@Airvey - Special Council Nomination 01/2024

Help & Resources Prior Elections
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Personal Information

Discourse ID: @Airvey

Twitter: x.com

Country of Residence: Puerto Rico, USA

Educational Background: MBA, Columbia Business School; Post-MBA: Presidents’ Program, Harvard Business School

Professional Background: Sr. Advisor, Horizen Labs; Advisor, Animoca Brands; Founder, Airvey.io

Nomination Statement

Concise statement on why you are running for the Special Council

As a Sr. Advisor at Horizen Labs during the creation of ApeCoin DAO alongside the founders of BAYC and Yuga Labs, I possess an intimate understanding of this ecoystem. Today, I sense that new challenges have arisen with the creation of ApeChain. I aim to leverage my experience in building EVM chains (Horizen EON), my insights gained as the Special Council of the Horizen DAO (after spending 18 months at the Foundation level), and my role as an advisor for the next token of Animoca Brands to ensure that ApeCoin DAO maximizes its chances of success.

Motivation

Details on your motivation for becoming an ApeCoin DAO Special Council member

My primary motivation is to restore the value of ApeCoin DAO to its initial release level ($8 per token on day one). I believe there are several ways to regain positive momentum, starting with using $APE as gas.

Rationale

Share relevant experience and skills that will bring value to the ApeCoin community

Six months before the release of the ApeCoin DAO on March 2022, I presented the opportunity to the community and many potential partners. I understand the pitfalls to avoid and the historical context.
Interestingly, one of the significant challenges we faced was the decision of Horizen Labs to distribute 10,094 APE tokens to BAYC holders. Community considerations were paramount throughout this process and should continue to guide our decisions.

Specifications

Further describe relevant experience, including crypto and governance participation, and/or ideas for DAO improvement

Having spent 18 months as a board member of the Horizen Foundation and currently serving as Special Council on the Horizen DAO (Animoca Brands being one of the other six members), I believe that this experience will bring value to the DAO. Additionally, I recently celebrated my 10 years in crypto; you can find an article recapping my journey here: https://cointelegraph.com/magazine/journeys-herve-larren-on-bitcoin-apes-and-the-psychology-of-blue-chip-nfts/ . Finally, I have been involved in moderating panels for BAYC, including at Paris Blockchain Week, the largest crypto conference in Europe. You can find the video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f8FOX6lvrjA

Concluding Statement

Summarize your statement as to why you are the best choice for Special Council

I have collaborated with many of the key players in this ecosystem over the past few years. If fortunate enough to be elected, I am confident in bringing immediate value to the DAO without having to go through a long onboarding process.

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Airvey, it’s interesting to learn of your history within the creation of ape coin. Regardless of the outcome I’d love to continue to learn more from you so that I can better serve in my role as SC and then as an active community member/ adviser at the end of my term. It was good meeting you in Korea and then seeing you again in HK.

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Terrific to see you applying to SC, Hervé! You certainly bring the unique perspective of being involved with ApeCoin since prior to inception. Your intimate knowledge and relationships around the ecosystem would be invaluable to the role. I look forward to learning more about your candidacy in the coming weeks.

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Hi @Airvey, I am asking all candidates the following same questions:

If elected, what is the one item you feel passionate about and would like to see accomplished during your tenure within the DAO?

What is an area of expertise that you will be bringing to the table?

Are there any factors in your life that may limit your time and ability to serve? (Running a business, extensive traveling, secret agent for the SEC, etc…)

What is your least favorite thing right now with our DAO in its current state?

Currently, many of the proposals are determined by large wallets, there are many grumblings about it though I stand neutral on this; if possible, would you change this? and if so, how and why?

Will you be an active participant in the DAO even if unelected?

Thank you and best of luck,

F/S

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You definitely have a unique background and experience which makes you stand out. Good luck!

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Questions for the last round of Councils election :ballot_box: voting period:

  1. How do you planing to overcome the drive for personal leadership behavior and focus on the working under the leadership of the community?

  2. What worker behaviors if any were missing in the previous SCs & how you can implement the timing dedication to the DAO?

  3. how many languages do you speak and how you used that if anyhow at your previous jobs?

  4. Are you planning to fully working for us and leave any full time job to mind currently have or big projects or running any company of if currently have?

  5. Where do you draw the line between WEB2 companies and out WEB3 DAO?

  6. Is anything preventing you from traveling?

  7. Do you have a 1 year plan? And Imagine If you become like a real “miss/mister DAO” for a year that has to dedicate 24/7 their mind to us meanwhile - can you & your family handle the stress plus pressure?

  8. How do you take care of yourself, making sure that your body has a proper rest and care so your mind can be focus on the DAO? How is your daily proper routine?

Thank you.

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It’s very exciting to see you running, the SC needs you.

Good luck!

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Alrighty. So at the beginning of yesterday I tentatively had my vote going to Airvey, but changed that based on an interaction that occurred. Based on current vote totals, it looks like Airvey is close to a sure thing to win the nomination, but I still feel compelled to share the story as the interaction I witnessed was concerning. I also anticipate this being turned around as if I’m part of some shadowy cabal to take Airvey down. But honestly, my overall level of interest in this election cycle is minimal. The DAO has failed to bring in diverse talent from outside of the tiny web 3 bubble yet again, and I think getting more diverse talent into these elections is critical for the long-term success of the space. Now, onwards!

I was in the Surreal Guild Discord yesterday afternoon where we were listening to several people running for SC. Airvey attended the beginning which was appreciated as I’m sure he is very busy. One of the first questions asked to Airvey was from Gerry (current SC member). Gerry asked why $APE wasn’t released as a governance token as opposed to a standard ERC-20. Airvey responded something along the lines of believing that there was an underlying motive to the question, and asking Gerry to be up-front about how intentions behind the question.

I don’t remember the responses well in the following back and forth, outside of Airvey said that this was years ago, he was working on behalf of Horizon with the team at Yuga, and things were under NDA. While I considered the overall conversation a bit awkward, I was fine with the explanation and personally moved on. Horizon was hired to do a job, they did that job, and Airvey said they were under NDA to not provide further details. Enough for me.

But shortly after that is when things became very strange. As someone else started talking (I think it was one of the people running for SC), Airvey said that he had to go because he felt that the conversation was a set up of some sort. He shortly thereafter left VC, clearly upset, expressing disappointment with the entire situation. I was personally very confused about this outburst and what led to it. It felt… unprofessional… to say the least.

The VC chat went on without further issue, although I’d say honestly BoredApeG was pressed MUCH harder by someone else running for SC who was there, but he didn’t move into a hard defensive stance like Airvey did.

But that wasn’t what I’d consider the worst outcome of this overall exchange. Shortly after Airvey left, another member of Surreal who has an AIP up mentioned that Airvey voted against it. When this member asked Airvey why they voted against it, the response was “Why did you guys voted against me?”

To be clear, Surreal had not voted for any candidate yet, internal voting was still underway. Also the member who had the AIP up had nothing to do with Gerry or the questions that he was asking. Surreal votes in a 100% anonymous way, although we can see current voting totals so we have an idea how things are trending. I personally had no idea about what other members were going to ask, or their general beliefs in terms of who to vote for entering into that voice convo. Surreal operates like a loose collective, often with very minimal (if any) conversation about particular AIPs prior to individual voting goes down.

Every individual member has complete control of their vote. If another member influences how they vote (if at all), I’d never know. I’ve advocated against AIPs that I felt like would be damaging if they passed, but even that is rare. I consider myself one of the only people who actively do that in chat. Voting strictly in retaliation to another member’s AIP because of comments Gerry made feels both unprofessional and petty to me, and these are not traits that I want to see in the SC.

To reiterate, prior to this going down my personal vote within Surreal was cast on Airvey. Why? They have an impressive educational background, and have very legitimate experience in the web 3 space that I felt would translate into the role. After this exchange, I can no longer in good faith cast that vote. I’ve let other people who are members of similar voting blocks know as well. This was childish and petty in my eyes, and behavior that if shown by even an associate level member at a tech org, they would be put on performance review. I’ve seen it happen. I’ve seen mid-level employers get pushed out for doing stuff like this.

How can I be confident that Airvey will maintain composure and behave in a professional manner when they’re actually pushed in a conversation of consequence? I can’t. And I’ll say I’ve heard several conversations with current SC members where they’ve lost their composure and overall level of professionalism. That also isn’t acceptable. Let’s hold ourselves to higher standards here.

To Airvey, I urge you to directly apologize to the Surreal member that you retaliated against. Even if Gerry was actually operating with a hidden agenda (I have no idea if he was or wasn’t), this member had NOTHING to do with that. This isn’t top down leadership where we follow the leader. We’re all independent votes who simply vote in a block for what we think is best.

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Matt be spitting like always.

On a serious note I do agree with getting different names in the game but that time has passed.

Airvey to me has been nonexistent in the space since being paid from Yuga. These are just my opinions btw

Someone has to say the truth.

Someone like @AaronHaber handled it perfectly in asking the perfect questions and actually trying to be apart of the community.

I endorse @buuvei

I was unable to attend the discord call but I truly wish I could’ve.

Surreal is the realest fam I know.

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Yeah… I’ve changed my mind, and my vote.

(Not that it matters anyway)

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