In July we held an informal conversation that was not recorded. The topic was:

Do DAOs and tokenized communities need a business model? What’s ours?

The big themes that emerged:

Success looks like small groups, small scale, targeted geographies, distributed tactical teams operating independently, but benefitting from the network effects of large, even super-scale sized resource pools.

The large or super-scaled resources needed might be permissionless DeFi protocols that make access to capital easier, cheaper and more fluidly available to all.

“Financialization of Everything” may be the way forward to create new markets and avenues for capital to flow. Christian Peterson has been leading real world asset (RWA) innovation at MakerDAO which translates to leadership for the entire sector. He’s the legal genius behind this and other deals:

https://twitter.com/MakerDAO/status/1562045115828412417?s=20&t=3PsHAsUptsZUQr_LHVLmuA

We touched on Christian’s share in the Discord of a webinar re innovations in Supply Chain Finance as an example of what needs to happen first in RWA. Rather than the current focus on tokenizing land and tangible assets, assets that are already intangible may prove far easier to fuel an expansion of on-chain crypto-native assets that can serve as collateral for credit generation.

Other important network effects take place at the organizational structure and operations level, see e.g. Orca Protocol.

“What Is Orca Protocol?​

Orca Protocol is an extensible and modular DAO implementation, built around small working groups called pods. Each pod has a Gnosis Safe multi-sig wallet, which is controlled by the pod members through a proposal-approval mechanism. Pods use a lightweight approval mechanism to vote on and execute transactions. The UI is focused on pod member management and the display of pod composability.”

Jon Simmons has been in the trenches on this working with the Orca team and emphasized the reality that organizationally, DAOs today are 10% software (firmware) and 90% socialware. The significance of this observation is that while we are all excited about what crypto and blockchains might be able to do for a re-imagined impact investing sector, we have a LOT of human stuff to work through first (or at the same time).

https://orca.mirror.xyz/T70CmuhX95ubkw_JHOxSEy8d_EFeYXgtJnF13mPtaZE

The KEY is to keep decisions at the edges where there is the best information. This approach ties back to where we started the conversation - highlighting the value and desirability of maintaining a small and intimate scale for core groups of cooperators.

The Playbook for Using Impact DAOs to Change the World remains in focus for us to adapt and actually USE as an implementation model for ACRE DAOs.

https://mirror.xyz/apptpupil.eth/ZsR9Ev1kiZ132j4fb-qrVzuPOM0_TZN2iDBnJZMdCwo

This Season we’ve been exploring a number of ways to build foundational resiliency and sustainability for the community to achieve our long-term goal of launching 1000 ACRE DAOs in 1000 DAYS. At the core of our philosophy and approach has been NOT to raise a large treasury or attempt to create “liquidity” for our community token $ACRE at first.

First we are socializing (with each other), cross-pollinating (with other DAOs) and absorbing the best thinking on how ACRE DAOs can make Web3 work to achieve our goals. A deliberate, slow and quiet approach to building our initial community of token holders allows for a pure and organic process for composing a truly decentralized “US” who will define “OUR” goals.

For reference:

https://www.quorumnewsletter.xyz/the-paradox-of-dao-profitability/

“In this hyper-financialized space, it's a huge paradox that most DAOs aren't profitable. It doesn't mean they won't ever be profitable, or that they can't work as effective businesses. But it does mean we need to shake away some old ideas of what it means to be a successful business and what DAOs need to support their core teams.

It seems that the sun has set on DAOs that tout their token as their product and that rely solely on "token go up" to pay contributors. But when it comes to other funding models, DAOs get stalled. They don't really launch products (yet). They sometimes provide services, but mostly within Web3. They don't talk much about business strategy or profit and loss.

It often feels like we're living in an alternate reality from how businesses work.

Of course, it's not all about money. But....when it comes to having a fleet of skilled contributors giving at least 70% of their working hours to your org (let's be real...does anyone in web3 work on just one project?) money is a huge piece of the question that we can't ignore.”

https://forefront.mirror.xyz/LCPVlxuOHJ2yCHvL5hJ9ErCwjwvJ2-Fk1lnOyHviIPc

Tokenized communities can take many forms, but they can be defined by the following:

1. Tokenized: coordinates around a commonly held token on a blockchain.

2. Platformless: not inherently tied to any centralized platform or tool.

3. Self-managing: leadership is distributed amongst roles, not individuals.

4. Collectively governed: governed by all token-holders.

5. Meme-driven: working toward the proliferation of a common meme.

6. Positive-sum: economic model is expansive, not extractive.

7. Aspirational: actively working to progressively fulfill the first 6 criteria.

Tokenized community: a progressively self-managing and collectively-governed community that works toward the proliferation and development of a common meme using a token as its primary means of coordination.

A tokenized community doesn’t need to be centrally planned or mission-driven from day one. Tokenized communities are often “headless brands,” developing emergent narratives through decentralized means. However, while the mission of a tokenized community may be emergent, the consensus must be clear to and embraced by stakeholders.”

https://twitter.com/jaesmail/status/1541781772958064640?s=20&t=fwgodL8tYm39Tc9ncTcqgw

In July we held an informal conversation that was not recorded. The topic was:

Do DAOs and tokenized communities need a business model? What’s ours?

The big themes that emerged:

Success looks like small groups, small scale, targeted geographies, distributed tactical teams operating independently, but benefitting from the network effects of large, even super-scale sized resource pools.

The large or super-scaled resources needed might be permissionless DeFi protocols that make access to capital easier, cheaper and more fluidly available to all.

“Financialization of Everything” may be the way forward to create new markets and avenues for capital to flow. Christian Peterson has been leading real world asset (RWA) innovation at MakerDAO which translates to leadership for the entire sector. He’s the legal genius behind this and other deals:

https://twitter.com/MakerDAO/status/1562045115828412417?s=20&t=3PsHAsUptsZUQr_LHVLmuA

We touched on Christian’s share in the Discord of a webinar re innovations in Supply Chain Finance as an example of what needs to happen first in RWA. Rather than the current focus on tokenizing land and tangible assets, assets that are already intangible may prove far easier to fuel an expansion of on-chain crypto-native assets that can serve as collateral for credit generation.

Other important network effects take place at the organizational structure and operations level, see e.g. Orca Protocol.

“What Is Orca Protocol?​

Orca Protocol is an extensible and modular DAO implementation, built around small working groups called pods. Each pod has a Gnosis Safe multi-sig wallet, which is controlled by the pod members through a proposal-approval mechanism. Pods use a lightweight approval mechanism to vote on and execute transactions. The UI is focused on pod member management and the display of pod composability.”

Jon Simmons has been in the trenches on this working with the Orca team and emphasized the reality that organizationally, DAOs today are 10% software (firmware) and 90% socialware. The significance of this observation is that while we are all excited about what crypto and blockchains might be able to do for a re-imagined impact investing sector, we have a LOT of human stuff to work through first (or at the same time).

https://orca.mirror.xyz/T70CmuhX95ubkw_JHOxSEy8d_EFeYXgtJnF13mPtaZE

The KEY is to keep decisions at the edges where there is the best information. This approach ties back to where we started the conversation - highlighting the value and desirability of maintaining a small and intimate scale for core groups of cooperators.

The Playbook for Using Impact DAOs to Change the World remains in focus for us to adapt and actually USE as an implementation model for ACRE DAOs.

https://mirror.xyz/apptpupil.eth/ZsR9Ev1kiZ132j4fb-qrVzuPOM0_TZN2iDBnJZMdCwo

This Season we’ve been exploring a number of ways to build foundational resiliency and sustainability for the community to achieve our long-term goal of launching 1000 ACRE DAOs in 1000 DAYS. At the core of our philosophy and approach has been NOT to raise a large treasury or attempt to create “liquidity” for our community token $ACRE at first.

First we are socializing (with each other), cross-pollinating (with other DAOs) and absorbing the best thinking on how ACRE DAOs can make Web3 work to achieve our goals. A deliberate, slow and quiet approach to building our initial community of token holders allows for a pure and organic process for composing a truly decentralized “US” who will define “OUR” goals.

For reference:

https://www.quorumnewsletter.xyz/the-paradox-of-dao-profitability/

“In this hyper-financialized space, it's a huge paradox that most DAOs aren't profitable. It doesn't mean they won't ever be profitable, or that they can't work as effective businesses. But it does mean we need to shake away some old ideas of what it means to be a successful business and what DAOs need to support their core teams.

It seems that the sun has set on DAOs that tout their token as their product and that rely solely on "token go up" to pay contributors. But when it comes to other funding models, DAOs get stalled. They don't really launch products (yet). They sometimes provide services, but mostly within Web3. They don't talk much about business strategy or profit and loss.

It often feels like we're living in an alternate reality from how businesses work.

Of course, it's not all about money. But....when it comes to having a fleet of skilled contributors giving at least 70% of their working hours to your org (let's be real...does anyone in web3 work on just one project?) money is a huge piece of the question that we can't ignore.”

https://forefront.mirror.xyz/LCPVlxuOHJ2yCHvL5hJ9ErCwjwvJ2-Fk1lnOyHviIPc

Tokenized communities can take many forms, but they can be defined by the following:

1. Tokenized: coordinates around a commonly held token on a blockchain.

2. Platformless: not inherently tied to any centralized platform or tool.

3. Self-managing: leadership is distributed amongst roles, not individuals.

4. Collectively governed: governed by all token-holders.

5. Meme-driven: working toward the proliferation of a common meme.

6. Positive-sum: economic model is expansive, not extractive.

7. Aspirational: actively working to progressively fulfill the first 6 criteria.

Tokenized community: a progressively self-managing and collectively-governed community that works toward the proliferation and development of a common meme using a token as its primary means of coordination.

A tokenized community doesn’t need to be centrally planned or mission-driven from day one. Tokenized communities are often “headless brands,” developing emergent narratives through decentralized means. However, while the mission of a tokenized community may be emergent, the consensus must be clear to and embraced by stakeholders.”

https://twitter.com/jaesmail/status/1541781772958064640?s=20&t=fwgodL8tYm39Tc9ncTcqgw