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Introduced Ethereum to my Company (self.ethereum)

_KnownUnknowns_ が 投稿

...and was met with, "Is this from Star Wars?" I had an opportunity at my company to deliver a 30 minute presentation to executive staff and the entire accounting department on a topic I think that will affect our business in the future. I decided to present an overview of the Ethereum blockchain and the benefits it will have for my company and our industry. I'd like to think I'm a decent presenter, but it went terribly. Not only could no one wrap their head around a global distributed ledger, but no one could see how it will be adopted. It was the worst received presentation I've ever given in my life.

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[–]DamosDaze 84 ポイント85 ポイント  (5子コメント)

Bullish.

[–]ZergShotgunAndYou 13 ポイント14 ポイント  (4子コメント)

Indeed,i suppose this is his CEO:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eywi0h_Y5_U
it's the "it doesn't appeal to business customers because it doesn't have a keyboard" mentality.
Stay strong OP,the poor reception you had with your presentation simply means either they are in denial or simply can't grasp the fundamentals of the tech and therefore will get steamrolled by it(seeing as you say you're in a field that stand to benefit from adoption of the blockchain).

[–]NewEthereumGuy 12 ポイント13 ポイント  (3子コメント)

Also possible (don't hate me) that OP didn't sufficiently understand the topic to be able to respond to the inevitable questions. Talking about blockchain tech is not easy. The important thing in such a talk would be to laser-focus on how it would save your company money, in very concrete and easy to understand terms. That is hard.

[–]_KnownUnknowns_[S] 4 ポイント5 ポイント  (2子コメント)

No hate here. I'm not technical, nor is anyone in my company. Degree of difficulty was super high and I definitely didn't stick the landing. I'll give myself an A for effort though.

[–]NewEthereumGuy 6 ポイント7 ポイント  (1子コメント)

If nobody in the company is technical, I don't see how your company could make use of blockchain tech, unless it's prepackaged into an easy-to-use service.

[–]tjones0808 0 ポイント1 ポイント  (0子コメント)

Hire contractors to develop whatever business enterprise block chain software they need for their business?

[–]EvanVanNess 30 ポイント31 ポイント  (1子コメント)

Have you considered finding someone recognized in the industry to come in and talk to high level executives?

Either way, you've planted your flag in the ground. in a few years, they will come back to you and ask your opinion on how they should use "blockchain." I know at least a few people who have stories that start similar to yours, but end with them leading blockchain projects.

[–]_KnownUnknowns_[S] 18 ポイント19 ポイント  (0子コメント)

Thanks for the comment. At least the ice has been broken. If there's a killer Dapp that applies to my industry I'll be able to bring it up and at least I've laid the foundation. I work for intelligent, inquisitive people; I think they'll eventually come around.

[–]ZergShotgunAndYou 15 ポイント16 ポイント  (3子コメント)

Accurate rendition of OP giving his presentation: https://www.powersystemsdesign.com/library/resources/images/Dilbert/dilbert_dec11.gif

[–]_KnownUnknowns_[S] 11 ポイント12 ポイント  (0子コメント)

Hilarious. It wasn't contentious. Just awkward because nothing was landing with the audience. It quickly became clear I was speaking a completely different language.

[–]basementdiplomat 3 ポイント4 ポイント  (0子コメント)

Dilbert is the shit. I'm on Scott Adams' mailing list and I get a new comic every day.

[–]djn808 0 ポイント1 ポイント  (0子コメント)

Or more likely: Conspiracy Charlie, doesn't even notice he was smoking a cigarette the entire time during the presentation.

[–]Papazio 14 ポイント15 ポイント  (10子コメント)

I don't like it, but the best way I have found to get buyin (metaphorical attentional buyin, not money) is to name drop the shit out of blockchain and then Ethereum. For example:

'Check out this explanatory infographic on blockchain by Deloitte, and this one by PwC.

Check out this flashy website on blockchain by GoldmanSachs.

Check out this 2015 report by the UK Gov's chief scientific advisor on Blockchain use, adoption, and future.

Check out what NASDAQ and Citi Group are doing with blockchains.

Check out what Toyota, Samsung, and Mitsubishi Finance are looking to do with the Ethereum Blockchain.

Check out all the other global companies who are part of the EEA.'

If I wasn't on mobile I'd have provided links.

[–]objectivix 18 ポイント19 ポイント  (2子コメント)

Deloitte

PxC

Goldman Sachs

UK CSA

NASDAQ + CITI

EEA

=)

[–]_KnownUnknowns_[S] 1 ポイント2 ポイント  (5子コメント)

Thanks. I probably could have spent more time on this. I only had 30 minutes so I spent a lot of time on the history (going back to Bell Labs), technology, security and future disruption. Discussed Bitcoin as Version 1.0 and Ethereum as Version 2.0 (I know this won't sit well with many, but I needed an easy metaphor given time constraints) and ended with EEA.

[–]Automne888 1 ポイント2 ポイント  (0子コメント)

Damn, reminds me of one of the presentations I did with a public that never heard about blockchains before.

The following time, I didn't bother talking about nonces, hash & blocks. Just said : "It's a magic book" and focused on applications with the perks. :')

[–]Papazio 1 ポイント2 ポイント  (2子コメント)

Sounds like the 'story of blockchains and ethereum' approach was a good idea. People like stories. Maybe they got a bit hung up on the tech?

I'm not a programmer and not really v.geeky in the grand scheme of things. But I'm an uber geek to my colleagues because of my industry. With that label comes trust in the analogies that I use to explain things like blockchains. Its a bit lonely though, therefore I spend a lot of time here.

[–]_KnownUnknowns_[S] 1 ポイント2 ポイント  (1子コメント)

Thanks, I'm in a very similar position at my firm. The tech was tough for everyone to wrap their minds around. I also think the disruption of major cornerstones of our economy (banks, accountants, equity exchanges, notaries, land title, etc...) was a little too much too soon.

[–]Papazio 1 ポイント2 ポイント  (0子コメント)

I know what you mean!

I explained to some friends on a night out who were very receptive, mostly because another mate had independently been interested. Once I explained cryptocurrencies, they were like; 'well thats it then, its the end of banks'.

To be fair, when I was first getting in to it I was like that too. Now I hope for a slow and smooth transition, disruption and disintermediation doesn't have to be chaos.

Good luck on your next presentation and discussions! Thanks for sharing your experiences.

[–]demonicsmileyface 0 ポイント1 ポイント  (0子コメント)

Whenever I mention bitcoin in connection to ethereum when attempting to describe it to someone, they immediately come back with "so, it's for drug dealers?"

[–]1s44c 1 ポイント2 ポイント  (0子コメント)

If it takes that much name dropping you must be talking to followers who want to avoid anything innovative. They are not going to go for it no matter what.

[–]DarthRusty 9 ポイント10 ポイント  (10子コメント)

I'm in accounting/finance at my company and have been seeking out opportunities to present it or even bring it up in some way. Not even the IT guys have heard of it so it's been falling on deaf ears. The best I've done is get one person to buy ETH and found another who was already invested.

I don't think most people can understand just how disruptive this tech will be, especially for finance/accounting.

[–]_KnownUnknowns_[S] 2 ポイント3 ポイント  (1子コメント)

Agreed. That was my reasoning for giving the presentation with our entire accounting dept present. It was crickets. I was at least expecting some of the younger accountants to get engaged and ask some insightful questions and get a good conversation started.

[–]red_dawn88 1 ポイント2 ポイント  (0子コメント)

Sadly, there are plenty of young people who couldn't give two shits about new tech. Unless it's a new iPhone of course.

[–]chastity_BLT 0 ポイント1 ポイント  (4子コメント)

Your IT guys haven't heard of digital currency?

[–]_KnownUnknowns_[S] 1 ポイント2 ポイント  (0子コメント)

We don't have in-house IT.

[–]DarthRusty 1 ポイント2 ポイント  (1子コメント)

They've heard of it but not as far as implementing blockchain into a finance and accounting system.

[–]chastity_BLT 0 ポイント1 ポイント  (0子コメント)

Gotcha. Was about to say yall might want to get some new IT guys.

[–]djn808 -1 ポイント0 ポイント  (0子コメント)

Half the guys churning out CRUDs in the Bay don't even know about it yet.

[–]cuchoi 0 ポイント1 ポイント  (2子コメント)

Hi, I don't understand how disruptive this tech will be, but I keep seeing it mentioned everywhere. Can you point me to any resources that describes why is this the case?

[–]DarthRusty 2 ポイント3 ポイント  (1子コメント)

You can go down the rabbit hole of these subs or a google search, but here's a decent write up on the potential disruptive nature of the blockchain:

https://hackernoon.com/why-everyone-missed-the-most-important-invention-in-the-last-500-years-c90b0151c169

And here's a great intro from a blockchain guru/father:

http://tim.blog/2017/06/04/nick-szabo/

[–]KarlHabsburger 7 ポイント8 ポイント  (0子コメント)

Don't take it the wrong way. It's just like the Internet back then in the 90's and 00's. Before people don't understand or see many other people use it, they won't grasp the magnitude of potential change that resides in the blockchain-technology.

[–]travick 4 ポイント5 ポイント  (4子コメント)

You did a first attempt, nothing wrong with that. This stuff is so disruptive that most fail to grasp it, even when it is front of them or if they are in the middle of it (frogs in heating water...). You will need to repeat this a couple of times for sure. Did you mention any use cases ? Would you mind sharing your deck (if you have one) ?

[–]_KnownUnknowns_[S] 2 ポイント3 ポイント  (3子コメント)

Thanks, appreciate the words. I'd share my deck, except it's pretty bare bones and most likely would result in more questions than answers here. My presentation style is to have limited text on each slide and load most of the content into my words. I prefer my audience to listen to me and not read my slides. Anyway, it results in fairly boring/uninformative decks when emailed out.

[–]travick 0 ポイント1 ポイント  (1子コメント)

Got you, makes sense. I found this intro to Ethereum/blockchain very informative although a bit technical for general use maybe, there are usable slides in this too: https://www.reddit.com/r/ethereum/comments/6ak7q4/new_video_of_my_intro_to_ethereum_presentation/

[–]_KnownUnknowns_[S] 0 ポイント1 ポイント  (0子コメント)

This is great. Thanks for sharing. I could have used this and edited down for simplicity. I used a lot of info from David Yermack, NYU. I had hoped the "appeal to authority" strategy would be helpful.

[–]melenkurio 0 ポイント1 ポイント  (0子コメント)

Alone from this comment, I can see that you know how to present well. So not your fault that the message wasnt received.

Imo some guys here are a bit overhyped. How disruptive blockchain will be, will depend on how scalable it will become. Its not a 100% safe bet. Still its not smart to ignore such a fast growing technology.

[–]Ignatius_G_Reilly 3 ポイント4 ポイント  (1子コメント)

I've given up on trying to evangelise or whatever. Some people just seem to get it immediately, But with most it would take too long to onboard to a level where they don't think you're insane.

[–]_KnownUnknowns_[S] 3 ポイント4 ポイント  (0子コメント)

I disagree. My presentation may have been a flop, but at least I planted the seed. Maybe someone else will come along and water it. I work with highly intelligent, curious people. No one at my firm (including me) has a technical background so this was clearly too much of an edge-case. I find Ethereum so compelling I can't help but tell everyone about it.

[–]jamesey10 2 ポイント3 ポイント  (0子コメント)

how will it directly disrupt your business? What savings or revenue adjustments will happen? that's all the executives care about.

[–]psswrd12345 2 ポイント3 ポイント  (1子コメント)

Thanks for sharing your experience. I've been the crazy guy in the office for the better part of 18 months, and colleagues are only now beginning to express an interest. Will be giving a similar intro presentation to a similar group of people. I'm planning on opening by asking people if they know what the internet is and then asking them to explain it before transitioning to a conversation on the "Internet 2.0" and the potential implications.

The struggle is real, but we will prevail!

[–]_KnownUnknowns_[S] 0 ポイント1 ポイント  (0子コメント)

Good luck! Would love to hear how it goes.

[–]WeaponizedMath 2 ポイント3 ポイント  (4子コメント)

Good.

Innovation doesn't come from executives. To them, standing still is making progress because the industries they control are a race to the bottom.

Its my goal to eat their lunch, take their wages and put them out of work. Thank you for this post. It is energizing.

[–]cogneato69 0 ポイント1 ポイント  (3子コメント)

Yes, the majority of executives are status quo maintainers. Still, if given the information and enough a-ha moments they'll come around.

[–]WeaponizedMath 1 ポイント2 ポイント  (2子コメント)

I think this is a bit wishy washy.

It's risk and their job is the avoid, mitigate or minimize risk. They'd be stepping out into the frontier and they would have no one to call if shit got real. In a world dominated by service level agreements that's unheard of.

That's a career ender for them. Not just at their current job but probably in their industry. I would be more afraid of the executives rushing to adopt something like Ethereum/Bitcoin than the ones who ignore it.

[–]cogneato69 0 ポイント1 ポイント  (1子コメント)

I'm not really disagreeing with you. Being disruptive is enathema to entrenched interests. Unless it's part of your business model, but that's extremely rare. Also, I don't really know what I'm talking about, haha.

[–]WeaponizedMath 1 ポイント2 ポイント  (0子コメント)

Gotcha. I've just spent too much time around them.

It's my bias, but generally I assume anyone with a 'C' in their title is trying to do as little as possible. If forced to act they implement something benign and immeasurable or measurable only in a positive light.

If really stuck having to implement a change I've noticed they tend to find a new job before the change has baked long enough to have any meaningful KPI

[–]inasacu 1 ポイント2 ポイント  (1子コメント)

It was a good idea, have you tried key players? Maybe, IT Strategy upper management first and see how that goes. If it goes well, ask them who next to present this. In any case, try upper management in other areas of the company.

[–]_KnownUnknowns_[S] 1 ポイント2 ポイント  (0子コメント)

I work for a small company (by head count) and everyone was in the room. It wasn't like I was laughed out of the room or anything, just a total disconnect. They're all smart inquisitive people. I'm sure they'll come around. It's just early.

[–]sourpatch1187 1 ポイント2 ポイント  (3子コメント)

Show this video = promotion https://youtu.be/1kp15UrRtQs

[–]youtubefactsbot 0 ポイント1 ポイント  (0子コメント)

What is Blockchain? - Blockchain Explained [1:44]

Blockchain is the technology behind Bitcoin, but it's more than just a tool for buying drugs on the dark web. Here's why you should care.

Jeff Kirdeikis in People & Blogs

14,826 views since Jun 2017

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[–]_KnownUnknowns_[S] 0 ポイント1 ポイント  (0子コメント)

Thanks!

[–]crypto_kang 0 ポイント1 ポイント  (0子コメント)

Thank you

[–]_KnownUnknowns_[S] 0 ポイント1 ポイント  (1子コメント)

Thanks. It's been helpful to talk through it with everyone on this post. I honestly struggle with the fact that it's not more widely known. I can't comprehend why people aren't as blown away as we are about this tech. All in good time, I guess.

[–]KarlHabsburger 0 ポイント1 ポイント  (0子コメント)

You might want to consider reading "Alibaba: The House that Jack Ma built" by Dunkan Clark. It deals with very similar issues regarding the struggles that entrepreneurs faced while building E-businesses. You shouldn't forget that the Internet was foreign territory back then just as the blockchain is today for the majority of people. The more people who build useful Dapps that create value for consumers, businesses and governments, the sooner blockchain will become the industry standard.

[–]_KnownUnknowns_[S] 0 ポイント1 ポイント  (0子コメント)

Yes! Or Ransomware.

[–]GregFoley 0 ポイント1 ポイント  (1子コメント)

What was the gist of your presentation? I don't know what the benefit of decentralized tech is other than avoiding government control. So I'm actually interested in hearing how this benefits a traditional company.

[–]_KnownUnknowns_[S] 0 ポイント1 ポイント  (0子コメント)

I approached it from two angles: (1) This is really interesting tech and a great thought exercise (technologically, philosophically, game theory and financial); (2) if this takes off it'll be disruptive and here's how I think it'll be disruptive.

I work in finance and on the second part I discussed how a block chain will affect fees related to third parties (international money transfer, equity exchanges), will impact commercial real estate investing (chain of ownership, title insurance, notaries), commercial debt and possibly industry-wide accounting practices. Basically, I took the stance that this is pretty interesting technology and it has the potential to increase transaction speed while reducing costs and also have ancillary impacts as well. If it achieves its potential our firm has much to gain.

[–]onemany 0 ポイント1 ポイント  (1子コメント)

Can you show us your presentation? Or can you provide a sanitized version. I'm curious to see what you presented and how.

[–]_KnownUnknowns_[S] 0 ポイント1 ポイント  (0子コメント)

I'd prefer not to share it. However, I borrowed a lot from David Yermack. You can get a good sense of what I presented here: https://promarket.org/expect-within-next-10-years-probably-half-banks-will-gone/

[–]Tegno 0 ポイント1 ポイント  (0子コメント)

IMO the absolute best presentation on what this technology could potentially accomplish. Hands down. Everyone I show this to walks away a convert.

https://youtu.be/h8DuaG11juo

Had you just poached this 25min talk for content, you would be in a better position.

[–]AC-AC 0 ポイント1 ポイント  (0子コメント)

Did the same thing at my company haha.

[–]MasterJ09 0 ポイント1 ポイント  (0子コメント)

Think this is a great presentation to explain blockchain on a corporate level: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RplnSVTzvnU

[–]texture 0 ポイント1 ポイント  (0子コメント)

Eventually they'll just remember you as the person who was prescient.

[–]coinlock 0 ポイント1 ポイント  (0子コメント)

Imagine giving a presentation to the retail arm of a company in 1994 and telling them that there entire business was going be crushed by a global network connecting all people and companies that would allow for people to browse products and purchase things from their couch. It's just a leap too far for most people, they don't understand how the thing they owe their livelihood to can be so completely displaced.

[–]n1nj4_v5_p1r4t3 0 ポイント1 ポイント  (2子コメント)

IMHO you should of started with Bitcoin and bitcoin. Level 2 is ETH.

[–]could-of-bot 0 ポイント1 ポイント  (0子コメント)

It's either should HAVE or should'VE, but never should OF.

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Should have, could have, would have.

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[–]YYCExplorer 0 ポイント1 ポイント  (0子コメント)

OP is it possible to share this presentation? I have been asked to do somethign similar. We are looking at the possibility of using for managing transactions between buiness units.

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