⌐◨-◨ Nounish Consultants Pilot Update ⌐◨-◨
⌐◨-◨ tl:dr: Offering a valuable new benefit to builders in the Nouns ecosystem supporting their efforts proliferating the meme by providing resources and support in the areas of business strategy and development, legal and tax, mental health and navigating the nounish ecosystem.
As the Nouns ecosystem expands, especially with the success of Prop House, we see nounish builders struggle with business aspects, strategy, management, legal and tax issues, mental health and more. We’ve also seen builders who have won grants get stuck in moving forward or those who have created proposals and drop off the radar after not winning.
The idea was to create a support network specifically for nounish builders, creating a Nouns version of an incubator/accelerator. A four-week pilot funded at 2 ETH with positive results and a better understanding of builder needs. We present some key findings and recommended next steps below.
Supertight Woody:
“Nounish Consultants have created a niche community that harbors healthy, sustainable growth within NounsDAO. I’m looking forward to see where Emma and Prof take this project and excited to contribute however I can!”
Key Findings:
- Mental Health - Burnout is real and everyone is struggling with mental health. The resources provided and small group session was beneficial and seen as something we need more of, via professional assistance and community support.
- Intimate conversations in a less chaotic environment made it easier to meet people, build relationships and collaborate. We need a virtual Coffee Shop.
- Need more proposal guidance and feedback and recommend creating some resources such as templates and best practices tips, as well as sessions with community mentors who have successfully gotten props passed.
- Expert Professionals were helpful and more are needed.
Although many entrepreneurial people manage to connect easily in the Nouns Discord or via Twitter, others get lost and find it hard to cut through the noise. Creating a smaller environment where everyone was coming in at the same time and introducing themselves, made for an easier approach. Rekola noted the “warmness and openness we established,” made it a safe place to come freely and propelled him in moving forward to having a virtual coffee with Woody. This gave us an idea to create a virtual coffee shop as we move forward that could also serve to match up individuals who may have needs in common.
Cryptasha:
Loved the 5-minute gratitude and reflection journal that Emma recommended and uses it. She has been getting more connections and help through the program.
“I absolutely think this is worthwhile to continue. A place like this where people can come to for specific advice is valuable. The first mental health talk I went to has been helpful in jumpstarting some good habits like journaling and working on how I phrase things. I also think networking within a small group like this is helpful for direct feedback on proposals and how to share them.”
Virtual Coffee Shop examples:
- Emma and Woody connected re: props and other discussions about doing a Nouns Rap song together
- Rekola and Laplace connected for PR props
- Gogo and Cryptasha connected for building Media Lists for marketing
Deeper conversations also have a chance to flourish outside of the daily grind of project Discords and Discourse.
⌐◨-◨ Weekly Highlights
Week 1 Highlights:
- Tips on growing social media userbase for a Nouns project
- Discussion on utility for projects
- Soundboard and advice calls with Emma
- Negotiation and confidence chat with Emma
- Office hour calls with Emma and Prof Werder
- Legal Chat with a lawyer (note: .2 eth sent as a thank you from grant funds)
Week 2 Highlights:
- Additional legal chat with an IP attorney
- Strategy call with Emma
- Branding advice
- NFT trends call with Emma
- Prop advice
- Mental Health resources
Week 3 Highlights:
- Burnout and mental health chats with a mental health professional note: ( .2 eth sent as a thank you from grant funds)
- Additional mental health resources posted
- Group Proposal Tips Call with Woody whose prop passed
Week 4 Highlights:
- Marketing Call with Emma
- Proposal tips and CC0 Benefits
- Nouns Incubator discussions
- Office hours with Prof and Emma
Example Highlights:
Monday, August 29th
- Discussion on utility for NFT projects.
Emma Asked: What are some of your favorite types of utility that you’ve come across?
- Seva’s Take:
- Providing IRL value
- Royalties are one of my favorite utilities so far. But I don’t think the value is just there. Thinking of NFTs/CC0/DAOS/Treasury/Privacy… It is a new dawn of organizations and networks wasn’t possible before. What could we do with 10, 20, 100s of NounsDAOs?
- Klim’s Take:
- The idea of perpetual royalties for the work that are on chain and can transfer to your kids and grandkids.
- Office Hours - Voice Call
Emma provided a one-hour call with SuperWoody and byRekola
- Key Takeaways:
- Soundboarding - A desire to chat with people who understand nouns and NFTs
- Helping provide advice/templates for folks with their proposals
Book Recommendations For Negotiating: Never Split the Difference
Tuesday, August 30th
Highlights:
- Discussion on projects scaling too fast with Prof Werder and Emma
- Lil Nouns dropping of price, trouble reaching quorum, etc.
How can these lessons be helpful to Nouns DAO if they run into these issues later?
- 15 min auctions (Lil Nouns) vs 3 auctions a day (Food Nouns)
- Discussion of pros and cons
- Proposal advice
- Develop MVP first
- Create a video and include it in prop
- Mental Health Resources
- Books, podcasts, meditations posted
- Trademark and IP Q&A with two lawyers during Office Hours
Wednesday, August 31st
Highlights:
- Discussion on Negotiating with Emma
- Doing your research (finding comparables, reaching out to folks if not publically available)
- Being patient and also try not to have all your eggs in one basket
- Being assertive and persistent. Follow up with the next steps and send concise messages.
- “Everything is negotiable”
- Don’t be afraid to ask.
Example: If the price goes up $100, ask if they can do $30 instead. You may be surprised!
- Have boundaries and be careful of people pleasing.
- Be confident and positive. Have a good self-care plan. Know your worth and stick to it! If you’re going to do something for free or less than your rate, try to have a plan in place if “x happens, you get y” or ask yourself if you do this for a discount, will it be worth your time still, if it may lead to more experience and more business in the future, etc.
- Listen to the other party’s concerns if there is pushback and make sure to address the concerns and find a solution.
- Write down your success story - Pick a few things you’re proud of and read them as a reminder
- If you’re having a bad day, good to journal out how you feel and tear the paper up after. Also know feelings are temporary and many folks go through similar experiences. Good to have someone you can soundboard with
- Meditation for Confidence
Thursday, September 1
- Planning
Friday, September 2
- Voice Discussion on utilities, noun sounds prop, IRL events, royalties, avoiding burnout, strategy, IP rights, CC0
Monday, September 5
- Planning legal discussion for Friday
- Articles on negotiating and mental health resources
Tuesday, September 6
Highlights - Emma’s Strategy Call with Klim and Super Woody:
- Discussion on Rugrats creator PFP project and learning where things could have gone better with the community and how it can apply to a nounish pfp project
Takeaways: Free mint, lower supply
- IRL events with Klim’s Toys - Get the word out there outside of Twitter
- Create buzz, awareness, and engagement at DesignerCon
- Klim is working on a proposal for Designer Con https://www.designercon.com/
Wednesday, September 7
Highlights
- Branding Advice (Example below)
Thursday, September 8
- Creative discussion on a Nouns Rap Song with Emma and Woody
Friday, September 9
- Discussion with IP Lawyer where folks asked questions and resources were posted
Monday, September 12
- Discussion on burnout and mental health resources posted
- Scheduled call with a mental health professional
Tuesday, September 13
- Continued discussion on burnout in Web 3
- Legal discussion trademark vs patent Trademark, patent, or copyright | USPTO
- DAO Legal Resources: Legal Entity - DAO Research Collective
Wednesday, September 14
- Proposal planning
Thursday, September 15
- Planning
Friday, September 16
- Proposal Tips Call with Woody
- 1.5 hour Mental Health Chat and resources with a professional
- Mental Health Resources
- Incubator ideas discussion
Monday, September 19
- Personality tests https://www.16personalities.com/
Tuesday, September 20
- Marketing Chat with Emma - Toys (Klim), Comics (Gogo), and Cryptasha
- NFT Media List - Gogo and Cryptasha to collaborate
- Discussion on proposal feedback and more of a discussion for mental health so folks don’t feel alone
- Royalties Discussion
Wednesday, September 21
- Mental Health Resources
- Prop feedback chat
Thursday, September 22
- Office hours call with Prof and Emma
- Chat about the needs of the ecosystem and how to support nounish builders (community mentors, experts)
Friday, September 23
- Prop Feedback
- Office hours call with Prof and Emma