Do you want to appeal to stock market investors, or the 'big audience'?
Stock market investors are the big audience . . . at least when referring to people who have money to invest.
most Bitshares users are more like tech-savvy types than stock-market types
Without a doubt, like all crypto, until now, and if you don't want to die on the vine, you'll need to broaden your scope, and if your business is facilitating a live auction process, that is to say, acting as an exchange, that means targeting the investment and trading market.
Also, tech-savvy types are notoriously bad at designing UI and effective marketing
That's what partnering is all about - the tech savvy types do what they do best and the marketing/business types do what they do best.
It all sounds too rationally minded to me. Marketing doesn't work on ratio though. Just look at the iPhone. Open source programmers would've never chosen that name. They probably would have chosen a more rational, descriptive name, something like 'DigiDevice'.
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Stock market types are the big audience yes, but they want what the public want because those stocks go up. Not because the name appeals to them. See again Apple's iPhone example. The public wants it, investors anticipate on it. As long as the public wants it, investors will come.
As most major investors are fearful of touching Bitcoin in today's world, even on fairly safe exchanges like GDAX, they're never going to touch BTS unless the public chooses it first as it's champion. As has happened with Bitcoin. Now we need them to choose Bitshares, but apparently they're not doing it right now.
He who controls the mob, controls Rome.Get the mob, the investors will follow. And sadly, the mob has basic instincts which require more flash.
This is probably where our differences of opinion stem from. I agree with you that BTC was first adopted by tech types, and then some everyday average Joe's, but now there is undeniable huge institutional interest in BTC, and this is where our opinions diverge I believe: crypto is currently being taken over by professionals, by big money, and there is no going back. What that means is that the survivors will be those sought after and supported by big money.
The public loves the iPhone precisely because of its catchy name, and, of course, because it is the product of a stock market darling. To be sure, it’s a chicken or the egg argument, but one thing’s for sure, in general, once big smart money is involved, if you don’t have it on your side, you’re going nowhere.
If BitShares is going to survive, it must not only target that market, it must also to cater to it just as it expects to be catered to, (i.e. top notch product delivery with a catchy sounding, easy to remember name.)
Edit: the mob often ends up in its own guillotine, especially when it comes to investing - they usually don't have a clue about long term survival.
But BIG institutional money does not invest without back-ups or failsafes. I have heard many serious investor say they don't even touch certain exchange platforms, because those platforms don't offer the insurances that they require to safeguard their wealth.So while the definition of 'smart money' is up for discussion, I don't think the big institutional investors are at all much invested in most smaller cap coins, because the trading platforms that they trust their millions to just doesn't support that crypto and they are not risking their money elsewhere.
What I do think is that some big Bitcoin whales have invested in those crypto's, but they are very different from institutional money I think.
Also the mob isn't needed for investing, they are needed as users. Once the users are there, it is interesting for investors.
As it stands the current name doesn't draw much new blood in, I myself must admit to have not checked out the platform for many months until quite recently because it did not appeal to me. After that, I of course had another hurdle with the UI but that's another story.
I truly believe that if Bitshares/etc. focuses on becoming the easiest and best DEX as it's prime focus (as well as in name), it would be in it's best interest. People would be drawn in by the security, cheap costs and ease of use.. why would they ever go back to traditional exchanges? That is in my mind the true potential of Bitshares. The whole 'shares' aspect of it might just as well be hidden behind the curtains, and only visible to more serious investors (just make a basic and advanced version, or different interfaces.. smart money will figure it out).