With the recent announcement (and accompanied video) by 
What does Steemit inc actually do?
The big question I had, which was kind of answered in the video, is what does Steemit Inc actually do? I thought that a big part of what they were (or should) be doing was to market Steem, and bring about adoption by everyday users. Sadly I think that if they have been doing this it has failed, as user retention is low, and users still come to Steemit confused, and often leave (and probably share their negative experience with others).
Steemit has been in Beta for over two years now (which is too long in my opinion!), and it sounds like Steemit Inc have been partly in charge of developing this - and in my opinion Steemit has been left behind, and now there are far better options, such as 
My understanding from the video is that with the reduction in staff Steemit inc will now be solely focussed on ´survival´ and the development and maintenance of nodes.
Could Steem survive without Steemit inc?
Again I am not a techie, but through the discussion I have read my understanding is that Steemit inc runs ´full nodes´ and is at least partially responsible for the maintenance of the Steem blockchain. An interesting post by
@exyle suggested that some witnesses run full nodes, and thus the Steem blockchain could possibly run without the help of Steemit inc.
I would love some more opinions about this, and whether Steem would survive without Steemit Inc or whether their nodes are needed to keep the blockchain functioning.
A side note on decentralisation
What I find interesting is the idea of decentralisation - on the surface the fact that Steem has a CEO makes Steem seem a bit less decentralised. Maybe Ned moving away from Steem would be a good thing, and make the community more accountable for their decisions. I see to many new users coming on board and then moaning that Ned should solve all their problems, and then see that they haven't even votes for any witnesses - witnesses are a huge part of how Steem works, and where the direction of Steem is headed! I don't like the idea of having a ´figurehead´ who is suppose to solve all of our problems, and think working together towards a common goal is the best way forward.
Conclusion
In the wake of the announcement that Steemit inc is laying off 70% of their staff it has bought up alot of discussion. I am one for more decentralisation and less reliance on Ned to solve all of the problems. I think that if the Steem blockchain could function without Steemit inc then if they became non existent it wouldn't be the worst thing to happen to Steem.
What do you think? As always I welcome discussions on my posts!