Gm @bigbull, thank you for the kind comments!! I too have been glad to see you join + blaze a trail in the DAO these past months. To answer your questions:
What's being done right in our DAO:
Big picture, we’re moving in the right direction. We’ve balanced DAO structure with leadership + decentralization, established a global presence in the wider web3 ecosystem, and several big proposals have been passed as our DAO reaches a shared realization that we need to include talent and builders from other communities, and expand the base of ApeCoin DAO members.
Expanding on each of these:
- the WG0 Stewards (AIP-196) established the foundation for the Working Groups + Stewards system (AIP-239) that exists today, establishing a balance of specialized leadership with decentralization in our DAO structure. It was an honor for me to be elected and serve as be part of this cohort of inaugural Stewards in the DAO.
- Our former Special Council member @maariab established a relationship between ApeCoin DAO & ETHGlobal (a network of hackathons and conference events spanning the wider Ethereum ecosystem) through AIP-96 in 2022 and AIP-230 in 2023. Special Council member @veratheape represented the DAO to the wider web 3 ecosystem in several of these sponsorships, including for ETHTokyo, ETHParis, and other community events around the world.
- AIP-297 by former Special Council member @yatsiu sets the stage to bring in stakeholders from our wider community through the inclusion of Mocaverse, Cool Cats, World of Women, Pudgy Penguins, and Koda NFTs in the form of an ApeCoin sister DAO. AIP-304 by community member @Machibigbrother does the same with Punks and other notable NFT collections.
- AIP-317 is a shining example brought forth by the current Governance Stewards of an inclusive AIP, going to vote on Snapshot with links to the proposal’s full details in multiple international languages. As someone who’s consistently advocated for inclusive timezones, attention to detail regarding language barriers, and broadly diversity & inclusion, it’s been an beyond exciting to witness these transformations in the DAO firsthand.
Finally, want to touch on a keystone of my platform around supporting builders- really proud as a Board member of Thank Ape (AIP-124) to see the hundreds of builders we’ve empowered across the ApeCoin ecosystem, as well as the positive reputation it’s built for ApeCoin in the broader web3 world & the new talent that’s been brought into the DAO through our microgrants.
What we could improve in the DAO:
3 key categories we must focus on are further empowering builders, building ApeCoin’s reputation in the wider web3 ecosystem, and automation of processes to free up those serving the DAO to do more.
- Empowering builders involves many pieces. Many factors can make our DAO a more attractive choice for top builders: shortening length of time from AIP Idea to Snapshot vote, setting expectations around proposal amounts, shortening time to receive funding after an AIP passes, scaling back intensity of negotiation required when authors sign with the foundation, increasing the accessibility of voters’ feedback and access to direct conversation, and creating new avenues for builders to create with the DAO aside from the main AIP process.
- We build a reputation through industry events, representation, and collaboration with other key players in the ecosystem. We must increase our visibility at broader industry events such as ETH SF, Consensus, and Token 2049. Build relationships with leaders from Polygon, Optimism, Arbitrum, and beyond. Study from the successes and failures of other DAOs like Nouns, Decentraland, or the Optimism Collective.
- Go further with what we have with automation. Currently there’s many portions of roles that can be automated or made more efficient with AI and current technology. For example, we can free up meeting notetaking time with AI notetaking software for internal + external meetings, especially as the numbers of active Stewards + Working Groups grows. There many such parts of the AIP process which could become more automated.
Thanks again for your thoughtful questions BigBull!!
-Halina.eth 