This is the second in a four part blog series. Here are direct links to the other parts:
Part 1: UNspecified + Blockchain: http://www.unspecified.life/blog/unspecified-blockchain
Part 3: UNspecified Interviews Coval: http://www.unspecified.life/blog/unspecified-interviews-coval
Part 4: Coval Interviews UNspecified: http://www.unspecified.life/blog/coval-interviews-unspecified
Shannon started his journey into virtual currency in 2006 while building software for automating World of Warcraft. He started and ran the security program for MasterCoin. He then began to work with Loyyal (formally Ribbit.me) to develop their blockchain based loyalty program. As part of Loyyal’s transition from Ribbit.me, Shannon took control of the RibbitRewards cryptocurrency and re-branded the project to be Circuits of Value (Coval). In 2017, Shannon filed his first patent detailing a system for hashing video and audio in a media file for verifying authenticity and proving the file has remained unaltered. Later that year, he broke out on his own to focus his attention full time on Coval.
Shannon's software development and delivery values are deeply rooted in modern practices, heavily influenced by leaders such as Bob Martin. Being married to a testing-centric software person has influenced how he sees software quality. Excited about the potential of Coval to explode once its intended value is realized, Shannon and Coval co-founder Michael Sullivan have taken a conservative approach to marketing. They realize the danger if this explosion happens before the platform is hardened and able to scale on demand.
Startups have to be incredibly smart and efficient about how they utilize resources. The Coval team recognizes that in this early stage, their development team's time is best spent focusing on developing of the base platform features and initial applications. They value the experience of the UNspecified team, with their focus on quality spanning development all the way through delivery to the customer. UNspecified offers them a partnership that ensures their features are as robust as possible as early as possible, which ultimately brings them to the community sooner.
The next series of posts are interview style. Dawn asks Shannon questions; he answers; and then they switch roles. They spontaneously ask each other questions without prior planning, and share their candid answers. (This turned out to be really fun!)
by Dawn Code