A Day in the Life Of...Ned Scott

Crypto entrepreneur, amateur chef (word on the street is he makes a mean pineapple upside down cake) and part time guitarist -- @ned has embarked on an adventure at 26 that most of us have only dreamed of. So what does a normal day look like for the CEO of Steemit? I decided to head down to Blacksburg, VA and find out for myself.

Upon arriving at Steemit HQ I was introduced to the team members who were in the office that day: Dan (co-founder and CTO), Alex (Business Operations), Tim and Val (front end) and Michael and Ben (back end). I look forward to Steemit blasting off because this team is brilliant, innovative, and most importantly, extremely dedicated to the platform and its community.

Being the CEO of one of the first major blockchain applications within the social media space, Ned spends the majority of his day communicating. Whether it be with Steemians via Rocketchat, stand up meetings with the devs or FaceTimes with investors, he’s constantly communicating with those who can add value to the project. At the time of my visit, he had just returned from speaking in NYC to a panel of fintechists, bankers and consultants, and was preparing for a whirlwind of events in Oslo, Johannesburg, Las Vegas, Hong Kong and Amsterdam.

(Photo: Ned speaking at the Blockchain World Congress in New York City)

Great leaders exemplify focus, confidence, passion, authenticity, and integrity. When I got into Ned’s office, I asked him what makes him tick. The first part of his answer was as I expected: “You need to throw yourself completely in to succeed, especially to popularize something new,” but the second part of his answer was unexpected; it was a Bukowski poem.

“If you're going to try, go all the way. There is no other feeling like that. You will be alone with the gods, and the nights will flame with fire. You will ride life straight to perfect laughter. It's the only good fight there is.”

Ned continued to reference Bukowski's words and it started to make sense to me; Ned was a man who had stepped back from society but influenced it beyond his wildest dreams.

After the Bukowski session, part of the team was ready for lunch and we went to Cracker Barrel. It was one of

(Photo: Ned and his attempts at drawing/handwriting)
those big lunches that many struggle to get up from. Ned was talking about work and the project most of the time. Halfway through, he started checking emails, diving into a pile of messages before jumping right back into conversation. He started telling us how he’s starting the Soylent diet.

“Lunch can be great as a team meeting, especially for getting creative thoughts out and organizing ourselves. But there’s something to these days where you just are one moment drinking Soylent and then it suddenly brings me back to the mission of making Steemit a worldwide reality. It’s very rewarding to not spend the time out of focus – because it’s such raw and ready fuel, it helps you connect with the moment and cherish what we’re sacrificing for.”

(Photo: From L-R, Val, Alex, Ned and Tim enjoying some time out of the office)

After lunch we returned to the office where the team continued with their projects until the 3pm meeting. There Ned introduces me to a tool they are using for project development called the “Scrum Board.”

Per the Scrum Alliance, “Scrum is an agile framework for completing complex projects.” The team will use the board in order to break down individual “stories” or wish list items that you, the users, would like/need from the site and break down how best to implement these stories. For instance, “the Blockchain Blonde would like it to be easier to format her post and photos (she doesn’t speak code ☺).” The team would then use the Scrum Board to map out what needs to be done on the front end, back end, and anywhere else, to make sure this story can be completed.

Tremendous thought and effort goes into bringing Steemit to the world. Although still in beta, it is evident that the guys behind Steemit are doing everything they can to bring their blockchain dreams to reality.

“Scrum is a great tool, but ultimately acts as a framework to get everyone up to speed. We do it a little differently than traditional scrum. Rather we manage the project digitally because that scales better and brings our remote devs into the fold more easily.”

(Photo: Ned and the team discussing ideas in the office)

At the conclusion of the meeting, the group is focused and excited. The project appears to be becoming more organized. They’ve hired some excellent talent, Ned says, on the technology side. And much like the Steemit community itself, Steemit HQ is made up of a diverse group of people (albeit, an extremely smart group of people – about 10), working toward the common goal of bettering the community.

So where does Ned see the future of Steem and Steemit?

“Global success for Steem and Steemit, and other Steem apps, is not an ‘if’ but a ‘when’. Steem is going to change the world. In one way or another it may have already done that for some people. Now we need to get everyone else to know about it and want in. There’s a lot here to work through, but that’s part of the fun. We’re going to keep working around the clock and keep making the platform better. Steem will continue to decentralize. More and more apps will be created. And the community will grow in so many ways.”