@Balou - Special Council Nomination 01/2024

Help & Resources Prior Elections
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Personal Information

Discourse ID: @Balou

Twitter: x.com

Country of Residence: UK

Educational Background: Qualified CIMA Accountant of 10+ years. Degree in Accountancy & Finance.

Professional Background: Financial Controller at large European information technology company for 12 years before leaving to pursue web3 in 2021. Directly involved in running the Financial Services division for four years, including starting a new financial services regulated business in the UK.

Nomination Statement

Concise statement on why you are running for the Special Council

I’m passionate about the future of Apecoin and the DAO. I believe my professional background will enable me to pick up the governance aspects well and I’m keen to work with and support individuals who are looking to move this DAO into a bright future.

Motivation

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

I’ve been fortunate enough to be along for the BAYC journey since day one, I’m a huge supporter of the space in general and have been following the DAO closely since it’s inception. I’ve been leading the UK Ape Club delegation for almost a year now and would like to take it to the next step by joining the DAO as a Special Council member.

Rationale

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

My background in Finance has seen me work closely with all areas of a global organisation, whether that’s sales, legal, management, Board’s of Directors, external audit and other external entities. I believe this experience would allow me to pick up any governance related / AIP review related activities well. I also believe my finance background will allow me to provide great support when it comes to revenue generating AIP’s and hopefully start bringing some funds back into the DAO, which has recently become a focus.

I’ve looked through almost all AIP’s as a voter and as the DAO lead for UK Ape Club since inception so I have a good grasp on the history of the DAO and what is important to voters.

Specifications

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

I’ve been in crypto since 2017 although Apecoin has given me my first major DAO experience.

Outside of the standard special council role description, the improvement area’s I would have for the DAO are as follows:

Powered by Apecoin - driving acceptance for Apecoin as a payment, I’d like to work with Made By Apes and other businesses to make this as standard as we can.

Revenue generating AIP’s - building a sustainable future for the DAO.

Continuing the great work that has been done already on improving the operational aspects of the DAO. Getting as many idea’s up for vote as we can, as efficiently as we can.

Encouraging participation - I hope my experience leading the UK Ape Club delegation can be of help here.

Concluding Statement

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

The great thing about the Apecoin DAO is we have so many amazing contributors, I was fortunate enough to meet so many of you in Miami and Hong Kong this year and it has given me the spark to get much more involved in the future of Apecoin. I’m passionate about the role, have relevant background experience and have good connections within the community to enable us to work on the future of Apecoin together!

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Please feel free to ask any questions, there’s a summary version of my reasons for running here for those that want the highlights.

I’ll use this post to add any updates through the next week or so!

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i loved the “i minted my apes, the rest is history” which is pretty much what happened with me :slight_smile:

you have my vote!

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Haha thanks chaps! Appreciate it!

It’s honestly been life changing, forever grateful to the BAYC!

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a couple months ago my girlfriend told me how amazing it would be for someone who wins the lottery, i told her that we already won the lottery by minting our apes, she also minted.

forever gratefull to the bayc!!!

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Glad to see a dedicated ApeCoin community member running for SC in Balou!

Your work to lead the UK Ape Club delegation is exactly the type of participation we need to foster at scale. Looking forward to hearing from a fellow finance & accounting professional on the campaign trail!

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Thank G! Increasing participation is key and I love how much success the regional DAOs have had with that - also brings those communities even closer together which has been great to see over the past year or so!

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Hi @Balou, 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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Hey Fox, thanks for stopping by. All excellent questions and I’ll take some time to answer them this evening. Have a great Sunday! :handshake:

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Hi Fox, thanks again for the questions,

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

I’ve talked about it in the next question - but it centres around making AIP’s more financially innovative and transparent to increase community trust - which should result in a higher number of AIP’s being approved. Let’s put the treasury to work!

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

My Finance background has seen me work on many complex and innovative business cases, whether that’s to obtain internal funding for software development or a new product offering to sell to the market. AIP’s are often rejected as they are not seen as giving value back or ask for too much $APE without proof-of-concepts, I can use my experience to help authors look at revenue sharing models, milestone payments and tranche based AIP’s, driving a more innovative and transparent approach to help gain community trust.

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…)

No, the SC role will dominate my time. If successful I will hand off my UK Ape Club Apecoin DAO responsibilities to another member of the community.

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

Seeing interesting and exciting AIP’s fail for reasons stated in the second question.

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?

If anything we have seen higher participation because some larger wallets have been trying to stamp their authority, and for me that has been a positive. I’m all for increasing the number of delegations, we have seen some great examples in regional clubs and more recently the megakoda community. There’s more work to do there and with my experience leading the UK Ape Club delegation, as well as my good links within the community - it’s an area I’d keen to help with.

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

Absolutely, I’d continue leading the UK delegation as I do today.

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Good luck with the election Balou!

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