NeoPod hosted its third community AMA on July 13, featuring Tyler Adams, COZ co-founder and CEO, in a text-based Discord session covering Neo’s strategic direction, the ongoing governance dispute, and what the ecosystem needs in order to break out of its current rut.

The session follows previous AMAs with NNT’s Dylan Grabowski and Aziz of NeoRedPill, continuing NeoPod’s series of in-depth conversations with figures across the Neo ecosystem. The event was announced earlier this month.

Adams has been involved with the Neo ecosystem since its Antshares days, spanning nearly a decade. Before entering blockchain, he ran Reliability Test Systems at Seagate, managing large-scale distributed storage solutions, where his team researched consensus algorithms. That work eventually led him to Neo’s dBFT consensus model.

Neo needs to stop ‘boiling the ocean’

Adams was direct about Neo’s lack of strategic focus, arguing the project has been coasting on an outdated value proposition.

“We have been running with the 2017 strategy of ‘We have a blockchain that can support smart contracts’ for a long time and the industry has changed,” he said. “We need to narrow scope and GO TO MARKET.”

He called for Neo to identify a specific market niche and build toward it, rather than continuing to spread itself thin:

“Let’s focus on a market segment and build a purpose-built product instead of trying to boil the ocean.”

He acknowledged the talent and passion within the ecosystem but argued it needs direction, adding that Neo needs a roadmap and that COZ has ideas but wants both founders engaged in the process.

N3’s stack depth as untapped advantage

Adams highlighted Neo N3’s technical architecture as a significant but underutilized competitive edge, particularly its capacity for modular smart contract design.

“If you want to build modular (complex) software, Neo N3 is a monster,” he said. “The stack depth absolutely destroys most L1s.”

He urged the community to recognize this as a core differentiator, saying that Neo’s design around modular utilities in contracts mirrors traditional software development stacks. It is an approach most competing chains cannot support at the same depth.

However, Adams argued that the current 10 GAS smart contract deployment fee undermines this advantage, stating that developers should be able to design and deploy libraries to build out the ecosystem for free. Neo N3 reduced the deployment cost from 1,000 GAS on Neo Legacy, but Adams believes even 10 GAS creates unnecessary friction for the kind of modular development that would showcase N3’s strengths.

Founder dispute: both valuable, autonomy needed

On the public disagreement between Neo co-founders Da Hongfei and Erik Zhang, Adams struck a conciliatory tone while advocating for structural change.

“I have known both founders for nearly a decade and feel that they are both critically important to the ecosystem,” he said. “It takes A LOT to build in this industry and we need every asset we can muster. Both Da and Erik are incredibly valuable in their own way and I hope that we can reach some resolution to this.”

His preferred path forward centers on decentralizing budget authority rather than resolving the personal dispute itself. He called for a delegation agreement that distributes decision-making for budget priorities, identifying budget autonomy as the root of many recurring issues.

“WE NEED STABLE COINS… but there isn’t any autonomy within the community to drive that progress,” Adams said, adding that COZ previously had more latitude to support initiatives like stablecoin onboarding, exchange listings, and project incubation. That position aligns with COZ’s April essay calling for broader stewardship in Neo governance.

Community support cycle breaking down

Adams addressed negative sentiment within the community head-on, describing it as a systemic problem rather than individual bad actors. He described a pattern where Neo invests heavily in onboarding and training contributors, only to leave them without a path forward once initial support runs its course:

“We do a pretty good job of bringing in community members. Bringing these people in, training them, and supporting them is the expensive part. We’re incredibly good at doing this and I feel that it sets up an incredibly harsh transition because we fail at the handoff to something larger.”

He acknowledged COZ’s own limitations in addressing the problem, noting the team does everything within its capacity but conceding that initial support can create expectations the ecosystem cannot sustain. He added that most frustrated individuals are providing valuable feedback despite their tone.

COZ and ITEM: steward, not founder

Adams described his role at COZ in understated terms. He said he did not set out to “build” COZ, describing the organization as something that formalized organically through sustained work.

“I don’t view myself as an individual founder of the team. I’m more of a steward,” he said. “I represent a qualified technical team and we vote and coordinate together on decisions.”

On COZ’s ITEM initiative and its non-fungible item technology, Adams confirmed the team continues development and teased a major brand activation coming to Neo N3. He distinguished it from COZ’s previous Iron Studios collaboration without naming the partner. The project is not formally supported by Neo, with COZ pursuing it independently.

Despite the challenges facing the ecosystem, Adams said he remains committed to building. He acknowledged negative sentiment stemming from the founder dispute and price action, but said he trusts Neo’s consensus node operators and technology as a foundation for real products.

NeoPod’s next AMA will feature Frank, creator of FrankCoin and World of Elements, on July 25.

The full AMA took place in the NeoPod Discord server.

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