Personal Information
Discourse ID: @lior.eth
Twitter: https://twitter.com/lior_eth
Name: Lior Messika
DOB: 11/28/1995
Professional Background: I’ve been a professional investor for 8+ years, helped scale billion dollar companies with my family, and have been a director on many boards ever since starting Eden Block, my latest and current engagement, 6 years ago.
Nomination Statement
I am running for the Special Council because I believe that I am extremely well equipped to push ApeCoin DAO into its next stage of growth. I have an intimate understanding of the DAO and all its constituents - from the perspectives of an investor, operator, entrepreneur, builder, and most importantly, long-time member of the community.
Motivation
Above all, I am both personally and professionally heavily invested in the ApeCoin ecosystem. And when the stakes are so incredibly high, skin in the game is a massive differentiator. As a long-time member of the community, an investor in Yuga Labs, and as the Founder of the Mutant Cartel - I’ve lived, breathed, and built in this ecosystem in ways that very few have done in our short history. I am presenting myself to the Special Council as a servant to the community and ecosystem that I hold so dear for the simple reason that I believe that I can make a real, positive impact on our way forward as a DAO.
Rationale
My experience of building billion dollar companies, value creation within the Apecoin ecosystem (Mutant Cartel) rich industry knowledge (NFTs, Metaverse, web3, etc), and 6 years of investing in deep web3 infra (Eden Block) provides me with unparalleled vantage points that should prove extremely valuable for our next phase of growth and materialization.
To elaborate on the points above, I should provide some background on my current main engagements:
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Firstly, I’ll touch on Eden Block. I founded Eden Block almost 6 years ago with a very clear purpose - to back the builders of the new Open internet, from the earliest of stages. Since then, I’ve invested dozens of millions of dollars into some of the most talented entrepreneurs in web3. Today, Eden Block stands as the most active infra-focused Seed fund in web3. Our portfolio powers some of the most fundamental applications in web3, including Decentraland, DYDX, and Sandbox (and many more!). We’ve led 10+ Seed rounds in the last year only, and I’ve routinely taken up numerous board seats as part of my firm’s investments. Through Eden Block, I’ve actively and deeply participated in Governance - centralized or decentralized, and alongside my portfolio teams, refined strategies that touched on a wide variety of topics: communications, product, decentralization, and much more. In my time as a Fund Founder and a full-time web3 venture investor, I’ve learned that the most important part of building in web3 is being a powerful communicator. You are nothing without your community, and who better than Apecoin DAO to represent this statement. The breadth of engagements and highly immersive experiences I’ve gained at Eden Block gives me the perspectives and know-how to bring more structure to the Special Council’s processes; ameliorate communications to our community, bring everyone onto the same page, and keep things running smoothly and efficiently.
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Secondly, I’ll touch on my experiences as a Builder within our ecosystem. For the last year (a little more by now), I’ve put my heart and soul into creating and growing the Mutant Cartel - where Mutant Apes unite, build, and innovate. Today, the Mutant Cartel is by far the most popular and successful MAYC-focused community within the BAYC/ApeCoin universe. We call it a planet within a galaxy, the proverbial sand castle within the sandbox created by the Yuga Founders. In my time building the Cartel, I’ve learned a great deal about our community - the collectors, the adjacent builders, and the community members without which none of this would be possible. The Cartel is the meeting place for more than 4,200 active users, a large majority of which are Mutants, and a vast majority of which are ApeCoin members. Through my work on the Cartel, expanding our universe and onboarding new members, I learned how to think creatively, build strong brands, and communicate with a community on a massive scale. As an entrepreneur and builder within the ApeCoin ecosystem, I’ve learned about the minutiae of creating value for ApeCoin members, the bridges to build, and the walls to break through. I believe that the experience of building something successful within our ecosystem gives us a massive advantage. An advantage that I can bring back to the Special Council in full force, to better inform our views of the community and to better empower fellow builders in our ecosystem.
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Thirdly, I’ll on my experiences as an entrepreneur, investor, and operator prior to getting involved in Web3. For the last 50 years, my family and I have built companies - B2B companies as well as major consumer brands. For five decades, we bootstrapped business from 0 all the way to unicorn valuations - all with no outside funding and no outside influence. As CEO of Messika Holdings Group, I was in charge of overseeing investments, strategy, and the totality of our portfolio of companies.
Lastly, I believe that ApeCoin Special Council members should have entrepreneurial, operational, as well as corporate experience. I bring all of this experience, as well as an incredibly deep industry know-how and understanding of the community. For all these reasons, I am one of the best-equipped candidates to take on such an important task.
Specifications
Experiences in Governance and Decentralized Governance:
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Reviewed decentralized governance plans for every single project I’ve ever backed through Eden Block.
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Hold board directorships for a majority of portfolio companies where a board exists.
Ideas for DAO Improvement:
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The ApeCoin DAO needs better infrastructure. I’ve been a vocal supporter of adopting tools like Catapult (Proposal in Progress), and others to make the UX of DAO members substantially better and more efficient. As a Special Council member, I will continue to do everything in my power to provide the community & Council with more visibility on areas where we can improve by adopting better infrastructure.
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The Special Council needs an overhaul in terms of comms, transparency vis-a-vis projects, internal conversations and decisions, etc. As a Special Council member, I will do everything in my power to bring about a completely new way of delivering information to DAO members and to enable a clearer discourse between the Council and the Community.
Concluding Statement
I believe that ApeCoin Special Council members should have entrepreneurial, operational, as well as corporate experience. I bring all of this experience, as well as an incredibly deep industry know-how and understanding of the community. For these reasons, I am one of the best-equipped candidates to take on such an important task.
