Startup Communications, No Messiah Needed
The best founders with the best products are always blinded by their excitement — that’s why they succeed! But the negative corollary to that is what many see as the Silicon Valley Messiah Complex.
Over the past few weeks, the biggest mainstream headline in tech has been about blockchain technology, initial coin offerings, and the recent meteoric rise of Bitcoin, Ethereum, et al.
One recent release is the Blockstack Browser, a system promising to bring a user-friendly experience to developers who understand the problems facing today’s internet experience: lack of security, walled gardens, centralized data storage. The project is backed by heavy hitters like Fred Wilson and Union Square Ventures, and is coming at a critical time in blockchain technology (and internet) history.
Yet the announcement that the founders published hits many of the false notes that are typical of startup communications today. In the quest to demonstrate authenticity and excitement, there are stock phrases that overtake the message and leave the reader (well, me, at least) cold.
On the internet, we are powerless. Our existence on the internet is defined by others, whether that other be a mega-corporation or a government.
The fear trope: powerless/mega-corporation/government.
This new internet changes the dynamic and brings the power back to the people.
The Messiah function, complete with phrasing born during the Civil Rights Movement.
This new internet reflects how people interact with each other naturally, as they have for thousands of years. In open marketplaces and societies, people transact directly with other people to offer advice, goods, and services. Human interaction has never needed a middleman. The internet should work how real life works.
This is actually an interesting section that isn’t as bad as the others in terms of its rhetoric, but is simply a poor reading of human history. Open marketplaces were always based in centralization and middlemen. What’s more, even beyond the economic realm, human interactions have ALWAYS needed middlemen. We haven’t evolved to know and trust everyone that we may come in contact with, which is why we rely on networks and connections — middlemen who extend our relationship capabilities. There’s no shame in eliminating middlemen, as today there is tons of value that is lost to vestigial positions born in the 20th century. But it’s a fantasy to claim that humans are simply yearning to be free of all those who can facilitate new relationships.
The problem in this section isn’t so much that it’s a distorted view (we all have those, after all, and again, anyone pushing forward a genuinely innovative project is going to have a strong viewpoint that they hold near and dear). The problem is that within a Messianic text, and within a world where Messianic texts are overwhelmingly common, it’s not the sort of writing that lets you stand out. The only person who is going to be excited about this project today is one who is already excited about the blockchain and its recent developments. But in terms of outreach/audience growth…
And the Blockstack founders actually say themselves, without realizing it, exactly why this type of writing should be done away with:
Blockchain-based tech has been around for a while, but the technology is too complex, and the average internet user has not had that “aha!” moment
Game-changing tech [blockchain]+ overly complex [blockchain] + Messiah [people who understand the blockchain and truly believe in their project] = average internet user checking out completely.
That may not be a huge issue for Blockstack today. After all, they’re aiming at developers and see this as simply an initial step to eventually having the average user accessing their tools.
But this type of writing must be recognized as an obstacle to be overcome before that adoption will occur. Why shouldn’t we be pushing that “aha!” moment to come as early as possible? There is roughly a decade of real work that has gone into getting to today’s blockchain, and its adoption is critical due to its ability to resolve the serious problems referenced above. Accelerating that adoption will pass through people like this:
You can’t be a Messiah while claiming that all of the power will be given back to the people, particularly not through a project that they don’t understand. It’s simply not a believable story in 2017.
Instead (and I hope this is what will happen in coming days, as Blockstack publishes more materials on the project), we need clear explanations about what the project is doing and how it solves real problems, in terms that are understandable to non-engineers without taking us all for gullible children. That’s what will get everyday users excited about the blockchain — not sweeping statements that sound like they came out of Juicero’s PR department.
