The following post sets out the broad structure and programs (the Operating System) of the Pocket Network DAO for contributors and new participants in the ecosystem. This post will be edited and updated to most accurately reflect the evolving DAO OS.
— POCKET DAO OS —
We are Pocket Network. The thing we all share is our Pocket DNA.
Our DNA encodes our mission, vision and values in the statement Unstoppable Open Data.
The Pocket Network Foundation has articulated a strategy for Strategic thesis for the Pocket Network that builds on this DNA.
This thesis articulates a set of big hairy audacious goals that we call the Ambitions:
- Pocket’s V1 is he most success new protocol launch ever
- Pocket has $1B of annual protocol revenue
- Pocket has the most trusted infrastructure brand in crypto
- Pocket has the healthiest culture and governance of any DAO
- Pocket has the institutional financial rails of a blue-chip token
These ambitions all align towards our North Star, which is Protocol Revenue.
The DAO aligns behind these ambitions through a mechanism called an Era
Keystone projects represent foundational investments towards achieving our ambitions. Our current keystone projects are:
- Creating a wPOKT ERC20 token
- Attaining a tier 1 exchange listing
- Launching a new Gateway to the protocol
- Completing V1 economics and governance R&D
The era creates certainty and alignment between our priorities and resource allocation decisions through an Era Budget and Era Allocation:
The Era Budget makes funds available to contributors through our Contribution Mechanisms:
- IDEAS (Community Suggestions)
- Bounties (Supporting Keystone projects, protocol development or other key tasks)
- Sockets (Rapid, permissionless seed grants)
- POPs (Pocket Open Priorities, like RFPs)
These mechanisms are explained in more detail further below.
The DAO will still make and pass separate proposals for other projects not aligned to the Ambitions, or for other retroactive funding requests.
Anyone can contribute to Pocket Network via the DAO, the Era programs or by pushing code to the protocol. Eras aim to unlock innovation and creativity by using lite permissions (basically permissionless), such that:
Anyone who already has a DAO vote, is author/recipient of a previously funded proposal, or has previously completed a socket or bounty is vouched in by default. For anyone else, they can access contributor funding mechanisms by demonstrating alignment with our Pocket DNA by attainting the DNA NFT.
Eras are broken into 2 month Cycles at the completion of which:
- We run a DAO-wide retrospective to share learnings and improve
- Update the Cycle allocation for the next cycle based on the trailing DAO take
- Create new POPs and define other needed contributions for the coming cycle
The Pocket DAO OS is a living organism and will evolve based on the feedback and learning of its participants. To contribute to Pocket, please connect with our Community Manager Ming or use the information in the DAO OS to help us achieve our ambitions.
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Further detail is provided on elements of the Operating System below:
Contribution mechanisms
The following mechanisms will be adapted to work with the new Era format…
IDEAS
The community will still be able to make community suggestions and provide feedback to access rewards through the Era. The IDEAS experiment has been paused and will be folded into the Era as a contribution type. We plan to open a POP for an iteration to how the IDEAS mechanism works as we believe it is effective but still under-utilised.
Bounties
RAD bounties will also be folded into the era. This means that we will return the RAD budget to the DAO. We will still maintain and support developer bounties for contributions to V1 protocol development, and the Ecosystem bounties will become “Era bounties” which will open up bounties for work on keystone projects and other ambition-aligned contributions.
The following mechanisms have been incubated as a prototype by PNF and will now be opened to everyone in the current Era.
Sockets
Sockets are small seed-style grants that support community contributors to rapidly spin up and experiment with contributions towards our ambitions.
A Socket request can be opened under the Build / Socket section of the Forum. It is open to anyone that meets the lite Permissions criteria set out further below. A Socket request must include:
Ambition & Metric: Each Socket needs to state the ambition it works toward and the metric it plans to influence, along with a short simple description of the work.
Type of Socket: Sockets can be opened for a Trial, a no questions asked test with a budget of $500 available for 2 weeks, or as an Experiment/Initiative with a budget of $1-2K paid and reviewed monthly for the life of the initiative or experiment. In this way, the funding for Sockets is “optimistic” in that it continues until the socket is closed.
Commitment: Each socket needs a stated commitment that the contributor will work in the open and self report monthly, including where their workings will be visible if not directly in the forum itself. In this way, the Socket is transparent and open to everyone to assess the impact of the socket and its viability to continue.
Wallet: Each Socket must provide a wallet address for Socket payments
Sockets were incubated as part of the GROW program by PNF. You can read more about GROW and its objectives here //
POPs
Pocket Open Priorities (POPs) are a new contribution type that operates like an RFP. A POP is a high importance or high impact contribution type which seeks to pull new contributors towards working on high value work.
POPs will be opened in the POP section of the forum. POPs will initially be opened by PNF but new POPs can be proposed each new cycle by contributors who meet the permission criteria. These will then be debated as part of the cycle allocation process.
Each POP will have:
Requirements: The outline and objective of each POP is clearly stated in the POP post. PNF will be the one to open POPs in the immediate term. The objective can be quite broad in nature but each POP should make it clear the objective of the POP, the requirements expected to meet this objective, and any relevant information that might be required from contributors responding to this type of RFP.
A submission period: POPs will have a submission period that is outlined up front. For example, some POPs may seek submissions over a 2 week period, during which contributors can outline their capability in submissions for assessment. Alternatively, there will be other POPs which may be “evergreen” in that submissions will be accepted and reviewed continuously, such as with new gateway submissions.
A review: PNF will operate the POP process as the credibly neutral steward. They will review submissions and report both decisions of the submission process and their reasoning. For clarity, this means that PNF will report on who has been selected to complete a POP and why they were chosen over competing submissions.
Budgets
Each Era will have an Era Budget for keystone projects and an Era Allocation for community contributions that utilise the contribution mechanisms outlined above. The budget and allocation mechanism are outlined further in the Era Budget proposal
Operations
The Era is the coordination framework for the DAO’s contributors. It aligns work to be done, resources to be deployed and contributors to support into a lite but holistic mechanism which keeps everyone focused on the key priorities.
Cycles
Within the Era, that main operating rhythm is the Cycle. A cycle is a 2 month executional period or sprint. At the end of that cycle, there is a one week cycle review period in which all community contributors participate. The major elements of the cycle are:
Retrospective: Each mechanism within the era will undergo a comprehensive retrospective. This will be facilitated by PNF but will allow contributors of all types to review wins and challenges and to iterate on the mechanisms to help improve for the future cycles. These retrospectives will all happen in the same week and results from retrospectives will be shared across the whole DAO so that everyone is aware of success, learnings and adaptations to be made each cycle.
Allocation: Each cycle has a specific amount of POKT that is provided from the Era Allocation. At each new cycle the prevailing allocation for the coming cycle will be provided and an outline of how funds propose to be allocated across the various contribution types will be made.
New POPs: New POPs can be proposed and agreed at the open of each new cycle. POPs can be proposed by those meeting the permission criteria or by PNF. POPs are likely to be an increasingly important way of activating talent towards specific initiatives. POPs are also likely to emerge from cycle retrospectives as a way to improve broader operations or impact of the DAO.
Permissions
The DAO should operate optimistically and with only very lite permissions for supporting pursuit of our stated ambitions. In this way we reduce barriers to entry, bring our focus to evidence over confidence, and enable the creativity and innovation of our community to bloom.
Permissions should ensure that people who are already contributing or have demonstrated reputation in the community do not have new hurdles to participate. So we will vouch for anyone who already has a DAO vote, is author/recipient of a previously funded proposal, or has previously completed a socket or bounty.
For new contributors, the alignment we require most is to our Pocket DNA. Our DNA is what keeps us highly aligned, loosely coupled and so it is our most important shared asset, even above the DAO treasury itself. For this reason, it is important that all contributors share and agree to uphold our DNA in their contributions and participation in the ecosystem.
To support this, we have created the DNA NFT. This new credential is available to anyone and can be accessed via the automated mygateway system. This NFT will be a prerequisite for undertaking a POP or bounty, opening a Socket or being paid for an IDEA. The DNA NFT will be launched soon. Please reach out to Ben to discuss if needed.
Payments
One major operational component of Eras and Cycles will be to ensure clearer and more transparent payment operations. By bringing most contribution types under the Era mechanism we believe we can greatly improve the speed and efficiency of contributor payments.
Schedule: Payments will be made on a monthly basis on the first date of governance transactions each month. As wPOKT becomes available, payments for things like bounties can and will be released in real time.
Calculation: Payments will be made based on the prevailing 30 day average POKT price, where pricing has been stated in USD terms. Mostly, future payments will be made in POKT at the agreed POKT price. We expect that many POPs, IDEAS and Bounties will be agreed in POKT terms upfront.