Author: @kempsterrrr
Summary
This proposal seeks to provide clarity on how contributions in Developer DAO are rewarded in our non-financial Governance token, $CODE.
This proposal has the following objectives:
- Get $CODE flowing into the hands of contributors
- Simple system for calculating budgets which will ensure proposals to secure funding do not get blocked by significant debate around allocations
- Flexibility for experimentation on the DAO Org Structure and Rewards mechanisms at the Guild and Project level.
The aim here is a “good enough” framework we can iterate on and improve as the DAO matures. It is NOT intended to be perfect or permanent.
Motivation
Since the start of Developer DAO in September, many contributors have been pouring their time into helping move the DAO forward without any clarity on how they will be rewarded for this.
Addressing this is key to ensure a healthy community for the long-term.
By rewarding contributions in our Governance token, $CODE, we can ensure the people contributing most to the success of the DAO are also the people with the biggest say in Governance decisions via their $CODE vote.
Whilst this will not help to pay people’s rent, it will help reward actions and incentivize activities that can result in meaningful meatspace funds i.e. projects receiving grants funding or generating revenue that is distributed between contributors and the treasury.
Specification
Flow of $CODE to Contributors
In the pursuit of simplicity for Season 1, this proposal suggests that all contributions across the DAO share the same largely trust based process for rewarding contributions:
- An agreed flat hourly rate of rewards across all roles denominated in $CODE
- Guilds and Projects define their own roles. Contributors performing these roles provide their own estimation of hours contributed per week. This is then used to extrapolate funding required for the Season.
- An additional 20% on top of budgets is allocated for ad-hoc contributions/bounties to be distributed to contributors as Guilds or Projects see fit
- Projects that are expected to drive revenue will suggest a % split of revenue between contributors and the DAO Treasury to be included in their Budget Application and therefore discussed/voted on by DAO Members.
- Guilds and Projects can apply for further funding mind-season where needed via the Budget Application Process.
Budget Calculations & $CODE Hourly Rate
This assumes the majority of funding is allocated to Projects as opposed to Guilds.
Initiatives that require funding inside guilds that are outside of their normal DAO Level operations should apply for budget funding as a Project.
In our Governance Token Proposal, 50% of $CODE allocation goes to the Community Treasury.
That’s 5,000,000 CODE.
For the purpose of calculating overall $CODE budgets, this proposal assumes the following:
- 4 Year linear vesting of available $CODE
- Seasonal length of 4 months
This means that each Season there will be 312,500 416,667 CODE available to be allocated to Guilds, Projects and other initiatives.
For the purpose of calculating a suitable initial hourly rate in $CODE, this proposal assumes the following:
- 100 active contributors
- Average 5 hour weekly contribution
- Every Budget add
20%50% to calculations for ad-hoc rewards
This extrapolates out to a suitable hourly rate of 20 40 20 $CODE which totals 192,000 288,000 240,000 $CODE for the Season and 1,600 2,400 1,600 $CODE for the “average” conributor. Well inside the 312,500 416,667 $CODE budget thus leaving room of other initiatives (Gifting memberships, potential token swaps etc.)
The 1,600 2,400 1,600 $CODE seasonal rewards could be much larger for people who were contributing more. This is a good thing as it further decentralizes Governance power into the hands of people contributing the most.
Budget Application Process
The Operations Team will act as processor of Budget applications and allocations during Season 1. This will be a purely administrative role whereby the Operations Team will execute the will of DAO Members and process decisions made via DDIPs.
Required parameters for Budget Application Proposal:
- Clear definition of Guild / Project purpose with measurable outcomes clearly defined
- Evidence of community support for Guild / Project in the form of discord conversations, meeting notes and discourse threads that show quorum achieved via our DDIP process.
- A dedicated Notion Page which clearly outlines roles, responsibilities and….
- Clear budget for roles and ad-hoc contributions using the framework above.
Once these criteria are met, evidence must be submitted to the Operations Team via this form to be processed and $CODE to be allocated.
Must include:
- Project /Guild Name
- Champion(s) discord handle
- Evidence of completing Governance Process and all supporting documentation
- Link to Completed Notion Project Page
- Link to Forum post showing evidence of DDIP/Budget Application Process
- Wallet address where funds should be sent
Benefits
See “motivations” section above
Drawbacks
In the pursuit of simplicity and forward momentum, a few compromises have been made and should be acknowledge:
- Valuing all work across the DAO equal in terms of reward in elevated Governance via $CODE allocation. This is imperfect as value generated on hourly contributions is not flat and something we should explore in more detail during S1. The
20%50% added on top of budget calculations for ad-hoc rewards should provide plenty of scope of experimentation here. - Trust based system for rewards rather than explicitly outcome based system. We’re relying on social constructs to ensure lots of $CODE isn’t wasted and it is unclear how well this will work in practice but massively simplifies getting $CODE into the hands of contributors.
- All rewards being in $CODE does not directly help people pay their bills. It is hoped the incentivisation of action by rewarding in $CODE will drive initiatives that generate grant funding or revenue which is then distributed to contributors who brought in that funding/revenue on their project.
- These calculations cannot be perfect and there is a reasonable chance we could go over the budget for Season 1
Previous Discussions
Primarily based on feedback and conversations in the Season 0 feedback channel threads as well as various ad-hoc conversations in project and guild meetings across the DAO.
Next Steps
This proposal will remain in draft form until Monday 28th Feb to allow time for DAO members to debate it’s contents. Whilst is everything is up for debate, some specific areas would be valuable receiving feedback on include:
- $CODE Vesting schedule being 4 years
- % split between contributors and DAO Treasury for Projects that bring in Grant funding or Revenue so we can provide a guideline for budget calculations
- Feedback on balance of Drawbacks
@kempsterrrr updated proposal with new figures as per mistake highlighted in this reply from @myz1237.eth. Also removed deadling set for Monday gone to give more time for discussion.