Just wanted to officially introduce myself. My name is Jun.
As a natural introvert I've been a bit reluctant to write about myself, but hey if I get rewarded both Steem Dollars and Steem Power the cost/benefit decision is a pretty easy one. So if you're like me come join the party! I also realize in the business world it's important to be public and open. Lastly I'm much too old to get embarrassed.
What I Do
I'm the founder & CEO of Bitcash, a simple USD digital cash wallet provider, and MegaX a decentralized blockchain-based Bitcoin and digital asset exchange. They're both powered by Bitshares technology, another one of Dan Larimer's inventions. We hope to bridge Steem dollars with Bitcash so that you can go back forth between the two seamlessly. We also want to find ways to work closely together with Steemit technology. You can follow our company blog at @officialbitcash.
How did I get involved in Steemit?
As an Austrian School of Economics goldbug I dismissed Bitcoin and digital currencies early on, but after reading Erik Vorhee's blog post I changed my mind and started following Bitcoin from mid-2012 on. I also followed the Ripple & Stellar ecoystems because I liked the potential of digital money based on credit & local exchange trading systems (LETS). Then I moved my main attention to Bitshares because Dan Larimer and the gang created a way to create counterparty-free US dollar digital assets. I think that is one of the keys to going mainstream!
I had the inside track to Steemit since I was part of the Bitshares community. I thought about participating during the mining phase, but was too busy to learn all the technical details. I just waited until people were able to sign up from Facebook so I could contribute with some writing. I knew Steemit had great potential for mainstream adoption because 1) people would earn digital assets instead of having to buy it and 2) it's dollar-based! I'm happy and lucky enough to have jumped in early and was even able to get some bots to follow me for a while because I built a decent track record! This is me a couple days ago:
About Me
I'm 41, but oftentimes I look and probably act a lot younger. Ethnically I'm a mix of Japanese & Vietnamese. I guess that combo makes me look Korean. I was born in Okinawa, Japan and immigrated along with my family to San Francisco when I was about a year and a half. I grew up in the Sunset neighborhood near Ocean Beach.
Computers
One of my first experiences with computers was playing the Atari 2600 at a friend's house weekly for hours. PitFall was one I remember well. Track & Field too. You would have to find creative ways to move the joystick back & forth as fast as possible to make the athletes run faster. Our first family computer was an IBM clone called the Leading Edge Model D dual 5.25 inch floppy computer. It was before the model had a hard drive and the 3.5 inch floppy drive! All the cool kids soon got ones with hard drives and 3.5 inch drives, but we never upgraded. I dabbled with computer stuff on and off and when I was a bit older put together a few computers from parts, but never got into programming aside from a couple courses in college and until very recently helping out with some frontend coding.
Education/Jobs
I went on to UC Berkeley to get a BS in Mechanical Engineering. I struggled through the program and was just going through the motions because it was the practical thing to do. Going through the motions pretty much reflects my whole experience in public education. I got my first job as an outside plant engineer at AT&T/PacificBell and was responsible for helping provide & maintain service for half of the city of Mountain View. It was essentially planning and diagramming work to keep enough copper pairs connected from the telco's central office of switches to cables that went underground to poles overhead all the way to homes and businesses. It was a fun job, but realized we had to depend on management for the strategic directions of our group so I felt I needed to learn more about management to have a bigger impact. I always wanted more responsibility and self-determination. I lived in SoCal for a few years to get my MBA at UC Irvine and had another telecom job, but later came back to the SF Bay Area. I currently live in the East Bay. During business school I realized my natural talents are in the realm of business, finance, economics and investments. The last 10+ years I've been an independent financial advisor/consultant really just scraping by. I was disillusioned with the economy for many years, but the financial crisis in '08/'09 made it even more clear to me how vulnerable it is. When I realized that Bitcoin & blockchain tech could change the world I switched over to work on blockchain tech startups.
Hobbies
In the past one of my main hobbies was libertarian politics, mainly for Ron Paul, between '07 and '12. I even formed a SuperPAC. Promoting truth, peace and freedom was my main motivation for the activism. In the past few years I turned my attention towards voluntaryism and try to promote freedom and create change through business activities.
Blogging
I'm most comfortable with business, finance, investments and startups so I'll write about those topics. Most of my writing thus far was been about Steemit marketing because it's critical for success yet underemphasized in most tech companies in Silicon Valley, especially in the Bitcoin/Blockchain space.
Reading
I enjoy reading more of the philosophical, spiritual and metaphysical posts on Steemit. I also get excited about world changing technologies like Bitcoin & blockchains.
A list of topics I read:
- Bitcoin/Blockchain
- Technology
- Startups/Entrepreneurship
- Philosophy/Spirituality
- Voluntaryism
- Sustainable Living
- Alternative Health
- Sports
Life & Goals
I've been a loner most of my life. My goals? I can probably walk the earth aimlessly and be fine with that or try to help change the world. I chose the latter because it seems to be much more interesting. I can always fall back to the former down the road.
Community
Glad to be part of the Steemit community and see you around! Keep posting and voting and make some money people!
Our lives intertwine in this blockchain.
Sharing our thoughts and stories to this immutable history.
Expanding our collective knowledge and experience.
The future is bright.
-Steemrollin
...and oh BTW if you haven't already Click Here to get Steemit 101 ...
Being a loner, just means that you enjoy your own company :) Nothing wrong with that.. I think many of us have a loner side, and a social side, and depending on how we feel, that's what comes out at a particular time.
Thanks that is a good perspective to take. There is a comfort level there for sure. But I do wonder sometimes if it's healthy to be isolated as much as I am these days.
I believe that the misfits and the loners are about to become way less so. This place is about to get expansive.
Yes I think that's the great part of being part of a growing community.
couldn't put it better, great comment intelliguy!
Loners rule.
A little tip: Some of your images are huge (350K), if you run them through www.webresizer.com and re-upload the optimized version to imgsafe you can still keep the same dimensions of the photo, but it will reduce the kb size down to as low as 60K. That will make this post load a lot faster for some people.
Great thx for the tip! I'll have to figure out how to do this later.
Welcome aboard!
I do not understand how to download steemit 101
Sorry I didn't know how to create an image link so if you click right before the image it should take you to Amazon...
This was hilarious! And very organized. I always enjoy finding out what lies behind the curtain :)
Thx @stellabelle! Yeah it just turned out more organized than I expected.. but glad to have shared!
That was interesting. Also I plan on reading your book this week. Thank you.
Oh it's not my book, just helping to promote it. The authors are @cryptoctopus @donkeypong @stellabelle @steemship.
Howdy Jun. You like making funny faces, too, I see :) I lived out in the SF Bay for 12 years. Now I'm back in NYC, my hometown, for 5 years. Nice to meet you here! Nice intro.
Thx! Well on rare occasions I do the funny faces, but maybe I should do it more often. Great to hear from another person who's lived in the SF Bay and nice meeting you too!
nice post, i read the whole thing thinking you were someone new, oh well, take my unneeded up vote. :) We have some interests in common.
Thx. Yeah been around a while, just wasn't sure I was going to do an intro. Great to hear we share common interests. Which ones btw?
you're a good and respectful writer
I also grew up with those old computers
This
I'm from around the bay area CA
Both like blockchain
This
You may enjoy my site about omegakoin, k0in.com or koin.tech, and ideas for world changing currencies
This is an excellent introduction steemrollin, I think if someone asks me how to write the best introduction I'll point them towards this link.
Thanks for the kind words!
A loner lifestyle keeps you productive and gives you clarity in all that noise of the world.
Yes it does free up time for sure and gives more opportunity for clarity and silence, but the productivity part still takes work. =P
Thanks for posting your intro @steemrollin, it was a nice read.
Thanks!
Hey Jun
Glad to see doing good, still trying to learn more about bitCash. Remember Ron Paul will always be are guy!
Great to see you here Pete! Yeah will definitely keep you updated with bitCash and yeah we have to bring back our old friends from the liberty movement... I'm sure more will be a comin'.. see you around!
nice
love reading your posts. very useful for newbies. Thank u for sharing your experiences as an early adopter.
Great read. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks for reading!
Feels great to put a picture to that name @steemrollin , seen that name a lot around here. I've probably read some of your posts already. This post was in my recommendations. And, you write really well. Speaking of activism, I volunteer for social causes with TheKtmDrive. Do check us out when you have time.
Hey yes I do remember you. Thx for the kind words. Yes it's great to be active in community efforts and social causes. I did check out the website and looks like a very nice effort with the sapling project & rucksacks for the kids. I'm always a bit skeptical by nature of projects far from me or online fundraisers, but since you're a longstanding member I'll send you a bit of SD you can forward along. I do think a GoFundMe type system could work on STEEM, but exactly what form is the best I'm not sure with the way voting works. Maybe it's better without using the STEEM voting system and just have trusted custodian members take donations directly.
Yeah, That would be great if we could build a system like GoFundMe within Steemit. We are continuously trying to help the ones in need near us in every way possible. Trying to spread happiness a little, however small it may be. :) We've got an event at The Disabled New Life Center this weekend. I would've invited you to join us if you were here. Anyone is welcome by the way. And, it feels good to see the kids have fun.
Edit - Thanks a lot for the SD. We really appreciate it.
Hi there I've been wanting to get in touch with you ever since I came across this post, but no way of finding you on Slack or even an email. Any ways? xD
Very Handsome !
You remind me of my dad, he is viet too, I am half vietnamese half french
Thanks for the flattery... french & vietnamese? Wonderful mix!
wellcome
Thanks! Yeah I'm sure there are at least a few of us here esp. in the cryptocommunity. It's always nice to see.