GM Builders,
this one's short, yet sweet to spark some inspiration.
We've come so far with DAOified grants programs. I've spent the last few months thinking about how we go further. On how we disrupt the status quo once again. Here's an in-roads.
Where Ecosystem Grants Programs Stand
Right now, we're at a cross-roads. We've had a Cambrian explosion of infrastructure to support all sorts of potential use cases. DeFi still reigns, with the bulk of our ecosystem grants funding going toward projects in its sphere.
To cross the chasm, we need to put our money where our mouths are.
We need to walk the walk and double-down on consumer applications. This means applications that are intuitive to use, fulfill a need or want or both for a meaningful market segment, and abstract away the bulk of the complexity that web3 users face today.
The Shift We Need to Make
We need to level up our ecosystem grants programs.
The why is simple.
The how will take a lot of hard work and a little bit of luck.
Right now, three major roadblocks are hindering our progress towards mainstream adoption of crypto/web3 applications. First, there's the fact that the more chains we make, the more difficult it gets for developers to get up to speed on all of the languages, SDKs, and tooling involved. Next, we're making progress but compared to today's household names, the web3 applications we have today aren't at all easy to use. Then there's what our grants programs incentivize. Right now, the trend is to fractionalize support across education and events, content and marketing, integrations, dev tooling, governance, security/bug bounties, and several other categories.
In my experience, the list keeps going.
Now, don't get me wrong.
All of these areas need to be supported.
If we want to engineer break-throughs in web3 consumer apps, however, then the money needs to flow in that direction. Wherever it comes from, as a grants budget grows, the percentage allocated to applications that really push us to new heights need to increase.
How do we define these applications?/What is needed?
While a lot will vary here, depending on the ecosystem involved and its vision, certain elements will remain constant.
Every ecosystem(such as L1s and L2s) with any meaningful traction should be moving from the more integration and education heavy approaches to grants to a focus on consumer apps, in 2025. Grant evaluators should focus on both early-stage apps and apps that are working to pivot to being far more usable, to something that makes an everyday person's life easier in some fashion, and/or has a vision that is so compelling, people need to be a part of it.
These ideas are just the start of re-defining what we're looking for.
Some are doing this already. Some aren't.
If we dig down further and ask: what makes a web3 app usable, then we can say that evaluators should be looking for apps that utilize some form of chain abstraction, make the login process far more like web2(using a unified ID in human readable characters), and take away as much of the complexity that web3 brings(today) from the user.
The bulk of the above also applies to the question of what apps make people's lives "easier."
For now, I'd like to also add: builders with a commitment to truly treating their apps as experiences that can "always" be made simpler, should be prioritized by grants evaluators/councils/whoever holds the key to the funds.
As for the question of vision, think of your favorite apps. Think of your favorite companies. Extend that to sports teams or musicians.
Why do you buy from them/follow them?
Something they said/have done resonates with you on a deeper level than you may realize at this moment.
Seek to build apps that do that. Make it impossible for people not to be users because the community is so strong from the beginning. If there's one thing I've learned in my near-decade in this space, it's that vision and a commitment to community is the rocket fuel that sets you apart in the earliest days.
Evangelists/power users/people that need to be pioneers on your app will help you take that to new heights.
What's next?
Beyond shifting the priorities of the grants programs we have now, we need something more.
We need, as I've hinted at in the past, a DAO of DAOs for web3 grants, focused solely on consumer apps.
I've seen flashes of activity indicating that this will happen.
All it'll take to push us into a full paradigm shift is a coalition of forerunners(DAOs, apps, individuals, and other decentralized communities) and a moment in which they announce their commitment to hyper-scaling grant impact in this fashion.
This DAO of DAOs will start with what we've discussed here and build forward.
Getting there won't be easy.
But I believe the next moment for DAOs is this.
We had "the DAO." We had "Gitcoin DAO." We had "Ukraine DAO." We had "Constitution DAO." Now, I believe, our next major moment is the DAO of DAOs for grants.
This an idea I've been kicking around for quite some time and these posts are my sandbox of sorts for rough thoughts on all things DAO. Next week, I'll build upon all of this. Fully defining what sorts of consumer applications/proposals for consumer applications should be accepted as grantees bears a series of posts on its own. Digging into what sorts of governance considerations need to be made for the next stage of our grants programs does as well.
If you've come this far, seriously, thanks for reading.
I've been in this space for what feels like a lifetime and I'm sticking around because I truly believe in the power of the builders here, the power of the ideas we built this industry on, and the power of DAOs.
Remember, you can and should connect with us at any time on the Push DAO governance forum or via the Push DAO X account!