Greetings Bob,
Short intro
I am a web3 governance/DAO researcher and participant. I can relate as many others have indicated on various social platforms there is a poor user experience towards how Optimism’s Collective governance, grants, and investment arms/branches/circles operate. Therefore, I am currently doing a series of co-writing to simplify Optimism’s current governance system and its future iterations.
From what I currently understand through my research Optimism Collective / Foundation is using various funds(treasuries) to distribute its capital (OP tokens) to people and organizations that are value-aligned.
On the Lock-up period
Yes, Optimism Foundation is using vesting periods (Token lockups) to regulate the overall market price and to try to promote long-term commitment. As with many other capital freeze-ups, there are market risks such as price fluctuations that affect future monetary values. However, I did read that there might be an Optimism Foundation fund that is dedicated to larger projects and might not be mandatory to lock up 100% of the token amounts. This fund is the Partner fund.
See the application form here: New Project Grant Request
Disclaimer: As I am still mapping the optimistic governance culture, realms, and rules. I will tag @brichis As I believe Brichis might have a better answer for your specific case.
Bless 0xR