Hello,
I am writing to request a small grant of $2860,00 to help change the conversation in Web3 around “governance” and showcase openly, in real-time, how projects recently transitioning to being “community-led” (this number is growing very fast and will only accelerate) can leverage the Nouns ecosystem successfully to build a strong foundation (Nouns Builder) for renewed purpose, incentives, and growth.
We will be using a large OG NFT Project called Mars Cats Voyage as the use case and sharing the process across all socials (combined reach of 44K+ members/followers not attained through bots!), highlighting the Nouns ecosystem and breaking down the tools we use.
I am the new project lead for Mars Cats Ventures which manages two NFT projects. The first is a recognized OG project from September 2021 called Mars Cats Voyage and the second is a newer sister project named MetaZoku (links included below). I have over 10 years of experience in Digital Strategy, Public Policy and Governance in the Canadian Federal Government.
As many projects have seen, and will continue to see, founders are losing steam and running out of funds due to the bear market, among other reasons. There is a growing cascade of communities clamoring together to take ownership of projects on a volunteer basis (or delayed new token/NFT benefits) to prevent their complete implosion, with little to no guidance on how to self-organize and build momentum for continued growth with the right incentives.
This is usually happening because either, there is strong belief in the IP/brand/potential of the project, or there is strong community fervor and desire to see continuity, or they’re trying to minimize the damage to their bags and hope for a potential exit someday, or all of the above.
In our case, as a project that never really went completely parabolic (max floor was 0.4E so around 1K USD), many new users and the vast majority of active members here since mint, our community’s intentions are focused on the first two of the reasons I listed prior.
We have a great community, people that have stuck together for close to two years, have made strong friendships and have gained loads of experience in Web3 together. We also have one of the most diverse memberships in the space with a large proportion of women in the community as well as on the new core team (collections also feature many female traits).
Belief since the community took over is at a recent high. This happens to a lot of communities that follow in the same footsteps. The story many times ends there. Unless a mechanism is put in place to share the burden/decentralize the responsibility and it’s associated benefits, these communities typically fade with time. Likewise, without a strong and compelling strategy and implementation plan in place that can even convince the core team of the potential for success, it makes it even more of a challenge.
One of the biggest pillars supporting this transition is our excellent team. We have loads of experience in management, entertainment, project management, legal, art direction, game/app/software development, and governance, which makes me confident in our long-term success.
The founders are also very cordial and helpful, enabling the smooth transition every step of the way. Once we setup the legal DAO structure, we will have a favorable IP license agreement in place, and since we have nurtured such a strong relationship we plan to keep the original artist involved as we grow the digital footprint.
We think that combining that with on-chain mechanics such as those implemented by NounsDAO and available to others through the Nouns Builder tool (https://nouns.build/) is a sure-fire way to keep momentum and belief high in the community and get more people involved.
Moreover, there is a hunger spreading across Web3 for a solution to the issues we already discussed. Founders want to jump ship, they’re tired and completely beat down. But they don’t know what alternatives exist out there for them to use or leverage and even if they do run in to DAOs and governance, it sounds so boring and grueling (I’ve worked in governance for years so I know lol) that it seems like a non-starter.
We’re here to change that. One of our goals was to show other communities how it can be done and assist in facilitating hand-offs with our network of founders. We think that using the Nouns ecosystem is key and we hope to work with you to demonstrate this and how easy and powerful it can be.
The funds will be used to help:
- register the DAO legally including associated costs
- pay for 4+ months of web server costs, alchemy, etc.
- pay for setup and graphic design work
- a few prizes
Thanks for your consideration!
Jason B | Discord: jasonb_ | Twitter: @ClassicsCrypto
Project Lead — Mars Cats Voyage & MetaZoku
Links:
OS: https://opensea.io/collection/marscatsvoyage
Twitter: https://twitter.com/MarsCatsVoyage
Website: https://marscatsvoyage.com/
Sister Project: MetaZoku
OS: https://opensea.io/collection/mtzk
Twitter: https://twitter.com/MetaZoku_com
Website: https://metazoku.com/