Proposal Name: ApeCoin DAO Voting Adoption Driven by Good Month Labs
Proposal Category: Core: Ecosystem Fund Allocation
Abstract:
In this AIP, we will detail how Good Month Labs will drive ApeCoin DAO voting adoption. Over the past 6 months, Good Month Labs has established a web3 podcast called Never Fade. The Never Fade podcast has proven distribution across multiple web3 communities and can be used as a distribution point to drive hype around the Active AIPs to show the DAO’s consistency & effectiveness. Using its Cake platform, Good Month Labs will create a custom dApp to incentivize adoption of governance by allowing the engaged audience of Never Fade to earn $APE. A scalable dApp will allow for deeper integration of networks in the future.
Solution:*
Voter Adoption dApp UI/UX Demo - YouTube
Author/Team Description | Who are we?
Goodmonth.eth (Andrew Medearis): is a web3 technologist who has been involved in the ETH space since 2014 and was previously a cybersecurity product leader. He was a part of an exit— selling Digita Security to Jamf Software where they helped Apple retool macOS’ security framework for enterprise. In 2021 he went full-time launching Good Month Labs (goodmonth.io) and has incubated Cake as a result. Additionally, he is a host on Never Fade and continues to build out more shows under the Never Fade media arm.
*5 other team members bios are added at the end of this AIP Idea under a section titled the Appendix
Motivation | Why should ApeCoin DAO fund Good Month Labs?
Problem
The web3 space has had a lot of turnover in participants over the past 2 years. Participants in the space are spread across multiple communities and the visual and audio economy competes for attention. Currently, the most common path of learning about what ApeCoinDAO is doing requires the following critical user journey (CUJ) *assuming someone already holds $APE and they are not incentivized to return
Most people in the web3 space are unaware of active AIPs, and if they do hear about the AIP they are unaware of the status of the AIP or the progress if it passes. A lot of this has to do with friction to access information as detailed in the CUJ above, but additionally web3 participants need to be motivated and incentivized to further inquire.
Solution:
Voter Adoption dApp UI/UX Demo - YouTube
With this proposal, we can use Never Fade’s reach to motivate our podcast audience to get involved with the ApeCoin DAO in 3 ways:
- Hosts discussing live AIPs on the Never Fade podcast to give our takes and introduce a call to action (CTA) for a known quantity audience that has builder interests and qualities to provide their opinions (Reach)
- Provide a landing page (dApp) to the Never Fade audience to further inspect a digestible and summarized AIP they hear about on the podcast while also earning $APE (Approachability)
- Provide a multiplier of $APE earned for those who earn & vote consecutively (Incentivization)
By creating these 3 drivers for a well known personality of web3 native members, we have the ability to measure adoption efforts and gain insights into behaviors we can build and thus extend quality engagement which should be the long-term focus after adoption.
User Stories:
Persona A: Person who has never been involved in the ApeCoin DAO
- User learns about live AIP being put up on cakeapp.xyz/earn-AIP via a twitter clip on NeverFade twitter or on the NeverFade podcast
- User provides 2
opinion scale& 2yes or noanswers to questions based on AIP info - User has ability to
claim $APE - User is directed to official snapshot page to vote
Persona B: Person who returns to earn $APE
- User learns about live AIP being put up on cakeapp.xyz/earn-AIP because they have signed up for email notifications
- User provides 2
opinion scale& 2yes or noanswers to questions based on AIP info - User has ability to
claim $APE& is notified that they have a multiplier for consecutive claims - User does not need to claim and spend gas as long as they have at least 1 $APE in their wallet
- User is directed to official snapshot page to vote
- User has ability to share that they have voted on twitter and earned $APE
- User is asked to get notified about next opportunity to earn $APE
Past AIP Proposals Considered:
We explored some posts in the past that have had a similar idea of incentivizing voter adoption and wanted to address some of the arguments that were risen in AIP-100 https://forum.apecoin.com/t/aip-100-to-incentivize-decision-making-activity-by-rewarding-apecoin-dao-voters-with-free-nfts/8108
- AIP-100 was determined that it promoted an outside project and this should have not been inclued.
– Our consideration: We are not promoting any project or brand with this dApp but instead we are using our brand to drive our existing reach to take part in membership of the ApeCoin DAO and become engaged in a web3 community. The incentive we will be offering is inherent to the ApeCoin DAO brand itself with it being $APE coin - AIP-100 had feedback from @mariaab who stated, " just my $0.02 but do we want to incentivize those people to vote? will they have the long-term interests of the DAO in mind?Increasing participation is a great initiative, but the goal should be to increase quality participation.”
– Our consideration: We totally agree with this statement. Quality participation and long-term interest is the goal. We think that the $APE incentive is low enough that people won’t see too much benefit from farming, but will see more benefit by continuously returning and being in the know which keeps them educated and we believe that is the first step to quality participation. We also have direct feedback from our listeners that they enjoy the higher intellectual ROI they get out of the podcast so we believe our listeners could be a targeted persona that can increase quality persona and have potential to be builders in the space as those are the guests we have on the pod. We think this would be a larger problem if the initiative was broadcasted on a audience we couldn’t define as “quality.” - AIP-100 had feedback from @apethor who stated, “Offering rewards for voting is a form of manipulation that undermines the integrity of the voting process. It sends a message that voters are not motivated by their own beliefs and values, but instead need to be bribed to participate. This not only devalues the democratic process, but also opens the door for fraud and unequal distribution of resources, as some individuals may falsely claim rewards or prioritize their own financial gain over their civic duty. Furthermore, offering rewards for voting can also be seen as a form of bribery, which is illegal in many countries and can lead to serious legal consequences for election officials. In short, vitiating the voting process by offering rewards for voting is a wrong and unethical practice that undermines the principles of democracy and the importance of genuine engagement.”
– Our consideration: In the long-term a well ran democracy should have grassroot organizations that advocate for their ideals and educate and drive adoption of voting, which is taking action. In that long-term situation, there is a world where the grassroots organizations are publicly funded by grants to have the opportunity to engage people. The voters in this scenario aren’t being paid, but the people that help people become aware of how they can take an action are funded to encourage action. We see this proposal as a way to fund action for web3 participants and iterate on how we can best engage them once we get them in the door to get involved. Good Month Labs is a group of builders that have been involved in the Yuga Ecosystem since mint day, and even with the skills and passion to be involved with the DAO we are not as involved as we should be because it is not promoted or encouraged enough by the people who we pay attention to in the space and we want to change that. We agree that we have to learn from our insights to ensure that incentives are correct and driving quality participants, but for this particular proposal we are focused on capturing more people to get involved who can be quality participants.
Details on Reach of the Never Fade Podcast
The Never Fade content team generated 1k watch hours on YouTube & 500k impressions across twitter in Q1’23. The podcast has produced 21 episodes and has a reputation for hosting builders who are dedicated to web3 and are going to be staples in the space for years to come.
Details on Deliverables & KPIs:
The following are analytics that we will be building into the dApp to ensure that we can measure success and track against these Key Performance Indicators. The following metrics will allow us to measure what is working well, and what needs improvement. These KPIs will also allow us to have insight into how we can further build out features into the dApp if there is market fit (i.e. provide referral link to the dApp for other content creators)
- Monthly Active Users (MAUs) & Daily Active Users (DAUs) of dApp
– Number of wallets interacting with dApp
– % of total wallets interacting with highlighted AIP
– Number of wallets per multiplier bracket
– The ratio of wallets that have Earned $APE & Voted on Snapshot
– ***part of the initial scope will be to work with the Good Month Labs team to set expectations/goals and track against assumed KPIs and define what success will look like once traction is present - Deliverables
– By the end of the proposal, we will have an on-demand .PDF reporting download to provide transparency in KPI measurement at minimum and/or a dashboard that can be accessed at best. - Not in scope, but anticipated next steps for the project after the timeline is up (subject to change):
– Provide a raffle mechanism supported by chainlink (VRF) for wallets who have earned + voted to win an NFT (Gamification)
– KPIs:
— Number of raffles won per wallet
— Number of raffles claimed by wallet
— Number of raffle winnings unclaimed
Rationale
Key Terms
- KPI
– Key performance indicators are defined analytics with a framework of goals to ensure that efforts are being measured properly and aligned to show what success looks like - dApp
– Decentralized application is a website with a function that allows self-custody or custodial wallets to interact with a smart contract on a blockchain, in this case it would be on Ethereum as that is where $APE lives.
– $APE Multiplier- User will receive a multiplier (1.2x) on their next $APE to reward continuous voting, the multiplier will compound.
- Possibility but requires technical research: Ideally add a larger multiplier when a streak occurs (increment of 5 votes in a row) but the technical capability to do this is TBD rn.
- Formula: (1 $APE * 20% multiplier)[1]
- Example:
- 1st time user will be rewarded 1 $APE
- 5th time user will be rewarded 2.4 $APE
- 20th time user will be rewarded 38.33 $APE
- User will receive a multiplier (1.2x) on their next $APE to reward continuous voting, the multiplier will compound.
Specifications:
Distribution Mechanism:
Never Fade Podcast:
- YouTube
– Full length episodes
– 4-5 Youtube Shorts an episode - Spotify
– Full length episodes - Apple Podcasts
– Full length episodes - TikTok
– Clips per episode - Google Podcasts
– Full length episodes - NeverFade Twitter
– 7+ tweets a day with clips
– RTs from influential builders who are guests on shows
– Discord Raids from builders following
Tech/Software
Cake App:
A web3 SaaS product already built by Good Month Labs
Here is a list of existing features that will not need to be funded by the proposal*:
- dApp hosted on a aws (serverless) (trycake.xyz)
- web3 wallet library for self-custody (rainbow wallet kit)
- Custodial wallet services (paper.xyz)
Product Scope:
Here is a list of existing features that will need to be funded by the proposal:
-
The following functionalities will need to be built in the dApp
– Chat UX digestible AIP summary (Typeform)
– Link to formal AIP proposal
– Optional: Hosted content from NeverFade Podcast (Youtube) -
Will need to build a new contract which stores and secures the $APE coin in the claiming pool and has the following functionalities:
– Highly Digestible AIP Summary using Chat Style UI (Typeform)
– Claim function for $APE (erc-20) will need to be a function developed into Cake and the customer will access the link on Cake’s domain (cakeapp.xyz).
– The contract will need to identify wallets that have claimed and provide a multiplier to claim amount
– The contract will have timeframe windows that are set to facilitate Live AIPs which will restrict one claim per wallet per AIP (i.e. A single wallet will only be able to write a single $APE claim per AIP proposal)
– Each new Live AIP will allow for any wallet to write a single $APE claim
–Claim will require gas for this proposal, sponsored gas is an opportunity for a later proposal
– IF a owner has atleast one $APE in wallet they can bypass their claim and still have access to claim at any point to save ETH (gwei). In the event that the server is no longer supporting the function, they will always be able to access their $APE via the OpenSources contract.
– Tradeoff: We are making a trade off to allow an owner to save on gas for the claim as long as they are capable of making a vote with atleast 1 $APE. Our goals and KPIs around this proposal is to get as many wallets to vote on as many AIPs as possible. We are not trying to get as many people to vote with as much $APE as they have earned on every AIP.The claim function and dApp will need to have analytics instrumented to measure the following:
- Number of wallets interacting with dApp
- % of total wallets interacting with highlighted AIP
- Number of wallets per multiplier bracket
- The ratio of wallets that have Earned $APE & Voted on Snapshot
- ***part of initial scope will be to work with the Good Month Labs team to set expectations/goals and track against
*Proper testing and 3rd party Audits will be required
OUT OF SCOPE (but of interest for future proposals)
- Chainlink VRF for raffle of erc-721s
- Public API for other distribution mechanisms to hit the same $APE claim mechanism
- Referral links for content creators with access to web3 communities to be incentivized to share the referral with a rev share on $APE mechanism
- Ability for other DAOs to use the $APE claim mechanism to increase adoption on their voting proposals
Example of past Solidity Contracts by Good Month Labs for Cake
- Example of custom upgradeable contract deployed successfully: ERC-721A Cake Upgradeable Contract (OpenSource)
https://etherscan.io/address/0xb8d6a3e525de4fc1de6198d0804ee880532ff7f4#code
Operational Steps to Implement/Execute:
- Review AIPs when they are live pre podcast
- Record a segment that highlights and educates the
Live AIP(s) - Hosts of podcast provide their personal take,
fororagainstwith sound rationale- If dApp is not live yet, steps 1-3 repeat
- If dApp is live, proceed to step 4
- Hosts encourage the audience to go vote for the AIP at the a domain represented on by a QR code on screen
- Content team at GML updates the AIP summary on the dApp
- Once podcast is over, the Never Fade producer cuts the AIP clip & adds a QR code that points to the Earn AIP dApp
- The Earn AIP dApp configuration is changed to
enabledand makes a $APE Claim windowActive - Clips Immediately published across all Good Month Labs twitters while AIP is live
- IF all $APE has been claimed within the earn window, Good Month Labs Twitters will send out a notice that all AIP has been earned with stats of people who have claimed and voted
Technical Steps to Implement/Execute:
- Research 3rd party tooling that allows for claims with complexities to be configured to meet our requirements & make a “buy versus build” decision”
- Integrate Typeform Chat UI/UX into Cake dApp frontend
- Instrument application with analytics for KPIs
- Log actions in database for reporting purposes
- Integrate or build claim contract based on outcome of step 1
- IF build claim contract internally, use 3rd party for audit
- Load test server for performance
- QA test
- Product support for length of AIP proposal
Timeline for Work:
INSERT NEW TIMELINE
Overall Cost | The total cost to implement the proposal
- $31,000 for 3 month custom dApp build
– Scope & User Stories **(**
DONE - included in proposal)
– UI/UX Prototypes **(** DONE - included in proposal)
– 8 full-time engineering sprints including audit sprint (640 hours of development at $80/hr)
– Engineering + audit cost is $51,200
– $20,200 is subsidized by Cake App - $15,000 for 3 month dApp subscription
– Ongoing product support throughout duration of proposal
— $40/hr for approx 120 hours for support issues ($4,800 total)
— $80/hr for approx 60 hours every two weeks for development maintenance ($4,800 total)
— $70/hr for approx 77 hours of product management to maintain $AIP roadmap, create prototypes for future solutions and entertain partnerships throughout duration of proposal - $18,000 for 6 months of podcast production for AIP initiatives
– 24 episodes cost a total of $73,200 to produce
— Talent cost is $1,250 per show
— Show Production cost is $800 per show
— Social content production is $1,000 per show
— We are asking for 24% of total cost of Never Fade Show to be subsidized by the ApeCoin DAO so we can continue to promote and amplify the importance of voting for AIP as well as every individual and active AIP - $6,000 for 3 months of $APE coin to give away for users who earn it
– This value will be held in $APE and provided to all users who earn it, this $APE will not be used for operations or execution - (-$580) discounted for the culture
- A discount to make the number meme right
Conclusion:
One of the single greatest predictors that a community will thrive is the sharing of beliefs and values, and the continued communication of it’s members. What Good Month Labs hopes to bring to the already thriving Ape Coin DAO is a force multiplier to ensure the posterity of it’s members and shared interests.
Two reliable, trusted and secure methods of distribution (The Never Fade Podcast & Cake App) are tried and true leaders in creating value for their participants, users and listeners. Our team is excited to share the success of each of these organizations to amplify the impact of the Ape Coin DAO and create generative and meaningful opportunities. Good Month Labs looks forward to having successful metrics that warrant further investment into the dApp to provide even more value to the Ape Coin DAO. Thank you for your consideration!
–APPENDIX–
The following team members look forward to talking more about this in the discussion!
FaXx.eth:
Is a host of Never Fade and is a sentiment/market analyst in the space. He is focused on the communities perspectives of things along with the speculation and psychology that can be put into effect with big announcements, trading volume, or positioning within the space from both an economic and web3 holder perspective.
1m2m3:
An entrepreneur with 16+ years of experience specializing in startups and growth-stage companies in Web3, entertainment, technology, education, energy, and finance. He has worked as a leader in strategy development while keeping my passion for adding value, building communities, and creating professional relationships with clients and colleagues at the forefront.
He is currently leading bizdev and ops at Good Month Labs, a development studio that builds enterprise-grade apps for the blockchain. He’s also a partner at Right Click Save Ventures, Web3 venture studio building tools for investing in crypto and managing a fund that invests in NFTs and other digital assets.
Previously, he was a founding partner at both Unknown Ventures and Mindscape, a pair of emerging market funds that provide strategic capital and consulting services to help founders and early-stage operators grow their businesses and achieve their goals. Unknown specializes in the entertainment and creator economy industries and Mindscape focuses on cannabis & psychedelics.
HazyBjordan.eth:
The producer and editor of Never Fade and Good Month Labs Media.
David Berning
David is a self-taught software developer who has been working on technical problems for the past 8 years. His entrance into programming began as an analyst at LinkedIn helping the recruiting team classify and recommend specific pools of candidates based on large amounts of LinkedIn profile data.
LinkedIn exposed David to all parts of the technical stack and afforded him professional training in many different technical arenas (big data analytics, machine learning, distributed systems, software testing/deployment).
David’s exposure to web3 has been brief (2 years) but explosive. He has quickly applied his technical understanding of traditional web services to his understanding of the blockchain and the potential it holds for unlocking tremendous value for both web users and web service providers.
Corinn Carter:
Corinn Carter has a decade of experience working with early-stage startup companies, with a focus on social impact startups and nonprofits. As a change agent, strategic consultant, and executive wingman, she has worked side by side with C-level executives to improve business value and performance. She has also served as board-appointed interim CEO at SEED SPOT, a Top 5 Global Private Business accelerator. In her current role as Chief of Staff at Good Month Labs, Corinn supports administration, project management, business development, and product marketing initiatives across the growing team
Comments based on discourse conversations:
There were a couple mentions in the discourse conversations that members of the DAO wanted us to partner with ThriveCoin and integrate and I wanted to address some of these comments.
We have a native audience to our podcast following and we feel comfortable persuading them and motivating them to get involved in the APECOIN DAO if we can have a hand in curating the experience, this is our main motivation building our own tech with an effort to curate the experience for our listeners. There have been some comments from people that they feel like everything should be integrated with existing tech in place, we are not ruling that out down the road; however, before we get into integration talks and utilization of two different company’s roadmaps we want to prove that there is viability in this solution and therefore reason to integrate.
number of times participated in dApp for live AIPs ↩︎
