> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://productcommittee.docs.intersectmbo.org/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://productcommittee.docs.intersectmbo.org/committee-outcomes/2030-long-term-cardano-vision/insights-collected/focus-groups/spos-focus-groups.md). # SPOs - focus groups ## Quotes #### 🏗️ Running a Node & User Experience “Installation is pretty easy if you're already familiar with it... We got used to the pain points.”\ — Richard McCracken “Voting is not difficult if you are proficient, but it is still risky and labour intensive.”\ — Richard McCracken “If it was just one-shot path — cold, hot, you're done — it would be better.”\ — Richard McCracken *** #### ⚖️ SPO Incentives & Sustainability “Profitability needs to stay above cost. It’s literally that simple.”\ — Zachary Soesbee “We need more balance so it becomes sustainable to run one all the time, rather than just in the good markets.”\ — Zachary Soesbee “There's a negative feedback loop right now — fewer stakers mean fewer rewards emitted, which makes people want to stake less.”\ — Ryan (Cerkoryn) “Rapid decline in staking rewards that has occurred over the last four years… rewards are dropping faster than LAOs can be deployed.”\ — Richard McCracken *** #### 💸 Attracting Delegators & Business Challenges “How do you get delegators to join a stake pool? They have to want to buy ADA, then they have to want to stake it.”\ — Richard McCracken “There’s a reason why 45% of ADA is sitting on exchanges — because people don’t want to be locked into staking.”\ — Richard McCracken “Acquiring a single user is almost not worth any marketing budget.”\ — Andrew Westberg “We need to make it easy to find pools, and make it easy for new pools to grow.”\ — From user notes 【User message】 *** #### 🔄 Parameters & Protocol Improvements “Get rid of min pool cost, set min margin — that’s a really good idea.”\ — Richard McCracken “Anything to improve delegator rewards is best. That’s the focus.”\ — Richard McCracken “We need to be able to rapidly iterate — if it doesn't work, you need a perfect regression plan.”\ — Richard McCracken *** #### 🛰️ Network Resilience & Infrastructure “Bare metal at home because it’s more cost-effective. But it’s a little more maintenance.”\ — Richard McCracken “I run bare metal at home but with cloud failover.”\ — Andrew Westberg “Cloud is good for block propagation but not great for decentralization — it’s good to have a mix.”\ — Andrew Westberg “Maybe bare metal will become even more cost-effective because you don’t get charged for traffic.”\ — Andrew Westberg *** #### 🚀 New Business Models & Partnerchains “Partnerchains could be a business opportunity — but they can be a vampire attack on L1 if not designed with a feedback loop.”\ — Andrew Westberg & Richard McCracken “Staking is competing directly with the dApps on Cardano. If staking rewards are too attractive, people won’t use dApps.”\ — Andrew Westberg “One day the SPO benefits, the next day the dApp benefits — there needs to be a rhythm to it.”\ — Zachary Soesbee *** #### 🧑‍💻 Future Node Improvements “Maybe we should think about compiling the node with just basic stuff — every new feature adds potential bugs and attack surface.”\ — Martin Lang “Keep it simple — startup flags rather than compile flags where possible.”\ — Richard McCracken --- # Agent Instructions This documentation is published with GitBook. GitBook is the documentation platform designed so that both humans and AI agents can read, navigate, and reason over technical content effectively. Learn more at gitbook.com. ## Querying This Documentation If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question. Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter: ``` GET https://productcommittee.docs.intersectmbo.org/committee-outcomes/2030-long-term-cardano-vision/insights-collected/focus-groups/spos-focus-groups.md?ask= ``` The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language. The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation. Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.