Hi everyone, after testing the waters for a few weeks, I’m ready to talk more about my motivations for joining NounsDAO and how I plan to use the Nouns delegated to me.
TL;DR: Nouns I govern will act in favor of experiments, technical progress, adorable art, healthy governance, and nounish endeavors.
Me
I’ve been watching Nouns from the sidelines since auction zero. The art piqued my curiosity; the distribution mechanics rooted itself in my mind. Recently I’ve been helping OrangeDAO (Y Combinator alums) with design and serving on the governance committee there. I won’t shut up about Twin Peaks, FromSoft games, PC Music, and HPMOR (iykyk). I live in Stockholm, speak Japanese, and was once a national record holder at DanceDanceRevolution.
Governance
My philosophy for NounsDAO governance can be simplified as ‘proposals are a scarce resource — liquidity is not’. I believe this will continue to be true regardless of how popular Nouns become. It’s easier to consume than to create. [1, 2]
In practice, I will push for us to put more proposals on chain. As long as props are coherent, achievable, and nounish, we should bring them to the DAO for a vote. Furthermore, I will work to pass experimental props as long as they don’t hurt the DAO.
While I’m in favor of experiments, I’m skeptical of props that are:
- bloated,
- void of technical innovation, artistic expression, or serving as a public good
- diminish our integrity (ex: Brands are fans of Nouns, Nouns are not fans of brands),
- or where the motivations of the proposer are ambiguous — i.e., are they looking to proliferate Nouns or simply find a way to get their project funded? If we reject the prop, would they bring their project to another community? Do they care for Nouns or just our treasury?
Voting
I commit to using Nouns delegated to me as follows:
- Vote on every prop
- Explain my reasoning for voting For or Against [I’d like to collect this on a blog or similar]
- Rarely Abstain: I only plan to abstain if I, within a reasonable timeframe, cant learn enough about the topic to be comfortable with my vote.
- Learn and ask the community for guidance when applicable. For example, is there is historical context (good or bad) around a prop that I don’t have deep insights into?
Sponsoring proposals
As a sponsor, I will work with teams and individuals to put experimental props on-chain.
I expect many of my sponsored props to be divisive, which is by design. I believe we should strive to vote on props where the community is divided, not only home runs. I’d rather have the DAO vote on one prop too many than one too few, and while we must protect and curate what’s nounish, the DAO and especially the Nounders already do a stellar job there.
I will not put undercooked proposals on-chain but also won’t strong-arm a proposer to implement changes to match my taste. I will provide my suggestions and qualms and explain how I believe the DAO will react to the prop, but I won’t use my Nouns as leverage. Ultimately, the proposer should be able to put forward their vision and succeed/fail on their own accord.
(I do not ask for payment sponsoring proposals, but I ask the proposer to cover gas fees.)
Motivations
As for my overall motivations, I aim to work in favor of:
- Nouns proliferation,
- the Nouns ecosystem,
- Nouns governance health (such as voter participation and continuous democratization),
- Nouns delegates and tech surrounding delegation,
- whats nounish,
- the broader Ethereum ecosystem (and to a lesser extent crypto at large) [3]
- and if we really zoom out, existential risk mitigation (such as space flight and AGI alignment)
Why do I do this?
- To justify spending a bunch of time noodling over Nouns
- To feed my curiosity
- To learn from the best
- To carve out my own little space in the Nouns ecosystem
Delegation?
Although increasing the number of Nouns I govern is not my motivation for writing this, it seems like a prudent thing to add —
If you resonate with my views and would like me to govern your Nouns, I’m happy to bring them under the framework outlined here. Currently, I’m comfortable holding up to 2% of the total voting power. [4, 5]
To put me in a bucket, I favor experiments, technical progress, adorable art, healthy governance, and nounish endeavors. But most importantly, the continuous proliferation of the meme. Nouns delegated to me should be expected to move the ecosystem in this direction.
I ask nothing in return but accept donations to krel.eth. All donated funds will be returned to the ecosystem via the acquisition of Nounish extensions (such as Lost Nouns) or by slowly saving up for a Noun.
As my beliefs and reasoning around Nouns Governance, crypto, and the world at large evolve, I will update this post so the community knows what they can expect from me and how my voting power is being used.
— krel
Edits
- [21 June 2022] A note on treasury mgmt: If ETH price continues to drop towards double digits, and if the ETH price per noun is not shifted upwards as a result (ie, if we accumulate less USD/day), then I would consider reevaluating my stance on funding experiments and effectively be more stingy/preserving with treasury funds. Put another way, if my core thesis ceases to be true (‘proposals are a scarce resource — liquidity is not’), my governance style will have to change as a result. (As of 7 July 2022, no reason to change my stance on spending.)
Notes
[1] And regardless of market conditions.
[2] Thx jck for the poignant phrasing
[3] I denominate in ETH
[4] Or ‘party line’ if you will
[5] If my services are appreciated, I will consider opening the Nouns Daycare, where Nouns will eat, sleep and vote properly while their owners are busy with work and errands.
