Blockchain Studio and Ethereum Foundation
We tend to praise our gains and successes, not always because we are proud and egocentric, but also because is the end of a process and it was that success that led us directly to another important step in our journeys. That is why I love when I see a video when someone shows how many times they fell (literally in some skateboard or surfing videos) before getting something right. It is honest and shows how much effort is made before something is achieved and how many more times it must be repeated to be part of your tricks.
I can’t show a video with all my attempts and failures but I can describe a project that lifted my expectations very high and then brought me down with a big no. But as anyone in the financial market will say, you get one right and right afterwards get one wrong, and if it is so, you are lucky, keep this up and you will get two rights for every wrong. Also what I have learned from client prospecting is that the “no” is yours already, so if you don’t try, you can’t have the yes.
On march of 2018, Alex Van de Sande, from the Ethereum Foundation, came to us with a very exciting idea about a solution on blockchain for bill projects popular voting. The idea was to create a platform integrated into the blockchain for people to vote for bill projects. The advantage of the blockchain integration would be to have the certainty of the number of people supporting and rejecting the project, so it would be a much more reliable source for lawmakers to base their decisions.
We spent 2 months developing this project, very excited with the perspective of helping the public sector to be more transparent and organised in such an important matter as the creation of new laws! When we delivered it, Alex went to Brasilia to present it to the National Congress and firstly they loved the idea, but when the time arrived to approve the platform for the use they decided not to use it and we still don’t know why.
This is a great example of how even if we do everything right and deliver something great we can still be rejected. It is also a great example of how we can’t allow ourselves to be let down with disappointing news if I had let it happen the BNDES (link) project would never exist and we would not work with the public sector ever again. We know we have the skills and expertise and are always trying to be better in what we do, that is why a simple no can’t bring us down.