The journey to a new and better Internet begins
Greetings, Earthlings!
My name is Chikodi, and I’m Head of Communications for Dispatch Labs and The Bureau. It’s my pleasure to introduce myself, welcome you to the next phase of the Dispatch Labs blog, and give you a brief preview of what is to come.
For many of you (especially on Medium) the “why” and the “what” of distributed ledger technology is commonplace. You believe blockchain is the future, and you’re part of building it, you’re investing in crypto projects, and watching the news closely. We’re betting there’s a good cross section of readers out there who have heard of blockchain, especially Bitcoin, and want to learn as much as they can.
Good news!
Whether you’re a blockchain OG, or you consider yourself cryptocurious, we want you to know that our blog is for you. In addition to technical updates about the Dispatch Protocol, we’re investing significantly to share the “why” of blockchain, and how distributed ledger technologies are and will impact society.
In the next week we’re going to be introducing our new writers, and giving them a chance to share their background, work experience and passions. We’re also going to shine a light on our talented team of developers, and our senior execs, all of whom are working around the clock to launch the Dispatch Protocol, and to help usher in a new and better Internet.
Who am I
I’m the founder of Moonshot, a boutique PR and strategic communications firm in San Francisco. During the past five years of solo practice I’ve helped build and launch cannabis brands, accelerate food systems startups, and assist frontier technologies of every stripe. When a beautiful idea wants to be born, saying no is not an option for me.
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Before all this, I was a (and am) a journalist. Several generations ago — in startup years — I was a staff reporter at VentureBeat, and TheNextWeb. I earned my MS from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, and my move to San Francisco coincided with the launch of a daily blog about sustainable transportation, AltTransport. For a brief and heady moment in time, the world was in love with “clean technology,” and to this day I’m remarkably proud of the passionate audience we built around the topic. More than 80,000 visitors each month flocked to a startup blog that had no marketing budget, no senior management, and only two full-time staff.
The key lesson I learned at AltTransport is to go deep, not wide. In my wildest dreams I couldn’t have imagined how passionate people can get about bike lanes, or railroad policy, until I started to cover them in-depth. The world is a big place. You can build a sizeable audience on any topic, as long as you go deep. It’s a lesson I carry with me to this day. The stories are there.
Blockchain is special
The technical layers of blockchain offer you and me unprecendented security and control over our data. On a fundamental level, however, blockchain promotes powerful new incentives for collaboration and cooperation. Tokenization — the creation of cryptocurrencies — creates a reward system for positive behaviors that change society in ways that technical progress alone cannot. It’s a powerful notion whose time has come.
It’s also possible we’ve got it all wrong.
Hold us accountable
As we go deep into the technology, the people, and the impacts of blockchain, we invite you to be part of the conversation.
Ask us tough questions!
Are you skeptical? You should be. We are too.
Blockchain isn’t going to work just because we want it to. What we’re attempting is hard, and it’s never been done before. Healthy skepticism from you helps remind us when we’re truly building a better Internet, or just drinking our own Kool-Aid. Nothing worthwhile survives without the ability to withstand critical scrutiny.
We have strong beliefs, lightly held. What we don’t have is all the answers. Without you, we’re much less than we could be.
Is there a story you want to see? Do you want an expert to weigh in on an important topic? This blog is for you, not for us. Don’t be shy to drop us a line, and let us know what’s working well, and if we suck. We promise to do our best not to suck. If we do, tell us and we won’t be mad.
