Author Topic: Petition to fire Brian Page  (Read 7943 times)

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Offline Gentso1

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Most people agree in the thread agree it is hard to market something when there is no product available.

Possible stupid question but why not worry about hiring a full fledged marketing director ONCE a product is released?
On a side note http://www1.salary.com/Marketing-Director-Salary.html  127K is the median salary for his position.
I have no opinion on how good of a job he is doing because it goes back to that no product yet.

I also think that it's great that he is making contacts and busy drumming up investors but I feel that if more thought went into the products and less went into "fund raising" we may be better served.

I believe a good product will sell itself and a great marketing director will help you sell more of them but until products are released I3 could get the word out simply by buying ad space on various forums for next to nothing UNTIL a product is released and then hire Brian or whoever to help the idea reach more people.

Frankly I have seen the mood here on these forums go from geeky/nerdy/frothing at the mouth, to a now souring sentiment and people are looking to vent or blood (thats not to say that they don't have a point).

I would post a clever meme but all I think think of is the scene from the begining of Indaina Jones and the temple of doom where he is running from the natives yelling "start the plane, start the plane". We are of course the natives and Brian being indy and I suppose dan is the planes pilot.

Just my opinions so take them for what the are worth........
 

Offline NewMine

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For it.

What exactly has been produced that you could've paid someone half as much for?

You get website after website rebuild, besides the words being spoken, everything about the interviews/propaganda videos sucked (looks, feel, personal appearance, awkwardness, editing..), no internet presence outside of the forum here (Reddit, Facebook, Twitter are ghost towns), no marketing tools like t-shirts, stickers, hats being sold to us here at the forum or emails being sent out etc.  should he being doing all these things? Of course not, but he sure as hell should be directing people to do these things.

If his role is to schmooze potential investors for money, then you have him labeled under the wrong title and need to hire a real Director of Marketing. A director of Marketing does not do that.  Marketing and Sales are two different beasts.

He should be creating a comprehensive marketing, communications and public relations program that will enhance Bitshares image and position within the marketplace and the general public.

He should be in contact with media and organize appropriate response to all media (even members of the forum since this is Bitshares only media outlet thus far).

He should be conducting Market research.

Effectively enable volunteers and staff to maintain goals of Bitshares.

He should definitely have a presence here on the forum if not for any other reason than to gauge market sentiment since this is the hub to all who are in the know and participate in Bitshares.
« Last Edit: May 29, 2014, 09:39:37 pm by NewMine »

Offline cass

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I fully support Brian.
█║▌║║█  - - -  The quieter you become, the more you are able to hear  - - -  █║▌║║█

Offline donkeypong

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Yes, 100K for a good marketing person is not unusual. I have a feeling it will seem like a bargain in a few months.

Offline xeroc

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Wha I am interested in is weather 100k yearly is considered a "usual" loan for a marketing director.

Weather brian is doing a job can be reevaluated in 6 months once a producted is there to be marketed.

Offline Agent86

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I agree it's hard to market a product that hasn't arrived, which creates a difficult situation.

I think if we are confident we can get this right in a reasonable time-frame then there is no problem.  I also think Brian has been good in interviews and seems he would be an asset if we get something to market.

I also think we need to be very realistic about the potential delays and technical challenges ahead.  We have had unexpected delays and donations have slowed considerably.  It would be a horrible shame if we ever got to the point that developers had to stop work to look for other work or we had to pass up on hiring great developers because we ran out of money before the goals and vision were accomplished.

I don't know enough to do that calculus but I know it's very difficult to be realistic with people you have become friends with so it would be hard for bytemaster to get rid of people even if it was a necessary business decision, so the community needs to be brutally realistic. We can survive with just developers if we absolutely need to.  Of course we all hope this isn't the case and we will have products that need marketing soon.

Offline santaclause102

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What we should remember is that it is difficult for us on the forum to see what is being done all day. Therefore we should not be easy to judge and be patient. What what it also implies is that communication is helpful. Xeroc's suggestion about marketing updates is a good one imo.

Anyway trust and support (also by friendly and constructive critique) is most motivating and I am pretty certain Brian will give it back many times!

Offline CalabiYau

DonJon, your posts have been too aggressive to answer although I agree that some questions need to be answered.

I suggest you end this poll and split your questions into different topic without personal attack. You are big shareholder, we are all trying to make bitshares successful.
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Offline Stan

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I fully support Brian.
Anything said on these forums does not constitute an intent to create a legal obligation or contract of any kind.   These are merely my opinions which I reserve the right to change at any time.

Offline boshen1011

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I fully support Brian.

Offline donkeypong

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I support Brian. He's lying in wait until the DACs come close, and then you'll truly get to see him in action.

Offline mint chocolate chip

It is a challenge to market a product that is still in development, and will be for an unspecified amount of time.

With that said, it would be great if we could see more production, someone working full time on marketing earning a very generous salary should be producing more and interacting more with the members of the forum who volunteer their time to the cause.

The press section of the website has some respectable brands with nice articles/interviews, but most of them are from 2013, January and February (one from early march) - what has happened in the past 80 days on this?

The social media needs to be updated more often - the twitter page has several 4-5 day gaps without any updates. A full time marketer should be able to come up with something relevant to update at least once per day.

Offline xeroc

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Brian is great! Keep him! But I would appreciate it if he would come to appreciate the forum and use it for himself in terms of organizing BTT / crypto space marketing and in terms of appreciating the feedback he gets here. There are a lot of talented people here. Leverage them. Overall I do see quite a bit of room for improvement but I am positive he is a talented guy who can work it out!
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Offline Amazon

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DonJon, your posts have been too aggressive to answer although I agree that some questions need to be answered.

I suggest you end this poll and split your questions into different topic without personal attack. You are big shareholder, we are all trying to make bitshares successful.
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Offline onceuponatime

Against. I think Brian's value will become much more clear when we actually have a product we're trying to sell to normal people.

I have grown to support him  more and more. Before it used to bother me that Charlie H managed to get the whole bitcoin space hyped up over nothing (~*turing complete*~!!) while all our good ideas go unnoticed. But we're only going to be in "early adopter" phase for so long. After that we need smooth talking good looking charismatic people who can simplify and clarify and talk to the media. The crypto nerds will get on board when the dacs hit coinmarketcap in any case.

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk

Agreed. Brian will be invaluable in the future when there are actual products released.
« Last Edit: May 29, 2014, 06:23:54 pm by onceuponatime »