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Colony: A platform for open organizations

colony.io

11–20 of 181 posts

Re: Colony: A platform for open organizations

#11

This is really interesting. I've lately become more curious about theories of transaction costs - how traditional firms might have an advantage because they don't have to bargain over every decision and have understood lines of decision-making. I'm wondering if decentralized organizations might have a transaction cost problem.

Your comment reminded me of this quotation (it's from Lord Bryce's "The American Commonwealth", describing urban political machines in the 19th century):

> An army led by a council seldom conquers: It must have a commander-in-chief, who settles disputes, decides in emergencies, inspires fear or attachment. The head of the Ring is such a commander. He dispenses places, rewards the loyal, punishes the mutinous, concocts schemes, negotiates treaties. He generally avoids publicity, preferring the substance to the pomp of power, and is all the more dangerous because he sits, like a spider, hidden in the midst of his web. He is a Boss.

You're probably right that voting on everything is not the best way to go, but this is the first Ethereum project that doesn't seem useless or some kind of money grab.

Re: Colony: A platform for open organizations

#12
This is all based on smart contracts.

A detailed description of how it's supposed to work was linked in a blog post of theirs:

https://colony.io/whitepaper.pdf

I'm interested in what kind of holes can be poked in particularly the distribution of tasks and "reputation mining".

Fascinating stuff. I hope one of these projects transforms the way we work. The payoff could be immense.

Re: Colony: A platform for open organizations

#13

This is really interesting. I've lately become more curious about theories of transaction costs - how traditional firms might have an advantage because they don't have to bargain over every decision and have understood lines of decision-making. I'm wondering if decentralized organizations might have a transaction cost problem.

I've thought a lot about this too recently while working as a contract software dev versus a regular employee.

There's quite a bit of overhead in specifications planning and negotiation.

There is, as well, a lot of overhead in committees and "no hierarchy" ways of working.

A great amount of efficiency is gained when someone - almost anyone - is The Boss.

Re: Colony: A platform for open organizations

#14
It is a lovely idea for a new company but I cannot see a big company changing its ways, especially one with a natural monopoly that has no actual competition. Another issue I see is people just giving recognition to their friends, not those who deserve it.

Re: Colony: A platform for open organizations

#15
post #14

It is a lovely idea for a new company but I cannot see a big company changing its ways, especially one with a natural monopoly that has no actual competition. Another issue I see is people just giving recognition to their friends, not those who deserve it.

Perhaps open source projects might use it as their governance model?

Re: Colony: A platform for open organizations

#16
post #10
post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

https://blog.colony.io/the-colony-token-sale-7ac14c845bc0 A protocol token is part of the Colony roadmap, but they won't do a token sale until the product is ready, to minimize the risk that their token will be considered an unlicensed security by the SEC. Protocol tokens or "app tokens" in general are really exciting, and a lot of the smart VC people are talking about them. The latest episode of the A16Z podcast is…

What's the difference between a protocol token and the scam tokens you usually get from ICOs?

One's a scam and the other isn't? I mean, it's just a question of whether the thing is legitimate, real, and non-fraudulent.

Re: Colony: A platform for open organizations

#17
post #4

This is the first Ethereum based project I've seen that seems halfway interesting (and I'm one of those "cryptocurrency doubters"). It doesn't somehow recursively relate to Ethereum, doesn't over-rely on blockchain buzzwords, and can be explained in a sentence or two. While first reading the page, I didn't realize that it was even an Ethereum based project until the very end, which I liked. At any rate, I'm intereste…

So I wonder if this is the case because Colony actually pivoted into using Ethereum? I remember an earlier version that had the same basic concept but nothing to do with Ethereum.

Re: Colony: A platform for open organizations

#18

This is really interesting. I've lately become more curious about theories of transaction costs - how traditional firms might have an advantage because they don't have to bargain over every decision and have understood lines of decision-making. I'm wondering if decentralized organizations might have a transaction cost problem.

I've thought a lot about this too recently while working as a contract software dev versus a regular employee. There's quite a bit of overhead in specifications planning and negotiation. There is, as well, a lot of overhead in committees and "no hierarchy" ways of working. A great amount of efficiency is gained when someone - almost anyone - is The Boss.

In Fred Brookes' classic "The Mythical Man-Month", he extols the virtue of having a single architect:

"Conceptual integrity in turn dictates that the design must proceed from one mind, or from a very small number of agreeing resonant minds."

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