tl;dr: The Orcanauts – a community-led initiative of Orca Protocol– propose to implement an updated governance structure within Nouns DAO that will enable members to more efficiently organize their energy in a thoughtful, meaningful, and effective way.
Summary
The Nouns DAO and community has shown itself to be a powerhouse player in the NFT space. Its unique position in web 3.0 has garnered massive attention and scale in a short amount of time. This rapid success has shown the inefficiencies that come with a flat DAO organization. How do we implement a cohesive structure within Nouns DAO? We see a path to align the expertise and enthusiasm of Nouns contributors with Nouns DAO and its resources with a streamlined plan. The deliverables presented in this proposal have two goals - to provide an impartial view of the current state of Noun DAO governance and to sustain a global collaborative effort that organizes the energy of members.
Helping DAOs organize is at the core of what the Orcanauts do. We understand that each DAO is unique and has its own style, personality, and characteristics that attract members from all over the internet. Organizing new Nouns members into contributors and then teams takes a keen eye and attention to the dynamics of the DAO itself. This is where the Orcanauts come in!
Through “podifying” parts of Nouns, the Orcanauts will help Nouns DAO bring to the surface the most meaningful content, efficient teams, and future thought leaders of the organization.
Organizing members is not a feature that is implemented once and then forgotten about. Organizing is in constant flux and evolves as the DAO grows, expands, and reaches new parts of the internet. How we organize individuals within Nouns will be a crucial dynamic to keep Nouns running smoothly.
Program Scope
This proposal is to determine the resources needed to execute a timeline for the organizational bootstrapping plan below. Please note that the organizational bootstrapping plan will be a separate proposal that includes our findings and additional deliverables from the Environment Exploration phase.
The Orcanauts program scope for this proposal will conduct 3 main activities for Nouns DAO:
EcoXP: Environment Exploration
- An audit of the current organizational structure & current governance processes.
- A review of current proposal procedures and workflow.
- An analysis of how teams are operating, communicating, and creating.
After delivering a report of the Environment Exploration phase, the Orcanauts will produce a 2nd proposal to execute the following 4 main deliverable projects:
Organizational Bootstrapping Plan
- Create a blueprint for scaling and operating pods for creative endeavors.
- Design a system that addresses and tracks key milestones set by contributors through a pod structure.
- Deliver a content management schema that coordinates a content cycle from start to finish.
- Help build a viable governance framework that reduces the time, resources, and attention it takes for decision making.
With the combination of our initial reporting and the organizational bootstrapping plan, the Orcanauts will deliver the following high-impact benefits to Nouns DAO:
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Find teams within the Nouns ecosystem to shape inspiring stories.
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Reduce the friction between creative experimentation and scalable projects with lasting impacts.
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Engage community members (both Nouns NFT holders & non-holders) across the entire organization.
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Create a long-lasting reputation that builds a legacy for the Nouns collective.
Governance
Nouns governance will evolve and change as new community members join, new pods are formed, and teams dissolve to move on to other projects. Members of Nouns DAO trust that the group is making the best possible decision in the best possible way. This is why measuring the impact of a DAO’s governance is of the utmost importance. As the Orcanauts find ways to improve Nouns governance through identifying the pain points and evolving the organization, the whole community wins.
Nouns DAO and protocols have ample opportunity to improve their governance by:
- Finding/delegating resources to the right governance participants.
- Ensure those participants have the information required to perform their due diligence.
- Hold these participants accountable to the decisions made.
- And provide transparent reporting on governance flow.
Timeline
Phase 1 - Initial set up. 1 week.
Phase 2 - Execute the “EcoXP” phase of the program scope. 3-4 weeks.
Phase 3 - Compile and report on findings and on-going research efforts. 2-3 weeks.
Compensation
The compensation for the EcoXP: Environment Exploration phase is one payment of 25 ETH to orcanauts.pod.xyz. The result of the exploration will give Nouns DAO a high-level overview of their current structures, teams, and processes.
Based on the findings of the EcoXP deliverables, the Orcanauts will build a proposal for the Nouns governance community to enable the organizational bootstrapping plan and follow through with the high-impact benefits. Essentially, we want to close the gaps on potential inefficiencies within Nouns DAO.
How The Orcanauts Think About Success For Nouns With This Proposal:
- Improve organization of projects, proposals, resources, and teams as Nouns DAO scales.
- Strengthen accountability of project team leads + members working on projects.
- Improve visibility of how teams are operating, communicating, and creating.
- Increase the flexibility of Nouns DAO organizing structures while preserving its flatness essential to community participation.
Conclusion
The Orcanauts are excited to work with Nouns DAO and the community to ignite collaborative environments for creation, organization, and storytelling!
About The Orcanauts
The Orcanauts are a team made up of different pods derived from the Orca Protocol that work in all aspects of a DAO. We are artists, engineers, writers, and leaders that have a deep depth of experience and knowledge in our respective fields. Check out our pod @ orcanauts.pod.xyz!