The question of whether or not there were lies depends upon definitions. Understanding that people can and do have different definitions for the same word is the first step to resolving conflict.

Here is my perspective and thinking at the time we posted:

1. Steem is not a pre-mine because we did no mining before the code was public and anyone could participate
2. Steem is not an insta-mine because mining occurred at a fixed rate for a full month before VESTING kicked in, also mining continues for ever
3. Steem is not an IPO / ICO because we didn't sell anything before we delivered the goods

After we launched a new term was introduced 'ninja-mine' which I presume means "sneeky"... but we admitted at launch that that was our intention.

So all that people are left with is that "early miners" have the ability to "dump" and suppress the price. Guess what, miners have dumped much more than Steemit has sold. I myself have purchased a lot of steem.

Lastly, we designed the system from the beginning to encourage commitment and discourage dumping.

So it is relatively clear that the only people being deceptive and dishonest are the trolls who make accusations without knowing what they are talking about. The only people getting scammed are those who are scared away by the trolls.  We have asked for nothing and given much. The market will sort out whether or not Steem has value.