Dear Optimism Community,
We want to provide a brief update on our “Tech Partner of OP Native Projects” grant approved in Season 5 and seek your input on our path forward.
Background
Our grant aims to offer 1,000 hours of technical support (UI/UX, backend, frontend, data analysis, launch support) to Optimism ecosystem projects. We’re eager to start but have encountered a challenge with project selection.
In the first version of the proposal, we proposed to handle vetting projects ourselves. During the review process, the reviewers asked for a change so that the Grants Council does the selection instead (see approved proposal), which got incorporated into our final grant scope. Despite the grant’s approval, though, we haven’t received any project assignments from the Grants Council so far.
We understand that the Grants Council is currently managing a high workload, which may have contributed to the delay in project assignments. Given this situation, we reached out to @gonna.eth to discuss potential solutions, and he proposed.
Proposed Approach
After discussing with @gonna.eth, he proposed an alternative that doesn’t require the Grants Council’s direct involvement given their current workload:
- 50% of our services to existing grantees
- 50% to projects we select independently, based off the selection criteria below
We like this suggestion because it potentially allows us to start working promptly, supporting both vetted grantees and new initiatives without additional Grants Council intervention.
Considerations
- Selecting and negotiating with projects will require time that wasn’t accounted for in the original grant. We propose deducting these hours from the total grant hours to ensure we’re being fair with our time.
- We recognize that this approach represents a change from the approved grant scope. We want to ensure this change aligns with the community’s expectations and Optimism’s governance standards, hence why this forum post.
- The 50/50 split is not based on any specific reason. We’re open to amending the split in favor of either part down the line upon community feedback and also our own perception from watching the process unfold.
Selection Criteria
For the projects we select independently, we propose focusing on open-source projects building on Optimism. Our criteria will include:
- Open-source nature of the project
- Relevance to the Optimism ecosystem
- Potential impact and innovation
- Technical feasibility and need for our expertise
Our proposal is to announce selected projects every month, allowing the community to provide feedback or intervene if necessary.
What We Need From You
We’re seeking community feedback on:
- The 50/50 split between grantees and independently selected projects
- Our proposed selection criteria for independent projects
- Any other concerns we should address
Next Steps
- Review the community feedback in this post over the next week
- Do a follow-up post summarizing key points and our planned actions
- Share list of potential grantees that could benefit from our services by next Monday
Finally, if you’re building on Optimism and think our services could be useful, please reach out to us on Telegram at rpunktj or comment in this thread.
We’re looking forward to rolling up our sleeves and getting to work!