Hi Zeeps,
I met a leopard once, face to face. And I fell in love.
Some friends and I had rented a van and decided to drive through the wild bush of South Africa’s Kruger National Park. We were on our own. There were no guides. We just found a map and started driving.
The bush is magical, and we encountered all kinds of magical creatures who live there: giraffes and hyenas, huge crocodiles and rhinos, a threatening mother elephant, impalas, and, yes, lots of Zebras.
A couple of hours in, one of the guys in the van saw the leopard and called out to stop. We parked and watched as she walked toward our van. She was not bothered; she circled us with calm confidence.
Here she is. Beautiful. I don’t recall how long we stared at each other, but I remember the feeling. She felt true. You rarely spot a leopard in the wild. They are solitary and independent. They blend in. They speak to me. She spoke to me.
And yes, I was a dumb ass, hanging out of the van window holding my SLR with shaking hands to try and capture her. It was only after that my South African friend sent me a video of one of these creatures jumping through a window and mauling the driver of the truck. Hey friend, thanks for not saying anything about risking my life for a photo as you watched her from behind me!
I love the bush’s diversity, and it’s the diversity that makes it sing: the ruggedness, the sounds, and so many different creatures. It is true that the bush is not safe, but that’s part of its beauty, along with the diversity of the land, the flora, and the fauna.
This memory came to mind this week as this community came together for ZconV. The theme was “Zcash Unified.” I’m all in on that. I see unity in our mission and in engaging and supporting each other. This mission is rugged, wild, and dangerous. It is the bush. And when we collectively sing, but with our own voices, it’s beautiful in its diversity.
Andrew Miller asked Tatyana in her user research session: “What narratives should I have in mind as a dev if i want to think of things to build for early adopters?”
It’s an excellent question for a “dev” to ask. But the dev shouldn’t have to have all the possible narratives in mind as they build. “Huh?” you may be asking. Walk with me through the bush for a bit.
The animals in the bush are who they are. They are gifted in unique ways. They all offer something to the ecosystem. The bush is alive because of its diversity, and no single creature provides everything the ecosystem needs. The leopard and the zebra are who they are; one doesn’t pretend to be the other. They don’t have to.
We need alignment, focus, and balance. In my opinion, we don’t need or want sameness. We have people like @peacemonger who are gifted with user research, people like @ryan.taylor who are gifted with video production, people like @Danika who are gifted with organizational skills, and people like @gordonesTV who are gifted evangelists. We have brilliant scientists, engineers, designers, lawyers, and community leaders.
Our zeal of scientists and engineers is essential and incredibly differentiated, but it’s impossible for them to always see the value of the leopard. The leopard might even be seen as a threat! Oh no! But both are necessary. And we need all the lions and hyenas, impalas and kudus, hippos and rhinos for Zcash to come alive!
We will naturally see the world through different lenses and perspectives. We live in the same ecosystem but aren’t all the same. That’s why we need researchers and UX designers to find problems and opportunities. We need the engineers to run with it and figure out how to solve the hard problems. We can align, and in that way, we unite!
A few examples:
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Problem discovered through user research: People can’t spend ZEC in enough places. Solving this may take partnerships, people, legal, UX design, and front-end engineering.
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Problem discovered through user research: As a coffee shop owner, it takes too long to know if a transaction is confirmed. Solving this may require additional user research, cryptographic research, and software engineering.
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Problem discovered through user research: I want to use my shielded ZEC as collateral in Defi. Solving this may require cryptographic research, software engineering, partnership management, UX design, and legal.
These are just examples, but hopefully, you understand where I’m coming from. It’s why working hand-in-hand with one another and sharing information and responsibility is so important. No one can do it alone. There are no unicorns in the bush.
Thank you to the Zcash Foundation for bringing us all together this week. And Zeal, while I feel more leopard than zebra, don’t worry. I see you. I have no intention of trying to fork the mascot.
I only have a short ECC update for you all this week as we spoke and attended sessions at ZconV. Thank you to all the people behind the scenes that made it all special. Thank you to all the presenters who spent hours prepping, practicing, and then delivering fantastic information and perspective. And thank you, Roosevelt and @squirrel, for hosting the recap today. It was so much fun just to hang out for a bit. So good!
Here are the ECC updates I have for you:
We released Zashi 1.1 for iOS this week, along with a fun little ad for the new dark mode. The update also allows you to hide your balances, scan QR codes from your photo library, and a simplified receive screen. We hope you love it.
We’re looking for a director of finance and operations as our contract with Scott is soon ending. Look for more postings in the coming weeks.
I also posted on the forum to further clarify ECC’s proposal for a dev fund. Here’s the summary: “I propose that the community consider extending the current development fund by one year and turn our attention to developing a new grant-based structure to be launched in late 2025.”
That’s all for this week. I leave you with another photo. This was posted in the office, where we picked up our map before heading into Kruger.
It’s morning in the bush Zeeps.
Ready, set, go!
Onward.
@ryan.taylor 
… And, of course, every speaker who delivered great content and made Zcon something highly valuable… Thanks a lot!