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This is Jorge, Tech Lead at Aragon, a platform for creating companies on top of the Ethereum blockchain (DACs). Here is our launch post and mission statement: h

by izqui 10y ago

This is Jorge, Tech Lead at Aragon, a platform for creating companies on top of the Ethereum blockchain (DACs). Here is our launch post and mission statement: https://medium.com/aragondec/introducing-aragon-unstoppable-companies-58c1fd2d00ce#.i4z2dku09 https://medium.com/aragondec/introducing-aragon-unstoppable-... We are still early, but we are now in Alpha stage. We have published a small sneak peek of what we are building on aragon.one so you can try out how managing an Aragon company will be like. Our ambition is for Aragon to be the backbone of a new generation of companies that will thrive in the new decentralized economy. We have focused on building a modular system, in the frontend and in the smart contracts, so modified versions for specific company types/industries could be build (pe. Aragon for Hedgefunds, Aragon for Non-Profits or Aragon for Open Source projects). Aragon is a fully decentralized app that only needs having a connection to a Ethereum node in order for the core functionallity to work. We will be packaging it and distributing in a Electron binary for ease of use with non-iniciated users. We have integrated Metamask in Electron, so the app can be standalone (more on this soon). Even though every screenshot in the website and the demo is live code running against the EVM (via TestRPC) and the alpha is working, we are not open sourcing the contracts for a couple of weeks (some cleaning and refactoring needs to be done before they are ready to be public). All the frontend code will be open source too, but we don't have a specific timeline for this. We are open source first and open source only, our core technology needs to be open source so it can be under the scrutiny needed for Aragon to be a secure technology.

Alex3917 10y ago
Conceptually I like the idea of running our company on this. But do you have any sort of insurance in case something goes horribly wrong? I'd probably be willing to use this for a side project, but I feel like the prospect of saving even a substantial amount of legal fees isn't enough to risk everything on a new technology that would be a full-time job to actually understand. That's not to say it's not a good idea, because it is a good idea, but there's a really big lift in terms of getting mainstream adoption.
- izqui 10y ago
  I completely agree, insurance and proper bug bounty mechanisms are being worked on.
seagreen 10y ago
What language are the contracts written in? Do you have a specification of that language? EDIT: Nevermind, I see in an another comment that you're using Solidity. Thanks for the answer! Now I have a new question. What do you think about the claim that, "Solidity, while being an interesting proof of concept, is dangerously under-contained and very difficult to analyze statically." (http://www.stephendiehl.com/posts/smart_contracts.html http://www.stephendiehl.com/posts/smart_contracts.html)
- izqui 10y ago
  Solidity http://solidity.readthedocs.io http://solidity.readthedocs.io
- izqui 10y ago
  I think that Solidity is quickly getting ready for prime time and in 2017 we will see tons of very big and high stake projects getting deployed. That being said, there are already projects like http://rouleth.com http://rouleth.com that has been managing an over $100k bankroll with no issues for 8 months now. To sum up, if the needed security measures are taken, you should be good. And we won't be encouraging anyone to run a company with Aragon in production for the next months until proper security audits have been done.
  - seagreen 10y ago
    Please consider trying to get off of Solidity at some point. It doesn't matter how much auditing is done, if you're building on a shaky foundation mistakes will eventually slip through. Solidity is definitely a shaky foundation. I really admire projects like yours for their daring, but that needs to be backed up with hard engineering work. I would hate to see smart contracts go down the path of the "Internet of things" -- finally succeeding only to cause more harm than good due to compounding security vulnerabilities.
- semiel 10y ago
  Solidity is not an ideal language, but I also think that the ~deep concern~ everyone has about it is overblown. C is a pretty problematic language too, but plenty of reliable software is built in it. Engineering and testing practices are more important than bikeshedding the language itself.
monkmartinez 10y ago
The launch post seems to say that Ethereum|Aragon can solve the nation state problem, taxes and a whole host of other "problems" associated with running a business. How? How does Aragon eliminate the IRS or DIAN if you are doing business in America or Colombia, respectively? How does it eliminate regulations on interstate and international commerce? What companies would actually use this to run their verses say Quickbooks, right now? What companies have been built on Ethereum so far and how have the principals done with regard to taxes and tariffs?
- aaron-lebo 10y ago
  It also includes: You can replace every intermediary with a more efficient and fair decentralized solution. How? Decentralized solutions by their nature are less efficient than centralized solutions. One of the most basic needs in humans’ lives is to transact. Create products, provide services, sell them to others. Add value to their lives. The market. It’s the core of everything we do, from the moment we wake up to the moment we fall asleep. The market system is how we live. What does this mean? It sounds like something you'd hear on Silicon Valley. Very rah-rah but where's the substance? I feel like this is a cool technical solution that is not realizing that the real issue is social and bureaucratic. The way they are pitching themselves doesn't give me faith that they have a solid plan. Hopefully that's not unfair.
alexmingoia 10y ago
Are you dogfooding Aragon? Do you get paid and manage your shares through it?

by izqui 10y ago

Alex3917 10y ago

Conceptually I like the idea of running our company on this. But do you have any sort of insurance in case something goes horribly wrong? I'd probably be willing to use this for a side project, but I feel like the prospect of saving even a substantial amount of legal fees isn't enough to risk everything on a new technology that would be a full-time job to actually understand. That's not to say it's not a good idea, because it is a good idea, but there's a really big lift in terms of getting mainstream adoption.

izqui 10y ago
I completely agree, insurance and proper bug bounty mechanisms are being worked on.

seagreen 10y ago

What language are the contracts written in? Do you have a specification of that language? EDIT: Nevermind, I see in an another comment that you're using Solidity. Thanks for the answer! Now I have a new question. What do you think about the claim that, "Solidity, while being an interesting proof of concept, is dangerously under-contained and very difficult to analyze statically." (http://www.stephendiehl.com/posts/smart_contracts.html http://www.stephendiehl.com/posts/smart_contracts.html)

izqui 10y ago
Solidity http://solidity.readthedocs.io http://solidity.readthedocs.io
izqui 10y ago
I think that Solidity is quickly getting ready for prime time and in 2017 we will see tons of very big and high stake projects getting deployed. That being said, there are already projects like http://rouleth.com http://rouleth.com that has been managing an over $100k bankroll with no issues for 8 months now. To sum up, if the needed security measures are taken, you should be good. And we won't be encouraging anyone to run a company with Aragon in production for the next months until proper security audits have been done.
- seagreen 10y ago
  Please consider trying to get off of Solidity at some point. It doesn't matter how much auditing is done, if you're building on a shaky foundation mistakes will eventually slip through. Solidity is definitely a shaky foundation. I really admire projects like yours for their daring, but that needs to be backed up with hard engineering work. I would hate to see smart contracts go down the path of the "Internet of things" -- finally succeeding only to cause more harm than good due to compounding security vulnerabilities.
semiel 10y ago
Solidity is not an ideal language, but I also think that the ~deep concern~ everyone has about it is overblown. C is a pretty problematic language too, but plenty of reliable software is built in it. Engineering and testing practices are more important than bikeshedding the language itself.

monkmartinez 10y ago

The launch post seems to say that Ethereum|Aragon can solve the nation state problem, taxes and a whole host of other "problems" associated with running a business. How? How does Aragon eliminate the IRS or DIAN if you are doing business in America or Colombia, respectively? How does it eliminate regulations on interstate and international commerce? What companies would actually use this to run their verses say Quickbooks, right now? What companies have been built on Ethereum so far and how have the principals done with regard to taxes and tariffs?

aaron-lebo 10y ago
It also includes: You can replace every intermediary with a more efficient and fair decentralized solution. How? Decentralized solutions by their nature are less efficient than centralized solutions. One of the most basic needs in humans’ lives is to transact. Create products, provide services, sell them to others. Add value to their lives. The market. It’s the core of everything we do, from the moment we wake up to the moment we fall asleep. The market system is how we live. What does this mean? It sounds like something you'd hear on Silicon Valley. Very rah-rah but where's the substance? I feel like this is a cool technical solution that is not realizing that the real issue is social and bureaucratic. The way they are pitching themselves doesn't give me faith that they have a solid plan. Hopefully that's not unfair.

alexmingoia 10y ago

Are you dogfooding Aragon? Do you get paid and manage your shares through it?