement all of these different divisions immediately. So I would suggest that we prioritize what's most important to be bought first, that hasn't been volunteered on already.

EDIT: but we can make a roadmap of what to implement as it grows organically.

[clout]

I think that it is important at this time that we begin to better manage this start up of ours. We should begin to treat it less like a project and more like an actual company. To that end I think it is important that we establish roles and responsibilities for participants within this community and the autonomous company that is Bitshares.

The foundation of our governance model is stake weighted voting. Stakeholders have ultimate control of the network. However, in practice we run into voter apathy and rational ignorance, and subsequently a centralization of voting power. This makes proxy voting extremely important, as it delegates the voting responsibilities and decentralizes voting power.

We need to identify and establish trustworthy proxies. To do this we need potential proxy voters to:

• Produce a slate of witnesses an committee members
• Provide a report documenting the general selection criteria as well as specifics for individual committee members
• Submit slate to the network (would be great to get a comprehensive tutorial on how to do this)

Committee members should be the head of a specific department. I think that it would be great if we could begin to establish what the necessary departments are and what responsibilities each should have. As of right now I would identify the following as necessary departments:

• Finance and Accounting
• Human Resources
• Strategic Planning
• Market Operations
• IT
• Research and Development
• Contracts
• Public Relations
• 

Finance and Accounting
For the most part this role is automated by the bitshares software. The finance and accounting department should simply provide weekly reports on the revenue and expenses of the company.

Human Resources

• Vet new candidates for open positions
• Work with strategic planning department to recruit talent according to the company’s agenda
• Work with the IT department to create effective communication channels and facilitate internal relations

Strategic Planning

• Establish the company objectives
• Identify strengths and weakness of company and competitors
• Identify industry opportunities and threats
• Report on these findings and define the most beneficial course of action to meet company goals

Market Operations

• Provide market data analysis on crucial markets on internal exchange as well as exchanges that provide sources of bitshares liquidity
• Manage liquidity on internal and external markets
• Manage witness price feeds
• Manage margin trading

IT
This job can be comprised of three areas:

• Tech support for all departments
• Tech support for all partner (i.e. Exchanges and merchants)
• Tech support for all users

R & D
This is pretty much all CNX. This position, however, would coordinate the R & D of tools that enhance the functionality of bitshares whether produced by CNX, a third party or community member

Contracts

• Manage partnerships and relationship with exchanges, merchants and other third parties
• Acquire new strategic business partners

Public Relations
I'm sure some one could better define this role than I can, but in general this department is responsible for managing all channels of communication between Bitshares and the public, including all media.

I believe each of these positions are important in order to set a foundation for the delegation of tasks and resources. Just as important as carrying out these task is the communication of how these tasks have been addressed or completed. From each position I would expect a comprehensive weekly report on how each department and each individual in the department have carried out the responsibilities of their position.

I am attempting to get the discussion going. I would like to hear from the community what roles and responsibilities need to be defined and accounted for.