My vision is a open and transparent web where anyone can be a part and own a part.
On a higher level, there are really just 3 key pillars in Steem that are essential to enable this, all else are technical features to complement or support it:
• A transparent and immutable open ledger with social features and with social names rather than 20 number letters.
• Personal ownership and control over one's own accounts, content, and communities.
• Complemented with a fast, feeless and programmable currency that enables people to do business directly P2P without a middle-man and where sponsors/advertisers can have more direct relationships with the creators/communities they support resulting in both getting more out of it.
I wish we focused more on building with these foundations to enable a more traditional platform economy to exist. Rather than doubling down on proof of brain and inflation-based rewards as if we had already demonstrated it to work (yey SMTs).
As for dev funding, there are certainly stakeholders that stand to gain a lot from being the larger stakeholders on a potential new chain. People who were even offered to buy Steemit Inc at various points in time which is now public knowledge. To what extent they're willing to hire or fund the previous Steemit Inc devs is their question to answer.
That said, I know most of those who left in person and as good friends and know that they are still working on their own projects for Steem. I'll leave it to them to make any further announcements as to what exactly that'll be.