Expanding Nouns' Impact Into Underserved Communities

NounsDAO NounsDAO Proposals
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Nouns x HDAO

Proposal Overview:

Nouns DAO seeks to fuel a virtuous cycle that reaches the world and forever impacts cryptocurrency. This requires real people with real lives that have changed for the better.

The opportunities to achieve this in the world’s underserved communities are immense.

humanDAO is a social impact organization that has built a flourishing community and proven our ability to provide income, food, and shelter to those in need. We have helped people recover from natural disasters, buy medicine for sick family members, and purchase IT equipment to support their studies and participate in the global economy.

By granting humanDAO a Noun in exchange for Noun-ish branding in our upcoming NFT project, we are seeking the opportunity to join the Nouns community on behalf of the underserved, extend Nouns influence into developing nations, and create a long-term relationship.

Who is humanDAO:

humanDAO is a community-funded DAO built around the core pillars of providing meals, education & wages to people from low-income, underserved backgrounds worldwide. We leverage crypto-tech (NFTs, P2E, L2, DeFi, etc.) to improve lives.

humanDAO has supplied over 3,000 meals through our Food For Life global partnership. We also provide wages to nearly 1,000 community members, and our community now exceeds 60k people. We were just selected for partnership by Moonbirds in their Diversity, Equity, Inclusion (DEI) campaign.

While we currently provide earnings through P2E scholarships, we have seen a massive opportunity to further give people sustainable income by expanding the scholarship program outside gaming in a new and profound business model. Pocket Assistant NFTs are the first step in this growth and form part of our long-term vision for a Metaverse Talent Network, which onboards and upskills new web3 contributors from underserved communities, and places them in web3 roles.

What we’re building:

Our first project outside of gaming - Pocket Assistant NFTs - is pioneering a new gig economy for the web3 industry. We have a large community, and they are eager to contribute and earn. PANFT holders will be able to utilize a weekly service to get their time-consuming low-level tasks completed.

Tasks such as data entry, comparing prices, submitting inquiries, creating presentations, research, and staying on top of the busy world of crypto can easily be delegated to a Pocket Assistant NFT. In doing so, provide valuable, safe, flexible work and income to someone in an underserved community.

This is a step change in utility for NFTs, a jpeg with real-world utility, freeing up hours per week for holders and providing wages to those most in need across the world. We can simultaneously pay a competitive salary on par with local professional roles, distribute ownership and responsibility of hDAO, and build additional revenue streams. This is a tremendous opportunity for crypto to demonstrate that NFTs can be much more.

PANFT project highlights:

  • Building a web app for token holders to utilize the service.
  • Over 1,000 people applied for the PA role within 7 days.
  • Accepted 130+ applicants who passed our assessment test of their communication and problem-solving skills to become Pocket Assistants
  • Art contest. We will hold a 3-4 week design contest for the art to be used on the actual NFT.

Nouns DAO would be joining several other recognized names in web3 as collaborators on PANFT:

  • BanklessDAO - our marketing partner and educational platform provider.
  • Layer3 - our chosen platform to partner and run an exciting $20,000 art competition.
  • Rarible - NFT protocol and marketplace facilitating the unique mechanics of PANFTs

Project Timeline:

We have a payload ready for launch, and we believe Nouns and its signature branding can help fuel the rocket. We are building for the long term and measuring our success by the number of lives we improve.

The NFT and service is planned to be released (minted) when it receives 400 reservations. We will release the reservation smart contract the week of August 1st and begin our marketing push through our advisors and partnerships. More details found HERE.

Project Funding:

We are requesting:

  • 1 Noun NFT, to be held in the humanDAO treasury, to facilitate ongoing discussions and contributions towards growing our collective social impact. The purpose of the NFT is to create a connection; we have no intention to sell it.

In return, Nouns DAO receives:

  • Noun-ish branding (noggles or Noun) supporting the growth of the Nouns brand worldwide. This will be heavily featured and displayed throughout the 4 week art contest.
    • Branding included on the NFT itself
    • Branding on the PANFT wristbands (provides holders one-tap access to our app)
    • Branding on the humanDAO logo (similar to above image) intermittently
  • 2 PANFTs to be used for giveaways. 1 among the Discord members, and 1 among Nouns holders.

Further Information:

The details, motivations, and impact of the project are explored in a series of Medium posts:

2 Likes
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None of the numbers really add up for me when I looked deeper into your project. How many people have joined your waitlist? I can’t see how you would possibly pay the PAs a fair wage over the long haul with the amount of money that you’re collecting. In other words, it looks like it’s either unsustainable or a small step up from slavery. Help me understand what I’m missing here.

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Hello. This should help…

  • waitlist not relevant. will launch service at 400 reservations
  • sustainability comes upfront in genesis mint, secondary sales, rental market, and the daily auctions (similar to nouns)

Regarding slave labor comment:

  • avg teacher salary in the top 3 countries we have PAs… Philippines ($450), Nigeria ($300), Argentina ($600) - a task can take 3 min or 30 minutes. minimum they make is $1/task.
  • IF they take 30 min to complete all tasks. IF they only work 40 hrs/week. IF they only made the minimum per task. They would make $320/month in USDC a much stronger currency than local. and all teachers work more than 40hrs.
  • This is gig work, around their schedule, can be done from a mobile device, anywhere w internet access
  • can be used as ancillary income, but many people don’t have any job in these places (make $0)
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Adding to Christopher’s thoughts above, the genesis mint + funds in our treasury provide a multi-year runway for the project even if NFT holders use them to their absolute maximum potential and there are no secondary sales.

humanDAO stands out from the dozens (and possibly hundreds) of organisations that emerged from the rapid growth in popularity in P2E gaming and resulting awareness around crypto and web3 in areas like the Philippines. While most of those orgs are now gone, we set ourselves up for the long term, managed our risk accordingly, and our community have seen that we continue to build and invest in their future despite the blow ups, hacks, and sharp declines in token prices.

We are a vastly different style of organisation with a very different set of incentives to the conventional gig economy platforms. Where they are maximising for profit (which minimises worker remuneration), our future revenue streams are predicated on providing pathways to higher earning and more specialised roles.

This is a way for the future wave of contributors to web3 organisations to get a foothold, earn a competitive income in a safe, flexible, inclusive way, and open up a host of new career paths.

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I don’t think I wanted that to sound as harsh as it did. :sweat_smile:

Anyways, here’s my math. Help me understand.

Each person pays $3333 for a spot to get PA help minus potentially $333 for the finder’s fee, so start at $3000. 40% goes into the PA pool, so now we’re at $1200. That person gets $20 worth of tasks per week, or $1040 per year.

So in 14 months, the money would be gone without factoring in a single dollar to the team who built this or ongoing tech costs, which there must be several. I’m also not factoring in potential ways that your team could invest the upfront capital to make some interest and offset ongoing costs, so I’m leaving those offset in my scenario.

Of course, many people probably wont use their tasks each week, and the costs might be lower than expected, and other factors, but I like to look at the worse case scenario.

In the worst case, I don’t see how it’s sustainable in the long term. In the best case, I could see it, but the ‘best case’ here just means the project isn’t being used to it’s full potential, which isn’t the goal, I’m assuming.

I’m trying not to be negative, and I like coming up with creative ways to use web3, but I just don’t see this one. I even like the idea. I think it’s very cool and creative, I just have major sustainability questions. I also have trouble tying this into Nouns, but that’s a whole other question.

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  • sustainability comes upfront in genesis mint, secondary sales, rental market, and the daily auctions (similar to nouns)

I think you’re overlooking those 3 at the end. Post genesis mint there will ONLY be auctions that START at $3,333. We also factored in a 30% fee (royalty) on secondary sales to help with the sustainability of it all. And the rental market should bring in some additional revenue too.

Also, 40% of $3,333 is $1,333 (not 1200) that would go into the PA pool from the genesis mint. And the DAO also receives $1,333 that could be put to use to backstop or pay more to PAs.

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EDIT

The following should be read in conjunction with the proposal and addresses some of the feedback to date

To expand on how we would tie in and help proliferate Nouns, we are asking for 1 Noun so we can represent the underserved communities within your movement and DAO. We want to do this in all reputable DAOs, a case in point being the NFTs we recently received to do just that in the Moonbirds community.

Our Nouns delegate will join the community, read the proposals, and participate. But we strictly view things through the lens of helping the underserved. This is a benefit and something DIFFERENT for the Nouns community. Plus, the Nouns brand will be front and center in our community, introducing you to 60k+ people (and growing) who are eager to explore crypto and web3.

Why not just buy a Noun? We want the community to welcome us and endorse us as an extension of the Nouns ecosystem into real world impacts to help marginalised people. A vote by stakeholders will clearly tell us whether or not we have achieved alignment with your mission on this.

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sounds like a great cause, but i don’t really see the tie-in to Nouns. for context, we have done small grants for Nouns derivative projects before where we pay mint fees to help get them off the ground. in this case, this isn’t really a Nouns derivative as much as it is your NFT project and you are asking for a Noun ($150k~) in exchange for branding/sponsorship. helping the underserved is a great cause and i hope you are successful but there are a lot of well meaning causes and people who participate in this community and that participation doesn’t merit a free Noun

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A couple of thoughts on the sustainability question.

With upfront revenue from the genesis mint plus our treasury assets (which are shared at https://humandao.org) we are looking at a minimum 2-3 year window in which to continue building this project and our other proposed revenue streams. That’s a very long time horizon in the world of crypto.

Coming through the precipitous fall in token prices of the last few months and a catastrophic bridge hack in the Axie ecosystem (our starting point and major investment), and still being in that financial position, plus retaining the capability to bring this project to life in the space of a few months, are all good indicators of the DAO’s ability to survive and build for the long term.

The breakeven period for NFT buyers can be measured in weeks to months, depending on how they value the time saved and/or what they are saving in labour costs (in the case of DAOs, for example, who can use this service in lieu of hiring/bounties). Of course they also retain the ability to rent or sell the NFT at any time. No one can predict secondary pricing, but given its utility and finite supply they may even attract a premium from the genesis mint price.

My point is that a lot will happen in that worst case 2-3 year period, and that it is easy for a buyer to realise value in the order of several multiples of their initial purchase price during that time.

We created the DAO with a token issuance schedule spread out over 10 years; we’re here to build something lasting that will support new entrants to crypto from their first experience to full-time, highly skilled roles if that is the path they are seeking.

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Please see here for additional clarity. then would love more feedback.

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Yep, I read that post before I wrote mine.

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We are asking for a Noun in exchange for branding/sponsorship AND having us contribute within your community for future opps that could benefit Nouns w globally marginalized people. Without a noun you don’t have a true say in the direction. Also, branding in one shape or form is one of the most approved proposals, as it is clearly important to Nouns.

We are trying to assist in this Nouns Virtuous Cycle

Perhaps, consider this similar to the 500 ETH funding for Protocol Guild w no clear tie-in to Nouns (funding core devs) just at a fraction of the cost. Where as core devs will improve the base protocol, hDAO if successful w PANFT, will improve the standing/optics of Ethereum/crypto as not just a Ponzi, scam or rich boys club. All while having Nouns branding included and apparent.

Again, our major reason for this Noun is to help with those FUTURE opportunities, if/ when they present themselves, between Nouns and the underserved.

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I understand. I view the value prop as a Noun in exchange for branding/sponsorship. Branding is important to us, but I do not think the benefits of this proposal to Nouns DAO merits an entire Noun.

When it comes to the value of you participating in governance, here are a lot of people who participate in governance and contribute to the Nouns community - many of them don’t own a Noun, though some are delegated a vote by a Noun owner. The desire to join the DAO and participate in governance unfortunately does not entitle one to a Noun. I appreciate your thoughtful proposal and I think what you are working on is a great cause, but I cannot support this at this time.

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I really appreciate the clarifying information. I hope that you succeed and would love to have updates on the stories of people helped. Hopefully others who read your prop will be able to gather the extra context they need from our conversation and make informed decisions. Unfortunately, I think I’m with Noun22 on this one. I don’t see the nounish tie-in…at least at this early juncture. If there was something more proven and tangible to grab onto, maybe there will be a groundswell of support in the future.

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Thanks Andrew and @noun22 for the considered feedback and discussion. We spent a lot of time upfront reading through the Nouns philosophy about reaching the world, experimenting, and bringing something new, and were hoping to evoke these ideas. I’m wondering now whether focusing on our current project (since this felt like the most tangible thing) was actually more of a distraction from our ultimate goal of being a long term partner and participant that gives Nouns an on-the-ground footprint in new and typically underserved communities around the world.

I’m going to think on this a bit more and aim to support any conversations about Nouns’ potential for global social impact. I do believe there is something here and we will see more NFT-based communities branching out into alliances with impact DAOs, much as we’ve been blessed with through the Proof ecosystem.

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I feel like I’ll be thinking about this one for a while as well. It’s a very interesting idea that feels like it’s close to landing on something really special.