[FINAL] DAOstar: Governance standards for the Optimism ecosystem

ARCHIVED Mission Proposals
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S4 Intent: Governance Accessibility (Intent 4)

Proposed Mission: Governance standards for the Optimism ecosystem

Proposal Tier: Ember

Please verify that you meet the qualifications for your Tier:
I am a new community member that has not worked with or for the Optimism Collective before.

Baseline grant amount: 67,500 OP

% of total available Intent budget: 2.25%

Alliance name: DAOstar Strike Team

Alliance Lead: Joshua Tan

Contact info: joshua.z.tan@gmail.com, josh@daostar.org

L2 recipient address: 0xd39D6d3F7433A0caBD90c0Ea74d76dA29b718314

Please list the members of your Alliance and link to any previous work:

Please explain how this Mission will help accomplish the above Intent:

  • Alignment with DAO Ecosystem: By ensuring that DAOs on Optimism comply with EIP-4824 (the standard interface for publishing and consuming DAO data), Optimism aligns with the general direction of the DAO ecosystem. This makes Optimism more discoverable and accessible to a wider audience, including users of Snapshot, Tally, DAOhaus, Etherscan, DeepDAO, and other members of DAOstar One. This alignment, among other things, allows for increased interoperability, fostering innovation.
  • Increased Transparency and Legitimacy: Being EIP-4824 compliant ensures that Optimism can reap the benefits of DAOstar’s Regulatory Interoperability work, improving its transparency and legitimacy.
  • Knowledge Sharing and Standardization: The governance standards will facilitate better knowledge sharing and create a standardized framework for DAOs on Optimism. This will contribute to developing more informed voters and a more robust and resilient governance infrastructure.
  • Community Education and Inclusion: The mission includes an educational component, where we plan to conduct community outreach and create user-friendly interfaces to interact with the governance standards. This will educate the broader community about Optimism governance and promote a welcoming and inclusive governance community.

What makes your Alliance well-suited to execute this Mission?

  • DAOstar is a public goods project that develops interoperable standards and critical public infrastructure for DAOs. It is supported by the Ethereum Foundation, Gnosis, Aragon, Radicle, MolochDAO, MetaCartel Ventures, The Graph, and many other members of DAOstar One.

  • DAOstar is the standards body of the DAO ecosystem. We build interoperable standards for DAOs and DAO tooling. Our members include 80+ key organizations across the DAO ecosystem, including every major DAO framework, a large number of DAO tooling developers, and many major DAOs. Over 150+ people actively participate in DAOstar. You can find the full list of members here.

  • DAOstar’s technologists and working groups work closely with legislators, regulators, and legal groups in many jurisdictions (US, UK, Australia, Singapore, UAE, Utah, Vermont, New Hampshire, etc.) to make sure that the industry’s technical standards both align with and inform emerging regulations.

  • In its first year of operation, DAOstar has published three standards, with three additional standards planned for release in Q2 2023. See the DAOstar Impact Report (13.06.2023) for complete details.

  • In this last year, notable governance frameworks such as Aragon V3, Moloch V2/V3, DAOstack, Superdao, DAODAO, KaliDAO, and others have embraced the EIP-4824 framework.

  • Aave recently passed a proposal to adopt the standard.

  • We are actively collaborating with ENS and Gitcoin to facilitate the same.

Our Alliance’s combined experiences make us well prepared to execute this Mission.

  • Josh is the executive director of Metagov and a computer scientist at Oxford and CMU. He is the standards lead of DAOstar and author/editor of several emerging standards for DAOs. He previously held fellowships at Stanford, Princeton, and MIT. His research on collective intelligence, DAO constitutions, DAO data sets, and online community governance directly applies to the mission of developing governance standards for the Optimism ecosystem. His work on online governance and technical interoperability between DAOs underscores his commitment to advancing solutions that enhance the DAO landscape on Optimism.
  • Isaac, the co-founder of Shield 3, brings to the table extensive experience with DAOs, DAO security, and DAO governance. His role as the lead engineer on the EIP and its initial implementations demonstrates his technical prowess and ability to drive innovation. His previous role as the Chief Technology Officer of Bloom Protocol, an interoperable identity platform, further underscores his expertise in creating secure, scalable solutions. His skills and experience make him a key asset in the mission to develop robust governance standards for the Optimism ecosystem.
  • Scott Moore, co-founder of Gitcoin and an advisor to Metagov, also serves as a Delegate for the Optimism Foundation and the Founder of Public Works, a fund focused on constructing essential public infrastructure. His diverse roles and contributions to the open-source ecosystem and his deep understanding of the Optimism Foundation’s vision align perfectly with the mission of enhancing governance standards within the Optimism ecosystem.
  • Aman, with a background in physics, serves as the community lead at DAOstar and the Growth lead at DeepDAO. His experience in community engagement and growth strategies will be instrumental in fostering a robust and inclusive community around the governance standards being developed for the Optimism ecosystem. His skills will ensure these standards are adopted and utilized effectively within the community.

Please list a critical milestone. The critical milestone should be a measure of whether you’ve made best efforts to execute what is outlined in this proposal or not. If you fail to achieve your critical milestone, your grant may be clawed back.

  • The successful implementation and deployment of the EIP-4824 standard in the Optimism ecosystem, confirmed by Optimism and at least three other large DAOs on Optimism publishing a daoURI.

This milestone will involve the completion of the following sub-goals:

  • Engaging with OP Labs, delegates, and other community members to understand their needs and preferences for the data to be published through daoURI (Community Engagement and Requirements Gathering).

  • Based on the feedback from the community engagement stage, building the necessary endpoints and assisting the DAO in publishing a daoURI (Design and Feedback Incorporation).

  • Repeating the community engagement and design stages for other DAOs on Optimism, ensuring each DAO’s unique needs are met (DAO-specific Customization and Onboarding).

Building the necessary frameworks and implementations to make it easier for DAOs on Optimism to achieve EIP-4824 compliance. This includes a snapshot integration that will enable any snapshot space on Optimism to build a daoURI easily and reference sub-graphs and endpoints that can guide other DAOs (Framework Development and Compliance Facilitation).

How should Token House delegates measure progress towards this Mission: These should focus on progress towards completion. Including expected completion dates for each is recommended.

  • Community Engagement metrics (Ongoing): Track the number of interactions with OP Labs, delegates, other DAOs on Optimism and community members. This may include meetings, surveys, and feedback sessions. Regular updates on these interactions can be shared via a dedicated communication channel, such as a dedicated Discord channel or another preferred communication medium like the Optimism forum.
  • Implementation Progress (Ongoing): Monitor the progress of the implementation phase by tracking the number of endpoints/sub-URIs created and their functionality. This could be done through regular updates on a project management tool or dedicated discord channel.
  • DAO Onboarding Rate (Quarterly): Measure the number of DAOs that have been onboarded and are publishing a daoURI. We’ll deploy a subgraph to listen to daoURI registration events.
  • Framework Development Progress (Ongoing): Monitor the development of the necessary frameworks and implementations. This could be done through code commits on a platform like GitHub.

By tracking these indicators, Token House delegates can independently measure the mission’s progress, separate from the achievement of specific milestones.

How should badgeholders measure impact upon completion of this Mission? These should be focused on performance and may be used by badgeholders to assess your Misson’s impact in the next round of RetroPGF.

  • DAO Adoption: Measure the number of DAOs on Optimism that publish a daoURI. A higher number indicates wider adoption of the governance standards and greater impact.
  • Efficiency of Publishing: Assess the ease of publishing a daoURI on Optimism, measured by the turnaround time between community sentiment and the on-chain transaction of publishing a daoURI. A shorter turnaround time indicates a more efficient process, reflecting a positive impact on the mission.
  • Data Consumption: Track the number of services on Optimism that consume DAO data from daoURIs. A higher number indicates that the governance standards are being utilized and are providing value to the ecosystem.
  • EIP-4824 Extensions/Implementations: Count the number of extensions or implementations of EIP-4824 for specific use cases on Optimism. This indicates the adaptability and usefulness of the governance standards in addressing diverse needs within the Optimism ecosystem.

These metrics provide a comprehensive view of the mission’s impact, covering adoption, efficiency, utility, and adaptability.

Breakdown of Mission budget request:

  • Community Engagement and Requirements Gathering (10% of the budget): This includes resources needed for meetings, surveys, and feedback sessions with OP Labs, delegates, and other community members.
  • Design and Feedback Incorporation (20% of the budget): This covers the resources needed for the design phase, including creating endpoints based on community feedback.
  • DAO-specific Customization and Onboarding (20% of the budget): This includes resources for customizing the design for specific DAOs and assisting them in publishing a daoURI.
  • Framework Development and Compliance Facilitation (45% of the budget): This covers the resources needed for developing the necessary frameworks and implementations to facilitate compliance, including a snapshot integration and reference sub-graphs and endpoints.
  • Operating Costs (5% of the budget): This includes miscellaneous expenses such as software subscriptions, website hosting fees, and communication tools.

This allocation ensures that sufficient resources are dedicated to each critical aspect of the mission, from community engagement and design to implementation, onboarding, and compliance facilitation.

I confirm that my grant will be subject to clawback for failure to execute on critical milestones: Yes

I confirm that I have read and understand the grant policies: Yes

I understand that I will be required to provide additional KYC information to the Optimism Foundation to receive this grant: Yes

I understand that I will be expected to following the public grant reporting requirements outlined here: Yes

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Great to see this proposal! I’m lavande from the Optimism Foundation :wave:

One thing we’d like to clarify for all proposers is:

Mission Proposals should not rely on the Optimism Foundation or OP Labs for implementation. Mission Proposals should be able to be executed autonomously by the Alliance, although the Foundation or Labs may choose to provide additional support.

While we think this proposal can certainly work towards implementation throughout the broader ecosystem, if this proposal is approved, it does not mean Optimism Foundation or OP Labs can dedicate the time required in the research phase or that we will commit to using this standard.

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Hi @lavande, Aman from DAOstar here:)

Thanks for your feedback! We acknowledge that the approval of this proposal does not imply an explicit commitment to adopt the standard. It is ultimately the decision of each DAO, including Optimism, to carefully consider the benefits and considerations associated with its implementation. But we aspire to develop something robust and valuable that addresses the needs of the entire DAO ecosystem.

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Hi @Dr.Suga! Wanted to make sure you were aware of the Optimism Season 4 Pitching Sessions to help find the 4 delegate approvals you’ll need by this Wednesday at 19:00 GMT for your proposal to move to a vote.

These sessions are happening in Discord on Monday, 26.06 2pm ET / 6pm GMT / 8pm CET and Tuesday, 27.06 11am ET / 3pm GMT / 5pm CET.

You can sign-up here!

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Just like the catherderd for BIPs and EIPs, DAOstar is doing thankless work coordinating the DAO ecosystem. I would love to see us work with DAOstar to inform and conform to the standards they are building.

I am an Optimism delegate with sufficient voting power , and I believe this proposal is ready to move to a vote.

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Really glad to see this proposal live, I’m a huge fan of what DAOstar has accomplished over the last year and I have no doubt they’ll continue making meaningful progress on their milestones.

Full disclosure, I’m informally advising DAOstar on a number of issues but this role has no financial compensation.

That said: I am an Optimism delegate with sufficient voting power , and I believe this proposal is ready to move to a vote.

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I am going to agree with @Griff and rest of you in support of this proposal, DAOstar has been doing amazing work on DAO governance research and setting up standards for the ecosystem. We would be very happy to see this proposal gets move forward with positive outcome. Thanks everyone.

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Looking good DAOStar team - one thing I am not seeing at all however are dates/time frames?

Also, how will the subgoals be achieved? The engagement, the feedback loops - when will they happen in the cadence of delivery etc.

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Thank you for the feedback, @Pop :slight_smile:

The omission of specific dates and times in the proposal was intentional due to the format. Our proposed timeline for these objectives is as follows:

  1. By the end of Q3 2023, ensure that at least one DAO on Optimism achieves EIP-4824 compliance.
  2. By Q4 2023, integrate with various DAO frameworks to simplify the process of publishing a daoURI.
  3. By the end of Q4 2023, increase the number of EIP-4824 compliant DAOs on Optimism to a minimum of five.

Some of the KPIs for this mission are:

  1. number of DAOs publishing a daoURI (source of truth: on-chain transactions)
  2. modifications or extensions to the daoURI or the definition of a subURI (source of truth: on-chain transactions).
  3. frameworks that assist DAOs in publishing a daoURI (source of truth: interfaces, GitHub repositories)
  4. technical infrastructure, such as subgraphs to index the Optimism chain (source of truth: on-chain transactions, registries).
  5. other relevant milestones, etc.

Through collaborative efforts with DAOs on Optimism, our aim is to expand the adoption of this standard within a broader context.

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Hello delegates! We are still looking for support from two more delegates for this proposal and hope you will take a look and offer your endorsement! Thank you.

@katie @lefterisjp @polynya @mastermojo @linda @GFXlabs

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hey @Dr.Suga. Let me see if I understand this correctly. So you want 90k OP in order to go around and hunt DAOs in optimism and tell them/help them to adapt this EIP?

Standardization is nice but I don’t see the need for standardization that much in this front. Especially for this kind of budget.

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Hey Dr. Suga, responding here since you tagged me. I don’t really agree with the need to standardize governance across Optimism. At this point, every season is completely different and we are continually iterating and trying new things, which is actually the case for many DAOs. I think your research could be very valuable and a great candidate for RPGF!

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Thanks for the comments @lefterisjp & @katie , this gives us an opportunity to be more descriptive about the work DAOstar is doing.

Standardization is nice but I don’t see the need for standardization that much in this front. Especially for this kind of budget.

Although DAOstar operates as a public goods project, it needs a dedicated team of developers and project managers. Our experience with projects like Aragon, Moloch, Aave, and now nearly ENS through EIP-4824 has shown us the need for hands-on guidance and development work for each DAO and DAO Tool.

It is essential to note that each DAO has the autonomy to determine its preferred daoURI input. As a result, custom subURIs must be developed for numerous organizations. For instance, different DAOs may have varying criteria for membership (token holders, voters, delegates, stakers, etc.), or each DAO may have a distinct concept of its activityURI. The DAOstar team takes on this development work for the interested DAOs aligning with EIP-4824, and there are quite a few of them. We request funding to continue assisting a sufficient number of DAOs until the ecosystem can handle it independently.

I don’t really agree with the need to standardize governance across Optimism. At this point, every season is completely different and we are continually iterating and trying new things, which is actually the case for many DAOs.

I completely agree with you, @katie ! Each DAO operates with its unique governance process, and new ones emerge constantly. As a community, it is crucial for us to preserve this spirit of innovation, which is precisely what the EIP-4824 standard aims to achieve.

EIP-4824 does not impose a specific governance approach or standardize the structure of DAOs or DAO frameworks. Instead, it simply states that by utilizing a straightforward JSON schema to publish information about your organization(s), you enhance discoverability and foster interoperability with existing tools.

Consider the amazing upcoming DAO frameworks like jokeDAO, XDAO, and DAODAO, among others. Currently, leading DAO aggregators fail to display information about the DAOs utilizing these frameworks. The same holds true for DAOs implementing modified versions of standard governance frameworks. However, as a new DAO or a new DAO tool, it is essential for you to have discoverability. Additionally, it is vital to make it easy for existing tools to support you. EIP-4824 addresses precisely these needs.

Let me also note that tools such as Snapshot, Tally, DAOhaus, Etherscan, DeepDAO, and other members of DAOstar One are actively integrating or have committed to integrating this enriched information.

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thank you for this breakdown - it helps to see more into what the funding would be used for.
I will somewhat echo @lefterisjp’s comment below just in terms of action vs spend - I love a standard and absolutely believe that a baseline of standardisation needs to happen in order to create solid infra for governance. I am wondering if a less “aggressive” timeline may warrant a smaller ask initially and, as @katie suggested, the learnings from the process would then help work better with the gov iterations within the ecosystem itself.

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At minimum, this proposal clearly takes seriously the expectations of a Mission. It’s more than worthy of further debate and a vote.

I am an Optimism delegate with sufficient voting power , and I believe this proposal is ready to move to a vote.

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Thank you for responding, Pop.

Taking into account your feedback and the input from @katie & @lefterisjp , we have revised the requested grant amount to 67,500 OP. We look forward to collaborating with Optimism to establish a resilient future for DAOs.

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I agree, in general I feel like we are being a bit stingy on blocking well thought out proposals from having more debate during the voting period. Especially given the size of the budgets.

I see this round as a way to give constructive feedback and improve these projects before they go to vote, more than choosing the winners and losers here, especially given the short timeframe this round.

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I am merely being mindful given experience with other DAOs and their incipient spending habits - I also want to make sure we have clear milestones where possible again for precent and clarity. Happy for this to move to a vote now

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Thanks, further debate is indeed what I was providing.

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Yeah I’m saying it in this chat, but honestly it’s more of a general comment of feedback for this round in general, def not trying to point out any comments in particular, more just in general.

Honestly, I was chatting about it with another delegate, and just copy pasted my DM here :smiley:

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