UPDATE: It became evident that I had misinterpreted the role of the new working group and I thus respectfully DECLINE my nomination. My below statements can therefore be removed from the #candidates-wg channel @shadowspub. Thank you!

I gladly offer my support to help setting up a Foundation which aims to advise(!) on managing and allocating liquid or staked funds of a single stake-holding party (Steemit Inc.) to advance the Steem ecosystem as a whole. Basically, an institution that aims to somewhat decentralize some of the influence of our platform's major stakeholder. I also understand the scope of the envisaged Foundation as to attract investments and donations from the outside and to make proposals to Steemit Inc which of these to top up._

_In contrast, I would not be able to support a Foundation that aims to govern Steem-wide matters or introduce changes to Steem’s core logic. That always has to be the task (and burden) of the Witness panel. In this context, I deem it mandatory that a Foundation refrains from using stake under its influence to directly or indirectly engage in witness voting. Especially in the (likely) event that witnesses or their proxies will become board members. Refraining from diverging portions of the Steem-Inflation towards the compensation of Board-Members and/or to finance the Foundation's operations is a commitment I would consider mandatory too.

Further self-restrictions may be necessary depending on the amount of funds allocated under the Foundation's influence.

Also, I will always oppose any proposal to weaken or even replace DPOS / stake-weighted voting as the single mean to consent on Steem-critical decisions. If you consider stake-weighted voting a flaw or worse you should NOT vote for me. Having said that, I consider second layer solutions for non-stake-weighted allocation of separate SMT-pools or 1account/1vote enabling dApps valuable additions to our Steemsphere.

These critical remarks are in no way intended to express a negative stance towards the intension of constituting a Foundation but rather to clarify the direction of my input that is to be expected in case of my participation in the working group.

If done well, I believe a Foundation that focuses on how to help allocating portions of Steemit Inc’s stake and on attracting financial commitments from the outside can be of tremendous value for all of us. I don’t foresee a role for myself in such an entity, but I will be happy to provide my input in order to set one up.

Thank you!