Hi. What’s the real benefit of this proposal for Apecoin DAO & Holders, please?
A fair question in general, although quoting the part of my statement meant to be more cheeky and overlooking the following paragraphs in which benefits are outlined, somewhat informally I’ll admit, is a bit disingenuous. I’ll list out the merits shortly…
First recognizing that the benefits of IRL real estate for ApeDAO and Yuga are somewhat self-evident. If you question the merits prima facie, then you must question the merits of Yuga’s Miami bar, businesses like Bored & Hungry, and proposals like AIP-111 which seem to have the general support of the community. IRL property brings APE into the mainstream zeitgeist, not to mention the services each location offers.
The hotel business is not easy; it needs lots of involvement, investments, and time spent on every location to maintain high-quality services.
This to me is not a valid critique. Replace “hotel business” with “X” and this sentence is true for everything in the world ever. Well, maybe not if X == “illegal 70s era New York bathhouse.”
The very first guiding value of this DAO: Boldness: We don’t shy away from the weird, the hard, or the new.
You may also be looking at this from your perspective rather than that of a general idea, which is why it’s in General. But from my perspective, the guy with 7 years on the books exploring and working in the international hostel circuit, doing everything from management to sourcing to licensing property in foreign countries, it’s quite feasible, provably sustainable and very exciting to think about.
Why spend time, resources & and everything to build Ape Hostels from the DAO perspective?
This is a better question. Before I list out the real benefits from the first section, I’d actually like to address this first.
The hostel business by nature is one that’s run by volunteers and independent contractors. This is perfect for the transient nature of many crypto-leaning Apes — it provides a touchpoint to reward and encourage their talents, provide physical and emotional sanctuary, and validate their choice to be an Ape. For example:
To decorate the place, the hostel creates an initiative similar to that in Forever Apes Upgrade 5. Only instead of the graffiti going on other people’s walls, it’s used to decorate the Ape-owned hostel.
To get Ape/Otherside themed furniture in the hostel, we call on the vast number of Apes who have shown interest and talent in upholstery and craftsmanship to a build-a-thon.
Hope you get the point here. I could go on. No, I’ll spell this out.
Everybody in the DAO complains about low participation. But the DAO is not meeting people “where they are.” An Ape furniture maker has an interest in furniture, not governance. If you want his attention, give him an opportunity to make furniture. You’ll then have a much better chance of getting him interested in the DAO at large.
Now a general list of real benefits, of course non-comprehensive, just off the top of my head:
- can be placed strategically in an crypto-heavy area for max outreach potential
- can promote the use of $APE as a utility token/commodity
- can serve as a hub for meetups like this
- can source Ape food and beverages to support that part of the ecosystem
- can create a sustainable economy for itself instead of the DAO paying out $5-10K per meetup
- can easily connect with the mainstream, no crypto knowledge required (but $APE is required to transact in the hostel, and we’ll teach you how to do that!)
- can provide jobs for Apes who are tutors, artists, designers, builders, cooks, engineers, and just the wayward Ape on gap year trying to find herself
- can easily get press
- more efficient use of meetup budgets (license in some countries costs as little as $30k; average meetup $5k, so you’ve paid yourself back in the first 6 days of operation)
- place for Apes to really get to know each other
- place to work on projects together
- can be used as a reward mechanism for other Ape projects (help us test XYZ, and you get a free plane ticket to the Ape hostel in Awexome City!)
- can further decentralize the Ape ecosystem
We’ll stop at 13 because that’s my lucky number.
I think a more relevant question would be, why should the DAO own the product rather than just invest in a hostel that an Ape already owns, like the DAO is doing with Ape Water (possibly).
2 reasons: 1. “More work for the DAO” — how is this bad? More work == people who have to do the work == GIGS/JOBS for Apes, which is what the DAO is here to provide and 2. any DAO I’m a part of must consider those members with drive but without the means to own a business themselves. Otherwise, the DAO is just giving opportunities to people who already have them, which isn’t web3 gang gang at all.
These are general thoughts. I haven’t even really considered this seriously yet, but it is an idea that definitely has merit that hit me like a thunderbolt. So I have to put it down. Thanks for the pushback.