MIP40c2-SP3: Core Unit Budget - GOV-001
MakerDAOMIP40c2-SP3: Core Unit Budget - GOV-001
Preamble
MIP40c2-SP#: 3
Author(s): @LongForWisdom
Contributors: N/A
Status: Formal Submission
Date Applied: 2021-02-03
Date Ratified: <yyyy-mm-dd>
Specification
Motivation
I am proposing this Core Unit Budget modification because GovAlpha needs a budget in order to be able to fulfill its mandate.
Core Unit Name
GovAlpha (GOV-001)
Quarterly Focus - April/May/June 2021
Expansion and Redundancy
A key focus for this quarter will be to expand the number of Facilitators of GovAlpha from one to three. Preliminary discussions have taken place with both @prose11 and @Elihu and both have expressed willingness to undertake the Core Unit Facilitator role. During this quarter I will help them onboard into this role. If all goes well, they will join me (@LongForWisdom) as equal facilitators in this Core Unit.
Improving SourceCred
While the SourceCred trial at Maker has been well received, development of the algorithm has continued over at SourceCred. We expect that the SourceCred team will continue to suggest improvements to SourceCred over the quarter which we should consider implementing.
Additionally, functionality has become available that will allow us to weight Cred generated by ‘likes’ in threads within a particular category or tag. With this functionality, we can be more targeted with SourceCred incentives, and more heavily reward users that participate in threads that are directly relevant to governance, such as commenting on MIPs and Signal Requests. The implementation of this functionality will require care but may lead to improved participation in those threads.
MIPs Portal
Up to this point, Governance has not been able to view, search or discover MIPs in an attractive and accessible way. This should change in the coming months. We are focusing heavily on launching a MIPs Portal which will fulfill this need. An initial version should be released in April at the latest, and additional functionality will be added once we have a minimum viable product that fulfills basic requirements.
Since their inception, MIPs have been opaque and difficult to engage with. I have high hopes that this portal will change that and improve buy-in and engagement with the MIPs process.
The Maker Protocol Operational Manual
Education of new or returning members of Maker Governance is a critical requirement of good governance that should not be ignored. The Maker Protocol is a complex system of smart contracts, and there are many aspects of functionality that are transmitted as institutional knowledge. Beyond that, the governance processes that MakerDAO has adopted are not trivial to understand.
The goal of this project is to create and maintain a set of documents that will allow MKR Holders to make informed choices when voting or signaling within the Maker Governance processes. These documents will be referenced in applicable signals, polls, and votes and will be maintained by GovAlpha. They will emphasize neutral, objective, and complete information about Protocol parameters and governance processes.
This manual may also be expanded to include a historical record of the key challenges and events that Maker Governance has dealt with since the launch of Multi-Collateral DAI.
Team Membership
The GovAlpha Team will consist of at least the following members in the April/May/June budget period.
@LongForWisdom - Partial Commitment - Governance Core Unit Facilitator
@prose11 - Full Time - Governance Core Unit Contributor
@Elihu - Full Time - Governance Core Unit Contributor
@charlesstlouis - Part Time - MIP Editor
@davidutro - Part Time - MIP Editor
@blimpa - Part Time - Governance Core Unit Contributor
Quarterly Budget - April/May/June 2021
Facilitator Remuneration
Remuneration for Facilitators of GovAlpha will be an annual salary paid monthly. The size of the annual salary will begin at a base rate that is equal for all facilitators and is then modified based on the level of the individual facilitator’s time commitment and experience.
The multiplier for partial commitment is higher than one might initially expect given the hours contributed compared to a full-time commitment. This is because facilitators with a partial commitment have the same requirements to be available in emergency situations and take an equal share of responsibility when fulfilling the GovAlpha mandate.
| Base Pay | 120,000 DAI |
|---|
| Multiplier | Explanation | |
|---|---|---|
| Commitment - Partial | 0.80x | Part Time commitment, 20 hours per week minimum. |
| Commitment - Full | 1.00x | Full Time commitment, 35 hours a week minimum. |
| Experience - Limited | 0.65x | New to the role, would not be able to fulfill responsibilities alone. |
| Experience - Moderate | 1.00x | Confident in the role, capable of fulfilling critical responsibilities alone. |
| Experience - Experienced | 1.50x | Experienced in the role, capable of fulfilling all responsibilities alone. |
| Partial Commitment | Full Commitment | |
|---|---|---|
| Experience - Limited | 62,400 DAI | 78,000 DAI |
| Experience - Moderate | 96,000 DAI | 120,000 DAI |
| Experience - Experienced | 144,000 DAI | 180,000 DAI |
Breakdown
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| People | |
| Core Unit Facilitators Salary (1) | 36,000 DAI |
| MIP Editor (1) | 6,000 DAI |
| Main Contributors (2) | 39,000 DAI |
| Other Contributors (?) | 5,000 DAI |
| Recurring Initiatives | |
| SourceCred Payouts | 66,000 DAI |
| SourceCred Support | 15,000 DAI |
| One-off Projects | |
| MIPs Portal | 20,000 DAI |
| Other Costs | |
| Gas | 500 DAI |
| Contingency | 52,500 DAI |
| Total | 240,000 DAI |
Remarks
The initial quarterly budget breakdown for GovAlpha can be found above. This is a quarterly budget that was created specifically for the months of April - June. It is heavily anticipated that this budget will increase in coming quarters as more Core Unit Facilitators are onboarded and additional projects are taken on.
For the initial quarter, the contingency item in this budget is quite high. The percentage of the budget made up of this contingency item is expected to decrease in future quarters, although the absolute amount may increase as the total budget request increases. This item has a higher share in the first quarter due to the uncertainty around which items need to be funded in the first quarter, and the Core Unit Facilitator’s inexperience with managing budgets.
Budget Implementation
This is a Manual Budget Implementation using the Interim DAO Multi-sig wallet that successfully passed through governance here 3.
The ethereum address of this multi-sig contract is: 0x73f09254a81e1F835Ee442d1b3262c1f1d7A13ff
And the keyholders are:
@LongForWisdom - 0x66f40F044E0e2F77bB746e3275E82e88dCBA2D69
@Primoz - 0x5d67d5B1fC7EF4bfF31967bE2D2d7b9323c1521c
@SebVentures - 0x0D61C8b6CA9669A36F351De3AE335e9689dd9C5b
@juan - 0xFCa6e196c2ad557E64D9397e283C2AFe57344b75
@hexonaut - 0x18CaE82909C31b60Fe0A9656D76406345C9cb9FB
The contract needs no authorization within the Maker Protocol, though it will require that one-third of the GovAlpha budget is sucked from the Maker Protocol at the start of each of the months: April, May, and June. This comes to 80,000 DAI per month.
This transfer will be included in the first executive vote of each month and will be included in each subsequent executive if the first executive does not pass. In the event of subsequent executive votes also failing to pass, the Governance Facilitator will make a decision on how to proceed.
The keyholders of the MakerDAO Interim Multisig have agreed to sign valid payouts for GovAlpha’s expenditures until a more robust solution can be constructed.
