Steem Key To Success: Collaboration

There is an interesting shift in mindset that takes place when one gets involved deeply in crypto-economics.

I maintain that people who still use the scarcity based prism of competition are missing a major piece of what is unfolding. They are also going to miss a grand opportunity to attain success.

There is no competition in the world of crypto-economics. That is a product of living in a system of scarcity. On Steem, we are seeing a shift to an abundance model which totally alters how entities and projects can interact.

In the present system, we essentially operate in a win-lose world. While businesses tout win-win models with their customers, the truth is they still want to lock them up and get as much profit from them as possible. At the same time, companies are doing their best to take business away from other companies in that industry while trying to protect their own base.

When one encounters Steem, an interesting thing is noticed. There is one log in for every application. Hence, a user (customer) of one application is also the user of another. Customers in the traditional sense are the same across the ecosystem.

It is an interesting situation of individualism versus collectivism. Since all applications have STEEM, it is a collective effort. We are in a cooperative ecosystem meaning that each of us owns a stake and that will grow in value as the entire ecosystem grows.

The individual nature is exhibited by applications creating their own token. Essentially, they are developing their own ecosystem within the larger one. Again, the value of that token will grow as the entire ecosystem expands. What is interesting is the value of the Steem ecosystem will also benefit.

Under the present system, the win-lose paradigm is pushed because this is where the money comes from. Revenues are derived which helps to drive profitability. While many "pies" do grow, it is not at a fast enough pace. The sole reliance on these numbers means, when the total market is not expanding rapidly enough, business needs to come from elsewhere.

The fact that businesses and projects on a blockchain like Steem can create their own token means their profitability can come from another area. Certainly, common business practices of budgeting, marketing, fundraising, etc... still apply. The additional layer of the token makes things a lot different.

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Now, projects can collaborate by using their individual tokens with other projects to provide incentive to users (who are commonly shared), thus raising the value of both. The same is going to hold true for blockchains. Those that operate in an isolated state will not have the same value as those that are interconnected with others. Your home Wi-Fi system does not have great value, overall, because the reach is limited.

My feeling is that it is imperative that projects seek to enhance the value of each other by collaborating. By partnering up, there can be more creativity and ways to benefit users than when one operates alone. This is vital. Being involved in the attention economy, users are going to seek those applications that provide the greatest return. This is not always going to be financial of course. People use applications for a variety of reasons. There is a point, however, while we are transitioning away from the scarcity system, where the financial incentives are going to be highly prioritized.

I wrote yesterday how @michaelx is seeking to create interoperability through complete token portability allowing STEEM (and every other token, be used across any platform. This idea shows how the "whole is greater than the sum of its parts". By doing this, the entire industry would be increased in value. Every token would have more value since its reach would be expanded.

Obviously, a garbage project is still that and would most likely be reflected in the value no matter how far the reach. The point is that we will see more value created as projects can access a wider scope of users. Ultimately, the masses do not care what blockchain is about or which one they are operating upon. It will be the applications being used that matter.

We are starting to see some successful projects unfolding on Steem. It is going to be interesting to watch how they interact with each other. I would hope that many of the developers are talking to each other seeking out ways to leverage both their projects for the benefit of each other. Naturally, this will enhance the value of the collective i.e. everyone who has SP in their wallet.

We are virtually unlimited on many fronts. There is no limit to the number of ideas that can be thought up and tried. Incentives are virtually unlimited since we do not have a cap on the number of tokens that can be created. From the present number of users within the industry, we have, what looks like, an unlimited market that is untapped.

Developers, users, and content creators all have goals that are aligned. We all want to see Steem succeed along with the entire blockchain/cryptocurrency industry. As a holder of STEEM, the success of any application on this blockchain will enhance the value of my holding. It matters none whether I use that application or not.

At the same time, the success of any user is a windfall for me. That might see counter-intuitive since it would, theoretically, dilute the reward pool. While that is true, having more successful people on this blockchain enhances the entire ecosystem. Plus, success is not reflected in STEEM anymore. There are many who are enjoying a great deal of success using the applications that net them those tokens. So while their STEEM holdings might not be great, their wallets with other tokens that are still tied to Steem keep growing.

This concept is tough to wrap one's head around at the start. It is such a difference in thought process that it is often missed. Yet, the longer I toy with these concepts, the more I see how appropriate they are.

As more people have this shift in thinking, I believe we will see things progressing at a much greater pace.

It is inevitable.

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