To start a new network, create the first node. Future nodes will connect to this first node (and any other nodes you know about) to create the network.
You must have at least two nodes running to store values. If a node tries to store a value and there are no other nodes to provide redundancy, then it is an exception state.
The current implementation should be an accurate implementation of all aspects of the paper except one - in Section 2.3 there is the requirement that the original publisher of a key/value republish it every 24 hours. This library does not do this (though you can easily do this manually).