SPOt-light #001 [STPZ1]

1. Hello Stefano, Tell us a little bit about yourself, what are your areas of expertise? (Tech, finance, other), how did you learn about Cardano and what led you to adopt the role you currently play in the ecosystem?

A: Hi, I’m working in Information Technology, I’m an analyst programmer with a lot of experience on Linux systems. I first learned about Cardano about 4 years ago when I was collecting little crypto parts from faucets just to understand the basics of how it works.

The main reason I was convinced about Cardano was the implementation of Proof of Stake (PoS) protocol because the idea to spend a huge amount of energy to validate a transaction on a blockchain (like Bitcoin) was really annoying me. So I started to look for ways to be part of it.

2. So from getting to know Cardano, you now are a core part of it, or as most SPO’s do, trying hard to solidify that role. How is that been going, walk us through the process.

A: I started to build the node on the Testnet to see if anyone could participate in decentralization, the concept that appealed to me the most, with only a few resources. Since I already have two servers that I’m hosting for work, my idea was to build a node with zero investment. Using only the few cryptocurrencies I collected, and the ITN Incentivized Testnet I was given the opportunity to have some ADA to register my pool STackingPiZza [STPZ1]. The name came from the idea that you stack your pizza’s in the freezer and you use it when you are hungry so the value at that time is much higher then when you bought them.

3. Were there any problems, obstacles to overcome on the way, and if yes, how did you tackle them, what resources did you use?

A: There weren’t any real big problems, I’ve found a lot of technical support on the forums and Cardano sites. Once I had setup my pool, I realized that the big problem was: GET DELEGATORS, mainly to create the first few blocks, because when I searched for a pool to delegate to and I saw ‘zero blocks minted’ I’m not even sure if this pool is able to create them.

3. So, the F2LB Initiative, its fairly new, can you tell us a little bit about it, what is its purpose and what can people do to help?

A: Based on a saying “Unity is Strength” came the idea to try and build a community of SPO’s willing to put some effort together, and I have to say that I’ve found a lot of good people that offer their time and knowledge specifically to establish simple and fair rules for everybody. Of course we want to have a return from this, but just to pay server running costs and keep going, not to become rich. The community name came to me straight away from the goal: First 2 Lifetime Blocks (F2LB.) At this point I realized too that I needed to provide some money for contribution and I bought 1000 ADA to use as stake for this newly founded F2LB group.

4. What is the current state of your Pool, how is it setup and are there any developments in the near future? If its a Bare metal server, include a picture, were curious how you roll!

A:My pool is still very little. I have to increase my pledge for sure but it means I have to buy some ada. This goes a little bit against my first idea, to run with as little investment as possible, but I think it’s good to change your mind when you discuss your ideas and maybe talk with other people about them. The pool runs on real servers, on a hosting farm.

6. How much stake do you have delegated and when can you be expected to receive the boost from F2LB? More important, what are your efforts now to make sure you attract delegates yourself?

A:I’ve delegated 1000ADA and I’ve already received the delegation from F2LB, but since I was the first in the queue and not many people had joined yet at that time, I’ve received 62k ADA in epoch 251 and 85K Ada in 252. These values are not enough, so since then no blocks unfortunately, but the second pool in our queue will receive about 400k Ada, and that one has 2k pledge, so we all hope to get a block or two and receive the rewards as well. In any case; Once served, I have re-queued my [STPZ1] pool and hope to receive more stake when my turn is up again. As an effort I have to market my pool for sure! but I still have to find the right way. This is a first step and I thank you for this interwiew.

7. What can people do when they don’t operate a pool, but do have some ADA in their portfolio’s, can you give some general recommendations? Do’s and don’ts so to speak?

A: What I suggest is to submit your e-mail to the F2LB community and follow the rotation alert mail that say to which pool to delegate. Or follow the rotation on http://www.f2lb.org (Credits to LvLUp) website to find it. Maybe you will not get reward every epoch but over a year the reward will possibly even be higher.

8. We see a lot of Big Pool operators successfully managing multiple pools. It seems like a good idea from where most people stand. How do you feel about this and how does it affect the purpose of Cardano?

A:Please do not delegate to large Poolclusters or Exchanges. They are totally working against decentralization and Cardanos goals. This hurts smaller pools chances of minting blocks to keep going. This is another main reason for starting the F2LB community. I can agree on having up to 4-5 pools but not more. Centralized pool operators ruin the health of the Cardano system. They could simply fill up their 5 pools then redirect delegates to other pools, and not keep increasing their number of pools. For example: Binance now has got 87 pools!

8. Why should people delegate their ADA to your pool, or what benefit do they get from supporting this initiative?

A:– [STPZ1] is a reliable pool in a server farm with a strong Internet connection,

– I calculate low fees to maximize delegate rewards

– Most of the collected fees will be used to increase the pledge until it gets to 10k ADA. This means that the pool performance wil increase every epoch.

– The rest of fees will be used to bolster the quote delegated to the F2LB initiative.

9. Any final thoughts?

A: Choose better, choose to spread the wealth, choose F2LB!

Stefano, Thanks alot for your time and effort invested in running one of the pools in this ecosystem. We will be sure to consider your pool [STPZ1] for delegation, as noone opposes a good stack of Pizza’s in his freezer!

On to the next!

Bas @ Stayk pool