Jul 05, 2016

I will be presenting at the d10e conference in San Francisco taking place this July 19 - 20. The d10e conference “focus[es] on exploring the innovative decentralizing ideas and technologies transforming the world.” My talk will be about strategies for outsourcing your infrastructure.

If you are in San Francisco and would like to chat in person, stop by the Node40 table at d10e or reach out and schedule a one-on-one while I’m in the bay area.

Presentation highlights

The move from hosting physical servers to running virtual instances in the cloud was a game changer for startups that embraced the technology a decade ago. Suddenly, the cost of running complex infrastructure was accessible to even the most cash-strapped business allowing for a competitive advantage over traditional hosting of physical servers. Now, with blockchain applications taking off, incentivized nodes are giving business a new competitive advantage by facilitating the outsourcing of servers. By structuring a competitive incentive model, business can outsource their infrastructure by compensating anybody who is interested in and capable of running a server.

The evolution of open-source funding

When most open source projects get started, they rely on free labor. If the project is successful or shows potential, we occasionally see outside funding. Recently we’ve seen blockchain applications like Dash self-funding development through a share of the blockchain reward.

But what about the infrastructure?

Don’t ignore your infrastructure needs

Addressing infrastructure needs is difficult even for a well-funded private start-up. For open-source, decentralized projects that rely on a robust network for security, a plan for attracting participation is crucial. A failure to address infrastructure needs early on can lead to a stalled project.

Incentivize participation

Unless you plan to rely on volunteers to run your network’s infrastructure, you will need to incentivize participation. Volunteer participation might be a good initial strategy, but as a long term solution, reliance on volunteers is not viable.

Come out to hear my presentation where I’ll talk about some strategies for encouraging participation.