First of all, you would probably have to spend about 200 Steem on this to get the attention it actually deserves... The only thing I can do is to Resteem it. Not that I think it will help much...
Now, I'll do my best to answer your questions even though I'm not a "power peep":
1 Did you learn anything you would apply if you are given a 2nd Chance to make Steem/Steemit successful?
Honestly speaking? Not really. It feels like I've already done literally everything I can, and it actually feels like most of the things I have done has been in vain.
2 Did you learn that speaking to your customers (people that use the system) is important?
From the moment I got here, I focused 101% on my audience. I replied to each and every single comment I got, on any article I got, and I tried to do this even on months or year old articles. I also voted on the majority of those comments, not to give them a bunch of rewards, but as a "token of appreciation". I wanted them to know that I cared about them. This is also why I've often said that my audience is my most valuable asset.
I think that some people should've done the same thing...
3 Did you learn that "the SPAM we got with many customers" was better than "almost no customers but with no spam"?
Content is valuable and the most vital ingredient for the survival of Steem. I don't personally like spam, but I'd rather have some spam and active people, than no spam and no people.
4 Did you learn that letting people "bully" people into submission will turn many people off and make them leave?
I have tried to stay away from "flagwars" and whatever ever since I got here in July 2016. I think it's a total waste of time, and I've seen many, many bad things happen because of it. It's one thing to target someone with flags to counter "reward pool rape" though.
5 Did you learn that people like @fulltimegeek, @abh12345, and @paulag should be supported since they did their best to keep people engaged and feeling part of a community?
Yup. These people are amazing. I can't say much about FTG or his intentions nowadays though, because I haven't heard or seen him in a long time... But I definitely miss the SOG days. That must've been one of few times Steem was so active and fun. The positive-attitude and the pay-it-forward mindset spread like wildfire during those days.
6 Did you learn that voting bots that give people limited upside and unlimited downside is a big turnoff, and leads to a terrible message of "greed is good" by the people running the platform (since nothing was done about it for so long)?
Greed and selfish behaviour has practically killed the fun on Steem. The overall engagement is less and many "well-known authors" started to produce articles with less quality than before just to earn. Especially when bidbots became the "new normal" on Steem and they could buy their way to the top, so to speak. This also lead to the fact that many authors doesn't respond to comments anymore, which kills the idea of a "blogging platform" or a "social media platform".
7 Did you learn that "circle jerks" should be discouraged and that the big abusers should be reigned in by the people with true "power"?
I don't want to say too much about this, but from my understanding, the only reason for a bunch of people to have what they have today, is because of the voting-circles they were invited too early. And that has been going on ever since. And... I'm not sure on this, but I've heard that it was Ned who was behind it all.
8 Did you learn that protecting the % of your investment by self-voting and/or donating to a community that does it for you, will keep your percentage of ownership, but bring the whole value of your investment down?
I actually think that self-votes should be banned, and that manual curation should be the only way to earn on Steem... But that will never happen. People would just create multiple accounts and publish crap to self-vote.
Also, self-voting is literally the only reason for investors to join, if and when they decides to do it. And most of the powerful people obviously allows- and does it too.
I've often felt that so many users on Steem wants quantity. They want as much Steem Power as possible, and that sort of makes them ignore the value of the tokens they have. They seem to think that the more Steem they have, the richer they will be, but it's a dumb move as the value keeps going down.
Oh and btw. I self-vote too. Especially now when manual curation has practically vanished.
9 Did you learn that the self-righteous laissez-faire attitude that "its ok that everyone can do anything they want, simply because people don't want to "get involved" with policing others", will lead to bad behavior that eventually makes the platform a ghost town as people get sick of the abuses and the lack of power to change anything? IE...with greater power comes greater responsibilities if you want this to succeed.
Yup. Unfortunately, it seems like the lesser accounts are the ones that are doing all the heavy lifting. At least most of it. So it's basically impossible to change things. You can't change things without power.
10 Did you learn that people don't want to pay to make comments on social media? (ie the RC issue that restricted people's ability to comment drove them away)
I have no idea... This must've been one of the craziest ideas ever. I can see why RC is needed and whatever, but I still can't see a single reason for anyone to join Steem and pay to make comments when they have Facebook and other social media platforms. Other platforms that are social.
I guess some ignorant people would answer this with "because of no censorship" or "decentralization" and whatever, and yeah... Those 7 anarchist-fuck-the-government type of people who're living in a basement somewhere.. Well, I guess they join because of that.
I truly hate that there has been so insane amount of focus on the "decentralized" part whenever people have tried to promote Steem. Bob from Facebook doesn't give a damn about Steem being decentralized or not.
11 Did you learn that Steem/Steemit is a business like all other businesses and requires a collaboration of not only technology geniuses, but also sales/marketing and customer support/relations?
My main business as a freelancer were brand building, and I worked as a full time freelancer for several years. With only a fraction of all the rewards and payments some people got during the time I've been here for their "advertising campaigns" and whatever, I'm sure I would've had 47 times better results.
No one asked me though, as bigger accounts in general on Steem doesn't listen to lesser accounts.
12 Did you learn that Steem the token has much more value if you have many more people using it via Steemit as a social platform? NOTE: this one is for those idiots that said Steemit was just a test and not important for Steem to have value.
I've read articles and comments from several people saying that Steemit isn't necessary... Yet it's still basically the first thing people visit & use frequently when they hear about Steem(it).
13a Did you learn that if too much power is concentrated at the top, then all the real governance will be skewed to what those at the top want and people will feel they have no say?
I realized that a long time ago, but power is what talks on Steem. Many of them ignore "lesser accounts" based on the wallet size. Size is basically the only thing that matters on Steem.
13b Did you learn if too much governance is concentrated at the top, then the decision makers lose touch with what the masses are interested in? (Note: the feedback loop gets broken and the king is never told he has no clothes)
See above.
14 Did you learn that if you ignore people trying to give you "help" via criticism, you are missing ideas that might actually be doing you a favor and improving the product? (Note: instead of being defensive and dismissive, next time try to embrace ideas from all)
Haha. See above again.
