The Interview a Steem Stakeholder Series is a project to help inform the community about the views of the largest Steem stakeholders. The goal is to help "regular users" better understand the views of the largest stakeholders on the platform, so they can better align their actions with what the stakeholders are looking for.

In this post, @dhenz (a stakeholder with over 270,000 STEEM) answered several questions about his views on the Steem platform and community. Below are the questions that were asked and responses from the interview.

Keep in mind that the stakeholders are individuals, and not all of them will share similar views. The views expressed in the interview are the views of the one stakeholder conducting the interview. They are not intended to represent the views of all stakeholders.

Interview with @dhenz

How did you become a part of the Steem project?

I got into Bitcoin through poker, and I started trading crypto and came across Steem and thought it was interesting.

When did you join?

May 2017

How did you acquire a majority of your stake?

Buying it off exchanges. My largest stake was bought recently during the crash.

How many STEEM tokens do you currently hold?

270k

Do you have a large stake in any other tokens besides STEEM?

Yes, EOS to name one.

What Steem apps do you use on a regular basis?

Steemit, Dtube, Dlive, Steepshoot, Busy, and musing, I hear of new apps all the time.

What would you say repels investors or otherwise discourages investment in the Steem blockchain and STEEM tokens?

From an investors point of view, I would say bad information (some still think inflation is 100%) - Lack of understanding DPOS (people think it is centralized when in reality DPOS based tokens are the most decentralized crypto currently available) - What kept me on the fence for so long as the spat between Ned and Dan - from the outside looking in without a lot of knowledge was a worrisome ordeal. Also, loud mouths that shouted scam at the beginning didn't help either.

What would you say attracts investors or otherwise encourages investment in the Steem blockchain and STEEM tokens?

The potential. When large content creators started getting outright banned from YouTube I saw the writing on the wall. Listening to people like the co-creators of Steem Monsters on the Steemit channel interview, they built the card game with the end goal of an increase in adoption for Steem; this trend will continue I believe.
Guiltyparties helped recover my account when a villain got access to it and went up and beyond what I imagined. Because of Steemit's power-up feature,11k Steem was stolen but the 30k Steem I had already locked was safe. If it was a bitcoin wallet that got hacked, Satoshi isn't here to save me.
The secret gem is the ROI via the PoB system. The fact that you gain money by helping the platform via upvoting content is such a revolutionary idea.

In addition to holding tokens, how else are you involved in the project?

I manual curate as much as I can. My favorite thing to do is to send 5-10$ to an upvote bot to get a introduce yourself post boosted. I remember when I started Steemit a year ago and I didn't have the money I have now, I got my first decent sized upvote and it really goes a long way. I am still new to all of this and learning new things every day, but the more I learn the more I feel I am able to help.

What types of things do you do specifically to get a ROI on your investment?

I am dabbling in all forms, I'll delegate to a trusted source if I will be away from Steem. If I will be fairly active I use my power to manual curate. I am still new to all of this but as a pure investor point of view, I understand that the ROI does not matter if it is detrimental to the platform. The best way I view to increase my ROI is to use my SP actively the best I can, giving manual upvotes, paying for new people to sign up, whatever it takes to help Steemit grow. Making 10% ROI a year is cute, but getting Steemit as the dominant social media platform is ROI beyond wildest imaginations.

What are ways that "regular users" have potential to affect your investment in a positive way?

When I see someone out promoting Steem, whether it be giving out shirts, baking cupcakes with the Steem logo, or throwing Steem events, that is what I like to see. I like to see an incentivized active community that is out to spread the word about this amazing platform and opportunity.
Another is when I see someone with an illness, or some kind of an emergency, Steem really is the definition of many throwing in a little. If 100k people all chip in 10 cents, that is enough to change lives. And I have already seen many lives changed here on this platform.

What type of contributions do you consider to be adding value to your investment?

One of my sayings I throw around is: "Invest in your investments" - I like to actively put in the elbow grease to squeak out any value I can and recycle it into the same ecosystem. I heard a good quote: "We're all going to the same moon"
Unlike investing in something like Apple, there is very little I can do to improve my investment in any way. However, with Steem I am a content creator myself, and I can improve the platform by doing what I want others to do, and that is sharing their knowledge and experiences.

How do you discover and reward those types of contributions?

My first stop is usually the introduceyourself tag. I like to see new people signing up and hearing their stories of where they are from. Then I hit the tags I follow, Steem, Bitcoin, Crypto - things like that. Not a shocker, but I get the best news about Steemit here. Anyone really trying, and putting out content I enjoy reading, regardless will get my upvote.

Do you delegate SP to any projects? If so, what types of projects do you support?

I have dabbled in delegating but I am still new to it. I am always actively seeking new projects to help in any way I can.

How "hands on" do you expect to be in projects you support?

Must of the effort I put in comes from research. Once I feel confident in a project, I trust them and am mostly just a fly on the wall looking to help where I can.

What type of accountability reporting do you expect to see from a project that you support?

I like to see updates when possible, general good feedback and signs progress and effort is being made. If the projects are showing that they really are helping the steem ecosystem, that is good enough for me.

What do you look for when casting witness votes?

I prefer witnesses with skin in the game, and that is active. I know not everyone is a content creator, but everyone has an opinion and commenting and giving feedback on post goes a long way. Witnesses that provide value in the way of creating new additions to Steem is also a huge plus.

Do you have strong views on any of issues that are frequently discussed, or any upcoming changes?

I just feel fortunate that this blockchain exists, and mostly just counting my blessing being here. If I could touch on something it would be that investors need to put themselves in the content creators shoes. Without happy, incentivized content creators this platform wouldn't be where it is today. But also, content creators need to put themselves in the shoes of the investors. Steem would have much less value if speculators and outside investors did not buy the steem off the open market when creators need to cash out. It is a harmonious circle and both should be sympathetic to each other's causes and we should as a community find a way for us to both win. I believe that is what is already here, the DAO allows for us as a community to overcome and obstacles, it's up to us to find solutions that work for everyone.

What would you like to see more/less of from "regular users"?

I would just like to see more regular users, period; of all kinds. No one can judge "quality content" but one can judge consistency, passion & effort. When I read a post I want to feel engaged, if I feel you're doing just for a quick self-upvote, I quickly move on. Try and make a difference, from a strict investor point of view, if we see you trying to onboard new people or improve the project in any way, we are rooting for you with our upvotes.

What sort of profit margins do you hope to see for your investment?

Not looking for any profit targets, I will enjoy the process each day and provide as much value as I can. - From a robotic investor point of view, Steem provides more ROI than any of cryptos I know of in terms of passive income, a well-kept secret that most investors have no clue about.

Do you have a time frame for how long you plan to hold STEEM? Or a price target?

Have no thought about it, so much to do and so much room to grow the last thing on my mind is the end, too focused on the beginning.

Do you believe that the delegating of SP to bid-bots as well as self-voting/circle-jerking is harmful to long-term ROI?

When I made my purchase of 250k Steem (about two weeks of buying) and decided to quit Youtube and Quora for good and make Steemit my new home, I was conflicted whether to upvote myself or not. At first, I did not upvote myself because I wanted to have more steem power to upvote comments. - I'm not some saint, I believe if I upvoted big on people who followed me, they would mostly powerup, and their upvotes would give me more SP, and the circle of life continues. But then I figured out that giving myself a large upvote after everyone else has upvoted, will only give the curators more earnings; which was my goal in the first place. I think now, why fight self-upvotes? We are given the freedom to do so and mostly we choose to do so, its human nature at large, we can deny it or embrace it. Also, it gives another reason to hodl and power up we should not condemn someone who wants to self-upvote. However, all in balance, if all you do is self-upvote and nothing else, you should, in theory, lose followers and respect on the platform.
I feel that people who stick to a group and auto bot upvote just a select group is not smart as well. People must realize that steem goes to nothing if the platform isn't getting new people. If we only upvote ourselves or friends how can the platform grow? A wise investor, one that understands what is good for the platform will make sure that the upvotes go to better the platform. I believe the smart money will do what is best for the platform and the dumb money, IE circle jerks, will end up slowly selling their stake because they obviously have no business sense.
Bid-bots I think can be a great force or a terrible foe. If wielded for good, bid-bots can be revolutionary and make the most efficient use of SP for passive investors. We need setups that target content creators and active community participants who are consistently showing up. Also, these bots don't have to just be run without any human guidance I think everyone can become proactive and kind of mesh bots and manual curation to make the best use of SP delegation. If the inflation of steem is looked at like taxes, I believe the roads and bridges that make Steemit workable are the consistent content creators pouring their hearts into the platform.

What factors affect your decisions to go after short term returns that may hurt Steem in the long run vs. decisions to take a longer term strategy?

I always think long term, the short term does not matter to me. I do what I can every day the buidl a better tomorrow. I am a long shot, I will always get the 1000x over the 10x in life.

Are there other forms of obtaining a good ROI from STEEM that you think will be possible in the long-term?

I believe the Steem blockchain will the power to disrupt Google, Facebook, Amazon, Youtube, Reddit, Quora and 99% of all centralized forms of internet businesses. I already use steemit.com for a lot of my search engine stuff. I can easily see a marketplace forming on steem, starts like a craigslist and becomes the next Amazon. I see very big things and I plan going head first all in to add as much value to the movement as possible.
SMTs should provide massive onboarding and unless a ton of further ROI potential by unlocking different opportunity for new communities.

What do you think is the biggest disconnect between stakeholders and "regular users"?

Stake hodlers want to make money, and so do regular users. Stake hodlers make more money if regular users make more money. The disconnect comes from not embracing human nature. As the ecosystem grows we should see smart money doing everything in the best interest of the regular user. The regular user is king and comes first, without it the investor would have nothing to invest in.

If you strike it rich from STEEM, what do you plan to do with your money?

The same thing I am doing know, curating and creating content. The money is great but the social and economic freedom Steem unlocks for the entire world is where I get my thrills.

Is there anything else that you would like to add that wasn't covered by the questions above?

I think things like this question and answer are great and the more we can engage as a community the better off we will all be. We are all going to the same moon.

Previous Interviews:

Future Interviews:

If you are a stakeholder with 100,000 or more STEEM and would like to participate in an interview, please reach out to me on steem.chat or Discord.

Interview a Steem Stakeholder Series - Interview with @dhenz (270,000+ STEEM Stakeholder)