I’m not against what @BIGbtc is saying. I just think references to “the real world” are kind of vague if what is meant is a perceived necessity to work with Evil Giants. Torvalds was just some kid I happened to go to high school with. He didn’t much care about “the real world” and the only “user base” he cared about was himself. Now his kernel sits in almost every home in the world in the form of Android. Because there was a real need for it.
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I think its important to keep your company culture at the forefront of your mission and that is not going to be possible when 200 developers start plowing through your code.
It would be such a shame if Maid sold out to big hype and lost track of the substance and values of their product.
Also remember that after the ICO zeppelin goes down in a blaze of glory and the spin doctors are laughing on their yachts down in the Mediterranean then someone still needs to carry on advancing tech. As Nick Lambert says we mustn’t let the users become the product as with all current fortune tech companies. Also regarding blockchain and dapps a unique sequence of bits shouldn’t hold some imaginary value just because someone got there first (i.e. CryptoPunks). Just try and stop people from trading pure garbage and giving it some intrinsic value when money becomes the companies new god.
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Lots of good points on this thread but this is one I think is easily overlooked, but which David and Nick seem to have made central. They seem to be laser focused on ensuring that the pieces of this endeavour remain both in their control for now (not selling out for money) and able to be handed over to everyone in the longer term (patents, the foundation, licensing, developer pods).
I don’t follow other projects in this space closely, but they keep making headlines for the wrong reasons - because not one of them comes close to MaidSafe in this respect. Which in turn is why I don’t generally concern myself with the other projects and why I’m so committed to this one.
I see no need at this point to start cosying up to our associating ourselves with Ethereum or industry heavyweights simply because they have all this interest and resources at this time. It feels like fomo to me. That could disappear very quickly after all, and this project doesn’t need it.
I agree with @BIGbtc’s concerns, but not his way of addressing them. IMO they are already being addressed, and in precisely the way needed for this particular project. At least I can’t see a way of doing it better.
If you shout too early, or scale too quickly, or strike up alliances with the wrong outfits for the wrong reasons, it can go badly for you. So I see risks in @BIGbtc 's proposals and I’m glad the community isn’t lining up behind them.
We don’t have 400 developers now because we simply could not do anything with them - either in the core or in apps. They would get in the way. If the current API starts to deliver, (and we’ve been here before and then ripped it up, but fingers crossed) we will see independent devs flocking here. We’ve been here before and seen good devs come and go (some of whom may come back of course) because the platform kept not quite arriving, and the same can happen again.
The time to grow is when the growing season is here, or in our case, when we’ve built the space age hydroponics system! 
I’m not saying we should keep Maidsafe locked away until a polished product is finished, rather that we need to build the outreach side of things as and when appropriate, picking and choosing the opportunities, and I’m not attracted to the idea of close associations with Ethereum at all. If there are players that we want to strike up relationships with, let’s be selective and targeted - and as I said earlier, I think Maidsafe are already doing that.
Look at the potential they have in place in the far East - right now Maidsafe are working really hard to deliver on that by providing those eager devs with the first stable network and API. Remember the video of that hall in Jakarta crammed with 250 potential developers, all there just to learn about SAFEnetwork? That to me shows we’ll get hundreds of devs just as soon as they have something to build with.
I commend @BIGbtc for raising this question, for making us think about who and how we’d like Maidsafe to partner with, when and how to scale etc. My current view is that alliances with big industry partners have little to offer this project on terms that would be acceptable to the project for the time being, so I don’t see value in putting resources into that yet. And as I said, I don’t think association with Ethereum is positive, far from it.
Maidsafe is an entirely different beast from every other project and outfit in this space, and we need to keep that clean and discernable. Almost weekly somebody arrives here and says how refreshingly different this community is, how standout SAFEnetwork is etc. That’s why we’re here, and that’s why we will have no problem growing when the growing season, or rather the hydroponics system, is right IMO. 
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Awesome piece @happybeing totally worth a deep dig. I completely disagree that any association with Ethereum is bad for MaidSafe and feel that sort thinking will handicap MaidSafe and make it forever irrelevant.
I have never mentioned selling out and because, as you say, the safenet project is far different than any other project out there, MaidSafe easily wins in the control department.
And you know this because? When was the last time you or MaidSafe sat down - in today’s environment and in a forum established for new technology- with any of the EEA members?
Don’t be so sure of that. The absence of little hearts and a few comments from forum regulars does not demonstrate sentiment. And not enough people know about MaidSafe to even provide reliable polling. Which is my whole point.
MaidSafe and its investors have more to gain than risk by taking advantage of early stage networking opportunities, getting a seat at a table with the very companies - and their top CIO/CTO’s that are looking for solutions to insurmountable problems.
MaidSafe needs to ride every wave they can to build relationships and remain relevant.
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My post is all, as I hope is clear, my opinion. Thanks for noting where we agree and differ. It’s a bit ironic that you ask what evidence I have for what potential partnerships might offer / demand which I know is speculative (but based on both widespread observations and specific maidsafe experiences), but dismiss the evidence for and against the community “lining up” behind you, or not
Just teasing. 
I’m not aware of all the contacts and meetings that Maidsafe have had or plan to have, but I know they have them and that these involve many kinds of entity and different kinds of potential relationship. They are notably open and friendly towards all projects and players in this space, but also discerning, and evidently willing to politely decline opportunities that don’t, in their more relevant and informed opinion, fit.
Let me make one thing clear. I don’t care about Ethereum. I care about those organizations that care about Ethereum. I care about the opportunities that those organizations offer be it short term or long term, MaidSafe could evetually benefit and early exposure is always better. The very long “sales cycle” for any new product can kill that companies chances at success.
Do MaidSafe have all the bases covered? I’m gonna guess NO. That’s a safer guess, because guessing they have all the bases covered breeds complacency.
In my opinion - and under the circumstances, 15 years in development - there are gains from riding every wave of opportunity. EEA is one such wave.
Am I misunderstanding something here, as these 2 statements seem a bit contradictory? I mean you say early exposure is always better (but don’t say why?) yet also say a long sales cycle can Kill success.
Surely then, we don’t want to start selling too soon, otherwise we’d have the longer sales cycle you warn about.
We don’t want to Market early, or the marketing process will be longer…Is it just me?..lol 
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sales cycle = time between when an potential customer/user is first introduced to a product and when they make the final decision to purchase / issue purchase order for said product.
Some companies will take years (and years) to adopt new technologies/ products because they need to test, verify suitability and deal with any compliance issues associated with changes.
So early exposure to what’s in store with safenet - including details of its capabilites- starts the thinking and dialogue, reducing the sales cycle.
I guess I’m assuming that the target market may reach out past single users and into the deep pockets of evil corporates. Single users will not make MaidSafe a success.
Hope that explains it better.