The Interview a Steem Stakeholder Series is a project to help inform the community about the views of the largest Steem stakeholders. The goal is to help "regular users" better understand the views of the largest stakeholders on the platform, so they can better align their actions with what the stakeholders are looking for.
In this post, @dhenz (a stakeholder with over 270,000 STEEM) answered several questions about his views on the Steem platform and community. Below are the questions that were asked and responses from the interview.
Keep in mind that the stakeholders are individuals, and not all of them will share similar views. The views expressed in the interview are the views of the one stakeholder conducting the interview. They are not intended to represent the views of all stakeholders.
Interview with @dhenz
How did you become a part of the Steem project?
I got into Bitcoin through poker, and I started trading crypto and came across Steem and thought it was interesting.
When did you join?
May 2017
How did you acquire a majority of your stake?
Buying it off exchanges. My largest stake was bought recently during the crash.
How many STEEM tokens do you currently hold?
270k
Do you have a large stake in any other tokens besides STEEM?
Yes, EOS to name one.
What Steem apps do you use on a regular basis?
Steemit, Dtube, Dlive, Steepshoot, Busy, and musing, I hear of new apps all the time.
What would you say repels investors or otherwise discourages investment in the Steem blockchain and STEEM tokens?
From an investors point of view, I would say bad information (some still think inflation is 100%) - Lack of understanding DPOS (people think it is centralized when in reality DPOS based tokens are the most decentralized crypto currently available) - What kept me on the fence for so long as the spat between Ned and Dan - from the outside looking in without a lot of knowledge was a worrisome ordeal. Also, loud mouths that shouted scam at the beginning didn't help either.
What would you say attracts investors or otherwise encourages investment in the Steem blockchain and STEEM tokens?
The potential. When large content creators started getting outright banned from YouTube I saw the writing on the wall. Listening to people like the co-creators of Steem Monsters on the Steemit channel interview, they built the card game with the end goal of an increase in adoption for Steem; this trend will continue I believe.
Guiltyparties helped recover my account when a villain got access to it and went up and beyond what I imagined. Because of Steemit's power-up feature,11k Steem was stolen but the 30k Steem I had already locked was safe. If it was a bitcoin wallet that got hacked, Satoshi isn't here to save me.
The secret gem is the ROI via the PoB system. The fact that you gain money by helping the platform via upvoting content is such a revolutionary idea.
In addition to holding tokens, how else are you involved in the project?
I manual curate as much as I can. My favorite thing to do is to send 5-10$ to an upvote bot to get a introduce yourself post boosted. I remember when I started Steemit a year ago and I didn't have the money I have now, I got my first decent sized upvote and it really goes a long way. I am still new to all of this and learning new things every day, but the more I learn the more I feel I am able to help.
What types of things do you do specifically to get a ROI on your investment?
I am dabbling in all forms, I'll delegate to a trusted source if I will be away from Steem. If I will be fairly active I use my power to manual curate. I am still new to all of this but as a pure investor point of view, I understand that the ROI does not matter if it is detrimental to the platform. The best way I view to increase my ROI is to use my SP actively the best I can, giving manual upvotes, paying for new people to sign up, whatever it takes to help Steemit grow. Making 10% ROI a year is cute, but getting Steemit as the dominant social media platform is ROI beyond wildest imaginations.
What are ways that "regular users" have potential to affect your investment in a positive way?
When I see someone out promoting Steem, whether it be giving out shirts, baking cupcakes with the Steem logo, or throwing Steem events, that is what I like to see. I like to see an incentivized active community that is out to spread the word about this amazing platform and opportunity.
Another is when I see someone with an illness, or some kind of an emergency, Steem really is the definition of many throwing in a little. If 100k people all chip in 10 cents, that is enough to change lives. And I have already seen many lives changed here on this platform.
What type of contributions do you consider to be adding value to your investment?
One of my sayings I throw around is: "Invest in your investments" - I like to actively put in the elbow grease to squeak out any value I can and recycle it into the same ecosystem. I heard a good quote: "We're all going to the same moon"
Unlike investing in something like Apple, there is very little I can do to improve my investment in any way. However, with Steem I am a content creator myself, and I can improve the platform by doing what I want others to do, and that is sharing their knowledge and experiences.
How do you discover and reward those types of contributions?
My first stop is usually the introduceyourself tag. I like to see new people signing up and hearing their stories of where they are from. Then I hit the tags I follow, Steem, Bitcoin, Crypto - things like that. Not a shocker, but I get the best news about Steemit here. Anyone really trying, and putting out content I enjoy reading, regardless will get my upvote.
Do you delegate SP to any projects? If so, what types of projects do you support?
I have dabbled in delegating but I am still new to it. I am always actively seeking new projects to help in any way I can.
How "hands on" do you expect to be in projects you support?
Must of the effort I put in comes from research. Once I feel confident in a project, I trust them and am mostly just a fly on the wall looking to help where I can.
What type of accountability reporting do you expect to see from a project that you support?
I like to see updates when possible, general good feedback and signs progress and effort is being made. If the projects are showing that they really are helping the steem ecosystem, that is good enough for me.
What do you look for when casting witness votes?
I prefer witnesses with skin in the game, and that is active. I know not everyone is a content creator, but everyone has an opinion and commenting and giving feedback on post goes a long way. Witnesses that provide value in the way of creating new additions to Steem is also a huge plus.
Do you have strong views on any of issues that are frequently discussed, or any upcoming changes?
I just feel fortunate that this blockchain exists, and mostly just counting my blessing being here. If I could touch on something it would be that investors need to put themselves in the content creators shoes. Without happy, incentivized content creators this platform wouldn't be where it is today. But also, content creators need to put themselves in the shoes of the investors. Steem would have much less value if speculators and outside investors did not buy the steem off the open market when creators need to cash out. It is a harmonious circle and both should be sympathetic to each other's causes and we should as a community find a way for us to both win. I believe that is what is already here, the DAO allows for us as a community to overcome and obstacles, it's up to us to find solutions that work for everyone.
What would you like to see more/less of from "regular users"?
I would just like to see more regular users, period; of all kinds. No one can judge "quality content" but one can judge consistency, passion & effort. When I read a post I want to feel engaged, if I feel you're doing just for a quick self-upvote, I quickly move on. Try and make a difference, from a strict investor point of view, if we see you trying to onboard new people or improve the project in any way, we are rooting for you with our upvotes.
What sort of profit margins do you hope to see for your investment?
Not looking for any profit targets, I will enjoy the process each day and provide as much value as I can. - From a robotic investor point of view, Steem provides more ROI than any of cryptos I know of in terms of passive income, a well-kept secret that most investors have no clue about.
Do you have a time frame for how long you plan to hold STEEM? Or a price target?
Have no thought about it, so much to do and so much room to grow the last thing on my mind is the end, too focused on the beginning.
Do you believe that the delegating of SP to bid-bots as well as self-voting/circle-jerking is harmful to long-term ROI?
When I made my purchase of 250k Steem (about two weeks of buying) and decided to quit Youtube and Quora for good and make Steemit my new home, I was conflicted whether to upvote myself or not. At first, I did not upvote myself because I wanted to have more steem power to upvote comments. - I'm not some saint, I believe if I upvoted big on people who followed me, they would mostly powerup, and their upvotes would give me more SP, and the circle of life continues. But then I figured out that giving myself a large upvote after everyone else has upvoted, will only give the curators more earnings; which was my goal in the first place. I think now, why fight self-upvotes? We are given the freedom to do so and mostly we choose to do so, its human nature at large, we can deny it or embrace it. Also, it gives another reason to hodl and power up we should not condemn someone who wants to self-upvote. However, all in balance, if all you do is self-upvote and nothing else, you should, in theory, lose followers and respect on the platform.
I feel that people who stick to a group and auto bot upvote just a select group is not smart as well. People must realize that steem goes to nothing if the platform isn't getting new people. If we only upvote ourselves or friends how can the platform grow? A wise investor, one that understands what is good for the platform will make sure that the upvotes go to better the platform. I believe the smart money will do what is best for the platform and the dumb money, IE circle jerks, will end up slowly selling their stake because they obviously have no business sense.
Bid-bots I think can be a great force or a terrible foe. If wielded for good, bid-bots can be revolutionary and make the most efficient use of SP for passive investors. We need setups that target content creators and active community participants who are consistently showing up. Also, these bots don't have to just be run without any human guidance I think everyone can become proactive and kind of mesh bots and manual curation to make the best use of SP delegation. If the inflation of steem is looked at like taxes, I believe the roads and bridges that make Steemit workable are the consistent content creators pouring their hearts into the platform.
What factors affect your decisions to go after short term returns that may hurt Steem in the long run vs. decisions to take a longer term strategy?
I always think long term, the short term does not matter to me. I do what I can every day the buidl a better tomorrow. I am a long shot, I will always get the 1000x over the 10x in life.
Are there other forms of obtaining a good ROI from STEEM that you think will be possible in the long-term?
I believe the Steem blockchain will the power to disrupt Google, Facebook, Amazon, Youtube, Reddit, Quora and 99% of all centralized forms of internet businesses. I already use steemit.com for a lot of my search engine stuff. I can easily see a marketplace forming on steem, starts like a craigslist and becomes the next Amazon. I see very big things and I plan going head first all in to add as much value to the movement as possible.
SMTs should provide massive onboarding and unless a ton of further ROI potential by unlocking different opportunity for new communities.
What do you think is the biggest disconnect between stakeholders and "regular users"?
Stake hodlers want to make money, and so do regular users. Stake hodlers make more money if regular users make more money. The disconnect comes from not embracing human nature. As the ecosystem grows we should see smart money doing everything in the best interest of the regular user. The regular user is king and comes first, without it the investor would have nothing to invest in.
If you strike it rich from STEEM, what do you plan to do with your money?
The same thing I am doing know, curating and creating content. The money is great but the social and economic freedom Steem unlocks for the entire world is where I get my thrills.
Is there anything else that you would like to add that wasn't covered by the questions above?
I think things like this question and answer are great and the more we can engage as a community the better off we will all be. We are all going to the same moon.
Previous Interviews:
- Interview with @steemed (500,000+ STEEM Stakeholder)
- Interview with @acidyo (100,000+ STEEM Stakeholder)
Future Interviews:
If you are a stakeholder with 100,000 or more STEEM and would like to participate in an interview, please reach out to me on steem.chat or Discord.
This is the right kind of investor I like to see coming on Steem blockchain. More whales like @dhenz and sky is the limit. Great interview.
Nailed it. This mindset is what we need.
Hello igster, it is a white screen in steemgar. Can you please fix it?
Thank you igster =)
Oh igster, it's again
Well a very engaging whale if you ask me, be looking forward to the coming productivity from @denz
I Appreciate it.
Posted using Partiko iOS
Love Dan. Been following everyone of his projects since I found him in the NLC2 slack last year. This inverview and some unexpected money means I’m doubling down on steem! Keep up the good work @dhenz
I enjoyed this interview very much. I ‘ve been following @dhenz for the last couple of months and I think he is one of the most active large stake holders of the platform.
Both as a curator amd a creator. I also like the simplicity of his writings. Even a non experienced guy will be benefited by reading his blogs or watching his vlogs.
Thumbs up Tim.
Thank you.
Posted using Partiko iOS
Just the truth my friend....
I appreciate all the work you do for Steem, Tim. Thanks for putting this together.
Posted using Partiko iOS
Thanks @dhenz :)
Really appreciate you taking the time to do the interview!!
I really liked the interview! Glad to have you on board and I hope we get more like-minded newcomers joining soon!
I think we replied to some of them very similiarly so that was good to see. Great minds think alike is the saying. ^^
I agree, Tim thinks outside the box and bridges the old and the new. He does more than his fair share for STEEM. He is example for all Steemians and not only us Witnesses. ;-)
he is a fucking asshole who doesn't support people. wearing suit and walking around like zuckerberg drinking water. "he's great guy",.. he's a sociopath
They were some good responses. The flawed human admissions made you seem real. You are quite the politician .....hehe I can see you ripping your ears off after that.
What a great concept @timcliff. I have not seen this before on my feed.
I like this interview. What a fabulous outlook on STEEM. I have similar views myself. Being optimistic about the potential of STEEM is rather easy when one looks at what is really going on.
It is terrific to see more uplifting content and a Steemian who is really dedicated to this blockchain. @dhenz deserves the recognition this interview brings.
Wow well I've had the opportunity to see his passion, zeal and pull towards STEEM and this platform, his believe on steemit is astounding, even with ailings of the market, fantastic interview there.
It is good to know that there are still investors who trust the steem and @dhenz is an example of this.
Hello tim, since I found you, every time I read a publication I learn a little more. Here in the comments I find part of an ocean speaking, I am just a haze in the waves, but I'm still learning.
From the interview to @dhenz I extract the human sense that is behind this that we do, which is called creating content and giving it a reason. He shared that steemit has something that I already told you in a previous comment, which is like the first love, that makes a clip and we are hooked, but a great part of that effect is due to the process of knowing others who also create content in the different discord channels, then we could say that a union of elements to keep us working with discipline and constancy in steemit.
About the possibility of adding new users, I also share that idea, I think it is a positive aspect.
Being visionaries in this platform and being able to contemplate what will come is possible, if we manage to keep working on it, with joy and good energy.
I continue reading and learning little by little. I leave you good wishes. (sorry my bad english)
Good vibes.
Hello @dhenz, it's nice to meet you trough Tim's interview.
Here is a little about me. I'm a developer, Utopian moderator, a STEEM witness (maintain my own and those of @utopian-io). I host meetups and talk on radio shows about STEEM.
I also develop and maintain (the french version) of a funny and formative app on STEEM called The Magic Frog that I think is a great gateway to STEEM. Write for fun and money!
I would love to hear your opinion on my posts what I bring to the platform. I'll see you around the blocks! ;-)
My master has big dreams for me. He says he will bring me to schools! He thinks kids are our future and that I can help teach them about writing for fun and cryptocurrencies. I can't wait!
Dan was one of the first people I found that talked sense about crypto on YouTube. Good to see his investment here, in both money and the work he does.
I think I've got a reasonable balance with curation now, I use some auto votes (@dhenz is in my curation trail) and I do some manual curation. As photography is my thing, I'm mostly looking for photos that catch my eye. Shame my maximum upvote has gone down to 4 cents, but I'm thinking that could be worth much more in the future. The resteem is useful as well, the more of us that resteem good content, the more eyes will see it. I've resteemed this post.
agreed with you dan is very very sensible when its about crypto world
Love the all-in move over to Steem, Dan! Been following your content since spring of last year. So much potential in Steem, especially with all the censorship and demonetization occurring on the main social platforms. Enjoyed the interview @dhenz, love to see this kind of quality content.
Great interview @timcliff with @dhenz . finally some positive approach and sense on what steem can become. Totally agree. I enjoy manually curating and a mix of steem auto and experiencing ROI. Steem on!
This is such an interesting interview! Just like the 2 others from that series! Keep them coming!
Very nice interview. I have just 300 SP. It will take years for me to store 100000 SP. So, chances of my interview will never come.
It is possible. Just keep adding value and making connections with the people that are here.
Thank you Tim. I am interacting a lot with people. I am heading towards to get 500 SP. I hope it will be done soon.
Enjoy the process and you win no matter what.
Posted using Partiko iOS
Thank you dear. I am enjoying here. It is such a nice platform.
i wish everyone best of luck for timcliff interview 😍 surely one day we all will haha than tim wont have time for us :p quite busy person he is
Amen!
Excellent interview, Tim. When I see new whales suddenly appear on the platform (or old ones for that matter!) I feel instantly a lot of curiosity about them. I did notice @dhenz the other day, so it's nice to learn more about the "heart behind the computer screen." I love his attitude when it comes to adding value to STEEM by the way he chooses to use the stake he's acquired.
Too many use their stake in a short-sighted way to try to milk the maximum rewards from the pool without looking down the line 2, 5, or 10 years. I thought it was really interesting that he said he believes many of them will end up powering down and fading into the background of the community significance-wise because of that same myopia.
The ability to curate and support other creators was one of the main reasons I was initially attracted to STEEM, too, and continues to cause me to enjoy using the platform, even though I'm only a dolphin.
Really good interview there Tim, and it is great to see a big investor who is into the curation aspect and is actively involved on the platform. Investing more than money is the key.
Wow what a visonairy. And the type of Investor/Content Creator that is a prime example of what Steem needs.
So refreshing to hear a whale like this who cares about the regular users. I know I work my butt off to create consistently, good Content day in and day out and to know there are some big boys with an attitude like this....well it's extremely encouraging and makes me realize I want to be here for the long term :)
Thank you @timcliff for this extensive and just flat out awesome interview with this very impressive Steemian !!!
Great interview @Dhenz! Thanks @timcliff! 😎
Resteemed!
the interviewer very nice!!! i started from now to follow him. i like @dhenz
have a beautiful day! :)
#samemoon. @aggroed started that one. Helps us refocus on what's important.
Stake holders gonna stake, stake stake. Snatch and grab opportunists selling their influence to long term visionaries is how you get the best hands on the wheel.
Great interview with a fantastic whale. Thanks.
Build today, thinking about tomorrow, enjoyed the long term view taken, new technology takes time for people to trust.
Earnings may be low, but no one knows what the future holds, this technology I do believe will take time, patience in spreading the word eventually will pay dividends to those dedicated to the cause, with a strong community nothing is impossible.
Great interview covering a lot of basis that need to be discussed and thought about, nothing in life come easy.
@timcliff, great interview!
@dhenz, thank you for choosing Steem - or maybe it chose you ;)
I feel chosen and grateful. :)
Posted using Partiko iOS
Nice one Tim - it's good to hear sense from stakeholders :)
Excellent material and a great interview @timcliff. Congratulations to @dhenz as well for his approach to Steemit!
What I see as a marketing standpoint is that STEEM is not received as an investment opportunity; the fact that your stake can grow and you can get a passive income just curating post is not known (or not known enough).
That being said, I'm fully confident in the platform and I truly believe we are changing the way social online works. Did always power up and wish to become a dolphin by the end of the year! 🐬
I almost missed this and that would have been sad.
Great job @timcliff for doing this series.
@dhenz, impressive ideas, goals and thoughts. I hope you will be an influencer on our investors.
Very useful insight about how big investors evaluate the Steem Blockchain and I'm totally with his view about growing the Network effect of Steem. Everybody should have the best interest for the platform as a whole and should try to promote Steem as best they can.
I just reached out to a german News Outlet and asked them why they didn't covered the great News about Steem recently. Their answer was that they don't have somebody who is working as a freelancer for them to cover our ecosystem. And there I go what a chance to write a good article about Steem and sent it over to the News outlet. Maybe they are going to publish it...cross fingers!!!
Great! Fingers crossed :)
Thank you for having trust and being on Steem!
Posted using Partiko Android
I think this part stuck out to me the most. It may not be a perfect analogy, but there's certainly some thoughtfulness in there regarding the health of the ecosystem, and some of the 'sacrifices' that need to be made to support it.
Great interview Tim. I think the initiative is amazing, we need to hear more from investors' point of view, to get more investors on Steem.
I know @Dhenz on Steem, it's nice to hear his opinions.
Thanks for the interview @dhenz @timcliff, now I have some points of views I didn't appreciate and a new way of working, the constancy and the passion for my posts are the base of success
wow what a great interview with intresting person 200k+ hokdings wow ... quite rich man hehe .. @dhenz is cool person and supportive senior i know he will make steemit more amazing ...
Great interview @dhenz. 👍
A very interesting interview. Thanks for sharing.
Resteemed.
thanks for reesteming it because of you i came here 😍
very nice interview. Good to know the opinions from the big whales! PS: I hope I can qualify one day :)
That was a good interview. I did my first ever Witness vote yesterday but only voted for three people. You being one of them. As I'm a noobie here is there anyone that you would recommend as a proxy voter until I learn more about the ecosystem?
Cool, thanks. Well, feel free to choose me. I select my witness votes very carefully after much review, and keep up with what everyone is doing and adjust my votes accordingly. I of course have my own subjective criteria for evaluating (so maybe there are some 'good' witnesses I am not voting for and 'bad' ones that I am by other people's criteria), but that will probably be the case no matter who you choose.
interesante entrevista, este mundo es un océano de información...
Thanks for this interview, it was very informative for me. There are many thinghs that I do not know and sometimes are difficult to understand it.
It is very nice to see that someone with so much trajectory does not stop learning about all this cybernetic world.
This platform have changed many lives, my life is an example. for this reason I seek to learn more.
I will be attenting of this interviews because I enjoyed this interview.
<3
One thing that I learnt from this interview is that @dhenz acquired major stake during the downturn. Good advice
Posted using Partiko Android
He had 11 thousand liquid steem stolen, damn
Wao very wonderful interview.Hopefully more big whales invest money in cryptocurrency.I really enjoyed your great interview.I totally appriciate your work.Your work is valuable for blockchain.Hopefully rate of crypto coins more going up.Thanks for sharing.@Tim.
Hi @timcliff!
Your post was upvoted by @steem-ua, new Steem dApp, using UserAuthority for algorithmic post curation!
Your UA account score is currently 8.566 which ranks you at #4 across all Steem accounts.
Your rank has not changed in the last three days.
In our last Algorithmic Curation Round, consisting of 597 contributions, your post is ranked at #1. Congratulations!
Evaluation of your UA score:
Feel free to join our @steem-ua Discord server
Congratulations @timcliff!
Your post was mentioned in the Steemit Hit Parade in the following category:
nopes ?? pending payout isnt 14716 or maybe some people downvited it ?? @timcliff ??
wow audio version looks very helpful 😍