Regarding the Perceived “Conflict of Interest” with AtomOne:
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Initial Directive: You initially prohibited my involvement with the AtomOne working groups. I expressed disagreement with this “directive”, as I do not perceive AtomOne as a competing project to the Hub, but rather as complementary. It’s important to note that we may have, and are allowed to have differing views on this matter. I also disagreed with what you identified as a COI. It’s not a conflict. It’s more accurate to say what you’re concerned about are optics. Again, I’m Oversight. Not your PR & Marketing.
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Extent of Involvement: To provide full transparency, my involvement with AtomOne has been minimal. It consisted of having attended three working group calls in May/June 2024. Since then, the first time I participated in a GovGen Townhall was today.
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Discussion with Better_Future: On July 2, 2024, I had a conversation with Better_Future regarding this matter. He suggested that I share information about my volunteer-level involvement with the team at the upcoming biweekly meeting. The purpose was not to address a “conflict of interest,” but to gauge team sentiment, as it might cause unease among other contributors.
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Team Discussion: Following @Better_Future’s advice, we discussed this matter as a team on Thursday, July 4, 2024.
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Team Consensus: According to my notes from the July 4th meeting, the team’s consensus was: “Your involvement or curiosity with AtomOne seems harmless… we benefit from founders having less of a hostile posture against the hub.”
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Clarification on “Conflict of Interest”: It’s important to emphasize that the team did not characterize my involvement as a conflict of interest. Rather, the discussion centered on potential perceptions and team dynamics.
If you’d like to understand what COIs are Youssef, perhaps you can refer to the Special Report above. Just because you dislike my curiosity in a thing, doesn’t make it a conflict of interest, sir.
And frankly, my interest in AtomOne is driven by value extracting/self serving behavior we have seen too much of on the Hub.