Purpose
The Purpose of this Proposal is to fund a microgrants system which will serve as a fundamental step in progressing towards a Trial WG.
Intro
How does one progress from a new DAO member to a full-fledged workgroup within the JupDAO? Up until now the trial work groups were the main way for community members to participate in the system.
However, they are intensive & demanding, lasting 3-6 months and requiring a large commitment involving working in public.
In response to this, we retrospected past initiatives as case studies to develop a system where DAO members complete grants as a fundamental first step.
DAO as MMO Thesis(Optional Reading)
Success within the JupDAO mirrors the dynamics of an MMORPG. Every new DAO member starts at the âcharacter creationâ stage, akin to starting a new game. It is important to remember that, regardless of your past achievements or expertise, within the DAO you start fresh. Engage with the community, pinpoint a mission, and start your adventure. As you contribute & help others, you will accrue reputation, rewards, and skills, much like gaining experience in a game.
Advancing within JupDAO requires collaboration. In the world of MMORPGs players join guilds or factions to tackle more daunting quests. Similarly, in the Jupiverse, one must demonstrate their value through active participation and successfully completing small quests (micro-grants). Once doing so, a member may be ready to join or establish a work-group. These groups, much like guilds, require the appropriate level of experience, initiative, and knowledge to tackle significant challenges. The leader of each group should have successfully ascended the ranks by garnering good-will, feedback, and comradery from fellow community members. Together, work groups pool their skills to embark on larger, collaborative journeys.
Successful completion of a trial phase, as validated by the CWG and the team, may lead to participation in a high-level, ongoing quest. In gaming, highly skilled and hardened players tackle complex challenges that demand not only sophisticated knowledge of the mechanics of the game, but also strategic planning, cooperation, and reaction time. JWGs operate similarly, consisting of veteran crypto-workers who collaborate towards grand objectives. This stage of evolution demands remarkable initiative from all participants in addition to a fully unified vision that compliments the other JWGs and the team.
JupDAO is continuously evolving, marked by complex plot twists and challenges. High-level teams must have extreme adaptability, finesse, and a meaningful commitment to being persistently engaged and responsive. For those who navigate the trial stage effectively & efficiently, an end-game quest may appear in the form of a Jupiter Work Group. JWGs are engaged in sustained & impactful projects that define the future trajectory of the DAO: ready for activation at any moment, new quests continuously emerge & plotlines shift, pushing the boundaries of work, co-creation, and collaboration within the DAO.
Engage with the DAO as if it is a videogame that can change the world and youâll do great.
To Summarize:
- Select Your Avatar: Who are you within the game? What are you good at?
- Level Up: Complete quests and challenges such as grants.
- Form a Party: Band together with your comrades
- Propose a Raid: Lead said group into your first big quest (Trial Work Group)
- Review Your Strategy: Retrospect on your successes, failures, and achievements with the community & CWG.
- Reach for the Infinite End-Game that is becoming a JWG, if you fall, simply rouse your crew and try again, perhaps with a different questline or party members this time.
The Grants Council:
This will be initially comprised of the CWG and Catdets. It will start with 3 CWG signers, in addition to the Catdet Working group who will be delegated 2 votes. Every 6 months the catdets will gain an additional vote, eventually outweighing the CWG.
The idea behind this is that over time the community will take over the process more and more, but initially it has adequate oversight by the CWG to provide the necessary activation energy.
The purpose of the grants council will be to determine the following:
- To determine if someone can proceed and execute on a proposed grant.
- Sharing the responsibility with the team of selecting which pre-trials can proceed to a DAO vote to become a Trial.
Ultimately the DAO is the final say in the instantiation of Trials and Workgroups. However, we do not want them to become oversaturated with votes, applications and information. Having the grants council as an initial filter will create an adequate balance, and with retrospectives built into the process the council can justify or elaborate on any decisions they make to the DAO.
During the first retrospective period, during which the grants system is re-evaluated with the community, any changes can be made to the system if desired. It is important to note that this proposal is the first step in designing a successful grants program, it is not the final product.
The Evolution Hypothesis
We believe that the effective progression system within the Jupiter DAO will fall into 3 separate stages. This hypothesis is what we will be testing with this initial proposal and action period, should it pass.
It will be re-evaluated and improved upon completion of the periods and disbursal of the grants budget.
Stage 1: Grants
Pre-requisites:
1. Demonstrate Initiative: Identify a problem or develop a new initiative that aligns with the DAOâs goals or challenges. Prove you can help others.
2. Actively Engage: Participate in DAO meetings, inquire about ongoing projects, and offer assistance to fellow members.
3. Build a Network: Connect with previous grant recipients to learn from their experiences and understand the paths to success.
Considerations: Your history, CV, past deliverables, standing in the ecosystem and DAO, DAO activity, prior work in public, and commitment to the DAO.
Action Items:
- Read the guidelines and retrospective documents put out by the CWG
- Make a proposal
- Promote your proposal publicly and gain traction and sentiment from other $JUP holders.
- Formally present at a CWG office hours session.
- Demonstrate your ability to execute your proposal.
- Alternatively, answer the call to action and complete a bounty from a current WG.
Opportunity Window & Length
Time & Opportunity Indefinite: Members may propose or complete as many grants or bounties as they wish.
The ability to formally proceed is determined by the grants council.
Accountability
Delivery evaluated upon completion for the grant in addition to maintenance of your Jupresearch post.
Stage 2: Trial Work Group
Pre-requisites:
1. Team Composition: Form a group of at least 2 members who have completed at least 1 grant in addition to other provable work history within the DAO(be it an additional grant, a bounty, etc). Ensure the group has a solid portfolio and standing within the DAO.
2. Invitation: Receive an invitation to apply to kickstart the process from the Grant Council or the Jupiter Core Team.
3. Retrospective: Perform a retrospective on your grants process: lessons, challenges, and achievements.
4. Present & Pitch: Present your trial proposal on the CWG office hours, in addition to other places including but not limited to(the Jupiter planetary call, Jup & Juice, etc).
5. The DAO Vote: Proceed through the DAO Vote process, present your proposal to the DAO for feedback, and post the final version.
Guidelines: Follow the forthcoming trial proposal guidelines for structuring proposals and the financials within.
Action Items
- Ensure at least one member attends weekly CWG office hours to give updates and field questions.
- Continuously broadcast your efforts via the jupresearch post, attending events, public work sessions, etc
- Make progress towards your âmeta goalsâ, making note of any executory pivots.
- Over-communicate at all times and become your own advocate, ensuring you develop a platform and take initiative.
Opportunity Window & Length
4-6 months
Invited by the Grants council, or Jup Core Team to progress to the DAO vote stage.
Accountability
Mechanisms include the retrospective, mandatory CWG office hours attendance, maintaining Jupresearch post to demonstrate progress & deliverables, and Social Accountability.
Stage 3: Jupiter Work Group
Pre-requisites:
1. Invitation: Be invited by team or grants council to make a proposal.
2. Retrospective: Conduct a full retrospective from the trial, making note of any changes in scope or direction
3. Proposal: Create a proposal utilizing the forthcoming JWG proposal guidelines, present to the CWG and team for feedback, endorsement, and review. And ensure you adequately broadcast to the community via multiple avenues(office hours, planetary call, Jup & juice, forum post, events, etc) to collect feedback before posting the final version.
Vote: Pass the community vote, engage consistently with any meaningful concerns, and add clarity and hop in voice channels as-needed.
Action Items
Broadcast: Ensure that your work group is effectively broadcasting to the DAO on all completed initiatives and calls-to-action, if necessary, create new broadcast channels.
Evolve: JWGs handle significant initiatives that have a profound impact on the DAO. This requires adaptability and a proactive approach to new information. What is relevant one week may not be relevant the next. Reference the OODA Loop model.
Opportunity Window & Length
Budgets voted upon yearly.
Accountability
- Meow and the core team hold the authority to nuke a workgroup at any time
- In the case of emergency, If the CWG & Grants council votes unanimously, they can implement a pause on a workgroup until next steps are figured out with the DAO.
- The yearly budget & social accountability.
- Quarterly Reports
The Ask
To fund the initial trialing of this microgrants system, we propose a budget of $150,000 USD. This budget will be used entirely to fund grants and should last 3-6 months or until the amount is exhausted.
If we assume that the average grants will be between $2.5k-$10k in scope(with no minimum), then this would amount to a rough average of ~30 grants. This would provide us with an adequate amount of data to successfully determine with the DAO which next steps we should take.
At the conclusion of this funding round, there will be an intensive retrospective period to discuss its results with the community, and there we can either scale the system up or alter it in response to feedback & data. During this period, any changes to the system can be deliberated upon and implemented.
FAQ Section
Is this a Workgroup?
A. No, this is not a workgroup. Rather it is a microgrants system with 100% of the budget allocated for grants.What do comparable Grants systems look like on Solana in terms of their funding?
A. It ranges widely. At the upper end you have things like the Bonk Community Fund which holds nearly $8 Million dollars in funds. More typically you have instances such as Drift or Metaplex which range between $150k-$250k.How is the money for this used? Are people getting paid to run it?
A. The CWG and CAWG are already being paid, and already have accountability to the DAO. Neither of these groups will be receiving any pay from this proposal, as it is already part of their responsibility list. It is entirely allocated for community grants.Do these grants apply to greater Solana ecosystem initiatives or products?
A. This initial grants round is entirely focused on internal facing grants, and bolstering the Jupiter DAO itself. At a later date in the future, we can consider external grants. But for now that is not the focus.Is there a JUP token allocation for these grants?
A. Not at this time. Initially, the grants will be USD only.
Conclusion
We look forward to helping to empower the community. There are many within the DAO who are ready to get to work on behalf of the Jupiverse. And we know with the right support, that they can and will do incredible things.
We believe that this is the first step in progressive decentralization of the Jupiter DAO, and that this system with guidance, can be effective in achieving the end-goal of action-oriented decentralization. As Meow has stated, we practicalize DAOâs, not romanticize them.
Similarly to the token-list system: initially it was run by the Team, then the Team and the CWG, and currently the former groups and the community. We see this system as an inspiration for how systems can be community run over time and hope to eventually follow in those footsteps here as well.
