Yeah, I had to put my real name on the ONO website, so it's official now.

The last few weeks have been a whirlwind of energy, discovery and new opportunities. Everything happened so fast and quite by accident. I didn't go looking for a career, but a mission found me. To me, this is more like a mission, not a job.

So it's now official, I'm leading the international operations at ONO. This means that I am doing everything to make sure that the social ecosystem of ONO gets created in an optimal way. We will see if I can rise to the occasion and find people who are just as inspired as I am about this project. I will need your help, of course, as this cannot be done by one person alone.

The way this all happened is rather curious, and also by accident. It started when i wrote that Hackernoon article about Ke Xe, CEO and Founder of ONO. I asked her for an interview in Telegram and she said yes. After the article came out, and the ONO team was getting a bit of exposure from my article, that's when things changed.

I cannot remember the exact moment when Ke Xu and went from interviewer to working partners, but sometimes in life, you have a feeling of destiny and you meet someone who is a resonating force that just won't go away. Meeting Ke Xu was like that for me. She's an incredibly deep, intelligent and passionate person who is driven not just by monetary gain, but by a desire to create freedom for people. This is her driving force. I was very surprised to learn that Ke Xu has turned down lots of investor money for ONO. You might think this is strange, but I understand why she has turned it down.

Investors, once they give you their money, want to control a project. She learned tough lessons from her previous app, ERA, which was a successful venture, having 10 million users at its height, but which was influenced too much by investors. She wants to build ONO in a sustainable and organic way, with the social ecosystem construction being the primary focus. She understands the inherent vulnerability in a new social atmosphere. So, after the social ecosystem is built, then the investors can contribute. She understands timing.

My role will be developing the international division and I definitely know this will be a huge challenge and maybe the most difficult thing I've ever decided to take on, ever. So far, I have learned so much knowledge from Ke Xu and the ONO team and my degree in East Asian Studies is actually being used. I lived in Japan on several occasions, and even though Japanese and Chinese culture is quite different, the work ethic and dedication to study is quite similar. Ke and her team work constantly, and it's safe to say that she fits into the entrepreneur mold, in that she rarely sleeps.

Here's the website as it looks:

Official site: https://www.ono.chat/

So, most of you will be wondering when the international version is released. It's set to release in May. And then when EOS launches, ONO will be migrated to the EOS blockchain.

We are developing a lot as we go along, and using the principles of compassionate guidance as we build the ONO social ecosystem. There will be of course major challenges, but the ONO team believes in transparency, and admitting mistakes when they happen. This is the same belief system I operate on. Nothing will ever be perfect as long as humans are involved. But we can be honest about our challenges, and learn from them, giving people the knowledge and information they deserve.

Some interesting facts so far about the official ONO app launch for the Chinese market: invitation codes are being sold on the black market for upwards of $200 each. The way that ONO launched their app is through invitation only. The invitations were given to the Super Partners and I believe community partners, so it traveled along friend networks. They didn't release them to the general public on purpose. They want to build out the social fabric first, before opening it up to everyone.

I will be moving my Slothicorn project to ONO when the time is right, and yes, I will still be posting here on Steem about new developments in this ever evolving project which has basically consumed my every waking moment.

I wasn't looking for a career, but I found a mission that I believe in.

I want to mention that we are in serious need of Chinese and English bilingual people. If you understand both languages and are interested in this, reach out to me here. We have a lot of need in this area.

Thank you and Cheers,
Stellabelle

ONO Official Links

Official website: https://www.ono.chat
Telegram Chinese: https://t.me/ONOCN
Telegram English: https://t.me/ONOUS
Sina Weibo: https://weibo.com/ONOofficial
WeChat official account: onogogo
Twitter：https://twitter.com/onosocial
Medium: https://medium.com/@ONOsocial
Steemit: https://steemit.com/@onosocial
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ONOofficial
Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/user/onosocial