Personal Information
Discourse ID: @Bernard
Twitter: x.com
Name: Bernard Schmid
DOB: 3/8/1994
Email: bernard@web3-studios.com
Educational Background: Master in Business and Management at London School of Economics; Bachelor of Economics and Finance Frankfurt University
Professional Background: Founding member of web3 Studios - a team that supports DAOs on strategic and finance topics. Previously, 3 years at McKinsey, where I worked for their venture practice, setting up venture funds, incubation units, and ventures for larger companies. Prior to that, worked for a venture capital fund and several high-growth ventures.
Nomination Statement
I’m here to help ApeCoin grow and add REAL value - with full-time dedication and experience from McKinsey, setting up own DAOs, and a strong network from releasing market reports with web3 leaders (Seb from Sandbox, Punk6529, gmoney, and more).
Motivation
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Personal: Met ApeCoin Team on the ground at ETH SF. I was amazed by their vibe and vision of making ApeCoin one of the largest gaming economies in the world. I have been following BAYC and the NFT space as a whole since day 1 and believe very strongly in the unique potential of the community.
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Value: I can add REAL value for ApeCoin: Quit my full-time job working for McKinsey and bring a unique mix of skills to the table. (a) Analytical rigor and experience: In the past, I set up governance processes, developed business strategies, and structured venture funds (much like the ApeCoin ecosystem fund) for some of the world’s leading companies with McKinsey. (b) I know the NFT space inside out, bring a strong network with leaders in the space, and have a clear view of who to partner with. I released multiple reports on the NFT market where I worked together with Seb from Sandbox, Punk6529, gmoney, Herman from Improbable, and many more leaders. (b) On top, I gathered experience in setting up own DAOs (McKinsey Crypto DAO and LSE DAO), worked for DAOs (Gro DAO), and co-founded the web3 Strategy and Finance Association to support DAOs in a more structured manner.
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Dedication: Dedicated my career to helping DAOs and NFT communities: For most of my professional life, I have been involved in strategy, finance, and governance topics. I worked in a mix of early-stage companies, larger companies, venture capitalists, and banks, where I have experienced many failures. I wanted to do something about it. So when I learned about DAOs, I quit my job to focus my mind space on these topics.
Rationale
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Top Analytical Background - to make data-driven decisions: McKinsey, Investment Banking, Start-ups, and studied Finance and Economics at London School of Economics.
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Governance Experience - to set up clean governance structures: Founder web3 Studios helping DAOs to set up governance structures; Supported leading corporates in setting up governance structures with McKinsey; Steering committee at McKinsey DAO, Founding Member LSE DAO,
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Community Building Experience and Network - to grow the ApeCoin ecosystem: Released leading report about Digital Identities with Seb from Sandbox, Herman from Improbable etc, with over 1m views; Build up own talent pool with young web3 talents from leading universities of this world (Stanford, Cambridge, London Business School)
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Web3 Venture Investments Experience - to guide ecosystem fund allocation: Worked for Venture Capital Investor, have done 25+ own investments, and provide capital raising support for start-ups and ecosystem funds
Specifications
Governance experience
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Steering committee of the McKinsey Crypto DAO (like Orange DAO for YC founders) - setting up governance structures, developing DAO strategy, and increasing transparency.
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Governance projects for some of the world’s leading corporates - structured department reorganizations, developing hiring and training plans, and setting up employee compensation schemes through work at McKinsey.
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Supporting several smaller DAOs and Crypto Companies on Treasury Management and Strategic Finance topics.
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Launching LSE DAO (DAO for London School of Economics alumni) - setting up governance structures, managing community, leading member acquisition.
Ideas for improvement:
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Set up increased transparency for complex matters: I plan to restructure the presentation of ApeCoin DAOs Financial and Risk Situation, incl. the ecosystem fund. Taking the abstract layer away to boil down complex matters to key decision criteria. This is what I’ve done at McKinsey for most of my career and when talking to several people in the community have a feeling that this should be improved, especially as a service for the wider ApeCoin community who have full-time jobs and limited capacity.
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Run ApeCoin-internal governance analysis: As we are laying the foundation for potentially one of the largest gaming economies out there, it is key to set up world-class governance structures. While the current processes are market standard and work reasonably well, I believe ApeCoin has the chance to shape the leading edge of DAO governance - and the time for that is now. This will demand a lot of testing, e.g., with different participation schemes, committee/council team structures, barriers to contributing etc. For this, I would start with an internal analysis of current governance, do a benchmark analysis of other leading DAOs, and evaluate improvement potential.
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Launch collaborative content unit: I’ve been releasing class-A market reports with a group of other web3 experts. This is an enriching experience on many fronts. (a) You learn a lot; (b) You work together as a team; (c) You produce high-quality content that moves the ecosystem forward. I feel we have a unique angle with the ApeCoin DAO and would love to release these types of reports as a community.
Concluding Statement
I quit my full-time job to do this - help DAOs with strategy, finance, and governance. I would be honored to be part of the ApeCoin Special Council, and I strongly believe that I can make a real contribution to making the ApeCoin DAO the world’s leading gaming economy - with my experience from McKinsey, building own DAOs, and my strong network from research work with web3 leaders (Seb from Sandbox, Punk6529, gmoney and others).