Hi Stellabelle!
So . . . . you mentioned smart contracts . . . .
The answer is (as far as I know -- and I've done the research), they don't exist for Steemit YET!
I really want to change this. Four days ago, I made the blog post (https://steemit.com/steemit/@mark-waser/less-than-hack-ether-camp-greater-than-a-4-week-virtual-hackathon-to-build-out-steem-tools-1st-prize-usd50-000) where my idea for the hackathon was to "Crush Ethereum with Smart Contracts on Steem".
The event runs for four weeks and doesn't start for a while. I am an experienced Software Developer (and, when forced to be, Program Manager). I already have an architecture, design and implementation plan (though I'd love for it to be improved by an awesome team).
This is eminently doable if I can recruit some developer talent (with basically zero budget being the problem). My post got no traction and remained in the slush pile.
It would be awesome if you would be willing to become the "business advocate" for getting this done. You've got enough clout that I'm sure that you can make this succeed -- and I want it to succeed even if I'm not part of it because it will enable so many other things (that and the fact that I'd rather be "just a lowly developer on the team" if that is the best way to get it done ;-).
As I explained in https://steemit.com/steemit/@mark-waser/my-steemit-powerpoint-for-the-extreme-futures-and-technology-forecasting-conference-seattle-wa , my ultimate goal is to crowd-source artificial intelligence (which Steem finally makes possible with its economic model and micro-payments). Smart contracts are the next major step on our (http://wisdom.digital) plan for enabling this, so . . . .
Unless you/we hear from Dan that the developers are already well on the way to implementing smart contracts, this is probably the best thing that we can do for Steem, Steemit and all those who can't blog but have other skills (I clearly suck at entertainment blogging -- but my wife is funnier than I realized ;-)
Sorry for not adding more ideas but I'm very passionate about this one. Can I convince you to be as well?
I am curious what dan and others are working on in the way of smart contracts. Perhaps forming a group of people whom you trust to work on this would be helpful. I need to become more educated about it before I continue on. I like to get to know people before agreeing to anything.
Do you have any real contact with Dan or were you just early enough and good enough to become a whale all on your own? I am indeed starting with a core group of people I know and trust (and want an excuse to drag onto Steemit ;-) -- but the ability to advertise would really help . . . .
I need to write up a post on smart contracts . . . .
One way to win at curation as a minnow is to convince each of your family members to join Steemit, invest $200 and up-vote all your posts. It, at least, gets rid of the dreaded $0.00 post (and they get curation rewards in relation to their investment).