Patrick Quinn on his deliverables and vision of Dash

Recently, we talked with Patrick Quinn, DCG’s interim CEO, about his beliefs and experience, as well as the future of Dash Core Group and Dash as a whole.

Patrick is currently utilizing his experience in software & systems development to manage three roles. In addition to being the interim CEO of Dash Core Group, he also serves as a two-term DAO Trust Protector (functionally a member of the DAO board) and co-founder of the Zaimirai masternode hosting business.

Among the things we discussed were:

• Processes in the core team
• Patrick’s deliverables
• The Dash Platform
• Dash’s current priorities and focus
• Patrick’s previous experience

Here’s the detailed interview.

About the Process in the Core Team

Patrick sees testing as an integral part of the core team. He believes testing is at the core of the success of any software project. Patrick added that teams that run high quality testing programs deliver better results.

Highlights:

• There are some problems with the Testnet infrastructure. Patrick believes that more investment could be made to improve it. He also said that tooling and instrumentation investments could be made to improve testing.
• Such an investment could have been made sooner. In his opinion, infrastructure problems can cause delays and too often result in bigger problems.
• He also talked about the cost of testing problems. In a month, problems found in testing can cost as many as five productive days. Most of the issues disappear when testing issues are fixed.

Patrick also shared his thoughts regarding the roadmap and delivery schedule. He strongly believes that clarifying the roadmap was one of his main goals as CEO.

“The number one goal I’ve put on the CEO scorecard is to clarify our roadmap and delivery schedule. That’s relevant to a lot of other things. First of all, it’s just relevant to our credibility, right? I mean, any software team has to be able to deliver on time and on budget.”

He notes that the situation is improving. He believes the team is working hard to resolve issues. He also pointed out that the Testnet problems appeared because of an incomplete roadmap.

While he believes testing is important and will work to improve it, his focus now is on other things. He envisions himself personally overseeing its repair because he has a software development background. Since he started working in software, he has always used a hands-on approach. He strongly believes in working directly on a project he is managing.

About Patrick’s Performance at DCG

Patrick also shared his views regarding his deliverables. When he first took on the interim CEO role, he worked with the team to create a list of quantifiable milestones. The milestones need to be achieved within 90 days. It will be up to the Dash community to decide if he has achieved them.

He based his scorecard on the fact that he is leading a software company specializing in blockchain technology. Today, blockchain projects are the most exciting projects in the software industry.

“We are a software company, and that is the essence of who we are. Of course, more specifically, we are a crypto blockchain project. They are the most exciting software projects in the world right now, but fundamentally we’re a software company. That is what DCG is. I think that we should have the highest possible level of polish and professionalism with regard to professional software development & delivery.”

He also highlighted the massive criticism that DCG has received. He feels that DCG was among the most criticized software companies in the world. However, he feels the criticism is often justified. Critics of the DCG have been critical that the delivery schedule keeps slipping.

He revealed that the DCG has been on a hiring and interviewing spree over the past year. The goal has been to acquire top engineering talent. However, they could still use more. Delivering what the community wants would bolster Dash’s credibility. Thus, improving the credibility of the DCG in the eyes of the community was a high priority.

His second deliverable was formulating a vision for Dash. He believes that formulating a vision for Dash also entails formulating a vision for web3. Patrick has been involved in Web3 concepts long before Web3 was defined. While there has been a lot of hype around the concept, Dash has not delivered on its promise yet. He would double down on improving the roadmap.

Then he would work on clarifying the vision for Dash. The goal is to get the masses interested in the Dash project. To achieve that, Dash needs a clear vision. That will help clarify the benefits developers, users, investors, and other stakeholders stand to gain. During his time at the helm, Patrick hopes to clarify what web3 will offer since there seems to be confusion regarding the matter.

Highlights:

• Improving credibility of the DCG
• Working on defining the vision for Dash
• Define Dash goals for Web3

Achieving a clear definition would be a huge achievement. Patrick believes that Dash is competing with major platforms like Ethereum and others who are also working on Web3. Creating a clear vision will help Dash remain competitive.

“Everyone is talking about web3. Almost nobody can agree, right? So it is difficult to have a clear vision of it. Even just a clear definition, let alone have a clear vision and then a compelling message to users and stakeholders, and so forth. I mean, we are competing with Ethereum and with all the other people who are telling the web3 story and telling the world that their particular project, blockchain, product or app is going to make the difference.”

He added that “I want us to compete as well as possible. And I think that some improvements to our vision will help with that. We have a lot of inputs from our community, too, that will help us improve that because there are just a lot of really strong opinions. We just need to bring it together in a coherent way and strengthen that vision.”

About Dash Platform

Patrick also discussed Dash Platform, which has been in development for the past five years. He discussed how it would affect web3 when development was finally complete. He noted that the prospects for Dash Platform were looking good.

He believes that Dash Platform is going to be good. He does not think that will be enough due to how competitive the space is. As a result, DCG needs to work to make it great. To succeed, Dash must offer evident and significant value to potential users.

Dash platform is not built with any niche audience in mind. It is a platform built for the masses. Dash has to make a compelling case for developers to build dApps on it. Besides that, it needs to convince end users of its value. In Patrick’s opinion, Dash needs to grow beyond its community to succeed.

Regarding the current community, Patrick noted that most early adopters are tech-savvy. The platform will only become appealing to the masses if they can use it without specialized expertise.

“So we have to, that’s another area we have to target with Dash Platform. We must have compelling use cases for non-technical people, everyday users, non-developers, and non-masternode owners.”

For Dash to succeed, Patrick believes Dash has to have a great vision, stick to the roadmap, and consistently deliver products. He highlighted that the roadmap calls for the Platform launch, followed by Version 1.1 and various iterations after that.

About Dash’s Current Priorities and Focus

Patrick highlighted the areas of focus for Dash. He said there was an ongoing debate on whether Dash should focus on being digital money or a web3 platform. He revealed that some in the DCG felt Dash should focus on enabling technologies of the web3 future. These include identity solutions, storage solutions, and others.

“Once Dash delivers on all its promises, the use of Dash as digital money will follow naturally. As more use cases for the Dash platform are delivered, more people will be willing to use Dash currency. Consequently, Dash will find utility as a currency.”

There is a lot of uncertainty, however, when it comes to the use of crypto as money. He pointed out that only a few governments have accepted crypto as legal tender to date. For now, most of the world remains hostile to supporting crypto as legal tender. He gave the example of the U.S., where most jurisdictions classify crypto as an asset. As a result, attempting to use crypto as currency is complex. For instance, if one attempts to use crypto to purchase coffee, it can trigger a taxable event.

The focus for Dash will not be trying to convince people it is a currency. He pointed out that Dash is ranked 75th by market cap today. Convincing people to use it as the next global reserve currency would be a challenge.

Patrick described the issue as a good example of the early adopter problem. He said that nearly everyone in the Dash community understands the advantages of Dash as a form of currency. When used that way, it had tremendous benefits over fiat currencies. For instance, users enjoy greater speeds, lower fees, and better utility. However, trying to convince the masses of this is a challenge.

Instead of trying to win that argument, DCG will focus on areas where they can find more success. One area is creating compelling use cases for the Dash ecosystem. That could drive adoption of Dash, leading to better prices. As prices rise, it can generate more interest in the coin, leading to more viral growth.

Highlights:

• Focusing on enabling technologies of the Web3 future.
• Convincing people to use it as the next global reserve currency is a challenge
• DCG will focus on areas they could succeed, such as creating compelling use cases for the Dash ecosystem.

About Patrick’s Previous Experience

Patrick gave a brief history of his experience. He has been working on IT network and systems administration since 1997. In 1999, he made a switch to software development. He described it as “love at first sight.” Since then, his focus has remained on software development.

“1997 was when I got the information technology network and systems administration, 1999 was when I moved into software, and it was love at first sight. I never looked back. I am a very loyal guy. So when I fell in love with software, it was love forever.”

Patrick spent many years as a developer and enjoyed it tremendously. He is also an entrepreneur, and he eventually decided to start a software firm. That operation has been operating for the past 20 years.

In 2015, one of his employees, Perry Woodin, resigned. At the time, Woodin was working on Dash as a side project. He later revealed that he had quit because of Dash.

Woodin told Patrick he was teaming up with a partner to start Node40, one of the earliest masternode hosting businesses in the Dash ecosystem. Patrick grew interested in Dash and began investing in Dash shortly thereafter.. He was still on the sidelines, cheering for Perry Woodin, who joined the first class of trust protections in 2018.

During the first elections in 2019, Woodin was inducted for two terms as a Dash Trust Protector. When he left in 2021, he endorsed Patrick, who was voted in and is in his second term as a trust protector. The term limit of one has been deemed too small, and the community is working to extend it. Trust protectors have found that achieving anything meaningful in such a short time is nearly impossible.

Patrick has also continued to work on his software business. In 2020, he met an angel investor who took on a partner role at the company. In August 2021, they also partnered to acquire Perry Woodin’s Node40 masternode hosting business.

Patrick is currently the interim DCG CEO, a role that he loves. He stated that DCG faces all the problems of a typical software company. It all comes down to coordinating activities and delivering compelling products.

In closing, Patrick also revealed that his initialpath was to study psychology. He was so committed to it that he acquired a Masters in Psychology. As he was getting ready to start working on his PhD. He eventually had an existential crisis about what he really wanted to do.

He altered his career path from psychology when he signed up for a network systems job, bringing no experience. Luckily, the company where he applied took him on as a junior programmer. His colleagues also nicknamed him Sigmund, since he was a psychologist, a name he has kept since then.