Designing and Operating the Reporting and Information Function

TLDR:

  • Overview: The DAO has existed for 18 months, total expenditures of 425M ARB with 40+ initiatives that have passed Tally; and only in the last three months did we create a single list with the live initiatives. We can do better.
  • Still, reporting has had inconsistent processes, making it difficult to see all the initiatives, let alone determine relative performance.
  • This proposal enables the DAO to create a Reporting and Information function that will enable transparency and visibility into the status and performance of initiatives.
  • Critical Importance: Reporting and information management are a critical component of growing organizations as it enables them to learn and improve. As the DAO evolves, a reporting function is a critical way to improve and show investors it is more than just “the teenager with the trust fund”.
  • This lack of a DAO-wide reporting function has led to issues for delegates and initiatives, reducing our speed of learning.
  • The problem is that while the Arbitrum DAO has made strides in data capture and reporting, gaps remain in transparency, documentation, and the distribution of data to stakeholders.
  • The work, Basic Reporting continuation [Stream]: the ongoing work required to maintain, document, and incrementally improve current data capture and reporting workflows.
  • Team: Alex Lumley, Lumen of PowerHouse, Customer Stakeholder Representative Group and potentially a group of SPs who will leverage reporting & information and Incorporate community stakeholders into workflows to enhance transparency and collaboration.
  • Cost: a maximum of $263,260 for the continuation of the reporting function for up to 12 months, 4 months of backpay, grants to incorporate the community and research areas such as information dissemination and how to incorporate other tools the community has built.

Motivation

Reporting is critical to any growing organization, especially to a decentralized autonomous one.

With over 425M ARB allocated, we must evolve from ad hoc reporting to a structured framework that delivers transparency, accountability, and actionable insights.

Good (Vision) vs. Current Status:

Good (The Vision), where we want to go:

A tailored Reporting and Information Function that:

  • Provides comprehensive insights into initiatives.
  • Aligns governance with long-term objectives.
  • Standardizes and manages information flows to reduce the complexity and manual work currently required.
  • Builds trust and accountability across stakeholders.
  • Transparent, standardized reporting that empowers delegates and enhances accountability.

Current State (The Problems):

Disjointed efforts with limited visibility into the outcomes of 425M ARB in expenditures.

  • Lack of cohesive reporting structure lead to inefficiencies and missed opportunities for oversight.
  • ArbitrumDAO currently lacks a systematic framework for tracking the existence and performance of ongoing initiatives.
  • This leads to fragmented oversight and unclear metrics for success, which results in difficulty ensuring alignment with DAO objectives and resource optimization.
Across the ecosystem:
  • Delegates struggle to perform their watchdog roles due to disjointed and inconsistent information.
  • Teams feel their efforts are unnoticed or misrepresented, and some struggle with excessive manual processes;
  • Teams face challenges in providing performance updates that account for complexity and unique operations.
  • The broader DAO lacks alignment and performance visibility.

Rationale

Given the direction of what an idealized reporting looks like and where we currently are.

What should we actually build out?

The solution is not to build more tech, simply not report or do something else, but to allow a team of people with deep expertise and high-context individuals to iterate and work through this with the DAO.

For this reason, we are proposing a solution that allows us to get to a steady state and then iteratively improve.

Specification

Contributor Team - Roles & Responsibilities

Advisory Committee:

A small group of around 3-5 delegates and ecosystem participants will represent the user group of people we will co-work with to design this.

Should include representatives from:

  • Foundation
  • Delegate Representative
  • Entropy or another Service Provider

Principal Program Manager (Alex Lumley)

  • Oversees the distribution of funds (along with the Advisory Committee)
  • manages the workstream and ensures satisfactory delivery.
  • They shall act as the primary point of contact for DAO delegates and stakeholders and manage and oversee the performance of the Working Group(s).
  • Manages and operates the monthly reporting calls, providing both updates across the DAO and on the Reporting workstream itself.
  • By partitioning forward-looking R&D work and ongoing operational work, the workstream may continue existing operations while developing forward-looking initiatives.

Steps to Implement (Statement of Work)

The objective:

To continue operating and improving data capture and reporting while seeking to understand how to best provide and translate this data for final consumption by last-mile stakeholders (e.g., marketing, internal communications, etc.)

The Reporting Workstream Comprises Three Phases

In order to provide a maximally functional workstream, we require three phases. The first phase continues reporting operations while establishing a baseline through business analysis and processes and procedures documentation. This output will allow subsequent contractors or OpCo to adopt the workstream if desired.

Phase two consists of reduced resource allocation, providing some iterative improvements, performing the research to review problem areas, and culminating in a final report and proposal if appropriate.

Phase 3 further slims the resource allocation, committing to simply continuing the reporting operations workflows or transitioning them to another counterparty if necessary.

Reporting operations include:

  • Management and Execution of GRC and Bi-Weekly calls,
  • Maintenance of the GRC tracker and initiative database.

Figure 1. Three Phases of Reporting Operations

Table 1. Work Components By Phase By Resource Allocation

Component Description FTE Commitment Allocation
Phase 1: Reporting Operations and Documentation
Reporting Meeting Operations The preparation, execution, and all management of the existing GRC and biweekly calls. (50% FTE) – 20 hours/ Wk 25% Biweekly Calls 25% GRC
Operational Data Quality and Monitoring (GRC Tracker) Maintenance of the GRC and Initiative Tracker, including First Mile Intake, Data Quality, and Ongoing Oversight for Completion (25% FTE) – 10 hours /Wk
Capture and Reporting Workflow Documentation Delivery of Current Reporting Workflow Processes and Procedures, including stakeholder interviews and (75% FTE) – 30 hours/wk 25% Program Manager 50% Operations Contractor
Phase 2: Reporting Operations and Incremental Improvements
Reporting Meeting Operations The preparation, execution, and all management of the existing GRC and biweekly calls. (50% FTE) – 20 hours/ Wk 25% Biweekly Calls 25% GRC
Operational Data Quality and Monitoring (GRC Tracker) Maintenance of the GRC and Initiative Tracker, including First Mile Intake, Data Quality, and Ongoing Oversight for Completion (25% FTE) – 10 hours /Wk
Iterative Improvements and Final Documentation Incremental improvements through the quarter Post- Mortem Report A Proposal for additional scope if appropriate (40% FTE) – 16 hours/Wk 15% Program Manager 25% Operations Contractor
Phase 3: Reporting Operations
Reporting Meeting Operations The preparation, execution, and all management of the existing GRC and biweekly calls. (50% FTE) – 20 hours / Wk 25% Biweekly Calls 25% GRC
Operational Data Quality and Monitoring (GRC Tracker) Maintenance of the GRC and Initiative Tracker, including First Mile Intake, Data Quality, and Ongoing Oversight for Completion (25% FTE) – 10 hours /Wk

Reporting Meeting Operations

  • Reporting Meeting Operations covers the preparation, execution, and all management of the existing GRC and biweekly calls.
  • The weekly time commitment covers 15-25 hours based on past performance of the below services.

GRC Meeting and Program Operation

  • Scheduling and Coordinating Monthly calls with Initiative Leads and community stakeholders.
  • Reviewing prior action items with interim follow-up for critical path action items.
  • Managing and Overseeing meeting proceedings
  • Capturing action items with responsible parties during proceedings
  • Documenting meeting notes in addition to AI notetaking and recording.

BiWeekly Reporting Call Operation

  • Scheduling and Coordinating Biweekly calls with proposal authors and community stakeholders.
  • Reviewing content and format with the proposal author to ensure appropriateness
  • Managing and Overseeing meeting proceedings
  • Capturing relevant action items and communicating with proposal authors
  • Documenting meeting notes in addition to AI notetaking and recording.

Executive Management and Post-Meeting Coordination

  • Preparing executive summary and post-meeting notes for community with corresponding forum post
  • Distributing executive summary and post-meeting notes to attendees and relevant stakeholders.
  • Ensuring counterparties are aware of action items and coordinating communications, interim action items, or introductions with relevant stakeholders.

Operational Data Quality and Monitoring (GRC Tracker)

Operational Data Quality and Monitoring includes the maintenance of the GRC and Initiative Tracker, including First Mile Intake, Data Quality, and Ongoing Oversight for Completion and adherence to existing DAO policy.

The weekly time commitment covers 10-15 hours based on past performance of the services below.

  • Overseeing Data Intake, ensuring completion, data quality, and appropriateness in the proposal, Ensuring reporting adherence of portfolio projects to DAO standards

  • Review new proposals to ensure awareness of existing relevant proposals, as well as identify and proposals that require reconciliation with the most current DAO status.

  • Capture all existing initiatives within the GRC database.

  • Review existing proposals and database weekly to identify changes or new proposals (e.g. new live proposals, concluded proposals)

  • Reconcile the weekly changes and communicate with all relevant and required counterparties.

Capture and Reporting Workflow Documentation and Iterative Improvements

The work items below provide for the formalization, documentation, and improvement of the current data reporting and capture function.

Current state: At present, Arbitrum and the various stakeholders do not have clear documentation or understanding of data capture and reporting structures.

That is, it is not entirely clear how information is captured and distributed through the DAO.

  • Identifying existing data capture and structure workflows, including qualitative and quantitative metrics
  • Identify stakeholder roles and perform representative stakeholder interviews to evaluate current UX for key stakeholders.
  • Prepare visual and written articulation of existing reporting and capture workflows.
  • Identify opportunities for improvement.
  • Propose and evaluate solutions with stakeholder representatives.
  • Implement and evaluate solutions
  • Provide a quarterly update to the DAO.

Discretionary Work Fund

The discretionary work fund includes funding for proposal preparation, R&D grants related to reporting and information distribution, community compensation for outsourced tasks, and the potential to train additional contractors to begin to support some of the existing calls as a backup to the Program Manager.

Timeline

Upcoming meetings and proposals.

  • November 19th:
    • Bi-Weekly call
  • December 3rd:
    • Bi-Weekly Call
    • November GRC - Part 1
    • November GRC - Part 2
  • December 17th:
    • Bi-weekly Call
  • December GRC:
    • Asynchronous

Overall Cost {#overall-cost}

Table 2. FTE Totals by Phase

Phase Duration FTE Count Effective Annual FTE
Phase 1: Reporting Operations and Documentation Q1 2025 .25 years 1.5 0.375
Phase 2: Reporting Operations and Incremental Improvements Q2 2025 .25 years 1.15 0.2875
Phase 3: Reporting Operations Q3 & Q4 2025 .5 years 0.75 0.375
Total 1.0375 FTE /YR

Table 3. Total USD Costs By Project Component

Component USD Amount Description
Reporting Function Operation and Improvements* $149,328 This budget item covers 1.5 FTE and all the costs associated with the reporting function.
Discretionary Work Fund^ $45,000 Provides retroactive compensation for proposal preparation and additional funds to contract community members and third parties.
Program Manager Backpay $45,000 75% FTE at Low Contractor base for 5 Months
Buffer estimate $23,932 This is buffer for snapshot. Once we receive all the feedback from delegates and ensure this is estimate is fair we will remove any additional amounts.
Total Maximum USD Spend $263,260

*The fee is calculated using FTE comp calibrated to match a Sr. OpCo employee (192k) plus a 30% Contractor premium for Benefits, etc. No contingency funds are quoted, and any overages will be absorbed by the contractors themselves.
^ Discretionary fund utilization will be reported on a quarterly basis, and funds unused after 12 months will be returned.

Performance Bonus Converts Base Comp into ARB Paid Post Performance

In order to align long-term incentives, the proposed bonus structure provides a portion of 192k base comp plus contractor premium. Approximately 42% of the total contractor fee is to be taken as an ARB bonus paid after quarterly performance. The total ARB bonus to cover the entire scope shall be 220,240 ARB and will be paid out quarterly according to the FTE proportion.

The ARB calculation assumes the 90-day moving average price for ARB ($0.56), the OpCo standard base bonus of 30%, and a 30% risk premium for the portion converted from deferred base compensation.

Program Manager Backpay {#program-manager-backpay}

The Program Manager has worked uncompensated since August while the date of the initiation of this statement of work is January 2025. It is therefore proposed that the Program Manager receives the USD backpay for the 5 uncompensated months at 0.75 FTE using the reduced base comp rate of 12k monthly and no ARB bonus, totaling $45,000.00

Term and Termination

The proposal includes a 1-year commitment for the Operations and Reporting function. Payments in USD are made on a monthly streaming basis to provide for continuing operational expenses. ARB bonuses are paid on a quarterly basis upon the conclusion of the respective work term prorated to FTE. In the event of termination, they are prorated over the term of work completed.

Overview:

The proposed structure includes:

  • Ongoing reporting operations
  • information distribution research.

About the Team

Powerhouse**: A DAO Operations Specialist**

Powerhouse began as the MakerDAO Sustainable Ecosystem Scaling (SES) Core Unit supporting an DAO incubator program, which also involved designing and building out the operational infrastructure of one of the largest DAO experiments to date. As SES, Powerhouse team members helped teams to organize operations, define workflows, and connect teams with relevant service providers. We learned a lot during the two years of operating this incubator and are now working on translating our best practices into open-source software and structured services for DAOs. Powerhouse is led by Prometheus, the former Head of Engineering of the Maker Foundation, responsible for shipping Multi-Collateral Dai in 2019. Powerhouse retains a full operational staff of approximately 14 full time contractors, plus additional partners and third party contractors. The firm utilizes in-house software development and business analysis teams to support organizational design and the translation and implementation of workflows into software where desired.

Lumen:

For the proposed operational reporting project, Lumen PhD, a Principal at Powerhouse, will oversee and manage the research and design work required. Lumen has extensive experience at startups and FAANG including a prior Operations Executive role at the Maker Foundation and Strategy roles in MakerDAO. He also possesses an R1 PhD in Social Psychology focused on game structures and organizational behavior. As part of this prior work, he managed federally funded in vivo and digital psychological intervention reaching thousands of participants.

Powerhouse Delivered ArbGrants for LTIPP

Powerhouse successfully supported the recently concluded Arbitrum LTIPP project with ArbGrants, a site to capture and surface reports for the 80+ grantee projects. This work included business analysis, workflow design, and software development. The final product was a custom-hosted software workflow that enabled the Program Manager to complete the required oversight of compliance for biweekly reporting. Powerhouse also completed a large portion of the last-mile customer service work, including helping grantee projects navigate their reporting obligations and other program inquiries. For more information on this, you may see the post-mortem presentation here.

7 Likes

UPDATE: Thursday, November 28th - 1640 UTC

I accidentally posted the above forum post but I can’t edit nor update it. Will fix the mistakes when I can.

Saving for future updates and comments from the team.

how much would this cost @AlexLumley ?

also, why didn’t you follow the proposal template specified in the docs?

2 Likes

Hey @AlexLumley! Thank you for this proposal. I think it’s a very forward-thinking idea, and systematic documentation will indeed benefit the long-term development of Arbitrum DAO.

I have a few questions I’d like you to clarify further. First, what is the specific budget for this proposal? Second, if this proposal is approved, what will be the final deliverable? Will it be a document, a website, or an application? Third, we must acknowledge that there is often a significant gap between theory and practice. Is what this proposal aims to achieve feasible and practical? Will it be something that Delegates and Arbitrum DAO can efficiently utilize?

1 Like

Hey Alex,

What are you basing the below on though?

" Tracking Aligns Organizations and Reporting Supports Alignment

** DAO initiatives currently lack a systematic framework for tracking performance, which leads to:*

    • Fragmented oversight and unclear metrics for success.*
    • Difficulty ensuring alignment with DAO objectives and resource optimization.*
      ** Proper reporting and tracking enhance:*
    • Transparency: Provide visibility into initiative progress for all stakeholders.*
    • Accountability: Ensure contributors deliver on commitments.*
    • Decision-Making: Equip delegates with actionable insights to guide resource allocation."*

Do we really have lack of transperancy, accountability etc. when most if not all initiatives do consistent reporting, calls, consultations, the DAO having the ability to wind down programs, most programs having decision-making re. their scope etc. ?

I don’t think the above depicts a clear and true statement of the current status quo personally but if you can provide examples that’d be helpful!

Kind Regards,
Immutablelawyer
Axis Advisory

1 Like

Hello! Thanks for the proposal.

To be honest, I’m struggling a bit to fully understand the proposed milestones and the final objective of this proposal.

Is the goal to launch a reporting and oversight system from day one?

Is it to conduct research on the best way to implement that reporting system and fund said research? Or is it both?

I see value and support the idea of having a party responsible for the tasks described in the “Reporting Activities” section:

The only thing is that I wouldn’t replace the foundation’s call. It’s valuable to have them involved, and besides, why should the DAO take on a cost that they have already decided to cover?

Also, if marketing efforts are to be undertaken, it would be good to coordinate with the foundation’s Twitter accounts to avoid further fragmenting communication channels.

What’s also unclear to me is the need for working groups. Couldn’t these tasks be handled by the PM instead?

Lastly, even though you describe the tasks as having a complex definition, a budget is necessary to fully evaluate the proposal.

Thank you very much!

1 Like

Thanks for the proposal and the work already done in the GRC initiative. My understanding is that the primary goal is to have a standardized way to report/track the proposals’ lifecycle.

However, I’m missing a few definitions/clarifications (I’m not sure if this was left open as will be part of the research itself):

  • When you talk about “initiative performance”, what is this? Are we talking about financial reporting, project execution, technical
  • Is part of the PM “job description” to be the “reporting watchdog”?
  • In projects that have a council to handle the same things (reporting, verify performance, etc), how exactly will be the relationship? Example: Will the ADPC members have to report the updates also in this new framework?

Thanks in advance!

The proposal’s goal is commendable, as it aims to provide clearer project management and streamline information flows. This proposal must have taken a significant amount of your time—thank you for your dedication.

In the proposal, manual reporting workflows seem to be the primary focus in the initial phase. However, manual processes could result in high management costs and efficiency challenges. Is there a clear plan to transition these manual workflows into automated tools as soon as possible? Has a preliminary feasibility study been conducted on potential software solutions?

The proposal mentions the inclusion of three stakeholder representatives, but is this number sufficient? Should more community members or smaller delegate representatives be included to ensure a broader range of perspectives?

While it’s true that many initiatives within the DAO have their own reporting mechanisms, they do not seem to be standardized. This makes it harder to keep all our projects aligned with the DAO’s overall mission. If we had a unified system, it’d be easier to spot duplicate efforts and focus on new initiatives that offer a better return on investment. It would also improve accountability, as contributors would be measured against the same set of clear, predefined metrics.

A system like this could help identify overlapping efforts or create opportunities for collaboration. It would also make it easier for delegates and decision-makers to guide resource allocation and strategic planning.

To include some suggestions to the proposal I would say its important to involve the community for feedback at key stages as this would make sure the system works for everyone. Automating parts of the tracking process could save time and make things smoother. Its also important to have a clear scope of what the reporting function will actually cover.

I would also add that it could be practical to start with a few key variables or metrics to monitor. This will allow to test and refine the system on a smaller scale before expanding it to cover more aspects of the DAO’s operations/initiatives.

I think a standardized system like this is the next natural step in the DAO’s evolution. It’ll bring more transparency and order. If this initiative works as expected it should be seamlessly adopted by the OpCo.

Of course its important to take into account budget considerations for this proposal.

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Something this proposal omits is audit capacity. A good practice is to add things like ‘gemba’ (random walks) to gather data outside of reporting, and otherwise have the ability to do periodic and aleatory audits into initiatives. Of course that audit capacity is a new thing in DAOs, but would be great to include here some experiment in that direction.

The other thing is that the ability to have archives here seems quite important. Issues might surface months after and in those occasions having a good data repository is key to asses whether the issue could have been identified early or what data was missing and could be collected moving forward.

1 Like

@AlexLumley , thanks for the proposal. I appreciate the idea of establishing a standardized reporting process, but I’m still unclear on how it will be implemented practically. If I understand correctly, the objective is to create a reporting framework that, once in place, reduces the need for direct intervention from the working group. However, I’m not certain whether the ultimate goal is to fully automate the process or if there will always be a requirement for ongoing oversight and coordination by someone.

Without a clear budget, it’s challenging to fully evaluate the proposal’s feasibility.

1 Like

Appreciate you Ultra. Ive spent a bunch of time over the last week working with @Lumen of powerhouse defining the work and flows.

I am currently updating the proposal and sharpening the focus.

The core of proposal will be maintaining the current governance work and then starting to map the “information dissemination” which includes asynchronous reporting, internal DAO communications and feeding information to the marketing arm.

I don’t think this will ever be able to be automated, but we can start to define some of the processes.

Also, you can see the current work we have done here: current GRC Tracker and DB

And previous GRC calls here: 20th GRC (Governance Reporting Call) - Wednesday, October 30th

Also, I invite you to join the 21st GRC next week: 21st GRC Calls: A. Wed, Dec 5th & B. Thurs, Dec 6th

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Your detailed proposal shows some good points to improve the transparency of the DAO. But I have some comments and questions regarding the development and execution that I would like to address.

The “Key Objectives” section states that the system will improve transparency, accountability, and decision-making. However, it does not specify the metrics that will be used to measure the success of these objectives.
It’d be good if you could include some KPIs, like the percentage of initiatives that adopt the system after a certain period of time, the reduction in access times to key information, or satisfaction surveys.

It is mentioned that feedback will be solicited from the community, but it is not clear how their engagement will be ensured. What incentives are planned to encourage active participation of delegates and stakeholders in the system? One possible solution is a communication plan and incentives to motivate collaboration, such as public recognition or tangible benefits.

The system will be transferred to OpCo or the DAO government, but there is no plan in place to keep it operational. How will the system be funded in the long term? There is no plan to maintain the infrastructure. Could consideration be given to creating a dedicated team to maintain the system?

I like the idea itself.

At some point, any organization needs to audit their functions and procedures. This is what the Big Four accounting firms do.
This helps companies run their business more efficiently.

However, I don’t like the following in this proposal:

  1. Bonus. This research and reporting do not increase profits in any way, we can only reduce them. And this is the main task. If we could say in advance that we need to reduce costs by 500,000, and if you reduce more, then here is your bonus. But here we have no clear figures and, accordingly, no bonus can exist here.
  2. Salary based on 192,000. Perhaps I live in some other world where such salaries only exist in movies.
    Personally, I think such a salary is too high.
  3. Retroactive $45,000 - in my opinion, this is also a lot.
    Okay, you worked on the project, as well as on this proposal, but no one is asking for additional payment for writing the proposal or doing preliminary work for the main work. Everything you did before the budget was approved was solely your initiative. Of course, it is necessary to give retroactive drops for some work, but as the vote on LTIPP Retroactive Community Funding Selections showed, 60% voted against such actions.

Since the issue is only about funding, I would suggest @AlexLumley to make the second option with a reduced salary.
The main idea behind this proposal was to reduce costs, but such salaries will not help in this at all.

1 Like

I think it’s always a good idea to have someone taking notes on the most relevant points discussed in our bi-weekly calls. We shouldn’t let that information slip away, and organizing it would make our workflow and data capture more efficient. As you mentioned @AlexLumley , it would create a vast database of information for the marketing team. I’m looking forward to seeing these final adjustments to the processes and workflows. I’ll cast my vote in favor on Snapshot and hope to join the December call to learn more about how this proposal will be implemented.

1 Like

The following reflects the views of the Lampros DAO (formerly ‘Lampros Labs DAO’) governance team, composed of Chain_L (@Blueweb), @Euphoria, and Hirangi Pandya (@Nyx), based on our combined research, analysis, and ideation.

Thank you for putting forward this detailed proposal.

The emphasis on creating a transparent and standardized reporting function is a vital step forward. This will not only empower delegates but also build trust among stakeholders and community members, which is a critical element for any DAO’s long-term success.

We believe this initiative is important and will benefit the DAO, but we feel the budget is a bit high. Along with the salary, the proposal also includes a performance bonus, which adds to the total cost.

The proposal mentions that the performance bonus will be paid quarterly, but it doesn’t explain how the bonus will be decided. Are there specific goals or metrics that need to be met for the bonus to be paid? Having this clarity would help ensure the bonuses are tied to the results.

We also agree with @cp0x’s point about appreciating the work done before this proposal, like hosting calls, maintaining documents and trackers, and drafting the proposal itself. However, the retroactive funding for past work also adds to the overall budget, which makes it feel even higher.

Overall, we support the idea of having a group like this to improve reporting and governance for the DAO. However, our main concern is the total budget involved right now.

1 Like

I want to support this proposal, but I also have some doubts.

This doubts are not on the function. I think we need an overall reporting authority with experience in the dao.
Is also not on the person. I think Alex has stick around in our ecosystem for a while, showing he is willing to work and contribute here, both in virtual and in irl meetings.

I think there is value in the mission. And I think Alex is well positioned for this task due to his experience in the DAO.

As every initiative, in the end the evaluation comes down to the following paramters:

  1. mission: does it have value? I already provided the answer above
  2. cost: is the cost fair?
  3. kpi/evaluation: is it easy for the dao to evaluate this initiative, during and post?

While I briefly answered to 1, 2 and 3 are still up for discussion.
What follows comes down to the fact that, is quoted, we will have around 1.03 FTE in 1 year (please clarify if that is not the case, understanding that there is a 45k discretionary budget to potentially hire other members).

As far as I understood (and claude helped me spoiler) we are talking, for the 1.03 FTE, of

  • $150k as base for 1y
  • $125k as bonus (will consider your prices for arb and convert them knowing it will be likely adjusted)

Basically, a $12.5k monthly salary, with a $10k bonus.

This, for reporting and oversight work, is the high side of the barrel I will be honest. I would expect a level of scrutiny that is almost at a military grade level, to be blunt. I would expect you to physically chase people who don’t answer you in telegram to get the info you need, and this is no hyperbole, cause sometimes is just so hard to get info from people in chat.
The main doubts from a quantitative standpoint comes from basically plugging the whole initiative, and the persona, at an OpCo level, when OpCo is still in discussion. I easily see this initiative, if it moves forward, being incorporated by opco, and likely at the same initial price. But, if we had the opco live now, would it be done in these financial terms? Not sure.

I will vote in favor of this initiative to signal support, for 1) the initiative 2) the persona running it. I can’t in all honesty agree with the financials, which imho should be revised down.
It’s a bit hard for me to suggest numbers: you reference the senior opco level, but in an org like the opco (in any org, tbh), the scope of work would probably naturally expand based on the needs and would be leveraged in a team to bring additional value as the needs come over time. On what is a 12.5+10 potential monthly salary, I could see for example a reduction to 10+5.
There is also the problem of the quarterly evaluation and release of bonus which as other mentioned doesn’t seem to be addressed, and needs a clarification.

On top of everything, we have a 45k retroactive for the 5 months of GCR working which is 9k/m and you mentioned a discounted rate of 0.75%. I appreciated your hard work, but the 75% rate on the proposal seems high: again is hard to suggest numbers here, if i had to take an educated guess, would maybe put 50% of base which in my suggestion above is 10k, so overall 25k. No hard opinions here, except that charging 75% on the base seems too high.

I want to finalize all of this by iterating that I want to support Alex. I want to see him being more involved in our DAO, work here full time, be happy about what he does, and provide value to us. I sincerely see him as a good contributor to the ecosystem, so I want to see this initiative moving forward. I don’t currently see the numbers proposed matching the expectations of the DAO tho, just that, and I think this can be fixed, which would make me extremely happy.

On this, I am voting in favor, expecting a broader discussion and adjustment on tally on numbers and on way to evaluate the bonus.

4 Likes

The execution team, Powerhouse and Lumen, bring extensive experience in DAO governance and operations, particularly through their successful contributions to the MakerDAO and LTIPP projects, providing a strong foundation for the implementation of this proposal. Over the past 18 months, the DAO has allocated 425 million ARB, yet it lacks systematic tracking and transparency, with no direct and clear data monitoring governance efficiency and fund usage.

This proposal aims to establish a unified reporting mechanism to address the current issues of information opacity and fragmented workflows.

However, while the proposal emphasizes reporting and transparency, what tangible benefits will this bring to the DAO? For example, can these improvements directly enhance governance efficiency or enable better resource allocation? Are there measurable targets, such as increasing transparency by a specific percentage or reducing manual operations?

The proposed budget of nearly $260,000 is substantial. Although it is broken into multiple phases, the expenditures appear overly scattered. For instance, is the $45,000 allocated for backpay justified by the actual workload? Additionally, the “buffer estimate” of over $20,000 seems vague. Could the cost breakdown be more transparent, clearly distinguishing essential expenses from areas that could be optimized?

Given the unpredictable outcomes of the proposal and the apparent lack of focus on addressing core issues, I cast a vote against this proposal.

1 Like

Hi @AlexLumley ,
Measuring initiatives is critical for the DAO’s success, and we’re excited to see how this will be executed, especially when it comes to tackling challenges like evaluating off-chain data. We recognize the value of this initiative and will vote in favor of it.

That said, we do have some concerns about the proposed costs and would appreciate exploring potential adjustments as the work progresses.