@ZastrowBradley - Special Council Nomination 01/2024

Help & Resources Prior Elections
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Personal Information

Discourse ID: @ZastrowBradley

Twitter: x.com

Country of Residence: Australia

Nomination Statement

Concise statement on why you are running for the Special Council

I am running for special council because I want to make a difference. I want to play a deeper role within the growth of ApeCoin and I believe that I have the direct experience, the passion and the plan to do so.

Motivation

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

My motivation is simple: I’ve been a part of the Yuga community since the early days and ApeCoin since the beginning; I believe. My belief is strong enough that the NFT marketplace I co-founded, X Marketplace, was focused on Yuga and was the first to integrate $APE as a form of payment. I want to see ApeCoin be a force within Web3; an ecosystem focused on value for all stakeholders. ApeCoin has huge potential, but success is not guaranteed. I see challenges with the way we approach growth and despite improvements to the AIP timeline we remain highly centralised especially when it comes to the contracting process. I want to help change that and see ApeCoin realise its potential.

Rationale

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

My experience & skills will bring value to ApeCoin as a Special Council member.
I am a builder across TradFi and Web3. My experience/skill set from TradFi includes: Focused on the payments industry, strategic partnerships, M&A and board governance, primarily with American Express. I was on three boards as a director for Amex joint-venture companies in Malaysia, Indonesia and Philippines. I was previously Member level with the Australian Institute of Company Directors, a professional organisation for board directors. 5+ years ago, If you used a travel benefit for Centurion or Platinum charge cards, chances are I was involved.

My experience/skill set from Web3 includes: I’ve worked for a token & DAO before. I created the GTM strategy and grew the DASH blockchain as the global head of BD for Dash Core Group. DCG was a contractor to the DASH DAO; quarterly budgets were requested via proposals and results presented regularly. I represented DASH as a speaker at Money 2020 (Singapore) and Token 2049 (HK).

Most recently, I was co-founder of X Marketplace - a Yuga only MP and the first to integrate $APE as a form of payment and where the first $APE NFT sale was conducted. Not only am I a community member, I have directly contributed toward the ecosystem.

Specifications

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

I have the business experience from both TradFi and Web3 along with the formal governance experience that comes from being a member of the board of directors for 3 American Express JV companies. I have the direct experience of working for a DAO and advancing its growth through my work for Dash Core Group on behalf of the DASH blockchain. I’ve been in that spotlight, seen what works and what doesn’t when it comes to growing a token ecosystem along with the hard-earned learnings.

Finally, I’ve been an active member with ApeCoin since its origination, I’ve seen the improvement but believe we can do more. I’ll lay out more detail to my ideas on DAO improvement through Twitter/Twitter Spaces but the summary is a greater focus on the 5 pillars of a tokenomic ecosystem while increasing decentralisation and empowering the community.

Concluding Statement

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

4 reasons: I have the DAO experience, I have the Web3/TradFi experience, I have the passion and I have a path forward.

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One of the true OG contributors of ApeCoin utility! It’s always great hearing your perspective based your deep Web3 experience. I look forward to hearing you speak about your pillars of a tokenomic ecosystem while increasing decentralisation and empowering the community.

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Hi @ZastrowBradley, 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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Cheers @foxSlightly for the above mate - good questions and let me know if you have any follow ups.

Q1: If elected, what is the one item you feel passionate about and would like to see accomplished during your tenure within the DAO?

A1: I go into greater detail in my announcement post, but there are 3 areas I am passionate about: Value Proposition, Ecosystem Growth and Stakeholder Value. If I had to choose just one, it’s to increase the value proposition.

Q2: What is an area of expertise that you will be bringing to the table?

A2: I bring deep experience across both Trad-Fi and Web3:

  • DAO + Token Employment: I’ve worked directly for a DAO before as a senior leader. I was the global head of biz dev for Dash Core Group ($DASH) and built the first global biz dev team & GTM strategy. My salary and budget required a quarterly DAO proposal. Publicly represented $DASH as a speaker at Money 2020 SG and Token 2049.

  • Governance: I was a member of the board of directors for 3 American Express joint-venture companies (MY, ID, & PH). Previous Member level of Australian Institute of Company Directors - a professional body for Board members.

  • Web3 / ApeCoin Builder: In addition to $DASH, my crypto experience includes co-founding X Marketplace, a Yuga focused NFT marketplace that was the first to integrate $APE as a form of payment and the first NFT sale in $APE was conducted on X MP.
    ** https://x.com/xdotxyz/status/1504463443214012422?s=61&t=YMDhvZaBujwixxyEYJLSZw
    ** https://x.com/xdotxyz/status/1505466561485697029?s=61&t=YMDhvZaBujwixxyEYJLSZw

  • Trad-Fi: 18+ year payments industry veteran, primarily American express. Led M&A, strategic partnerships & financial reporting. People leader experience with regional and global responsibilities.

Q3: 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…)

A3: Nothing material; X Marketplace was my biggest limiter and it closed a few months back.

Q4: What is your least favorite thing right now with our DAO in its current state?

A4: Tactically it’s the AIP process and the subsequent contracting process/approach by the Foundation. More strategically, it’s the broader lack of a strong value proposition and minimal ecosystem support.

Q5: 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?

A5: I’m empathetic to the grumblings, but I also believe that if you have a lot of skin in the game, you also deserve that vote; you’re taking on more risk. DAO voting is a core to the current $APE use case so to dilute the vote of large wallets, or have other restrictions would seem antagonistic to that part of the value prop. Moving to a vote-escrowed token model (i.e. veCRV) has some benefits in that “skin in the game” is defined as a function of $ and time. However, that by itself still won’t eliminate large whales or delegates from existing or exercising that vote.**

Q6: Will you be an active participant in the DAO even if unelected?

A6: My participation won’t be affected if I’m unelected. I’m active currently, been an AIP author in the past, and of course see that continuing.

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