[BIP-21] Funding Proposal for Ecosystem Ops and Development Squad
BalancerLeader(s): LuukDAO
Pledge to abide by the DAO’s Code of Conduct (or link to your own): We pledge to abide by the Balancer DAO’s Code of Conduct.
Pledge to abide by the Accountability Guidelines: We pledge to abide by the Accountability Guidelines set forward by Balancer DAO.
Domains of Operation: DAOops, Business Development, Design
Length of Engagement & Budget: 6-month engagement with a total budget of 108,000 USDC for 4 fixed contributors (1.8 FTEs) and on-demand support with potential vests up to 9,130 BAL depending on milestones accomplished by the team.
ETH Address to Receive Funds: 0x5D82fA4F29fB22A9ed9E64E1c9C36873EE4D93bA
Link to SLA (if going through the Foundation): TBD
Link to the gDocs version of the Proposal 3
Call for Collaboration
We’ve attempted to coordinate closely with Ballers and potential service providers, including Orb Collective and Daoism systems. We are 100% committed to turning Balancer into a synergistic ecosystem. We invite any ecosystem stakeholders who want to align vision and workflow to engage with us. Let’s continue to develop the Balancer Ecosystem into a thriving ecosystem.
Introduction
The BalancerDAO has seen steady development over the past 9 months and is now in the transition to becoming a full-fledged DAO managing the Balancer Ecosystem.
To support this ongoing transition, we propose creating the Ecosystem Ops and Development Workstream consisting of three different squads (DAOops, Ecosystem Development, and Content Creation) with the primary aim to streamline ecosystem efforts, BalancerDAO assets, and process over the next 6 months to allow BalancerDAO to establish a strategic roadmap and scale towards it in the years to come.
The contribution group consists of Ballers and Kolektivo Labs members who have all been exposed to BalancerDAO and the wider-DAO space for a longer time as specified in the contributor breakdown further in the proposal. We aim to combine our knowledge, network, and efforts to help develop the Balancer Ecosystem towards becoming the most used AMM.
For Q3 and Q4 - we aim to focus primarily on internal alignment within the BalancerDAO ecosystem by collaborating closely with other SPs to enhance the effectiveness of the Balancer Ecosystem as a whole.
Objectives and KPIs per Focus Area (Squad)
| Focus Area | Objectives | Success Criteria |
|---|---|---|
| DAOops | - Improve and maintain the BalancerDAO workspace and resources. | * Successfully manage Notion, gSuite and other accounts related to Balancer.Community and Balancer DAO for the full proposal period. Managed by up-time of workspace. |
| - Establish a streamlined process for issuing and managing @balancer.community domains and access to contributors’ resources. | * Create clear guidelines and effective processes for issuing and revoking @balancer community emails by the end of Q3 | |
| Ecosystem Development | * Establish a shared CRM with Orb Collective and potential other Balancer DAO Ecosystem Teams. | * Establish a shared database for tracking different connections in the Balancer Ecosystem. Measured by an effective solution existing by end of Q3. |
| * Establish different funnels for potential integrations & partners | * Establish funnels that directly lead to the correct groups depending on their ask. Success will be measured by the effectiveness of the funnels. | |
| * Host a monthly Ecosystem Development Session where Team Leads and contributors can gather, share updates, and discuss. | * Plan, host, and document 6 Ecosystem Development Sessions and digest the outcomes to make ecosystemic suggestions. | |
| * Create a map of the Balancer ecosystem | * Create an overview and visualization that can be easily shared and digested that showcases the entirety of the Balancer Ecosystem | |
| Design | * Support the creation and maintenance of the re-worked Balancer brand guidelines | * Create and distribute Balancer brand assets. Measured by the ease of finding the right Balancer brand assets. |
| * Create template assets to be used by the Balancer Ecosystem | * Develop templates that can be used by at least 2 ecosystem members to easily create Balancer visuals. Measured by having a clear template set by end of Q3. | |
| * Create marketing assets using the Balancer brand guides | * Ensure design needs are met timely and in line with Brand assets. Measured by timely delivery of marketing assets. |
Team
Ecosystem Ops and Development Workstream combines Ballers and Kolektivo Labs Contributors. A total of 4 people will be contributing a fixed amount of time for the full duration of the proposal - estimated in Full Time (40 hrs) equivalents measured of a monthly timeframe for 1.8 FTEs.
Fixed Contributors
- Senior Ecosystem Developer & DAOops (Luuk) - 0.3 FTE
- Business Developer (Will) - 0.5 FTE
- Senior Graphic Designer (Jaap) - 0.4 FTE
- Graphic Designer (CryptoComical) - 0.6 FTE
Contributor Backgrounds
Kolektivo Labs: An experienced Web 3.0 collective with about 25 contributors and offices in The Hague, Lisbon, and Switzerland. Has with and for DAOs for the past three years. Are actively contributing to PrimeDAO, DAOhaus, The DAOist, Kolektivo, and BalancerDAO. Will be responsible for streamlining contributor rewards and project management.
Contributors to this proposal
Luuk: Senior Ecosystem Developer with over four years of work experience in the DAO space. He started his journey contributing to DAOstack and is now mainly involved in PrimeDAO, Kolektivo, and Balancer. Has a background as a DeFi fund manager and a wide network in the ImpactDAO space.
Will: Strategic Consultant and project manager who has contributed to Symmetric Finance as Ecosystem Builder. Has a strong connection with the Gnosis ecosystem and understanding of the Balancer technology.
Jaap: Senior Graphic designer with 1.5+ years of experience making DeFi Applications and Web 3.0 Brand Assets. Has worked on The DAOist, DAOhaus, PrimeDAO, dHedge, and more.
CryptoComical: Designer who has contributed to BalancerDAO for the past half-year.
Budget
| Initiatives | Description | Monthly Budget | Quarterly Budget | Total Budget |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ecosystem Development | 0.8 FTE equivalent of contributors will be supporting Ecosystem Development. | $ 7,000 | $ 21,000 | $42,000 |
| Design | 1 FTE equivalent of contributors will research, create and design assets for Balancer. | $ 7,000 | $21,000 | $42,000 |
| Expenses | Buffer for costs accrued by Workstream contributors related to BalancerDAO works - such as Gas costs, travel expenses, and Legal & Accounting support. This also covers the costs of operating and maintaining all subscriptions. | $ 4,000 | $ 12,000 | $ 24,000 |
| TOTAL USDC | $21,000 | $63,000 | $108,000 | |
| Bal Vests for Fixed Contributors equal to 50% of fixed rewards. | Description | Amount in BAL | USD value at current spot | Milestone |
| Start proposal (20%) | 1825 | $8,400 | At the start of Proposal | |
| First tranch unlock (30%) | 2740 | $12,600 | When 4 out of 9 Successes Reached | |
| Second tranch unlock (30%) | 2740 | $12,600 | When 6 out of 9 Successes Reached | |
| Final tranch unlock (20%) | 1825 | $8,400 | When 8 out of 9 Successes Reached | |
| TOTAL | 9,130 | $42,000 |
veBAL rewards based on Success
An important part of this proposal is the desire of all contributors to align with Balancer for the longer term. To align incentives between contributors and lower the USD asks, a series of veBAL incentives are proposed as part of this Proposal for the fixed contributors of this proposal (1.8 FTEs).
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The veBAL incentives will be issued based on the milestones accomplished by the Ecosystem Ops and Development Workstream and will be matched with 25% WETH from the contributors’ own resources and locked by each individual for the full ve duration (1-year).
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The BAL vests are valued in absolute BAL numbers and will be distributed to fixed contributors pro-rata based on their fixed rewards.
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The value of the vest is taken by multiplying the fixed income times 0.50.
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The group will submit Milestones to the Foundation based on completion. The Foundation will confirm whether Milestones are met or not and will do the payout.
Iterative Proposal Process
The initial proposal of the Ecosystem Ops and Development Workstream aims to follow an iterative proposal process where we absorb learnings in the coming months and actively support BalancerDAO in creating a multi-year ecosystem strategy that will allow us to shape up a value-aligned proposal for the full-year of 2023.
We will be documenting learnings and publishing it to the wider community, similar to the process we followed in the Grants Sub-DAO.
