Resignation notice from Shane Burgett as a director of PNF

Announcements Foundation
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I have made the decision to resign as a director of PNF. The new PNF is far more closed, selective, and political than what I feel comfortable being aligned with. I joined PNF prior to all of this and was hired based on the merit of my work, my character, and my long history of collaborative problem solving within the network. PNF wasn’t about titles or accolades, but simply focused on pulling together the best strategies and solving ecosystem problems. It is a different world now and I do not feel comfortable having my name on the board.

However, I feel it is important for POKT to realize what was collectively accomplished these past two months. Following the revelation of the initial PIP-38, I accepted the role of interim director to help ensure the launch of high impact PNF initiatives (like GANDALF and multi-chain POKT), and to also assisting POKT stakeholders in getting the best proposal possible out of a very challenging situation.

I believe everyone was taken back with the original PIP-38 proposal which was structured to:

  1. Shut down the DAO
  2. Dissolve the PNF board
  3. Give unchecked authority over funds and compensation packages
  4. Have zero transparency for 24 months
  5. Avoid addressing Grove’s own financial issues, the primary reason for PIP-38’s timing

For me personally, it was a long road of face to face conversation in Brussels, zoom calls, community calls, public chats, information gathering, and forum posts, all the while also taking on all the responsibilities of PNF to keep the lights on. However I was glad to have worked alongside all the other very active community members to helped achieve a final proposal that had:

  1. An intact DAO
  2. An intact PNF board
  3. Multi-party involvement in funds and compensation packages
  4. Continued full account transparency
  5. A complete restructuring of Grove as a company (fully addressing their immediate runway needs)

I think it is safe to say that it was the entire community working together that led to a refined proposal, and I am happy with the role I played as the mediator between all parties. Together the final proposal significantly reduced risks in the areas of transparency, treasury management, possible delistings, opportunity loss with T1 exchanges, and resulted in super-majority voter buy-in.

I truly hope PNF and the larger POKT ecosystem can find its footing in this unique season. I will continue helping this new team with their transition and will aid in any way I can.

It has been a wild two months, but I’m glad to be returning to the community.

P.S. Some areas of work I believe should be continued to be pursued by PNF:

  1. Multi-chain (yeah, it’s right about to be launched, but hell-of a job from @vojtech)
  2. GANDALF (continuing to reduce MaxChains to open up the node running ecosystem to more professional and independent operators prior to Shannon)
  3. Launch Sources :exclamation:
  4. Consider tokenomic strategies that go beyond your grandma’s basic token staking [1] [2]
  5. Be open to utilize methodical supply strategies to drive ecosystem behavior.
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@shane, I’d like to thank you publicly for all the positive things you’ve done. Nobody can dispute how engaged and committed you’ve been. Although I don’t always agree with you, I respect your viewpoints and value hearing your opinions. Thanks again, and I look forward to our continued collaboration.

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I’m surprised and sad to see your resignation, @shane

Thank you for everything you’ve done. Not just in the last couple of months, but long before that as well. If it weren’t for Node Pilot, I wouldn’t have lasted as an indie node runner as long as I have.

Hope this isn’t a “goodbye” as much as a “see you in a bit.”

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I share @Misskitty42’s sentiment. While I’m saddened by your resignation, I can’t say I’m completely surprised.

You should be proud of the numerous contributions you’ve made to Pocket both as a Director and a community member. I truly hope you continue to contribute for the community’s sake.

As I mentioned during the discussion to appoint new Directors, the Foundation having only ‘yes men’ seemed like an inevitable outcome. Although I’m not completely up-to-date, your resignation notice hints at a “closed and selective” direction that PNF is taking, which also doesn’t surprise me.

From a distance, it appears that the inner circle has achieved their desired control. Grove will now make decisions for Gateways, POKTscan (owned by Mike’s father) will secure all contracts for building whatever Mike deems essential , and POKTpool (co owned by Mike’s advisors) and their employees will handle all comms and marketing. It seems Pocket has become dominated by this inner circle, as I previously suggested.

Best of luck to everyone in this new era of Pocket.