Applicant Information
- Name of Applicant & Applicant’s Representative (If applicable): SEEDGov
- Telegram Handle (if applicable): POC @MinistroDolar / @Fehz93
- Twitter/X Handle (if applicable): x.com
- LinkedIn Profile (if applicable): SEED Gov | LinkedIn
- The role being applied for: Education, Community Growth and Events
Background & Skills
SEEDGov is a dynamic and evolving vertical within the SEED Org Ecosystem, focused on shaping the future of decentralized governance in Web3 through active participation, community engagement and experimentation. Our approach emphasizes for minimizing governance where appropriate and professionalizing it where necessary.
As an active delegate platform, SEEDGov engages in governance across multiple projects. With roots in community values, we’ve evolved from education-based initiatives to a participatory approach that drives collaboration, coordination, and decision-making in the ever-changing Web3 landscape.
Our work embrace various protocols, from AMMs to Layer 2, where we design and implement governance infrastructures, manage grants and allocation programs, oversee incentives and onboard the right builders to meet each protocol needs. SEED’s diverse and multidisciplinary team brings the right flexibility and adaptability to strengthen the resilience of Arbitrum.
Learn more about our work in other protocols: Here
Our Background
We actively contribute with delegations to various DAOs in the ecosystem:
We have been part of several initiatives in the Arbitrum DAO:
- Domain Allocator: Reviewers for the Questbook Grants Program, evaluating how to allocate funds to projects related to Education, Community Growth, and Events.
- Delegate Incentives Program Manager: Fostering community and delegate engagement through a monetary incentives structure, evaluating applicants’ engagement and contributions using both qualitative and quantitative criteria.
- LTIPP and STIP Programs: Served as Advisors for evaluating applications and deciding which protocols receive ARB to use as incentives for their users.
- Stylus Sprint Evaluation Committee Member: Supporting Arbitrum network growth and accelerating capital distribution to both EVM and non-EVM protocols that migrate to Stylus to drive network and ecosystem growth further.
- ARB Staking Working Group Leaders: We led the Working Group responsible for defining what makes a delegate an ‘active Governance participant’. We coordinated more than 30 people for more than seven weeks, organizing the working group calls, conducting the documentation, and holding meetings with important stakeholders and community members.
Also we’ve been involved in initiatives (some related to grants) from various DAOs. You can find more information here.
Lastly, we have extensive experience in Community Growth and Education initiatives, ranging from IRL events (such as the Governance Day at Devcon) to live sessions on YouTube, where we provide education on various verticals (DeFi, governance, infrastructure, etc.).
Domain-Related Experience and Vision
Vision
We are particularly eager to see projects built on Arbitrum that drive widespread adoption of Layer 2 technologies in the educational sector, providing a smoother and more accessible user experience for all participants. Our vision includes decentralized educational apps that bring innovative solutions for the certification and validation of academic achievements, simplifying the accreditation and acknowledgment of skills acquired within the Layer 2 ecosystem.
Additionally, we want to continue supporting teams already building on Arbitrum and delivering excellent results. For instance, standout projects from the previous season, such as DAO TOKYO, Dapps Over Apps, and Support Arbitrum LATAM for the Next 4 Months, exemplify the alignment and success we aim to foster. By continuing to encourage these teams, we ensure their sustained contribution to the growth and alignment of the Arbitrum ecosystem.
Furthermore, we are excited about Arbitrum’s platforms and protocols, which champion peer-to-peer collaboration and learning and promote the establishment of robust and enriching educational communities.
It’s important to note that with the DAO now having a defined mission and vision, all proposals must align with these guiding principles. Therefore, a compelling grant proposal for us would address the following aspects, listed in order of priority:
Organizing Hackathons: We are keen on grant proposals that focus on organizing Web3 hackathon events centered around the Arbitrum ecosystems. We believe it’s vital for developers and project builders to take their initial steps in Arbitrum, so we need to expand use cases and outreach to the developer community.
Institutional Community Growth Initiatives: We’re looking for proposals that aim to expand and strengthen the Arbitrum community through endeavors like targeted outreach programs at universities and educational institutions. We believe this is crucial to bringing Arbitrum closer to the academic realm.
Educational Content and Workshops: We are interested in backing proposals that create comprehensive and accessible educational resources on Arbitrum. Especially timeless content for devs, such as tutorials on Arbitrum development and explanatory videos on the workings of Arbitrum One, Nova, Orbit Chains, BOLD, and Stylus. This material should be public and free. We are keen on multi-language content. Note: Regarding educational aspects, we won’t support sensationalist content, topics about airdrops, ARB token prices, or news. We aim for enduring and constructive educational content.
Domain Related Experience
As Domain Allocators for this same vertical during Seasons 1 and 2, our overall experience within the program has been highly positive. Initially, we contributed to creating the framework, and over time, we have gathered insights that allowed us to learn and iterate on process design.
During this process design, we identified several key points that we’d like to share:
Discord Channels Creation
In order to increase transparency and streamline interactions with proposers, and improve response times, we introduced the idea of creating public Discord channels exclusively for this purpose. This initiative, which started in SEEDGov’s domain in Season 1, became a standard for the rest of the domains in Season 2 and later for the Stylus Sprint. You can find the links to these public channels here.
Discord Calls
Throughout the evaluation process, we held recurring 1:1 calls with proposers to review and clarify certain aspects of their proposals. Typically, we asked a series of questions to validate the proposal’s content and verify the authenticity of the members behind it.
While these calls often helped expedite the evaluation process, we also encountered several scammers attempting to impersonate others. We detected irregularities in nine proposals.
As we encountered more verification issues, we became more diligent in validating proposers and the information they provided. This included conducting background research on each member’s profile and, in many cases, requesting that they turn on their cameras during meetings to confirm their identities.
Initial template and Important Documents.
In the first iteration, we developed a well-structured template for a thorough evaluation of all proposals. We placed significant emphasis on organization, KPIs, budget breakdown, and especially impact.
Additionally, we created a Notion document outlining the process, vision, and criteria for project approval, as well as the rubric to be used.
All these documents from V1 can be found here.
Monthly Reporting
S1: During our operations in the Season 1, we produced a total of four reports with updates on the progress of funded initiatives.
S2: During the Season 2, we have produced six reports so far, providing updates on the progress of funded initiatives.
Proposal’s Tracking Framework
To keep track of all our operations, we created a comprehensive Excel-based tracking framework to easily visualize the status of each proposal over time. This sheet also includes links to all payments associated with the projects and final reports for each initiative.
Note: All these documents are publicly accessible. The Tracking Framework is available here.
Multiregional Exposure.
One of our main focuses in this domain was regional diversity. To achieve this, we conducted internal marketing efforts to increase the domain’s exposure to new regions.
Link: x.com
Link: https://twitter.com/SEEDGov/status/1719047916822626480/photo/2
See also:
Link: x.com
Link: x.com
Link: https://twitter.com/SEEDGov/status/1716899431713292483
Link: https://twitter.com/SEEDGov/status/1714511875449250223
Aligned with this approach, we prioritized regional diversity when approving initiatives, as shown in the Season 2 map:
This map approximates the regions and countries to which the approved projects belong, demonstrating the regional diversity on which the domain is focused. Most of the projects are international in scope, but we have indicated the country of the team behind the proposal to make them more easily identifiable on the map.
Grant related Experience
Given our experience in previous seasons and our prior work on grant-related initiatives (LTIPP, STIP, Stylus Sprint, etc) we believe a solid proposal should be well-written, have clearly defined goals (KPIs), include all necessary links to validate information, and provide a detailed breakdown of costs. From our perspective, a well-structured proposal not only demonstrates the proponent team’s commitment and seriousness but also facilitates the evaluation and tracking process.
A detailed proposal allows us to clearly identify the objectives and milestones to be achieved, as well as the resources required to accomplish them. Additionally, by including a cost breakdown, transparency is enhanced. This level of detail helps evaluators better understand the proposal and increases the likelihood of approval, as it reflects meticulous planning and an organized approach.
Deal Breakers
Conversely, our deal breakers include proposals that fall outside the scope of the domain or create potential overlap with other initiatives funded by the DAO or the same Domain (to avoid double spending). Other issues include a lack of adequate details and responses from the proponent, inflated costs, or false information provided.
Key Factors for Approval or Rejection
For Approval:
- Adherence to the template.
- Proponent team’s experience/skills.
- Detailed expense description (budget breakdown).
- Costs aligned with international standards.
- Alignment with our vision and criteria.
- Well-organized and thorough responses to questions.
- A clear structure for the final report.
For Rejection:
- Disorganized or poorly structured proposal (no adherence or partial adherence to the template).
- Unjustified costs (no rationale).
- Proposal outside the category (out of scope).
- Lack of authenticity in the proponent team.
- Potential overlap with other initiatives funded by the DAO or the same Domain.
- False or misleading information, lack of external references.
- Slow response times.
- Absence of KPIs or unrealistic expectations.
- Unprofessional or uncivil language.
Domain Allocator Pitch Deck
You can also check our Domain Allocator presentation here
Declaration of Conflict of Interest
As mentioned in our background, SEEDGov actively participates in various initiatives across multiple DAOs. If a conflict of interest arises with any initiative applying to the Domain, we will publicly disclose it.