Telos Network — Weekly Report — September 6, 2018

Revealing the Telos Identity

(Update: the Community Rewards Program mentioned in this report is now closed.)

Whenever you create something new, there is a process of building an identity: What is this thing you are building? Why must it exist? What place will it fill in the world? You often start off thinking that you fully understand the motivations behind your project, only to discover that you are building something for totally different reasons.

To anyone who reads the Telos white paper, it probably seems like Telos is obsessed with whales and block producers. Those things were very much on my mind when writing it, of course, but I didn’t entirely understand why, because the real Telos identity had not been revealed to me yet.

The process of telling others about your project, explaining what you are doing, why, and for whom, focuses your thinking. The acts of prioritizing tasks, making many small decisions, and discussing amongst teammates naturally reveals the importance of your project and what it really stands for. Weeks of discussion have refined my understanding of what Telos really is and its place in the world. I recognize how much my thinking about large accounts has changed and why they had once seemed like such a prominent idea in the Telos universe. Now I understand: Telos was never about whales, it is about everyone else.

The point of Telos is to give everyone a chance to influence the operation and direction of the network. EOS was designed to be a network guided by the votes of its members, and yet over 99% of those members would never have a meaningful vote, just due to token distribution. From the original EOS announcement, I had been excited about the prospect of a voted and governed blockchain, but when EOS actually launched, it was clear that the votes would only ever matter for that fraction of a percent who were actually running the show. My hopes were dashed, and proposing Telos was my way of resurrecting what I had hoped EOS would be: a voted, governed blockchain where everyone’s votes will have a chance to guide the blockchain.

It is clear to me that people with 1,000 EOS tokens are no less passionate about the platform than people with 1 million. What will grow the blockchain going forward is the ability to engage the participation, passion, and contributions of all users including large investors, emerging innovators and adventurous individuals. Every type of user is crucial in order to grow our chain and reach its potential. Telos is a network where every participant will have chance to engage with and define the future of the blockchain.

— Douglas Horn

Here’s what we’ve accomplished this week:

Launch checklist published Telos Foundation Organization and Voting proposed Arbitration Working Group is assembling a team of legal professionals EOS Talks! launches weekly Telos Talks! show Contribution-tracking “Slicing Pie Manager” app in action Downloads Page added The Telos launch group now has over 90 members Community Rewards Program progresses

1. Launch Checklist Published

With so many updates each week, it can be easy to lose track of progress as we move closer to the Telos launch. Stay up-to-date on key milestones for code development, governance, contracts and tools with the Launch checklist, which ensures organizational transparency and effective coordination between working groups. The Telos Network will not launch based on reaching a specific date, it will launch when we have satisfied the promises we’ve made to offer a complete network. With the checklist, anyone can see where we stand.

Read the entire checklist at the Telos Foundation website: http://telosfoundation.io/launch

2. Telos Foundation Voting and Organization Document proposed

The Telos Foundation Voting and Organization document is a proposal that outlines the organizational structure of the Telos Foundation and how Telos Foundation Voting Tokens (TFVT) will be allocated to eligible candidates. We are releasing it in a still early form specifically to elicit community feedback and support as early as possible.

Read the full document here: https://medium.com/@teloslogical/telos-foundation-organization-and-tfvt-token-distribution-process-b5b02de21424

3. Arbitration Working Group is assembling a team of legal professionals

The Telos Network will elect all of its arbitrators based on token holder votes similar to how block producers are elected. The specification for this will be released soon. In the meantime, we are trying to attract legal professionals from a variety of countries to run for Telos arbitrators. We currently have a small group of attorneys considering this and adding their voices to ideas about the arbitration process. So far the majority of prospective arbitrator candidates are located in the United States. We are seeking legal professionals from other countries to bring greater geographic diversity.

We are in the process of adding an ‘Arbitration’ page with more information to the Telos Foundation website. It will reside at telosfoundation.io/Arbitration.

4. EOS Talks! Launches a weekly Telos Talks! show

Yesterday was the first episode of Telos Talks! presented by EOS Talks. The inaugural episode featured an an AMA with Telos white paper author Douglas Horn hosted by PowerPics from EOS Talks! and covered topics ranging from tokenomics to improved voting approaches.

The show is livestreamed on Wednesdays at 11:00 UTC on the Telos Discord channel at https://discordapp.com/channels/466757729508261889/468500684858327040 and on the Telos YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC1eRSAt81jUf7zM4hsy5S5Q. The first episode from Wednesday, September 5th is available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MkcsaL37yQg

5. Contribution-tracking “Slicing Pie Manager” App in Action

The “Slicing Pie Manager” App that will distribute the 6 million TLOS tokens reserved for network launch contributors is now in action. This has been a large project to create and it’s great to have it working to keep our rewards system fair and transparent. The project has been led by Rob Konsdorf (EOS Detroit) and James Davis (GoodBlock) and informed by professional compensation consultants Matt Johnson and Robert James.

6. Downloads page has been added

As our documents and tools grow, Telos needs a convenient repository for finding things. The new ‘Downloads’ page on the Telos Foundation website will house links to tools like Sqrl and other wallet and account access tools such as Scatter, the Telos white paper, all governance documents, graphics assets, and more.

http://telosfoundation.io/downloads

7. The Telos launch group now has over 90 members

The Telos Launch Group has always been a 100% open group. It started with a dozen block producers but has grown rapidly with both BP teams and individuals who don’t intend to run the Telos Network directly. While we have at least 34 block producer groups taking part in the Telos launch, we are also lucky to have many other valuable community members involved with development, governance, documentation, network maintenance, security, communications, translation, marketing and outreach.

Do you have some skills that you want to share with the Telos launch group? The group is open, but as it grows, we have added an onboarding process. To join, just submit the onboarding survey found here: https://goo.gl/forms/WshtJ2gZ31f3uLv63

8. Community Rewards Program Progresses

The Community Rewards Program launched last Monday and is growing steadily with over eighty members already enrolled and spreading the word about the Telos Network on social media. By writing articles, posting tweets, making videos, and tutorials, there are many easy ways to create content and strengthen the Telos community.

Join the Community Rewards Program and earn TLOS tokens here: http://telosfoundation.io/rewards

Join the Telos conversation and get more info!

Telegram: https://t.me/HelloTelos

Twitter: https://twitter.com/HelloTelos

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TelosFoundation.io

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/TheTelosNetwork

Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/TelosNetwork/

Discord: https://discordapp.com/channels/466757729508261889/468500684858327040

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/telosfoundation.io/