- After David Sønstebø was expelled from the IOTA Foundation, he gives an overview of the events.
- Sønstebø criticizes the management and funding of the IOTA Foundation and attacks co-founder Dominik Schiener.
After the IOTA Foundation separated from its co-founder David Sønstebø about two weeks ago, he has now spoken out. Instead of a tirade of hate and wild accusations, Sønstebø praises the project and the progress. At the same time, however, he cannot fail to criticize individual decisions and other personalities of the IOTA Foundation.
The IOTA Foundation presentation was dubious and defamatory
As Sønstebø writes, he decided to wait to describe his views in order not to overshadow “the significant milestone in the launch of the Chrysalis / IOTA 1.5 test network”. In his letter to the IOTA community, Sønstebø also makes it clear that he continues to believe in IOTA as a project with full conviction.
What was regrettable from Sønstebø’s point of view, however, was the notification of the decision that affected him. So there was an “apparently Kafkaesque development that has led to nonsense speculation both in the community and in the media”.
Sønstebø calls the management board’s handling of its personnel matters “clumsy, panicked and downright unprofessional”, which later left a lot of room for speculation. In particular, he regrets that he and the Foundation have not issued a joint statement in which both perspectives are set out. In this sense, Sønstebø also describes the official reasons for his departure as wrong:
I categorically reject this obviously false, dubiously motivated and defamatory portrayal of myself. I started the project, raised the capital for the foundation, built the first team, single-handedly selected and authorized every current board member and never received a single cent in compensation. Rather, in context, the truth is that my greatest allegiance to IOTA is when forced to do so.
Criticism of the funding and governance of the IOTA Foundation
However, Sønstebø not only sharply criticized the notification of his dismissal, but also the management and funding of the IOTA Foundation. According to the IOTA co-founder, the foundation suffers from a “start-up inflammation”, which is why he demanded the appointment of a CEO / COO in mid-2018.
Despite the consensus, this was chronically disadvantaged until I sounded the alarm again in 2020 and this time passed it on to the supervisory board, which was in line with my position. Regrettably and inexplicably, the Board of Directors repeatedly opposed this, although I even mentioned a promising perspective within IF. Unfortunately, this meant that the board of directors’ maturation was hampered.
The result of this neglect, says Sønstebø, was that “the constant drama from the past has re-emerged and IF repeatedly suffers from misalignments and delays”. Another major issue, he added, was funding. While Sønstebø stressed that the IOTA Foundation is not on the verge of bankruptcy, he still sees flaws in the way financial planning has been handled:
When you have over 100 talented and dedicated people who depend on IF’s finances for a living, inspiring them is unacceptable. This would become the last major confrontation on the board […].
According to Sønstebø, it is also a mistake to place projects with the IOTA Foundation. This not only harms finances but also the ecosystem as it goes against the ethos of IOTA.
I am more of the opinion that IOTA is actually successful than that it simply becomes a means for a centralized German organization with several hundred percent subsidiaries to grow indefinitely. Hornet, Iot2tangle, Society2 etc. etc. are successful examples of this vision, which has always contributed significantly to the vision of IOTA. These principles are vital to the success of IOTA and cannot just be empty platitudes.
Dominik Schiener is not a “co-founder” of IOTA
Finally, Sønstebø also commented on his former colleagues on the board of the IOTA Foundation. While Navin Ramachandran, Serguei Popov, Richard Soley and Clint Walker largely received words of praise, Sønstebø attacked his longtime companion Dominik Schiener and asked him not to use the term “co-founder”.
When I met you, you were a young entrepreneur who hated your life in South Tyrol. I took a chance with you and for the most part I don’t regret giving it to you. We had good times. You played an important role in the foundation and were the board member I worked with the most. Then shit happened. I will refrain from sharing unsavory details in return for the “respect for privacy” favor.
However, I will request that you no longer refer to yourself as a co-founder of IOTA as you were not involved in its creation. You were not involved in developing the Tangle theory or the IOTA vision. […] I included you in the project well over a year after it was founded. It’s time people knew the truth.
See this link for the full statement by David Sønstebø.
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