The beginning of a new era
On the 31st of October this year a publication was posted with the title ‘Auxilium: the end of an era’. This publication can be found here: https://auxiliumglobal.medium.com/auxilium-the-end-of-an-era-ddde755d2528
In order to understand where I’m (the CEO) coming from with this publication it’s a must to read the previous (two) publications.
A few weeks have gone by since then, which gave me the opportunity to digest everything that has happened. Digesting everything from a different position within the company, and being able to view the situation from a different, more detached angle. It became clear that pulling the plug was absolutely an option, but not something I or James wanted to do, and maybe not something that’s necessary after all. Hold on… before you jump to conclusions and get overly excited: it’s not all clear skies ahead just yet.
Let me guide you through the thought process, and past events that lead me wanting to stay on, but in a different capacity, and opening up to different opportunities and investigating them properly. To not make this a very complicated and long read I’ll try to summarise it. I’ll also try not to repeat too much what I’ve already said in the previous publications. Therefore, for context read those too.
Why did the plug nearly get pulled in the first place?
These things remain relevant!
1) Personal funds being able to be poured into the project had reached a limit,
2) too little clarity of availability team,
3) not being able to convert my involvement and availability into finished projects due to lack of developer availability leading to weekly frustrations,
4) opening myself up to other (business) opportunities in life that deliver positive energy, and
5) far too little community involvement/strength when it comes to “putting your money where your mouth is”.
Please take a moment to let that sink in. Especially because this involves everyone who’s reading this. Everyone can help make a difference.
What events have occurred the past weeks?
1) Publishing the latest letter and stepping away from Auxilium gave time to breath, and properly evaluate.
2) Interaction via email with community members and a call with two people (of which one a senior community member) who wanted to help rescue Auxilium got me thinking about the early days when we rescued the Sprouts community with a swap to Auxilium.
3) I started to call with several team members, and had chats about different paths for Auxilium; letting go of the initial path and looking into solid alternatives.
4) Conclusions were made and both founders became enthusiastic again as a possible continuation was suddenly on the table.
However enthusiastic, both founders realised that there needs to be a change of system, including:
1) different roles for the founders (e.g. a CEO should not be running tasks like community support / social media monitoring),
2) adding more team members once we’ve established the exact path that we want to walk with Auxilium,
3) giving the community more room to engage with the project,
4) asking a bit more from the community when it comes to eventual funding or playing an active role in promotions, etc.
So, what is this new path for Auxilium?
1) We’re investigating serious options to continue Auxilium that will take away some of the core bottlenecks in the organisation, and
2) any continuation will first of all require the current team to solve outstanding development issues (e.g. exchange, AID distribution, swap platform).
I want to end this publication with this last point — I can hear you think: how is it possible that we can solve development issues all of a sudden? Answer: there is a clear spot on the horizon concerning developments towards the transition phase. After the transition phase there will be — if everything works out — less development responsibilities on a regular basis, plus we’ll be cutting costs in a big way, without compromising project health/growth. This in turn allows us to keep the project alive for longer, without the need for an immediate cash injection.
For greater context relating to funds, both James and I had assumed that we’d have been listed on a much larger exchange by now which would have allowed us to invest much more time and resources into Auxilium. Once we realised a bigger exchange listing wasn’t coming any time soon, we then tried to hold a fundraiser, and that (also) flopped.
James, Auxilium’s other founder is comfortable in sharing with you that he has been the single biggest source of bottle-neck in the past year. James holds a high pressure role in the business he is employed by and has also had a series of family-related situations including the loss of his father this year, that have prevented him from dedicating time to Auxilium.
Both James and I feel strongly about Auxilium (obviously) and neither wishes to walk away if there’s an option that allows Auxilium to continue on, even if in limited capacity for a period. After all, our goal with Sprouts and the Sprouts community of which we were a part, was to save the community and coin and shape it into something much better, for all.
We hope you understand that we’re working through this step-by-step and can’t promise anything. We also hope you understand that once we move on to the next phase things will be a bit different, hopefully for the better and always with everybody’s best interests in mind, just like when we offered up the option to move from Sprouts to Auxilium to keep the ball rolling for a community that would otherwise have ceased.
Change takes time, but we’ll certainly stay realistic regarding what’s achievable and what’s not. We don’t want to waste anyone’s time, including our own.
We’re not too proud to say when it’s too much to handle and we’re, if it’s necessary, open to others taking over the project. For now, in the short term, the most efficient way is to fix outstanding issues ourselves which will give the development timeline a clear dot on the horizon for this phase.
We’ll keep you updated about the process through the regular social channels.
