Thats me in the grey. 

Hey Steemit, I feel like I have just taken a glimpse into the future. 

A brief introduction before I go on my rant.

My name is Daniel, I'm from sunny Los Angeles. I'm definitely not your average early adapter. If anything I'd consider myself in the group of "mass market". So, for me this whole world of "crypto-this" and "blockchain that" is fascinating. I run a small mining company in Brazil (not crypto mining, actual mining, check out our Instagram). But, I have a love for starting new things. Since I was a kid I've be struck with the entrepreneurial bug. Sold things on Ebay through high school and college, started e-commerce companies with friends, and I actively day trade.

Recently, I was listening to my NPR podcast on my way into work and they were talking about bitcoins. I've been hearing about them for the past 3 years and I know tons of people made tons of money off it. But, for some reason this specific episode on bitcoins really peaked my interest. So, four days later of none stop researching, here I am, writing a post in Steemit. I went from learning about Bitcoins, to other cryptocurrency and magically stumbled upon Steemit. I am definitely not the person to blog, but this platform is a game changer. I plan to write when I can, simply to support and do what I can to help the cause. 

While This Has Absolutely Blown My Mind, I Have Some Concerns.

Part of what I love about business is the process of growing it. Going from ground zero to the first sale is exhilarating. A platform such as Steem is so reliant on engagement to work, I'm concerned about the growth and how management plans for it. 

1. An issue that I find reoccurring with new products, services, or communities is what I consider the Early Adapter Problem. Obviously early adapters are the heart and soul of any new product or community, I mean look at how passionate the community of Steemit is. But early adapters don't like extreme change that is necessary for growth. You'll hear the words "sell out" a lot from early adapters. I'm curious how the community will adapt to the changes that will eventually have to come for Steemit to grow to the masses. 
2. Speaking of the masses, I'm curious to know Steemit's plan to appeal to the masses. I consider myself part of the "mass market". I accidentally stumbled upon Steemit, and when I did, I had to read whitepapers and blog posts to really understand what it's about. That wouldn't go over well with the masses. Don't even get me started on the economics of STEEM, STEEM Dollars, and STEEM Power. Took me awhile to get it down. I doubt the average joe has the attention span to delve deep enough to understand it. The billboard in Chicago is a great idea. It's going to say, "Blog, Vote, Get Paid". The mass market will think "dollars" not "STEEM Dollars and transferring it to STEEM and turning that into bitcoin and then cashing out into fiat currency". See how this could get complicated for majority of people? Ease of use is the name of the game.  
3. My main concern is reliance on vanity metrics. I see a lot of posts about hitting new record users. 35k! 50k! 75,000!!!! But how many are active? How many are actually coming back? Are they creating accounts and then they're gone? Steemit is 100% reliant on the community. Without community engagement and growth, it can't survive. 

I'm interested to hear your thoughts and if I've missed any blog posts that actually have the answer just send on over the link! I've seen too many good ideas run out of steam (no pun intended) because of issues that could of been avoided. Steemit is such a revolutionary idea and has so much potential to change literally everything, it would be a shame for it to follow the same road. 

Cheers!