P2P node support company, Node40, conquers challenges in blockchain space

Sean Ryan and Perry Woodin are ideas men, and founders of Node40, an incentivized node service and Dash masternode hosting provider launched in 2015. “In the world of distributed Peer-to-Peer (P2P) decentralized blockchain applications, stability is of paramount importance. Without stable nodes, the network can experience issues,” states the company site.

The founders say that the most challenging aspect of running the business has been holding their focus and not branching out.

“We have so many ideas for value-added services it can be difficult at times to prioritize,” said Woodin, who has been designing and developing web applications since the mid-’90s.

In the short space of time since coming together to form the Albany-based company, working toward providing a strong foundation in which an incentivized blockchain network can operate has been the primary concern.

“Our focus is stability of the Node40 platform, but we are constantly coming up with ideas that we want to implement right away.”
— – Perry Woodin

According to Ryan, their ceaseless uptimes – stability – is Node40’s biggest achievement to date. “We have put a great deal of effort into providing a stable platform. Running masternodes can be trying at times,” said Ryan, who has designed and developed software for a variety of industries since 2000. “The software (daemon) can crash so you need to make sure there is a way to bring it back without getting dropped from the network. Then there is the hardware.”

What Node40 does is ease the barrier for anybody who wants to participate in supporting P2P networks like Dash.

They exist at the precipice of cutting edge, offering an apparatus that encourages the sustainability of a blockchain network, that is only as strong and robust as its nodal, peer-to-peer network.

“Node40 had to build custom monitoring software for the hardware,” said Ryan. “If a hardware issue is detected, we need to insure the node is migrated before its standing with the network is compromised.”

This all occurs behind the scenes of course, and is completely transparent to the customer.

The system is being constantly tweaked to ensure stability; important because it ensures a continued passive revenue stream.

“If a node goes offline, the customer’s revenue stream is broken,” explained Woodin and Ryan. It’s as complicated and simple as that.

Operating in New York has also sharpened the company’s nose for compliance. “New York is a tough state to do business in. The regulatory climate isn’t particularly friendly to startups in the blockchain environment,” said Woodin.

The company is keen on paying close attention to what’s happening with regulation to ensure they are not in violation of any existing or proposed legislation.

“Operating in New York makes us a stronger company because it forces us to focus on compliance.”
— – Sean Ryan

The positive attitude translates into customer service as well. A large part of this is ensuring the company’s target market – those interested in owning a node but unfamiliar with the technology or that don’t wish to contribute a large time commitment – are accommodated to the fullest extent.

A key challenge, explained Ryan, is education. “We are seeing more customers who have interest in incentivized blockchains, but are fresh to blockchain technology.” said Ryan. “The on-ramp for new people is still quite steep so we find Node40 playing a big role in education.”

Removing barriers to entry is pivotal and a crucial part of the Node40 model. Contributing to this is the company’s recent adoption of a Telegram chat bot. “It has already been a big help,” said Ryan. The bot directs all inquiries to someone at Node40.

“Sometimes existing or potential customers are hesitant to reach out via phone or email,” he said. “The Telegram bot offers a secure communications platform for people who have questions and want to chat with a real human being.”

Being a key part of the Dash masternode network, Ryan and Woodin contend that keeping up with updates with the cryptocurrency can also be difficult.

“The Dash network has been very stable for over a year now, but behind the scenes, development is happening at a rapid pace,” said Woodin, who was also an early Dash investor and is a Foundation Member.

Node40 must nevertheless maintain a finger on the pulse of what is happening at Dash, at every turn.

“When new software updates are released by a blockchain such as Dash, we have to be ready to support it.”
— – Ryan

It is another key challenge the young company has strove to tackle since 2015. “We do this in part by maintaining an excellent relationship with the Dash Foundation and staying active in the community,” they explained.

In spite of the myriad of projects, Node40’s focus remains incentivized nodes — nodes that pay operators for participating in the network.

Despite a robust selection of ideas bubbling to the surface, the company has set its sights on a few upcoming developments: a new user interface for its application, more insight (via metrics) of what is happening in the Dash blockchain and the addition of other incentivized blockchains.

The latter speaks to a glimmering reality, one of peer-to-peer networks operating under capitalistic principles to incentivize ownership and encourage sustainability.

When asked why incentivized nodes are the path forward toward blockchain network sustainability, Woodin and Ryan both imparted: “Point to an example where relying on free labor is a good business model.”