LTI Pilot Program Position Application Thread

Archive Long Term Incentives Pilot Program (LTIPP)
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After we receive substantial interest for both Council and Application Advisor positions we will have those interested apply in this thread using the following template.

We will run 2 separate election snapshot votes at the same time as the proposal snapshot to allow the Arbitrum community to select who the Council and Application Advisors

Anyone interested in these positions should reply to this thread using the following template to signal their interest.

The 5 Council and 3 Application Advisor candidates with the most votes will be elected to fill these positions.

Please apply by January 12th, 2024 at 11:59 PM EST

You can find out more about the roles in the full proposal here.

Background

Name:
Position I am applying for:
TG:
Twitter:
Affiliations (Currently I am working with, invested in, etc.):

Why You

Why would You be the best candidate for this position?

What do you think a good incentive application looks like?

What are your goals for this program?

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Background

Name: GFX Labs
Position I am applying for: Council
TG: @PaperImperium2
Twitter: @labsGFX
Affiliations (Currently I am working with, invested in, etc.): GFX Labs has existing or past relationships with Uniswap, 0x, Optimism, Wormhole, Compound, MakerDAO, and Hop.

Why You

Why would You be the best candidate for this position?

GFX Labs has experience working on and building high-quality grants programs. We have held a seat on the Optimism Grants Council since its inception, which has reviewed 455 grants and awarded grants of more than 11,000,000 OP during our tenure. GFX also has experience working on some smaller and less well-known grants programs.

We believe strongly that grants application processes are a collaborative effort where reviewers must provide specific, actionable feedback to applicants, and help them craft the strongest proposals possible. At the same time, maintaining high standards and raising them over time as grant applications become more competitive is crucial to safeguard governance funds.

We have seen where grants programs fail and succeed, and have had the (mis)fortune to deal with a range of issues such as grantees that cease operations, fraud, disputes over funding disbursements, and more.

What do you think a good incentive application looks like?

The strongest grant plans would have a clear goal to increase the number or intensity of interactions between Arbitrum chains and builders, users, or assets. Grant plans should have clear goals that are based upon output, not input (e.g. bridge X number of assets to Arbitrum vs spend Y amount on incentives to bridge assets to Arbitrum).

What are your goals for this program?

A grant has a lifecycle, and needs to be managed throughout that cycle. Most programs focus on the award, but for Arbitrum to have a program that is both accountable and best in class, it needs to take a view of the entire grant plan lifecycle:

Applicant drafts grant plan →
Grant plan passes intake filter →
Applicant receives initial feedback from reviewers →
Applicant incorporates feedback where appropriate →
Grant plan passes final review →
Initial grant funds disbursed →
Grantee reports milestones →
Remaining funds disbursed →
Grantee makes final report →
Council evaluates the grant’s success, failure, and lessons that can be incorporated in future grants as part of the closeout process

Initially, Arbitrum will not need to focus on the middle and latter parts of this cycle because this grants program will be ramping up. But very quickly there needs to be either support staff or an expectation that Council members monitor grant plans all the way to the final closeout process.

There will also need to be a standardized set of forms and procedures built up to ensure fair, transparent, timely, and unbiased processing of applications. One of the most important – and difficult at outset – pieces of a grants program that needs to be put in place is communicating the rules and scheduling to applicants. And then sticking to it. Iterations should be saved for subsequent rounds and not in the middle of an active grants cycle.

An important feature of a grants program like Arbitrum intends to create with this proposal is assistance to grant applicants. Casting a wide net for potential grants means most applicants will have never created a grant proposal before, or have only done so in programs that are “write a forum post and get a vote”. Part of the way to enforce high standards is to help applicants learn exactly what information they need to provide, be available to answer questions in public settings like regular office hours, and for reviewers to always offer specific feedback on how to improve a proposal that doesn’t meet their standards. There is nothing more frustrating that applying for a grant, getting rejected, and having no idea why. Applicants need to understand that an initial rejection is not a black mark, and that they will be given feedback that they can use to reapply in the next grants cycle, even if their most recent proposal couldn’t be salvaged.

A grants program should be in the business of awarding funds, minimizing waste and fraud, assisting applicants in navigating the process, having standardized monitoring in place, and – ideally – be boring and drama free.

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Background

Name: JoJo
Position I am applying for: Advisor
TG: @jojothecow
Twitter: https://twitter.com/jojo17568
Affiliations (Currently I am working with, invested in, etc.): Working full time for JonesDAO as risk analyst and strategist, working in the grant committee of Questbook, working in the grant committee of the Uniswap Arbitrum Program. I am also contributing, part time, to Aura Finance.

Why You

Why would You be the best candidate for this position?
As stated, I’m the domain allocator for the Questbook Arbitrum Grant program, for which I manage the “New Protocols and Ideas” domain. Here, I have already evaluated on my own more than 40 applications in the last 3 months. At the same time, I am in the broader committee of the Uniswap Arbitrum grant program, selecting the projects to move forward to enhance the value in both the Arbitrum and Uniswap ecosystem.
This, alongside the participation through the Jones DAO STIP request in september in which I contributed on both crafting the proposal and talking with delegates, has given me a decent amount of experience in the grant program.
The experience has not only translated in approving up to now grants for more than 10 protocols, but also helping protocols, that had both a good team and good fundamentals but a not-so-good idea for the grant, to rewrite their proposal, or even, to apply to different programs that were more suited compared to the ones I am running, like applying directly to the Arbitrum Foundation.

But, I am already participating in 2 programs: can’t realistically be in the committee of a third one due to too much power concentration. So it makes way more sense to participate as advisor, to help evaluating proposals, and to be the communication bridge between all stakeholders (grant committee, protocols and delegates), to offer my evaluation, all of it without having any decision power.

Finally, as I did in other elections, I will always keep advocating for having, in governance positions, more people that are directly involved in protocols: these are people that have a different point of view compared to governance-only entities, that have a constant eye to the markets in terms of what users want, and also have a more interactions with the user base in general.
While there is a merit in having both governance people and protocol contributors, I still think the latter category is really under represented in the Arbitrum Dao, and this to me is something worth addressing.

What do you think a good incentive application looks like?
A good application is one that takes in account:

  • the current PMF of the product to which the grant will contribute
  • the impact of a certain amount of capital plugged on top of the product
  • the metric of the current product, with no grant on top, in relation to the grant requested. Equivalent of being able to ask a proper amount, that is neither too much (AKA moon request) or too low (detrimental because might not have any meaningful impact)
  • the ability for the team to leverage any meaningful increase of KPI (tvl, users, others) to further boost the product at the end of the grant OR the ability for the team to pivot the product itself once it reach the critical mass. Basically: a way for the team to keep the momentum of the grant, after the end of the grant itself, and so to have a follow up.

What are your goals for this program?
The LTIP is an interesting program. Starts from the experience of the STIP, plugs in a few key changes to address some issues (re: scalability → committee + advisor program), and has the goal to be an “improved” version with the stip that, through a potential few iteration in future, might lay down the base of the framework to have an always open program.
This intrigues me, because in the end, while we can all keep lifting, month over month, quarter over quarter, with new program, it makes just a lot of sense to consolidate the experience over time and to find a way to extend and generalize this experience to reduce the friction in building new rules, new frameworks, tackle conflicts and so on.
Personally, my goals for a program like this are not only to give an educated opinion on the applicants and their proposals (and, eventually, help them if needed), but also be able to abstract all the experience that we already have and that we will also accrue to have a direction for a more general, broad, open program that the community can tap into in future.

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Long-Term Incentive Pilot Program [Application]

Name: Joseph [Immutablelawyer] [Axis Advisory: https://www.axisadvisory.xyz/]

Position I am applying for: Council Member

Telegram Handle: @immutablelawyer

Twitter: @immutablelawyer

Affiliations (Currently I am working with, invested in, etc.):

  • I am the founder of Axis Advisory, a law firm established in the European Union offering legal, regulatory & DAO Advisory services to service providers & projects of a centralised & decentralised nature in the digital asset industry.

  • Currently, I am not invested into any project within the Arbitrum Ecosystem & the wider Ethereum Ecosystem (directly or indirectly, either via token-holding, SAFT, equity etc.).

  • Axis Advisory is part of the TraderJoe Governance Council.

Why You?

Why would You be the best candidate for this position?

By way of a brief overview, I have a background in legal, regulatory & DAO Advisory with a main focus on structuring protocols & corresponding DAOs to cater for their progressive decentralisation.

My journey into on-chain governance mainly started with dYdX, wherein I was a contributor (and still am) & provide insight in relation to the progressive decentralisation of the dYdX Ecosystem (specifically, several infrastructure pieces & the legal mechanisms that interplay with its on-chain governance).

In June of 2023, I voted in by the dYdX DAO as the Enforcer of the dYdX Operations Trust; the legal structure that set up & paved the way for the pivotal pieces of infrastructure needed for the launch of the dYdX Chain. As an Enforcer, my task is to oversee the expenditure of funds & make sure that these are in line with the Trust Instrument as ratified by the dYdX DAO through on-chain governance [https://www.dydxopsdao.com/]. The launch of the dYdX Chain has been a resounding success with over 5Billion in trading volume since its inception.

More specifically to the ArbitrumDAO, my initial contributions emanated from my role within the TraderJoe Governance Council [a body set up within the TraderJoe community to facilitate & administer the voting power endowed within TraderJoe.xyz as a delegate]. Most prominently, as part of the TraderJoe Governance Council (together with my fellow Council colleagues), I contributed to the Council’s efforts in participating in the STIP Project Assessment by reviewing, assessing & voting on the various proposals submitted. In this regard, I also authored a post on this model for delegates (The Delegate's Handbook: A Primer on the Council Model).

Within the ArbitrumDAO, I have also participated & spearheaded various endeavours aimed at optimising and/or establishing pivotal infrastructure pieces to ensure long-term scaling & sustainability for existing projects & projects intending to build on Arbitrum. A TL;DR of my contributions hereunder:

  • https://snapshot.org/#/arbitrumfoundation.eth/proposal/0x3404df8a6e105dcf8b60cb22f22928aeedd3ffa5d80dc36e4f8fd74d0f5f14cb
    [Passed] This proposal aimed at establishing a procurement framework for security-oriented services within the ArbitrumDAO. In the drafting of this proposal, a public consultation period was initiated to solicit stakeholder feedback so as to optimally structure this framework.

  • Snapshot [Passed] This proposal aims at establishing a collective of individuals and service providers to provide pivotal proposal-stage reporting to aid and enhance delegate decision-making. All members to be appointed by election with applicable caps.

  • Snapshot [Pending]This proposal aims at establishing the ArbitrumDAO Procurement Committee to not only facilitate and administer the ratified procurement framework for security services, but also create new frameworks, propose a subsidy fund for services, & create a means test to assess projects’ eligibility for subsidisation.

What do you think a good incentive application looks like?

  • Project Viability and Innovation: Assess whether the project offers innovative solutions or ideas that can benefit the Arbitrum Ecosystem. Projects that bring new and valuable concepts to the ecosystem that have found product market fit or have shown a trajectory to finding product market fit should ideally be incentivised so as to spearhead and further innovation within the ecosystem. This can be assessed in a myriad of ways such as revenue generated, sequencer fees generated, TVL, Volume etc. (these cannot be assessed in a vacuum but in light of other factors such as Tokenomics structure & revenue model).

  • Team Competency: Examine the team’s expertise, experience, and track record. A capable and experienced team is more likely to execute their plans effectively and navigate challenges in a more optimal manner.

  • Tech-Stack Security: Ensure that the project’s codebase has been audited by reputable service providers & that updates to such codebase have also undergone code audits so as to ensure safeguarding of distributed incentives & users utilising the respective protocol based on such incentives.

  • Tokenomics and Sustainability: Review the project’s tokenomics, including how incentives will be used and distributed. Ensure that the incentives are structured in a way that promotes long-term sustainability. In tandem with the aforementioned points, assess tokenomics in light of the protocol’s revenue model and how this ensures longer term sustainability from an incentive disbursement perspective.

  • Milestones & Track Record: Assess the project’s roadmap and milestones. Look for clear and achievable goals that indicate progress and development. Correspondingly, also assess the project’s milestones that are included in the Incentive Program application. If the project was a previous recipient of incentives, assess whether the project met the milestones as stipulated in that proposal.

  • Partnerships and Collaborations: Evaluate any existing partnerships or collaborations that demonstrate the project’s ability to work with other developers and/or projects within the ecosystem.

What are your goals for this program?

  1. My first goal for the program is to gather intra-program and post-program quantitative data on the effects of a longer-term program for projects building on an Ecosystem. This is something that was discussed by myself, Jared Grey, Alex & others during a Twitter Space hosted by UMA a couple of months ago. Thus Far, all ecosystems have experimented with short-term incentive periods, but we are yet to see the longer-term effects of such programs when prolonged for an added period of time. Hence, to sum up, my first goal is the gathering of quantitative data for a Longer Term incentive program.

  2. My second goal for the program is to assess whether a longer-term program attracts more sustainable TVL & Volume to the Ecosystem. Short-term program incentivise mercenary capital and lead to short-term volume-influxes that faze out over time post-program completion. Longer-term programs (theoretically), should ensure stickier capital due to the disbursement of incentives over a longer period of time.

  3. My third goal is the assessment of whether longer-term programs that support projects building on Arbitrum actually attract new projects to the Ecosystem with such attraction being the result of various programs that incentivise and aid in user growth (which corresponds to increases in volume, TVL, sequencer revenue etc.).

  4. My fourth and final goal for this program is to aid in ensuring ongoing quality assurance to make sure that programs are abiding by their cited milestones as stipulated in their respective applications. Hence, the goal is to make sure that as much as possible, projects are acting responsibly (aided and overseen by the Council), in relation to their allocated disbursement.

Conclusion

We look forward to the election process and remain at voters’ disposal should their be any questions in relation to our application!

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Background

Name: Bob-Rossi
Position I am applying for: Council
TG: @BobRossiETH
Twitter: @BobRossiETH
Affiliations (Currently I am working with, invested in, etc.): I am an Arbitrum and HOP Protocol delegate, but otherwise not affiliated with any project. I will abstain from any decisions on projects that would cause a conflict of interest.

Why You

Why would You be the best candidate for this position? This would be my first role within a grants committee. However, I have been participating in and following the crypto space since late 2015. I have been a user, avid reader, and investor of Ethereum since 2016; and used that experience to contribute to educational projects as opportunities have come up (ETH Merge Write-Ups & Decentralization Education Projects, to name a few). This past year I have been an active delegate with HOP since March of 2023 and ARB since March of 2023 (the start of the DAO). Through all this I’ve learned what it takes to make projects work within a decentralized, internet-based team. What I may lack in technical developer knowledge or specific grant work experience, I make up for with my broad blockchain knowledge and general experiences over that time. I have seen a fair share of successful - as well as unsuccessful - projects and will be use that experience to make the best decisions possible for this grant program.

If elected, this would be my first time working with a grant council, and I recognize that may be a concern to some. I understand the importance and scope of this task, and pledge to treat the role with the dedication it rightfully deserves. It is not lost on me that Arbitrum is the largest L2 network built on top of the largest smart-contract blockchain. Ethereum and it’s community are a passion of mine. I understand that these type of grant programs are important to growing not just the Arbitrum ecosystem, but the broader blockchain technology on the whole. I promise to take my role very seriously and will always be cognizant of the above when making any council decisions.

When making the decision to elect a council, it’s easy to focus on outside grant experience and I do not deny there is value in that. However, being a newcomer is a positive on it’s own merits. A newcomer will provide an open-minded and fresh take on what a grant program can be, unhindered by pre-conceived notions. A council made up entirely of members that have the same background will make unvaried decisions, risking applicants being forced into a uniform or uninspired methodology to secure funding. Arbitrum’s grant programs is in an early and fluid stage of growth, it’s important to foster innovation and avoid constricting any uniqueness. As a Arbitrum delegate since the DAO’s inception, I bring to the council a firm grasp of what the community and delegates want out of grant applicants. I will leverage my understanding to ensure applicants brought to Snapshot for final approval aren’t getting voted down, souring the experience for all parties involved.

What do you think a good incentive application looks like? For a grant program like this to be successful, it should look to form long-term, symbiotic relationships between Arbitrum and the applicants. The most impactful applicants will be ones that can stand the test of time by being successful once any grant funds are used up. A good incentive application should show forward-thinking and present ways to use the funds that sets up long-term success. Whether that is being an incubator for an up-and-coming project or giving an extra push to an established project so it can reach the next level. If applicants like this are funded, Arbitrum will benefit by bringing in users and projects in a way that doesn’t rely on simply spending funds to generate a short-lived interest. We should strive to position Arbitrum as a destination for developers. If achieved, the network effects should start to do some of the heavy lifting on it’s own long-term. Arbitrum will benefit by fostering a growing community of users and projects long term in exchange for giving applicants that extra push to grow themselves.

Focusing down from that grand vision, applicants will always look good if they can:

  • Show a clear and convincing argument to get grant support.
  • Describe a well thought out vision for long-term success (1 year+)
  • Provide metrics and KPIs to monitor and target, with a willingness to give updates at each step of the process
  • Give examples of previous success and team competency, although with caveat that this would not be 100% necessary as I do think part of the program should be giving the chance for newer projects to succeed
  • Agree to provide some type of ‘post-mortem’ report of the grant they received
  • … and really anything that shows that serious thought (and passion!) has been put into their project’s application.

What are your goals for this program? The overarching goal of a program like this should be to attract projects to Arbitrum that are focused on sustainable, long-term growth of the Arbitrum network. The STIP grants were impactful in their own ways, but we should be more interested in seeing ways we can benefit the space beyond momentary incentivization. The treasury can only sustain that type of model for so long, and somewhat ironically the most successful grant program might be one that strives to build an ecosystem that is so robust it isn’t needed any longer!

In that same vein, this project to explore what are the types of things that can help Arbitrum thrive in a down market. (In terms of the broad ebb and flow of consumer interest, not specifically price…) In terms of sustainability, we should focus on success in different types of retail environments. Many in this space will tell you that some of the best advancements in blockchain tech happen during down periods where builders are focusing on their projects, so how can we leverage a grant program that fosters growth regardless of market conditions?

I was glad to see one of the goals of this grant round was avoiding the narrow scope of the STIP round and to foster a space for innovative projects. Anything that can shake things up should be encouraged to grow. We should be excited to envision what it would look like if we could find the next DeFi / NFT level of craze and it is borne within the Arbitrum ecosystem!

And as a final note with a more Arbitrum DAO focused goal, this needs to continue to be an opportunity to narrow down what a successful Arbitrum grant ecosystem looks like. In the same way many things were learned from the STIP process, there will be many things to take away from this program. We should be aware of that as we work through everything, so that we have a ton of info and details to review post-program.

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Background

Name: Curia

Position I am applying for: Council

Twitter: Curia_gov

TG: @v3dao

Affiliations (Currently I am working with, invested in, etc.): Curia has existing or past relationships with ArbitrumDAO, Optimism, SafeDAO, 1InchDAO, and dYdXDAO.

Why You?

Why would you be the best candidate for this position?

Our team at Curia brings a unique blend of expertise and dedication, making us ideal candidates for this council position. As seasoned professionals, comprising researchers, data analysts, blockchain engineers, and developers based in Southeast Asia, we are deeply committed to fortifying the DAO ecosystem. Our approach is centered on providing robust tooling, insightful analytics, and active delegate participation, ensuring transparency and efficiency in governance processes.

  • Our experience is extensive, having reviewed over 190+ proposals across various DAOs. This involvement has honed our analytical and evaluative skills and also endowed us with hands-on understanding of decentralized operations and community-centric initiatives. These experiences are crucial for the incentive pilot program, as they ensure a nuanced and balanced evaluation of applications. Our focus is unwavering on key aspects such as transparency, accountability, and the alignment of project goals with the broader community interests.

  • V3naru_curia, our governance lead, held a seat on Milestones and Metrics Grant Council member for Optimism. This role, focused on assessing milestones and metrics for grants, is testament to our capacity for critical analysis and strategic evaluation.

  • Our proficiency in data analytics is evidenced by our development of governance dashboards for SafeDAO and Optimism. These dashboards reflects our analytical and technical acumen.

In summary, our diverse skill set, combined with our proven track record in DAO governance and data analysis, positions us uniquely to contribute meaningfully to the council. We are eager to bring our experience, insight, and dedication to the Arbitrum DAO’s Long Term Incentives Pilot Program, ensuring its success and alignment with the community’s aspirations.

What do you think a good incentive application looks like?

A good incentive application is distinguished by its strategic alignment with Arbitrum’s long-term goals and its ability to drive meaningful engagement and sustainable growth within the ecosystem. Here’s how we envision such an application:

Strategic Alignment with Arbitrum’s Goals: The application should support projects that resonate with Arbitrum’s overarching objectives, contributing to its broader vision. This means funding incentives that offer both immediate and long-term value, facilitating the overall development, scalability, and increase in number of users within the Arbitrum ecosystem.

Implementation Readiness: An outstanding application is backed by a robust and realistic action plan. Proposals should present a detailed strategy for deployment, demonstrating readiness for swift and effective implementation upon approval.

Measurable Impact on the Arbitrum Ecosystem: A crucial attribute of a commendable application is the presence of specific, achievable milestones that are aligned with KPI of the incentive program. This approach allows for tracking progress and evaluating success, ensuring transparency and tangible benefits for the Arbitrum community.

Positive-Sum Outcomes for the Arbitrum Ecosystem: The applications should be designed to enhance the overall health and growth of the Arbitrum ecosystem, providing substantial value not just to the protocol receiving the grant but also to the wider Arbitrum ecosystem. The focus should be on building integrations and solutions that offer lasting benefits to all network participants.

Long-Term Contribution to the Arbitrum Ecosystem: Grantees should envision their role beyond the duration of the grant. The relationship with the ArbitrumDAO should be seen as a long-term partnership, with a commitment to ongoing collaboration that contributes to the growth and innovation within the Arbitrum ecosystem over time.

In summary, a good incentive grant for the Arbitrum ecosystem is one that is well-aligned with the network’s strategic goals, demonstrates readiness for effective implementation, and can clearly showcase its positive impact on the ecosystem.

What are your goals for this program?

In this pilot program, our primary goal is to significantly contribute to the refinement of incentive models within the ArbitrumDAO, using insights from past initiatives like STIP V1. Our approach includes the development of a comprehensive evaluation rubric, in collaboration with other council members and advisors, to ensure objective and merit-based assessment of protocols, while aligning with the ecosystem’s broader objectives.

We are committed to a meticulous review and grading process for all applications, striking a balance between stringent evaluation standards and an appreciation of the diverse needs within the ecosystem. This process will be underpinned by a commitment to transparency and accountability, ensuring that our decision-making is clear, rational, and publicly communicated, thereby building trust within the community. We are dedicated to fostering innovation and inclusivity, particularly by offering constructive feedback and guidance to new applicants, thereby nurturing a supportive and dynamic environment.

Furthermore, we plan to help establish standardized processes for the program, prioritizing efficiency and integrity. Our aim is to minimize waste and fraud, adhering to the highest standards of accountability. Overall, our goal encompasses creating a fair and robust evaluation framework, ensuring transparent and responsible decision-making, maintaining diligent oversight, and promoting a vibrant, inclusive ecosystem, all in line with the principles and goals of the Arbitrum DAO.

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Background

Name: The Rollup
Position I am applying for: Council
TG: robbierollup, thatboyandy
Twitter: robbie_rollup, ayyyeandy
Affiliations (Currently I am working with, invested in, etc.): Arbitrum native educational content partnerships with Premia, Mozaic, the Standard, Buffer Finance, Vertex, and Overtime Markets and has participated in previous grants rounds with Arbitrum.

Why You

Why would You be the best candidate for this position?

Before we delineate our reasoning as to why we strongly believe we are the best candidate for this position, a bit of background is needed:

Robbie:

Found Bitcoin in 2016 by playing poker online with BTC. Quickly went down the rabbit hole to learn about applications of blockchain beyond gambling BTC. In 2017, joined the University of Florida Bitcoin Club. President of UF Blockchain Club from 2018 - 2019. Grew the UF Blockchain Club from 5 members to 200+ members at each meeting. Host of the Florida Blockchain Conference(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xpSkMYvTzHg&ab_channel=GatorBlockchainclub) in 2018. Co-Founder of The Rollup (Previously DeFi Slate) in 2020. Graduate of University of Florida in 2021 with BA in Mathematics and Philosophy.

Andy:

5 years of online business experience, self-made entrepreneur. Attended University of FL, dropped out after two years to start online marketing business. Grew Level Up Online Consulting for two years, helped a dozen clients scale their businesses with email marketing, sales letters, paid ads, funnels and info products. Pivoted to full time crypto shortly after taking a break from first business. Before that, Andy pioneered the Bitcoin club along with Robbie, and grew the club to 50+ members in 2017-18. Andy has done intern and volunteer work in the past with some local physical therapy organizations and is a big believer in public goods. Co-Founder of the Rollup. Passion for disruptive technologies, aligned with the ethos of Ethereum. Long time content creator in the space and successful ventures in the past.

1. Credibly Neutral / Knowledgeable / Arbitrum Reputation
The Rollup is an educational hub acting as a public good for crypto. First and foremost, we are huge supporters of Arbitrum. Our ethos is reliable, unbiased, credibly-neutral education in the crypto space. Since early 2020, we’ve hosted the top founders and builders on across several crypto domains on our podcast to continuously learn and educate ourselves on the most impactful Web3 concepts. We have attended Arbitrum Day in Paris, as well as Arbitrum DAO day in Istanbul 2023. We supported the early builders in Arbitrum and gave them a platform to voice what they are building. We have been here since the jump, and we are not going anywhere.

The standards we hold ourselves, and our content, are as follows:

  • High integrity, high performance: Everything we do, we aim to do with the utmost levels of integrity, transparency, and honesty. In doing this, we run a lean machine of a team which is extremely performant and reliable.

  • Community first: All of our content is free and available for all users, no matter the location, knowledge level, or involvement in the space. Our goal is to build knowledge and it shows as we have amassed a significant, loyal audience in the space.

  • “Grow the pie”: At this stage in the market, we believe that collaboration is more important than competition. We also believe the most important job is learning and onboarding. By focusing on this job, with the mindset of collaboration first, we are able to grow the collective pie to everyone’s benefit.

2. STIPv1 Coverage and Insights
The Rollup recently hosted a major STIP marathon, in which we gathered 40+ of the best builders/teams in Arbitrum to provide an educational ‘town hall’ so to speak to reflect, and inspire collaboration on the STIP program. We have done post-production video clips, written content, and facilitated conversation with builders to create more collaborative opportunities.

Consistently, we have made quite a few contributions to the Arbitrum ecosystem, all of which have been easily accessible and completely free. We are power users of the network and consistently turn our onchain interactions into public educational content. Our Arbitrum content spans Spaces, onchain tutorial, demos, concept explainers, builder interviews and general tweets about Arbitrum.

This being said, not only does the Arbitrum DAO receive TWO highly experienced, well connected DeFi power users but also a platform with 4M+ impressions monthly to grow awareness for the LTIP, the process, the results, and the opportunities onchain for our community.

By choosing us, you choose to bring more direct awareness to the Arbitrum community.

3. Existing Delegate Relationships
We have a working relationship with the listed delegates, who can vouch for us:
◦ L2Beat
◦ Sushi
◦ Max - Connext
◦ Premia (DK)
◦ Radiant
◦ Blue
◦ L2 DAO
◦ WOO FI
(and more)

4. Arbitrum DeFi Experience
Robs academic journey in mathematics and philosophy provides the basic training to apply liquidity mechanisms and understand effects of liquidity incentives on protocol KPIs. Our practical experience with tokenomics, flywheel design, and incentive programs began in DeFi Summer 2020.

We saw the mercenary trend of the last liquidity cycle. To avoid such pitfalls, we prioritize meaningful mechanism design and LP strategies based on 2.5 years of hands-on DeFi experience. Written papers and demos with protocol builders have taught us the intricacies of effective liquidity mechanisms. We reflect these learnings in our contributions to DeFi projects; including recommendations on liquidity venues, LP mechanics, emission schedules, OLM / bonding programs, governance-driven models, edge case testing, and protocol integration design. These fit into the scope of our contributions to DeFi projects across multiple ecosystems since we were DeFi Slate.

We have been involved in Arbitrum since late 2021 and have been stewards for the community in many ways. We recently conducted a podcast with Steven Goldfeder, co-founder of Offchain Labs which has helped to shape this proposal and our vision for where the DAO is headed.

What do you think a good incentive application looks like?

An application would need to exemplify exceptional alignment with Arbitrum’s long-term objectives. This means the project would directly support and align with Arbitrum’s goals through innovative and effective solutions. The budgeting details would be carefully outlined, offering comprehensive, transparent, and clear distribution plans with prudent resource management. The project’s potential to attract new users and liquidity, with a clear and compelling proposition that speaks to a diverse user profile, would be necessary to score significant points. Moreover, application should demonstrate a transformative and substantial positive impact on the Arbitrum ecosystem, serving as a catalyst for growth and community.

In terms of collaboration, applications should exemplify cross-protocol partnership, fostering deep and significant synergies within the ecosystem. The Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and success metrics should be exceptionally clear, thorough, and relevant, throughout the application. Lastly, good applications should showcase a strategic focus on outputs, prioritizing tangible results and deliverables, ensuring that resources are oriented towards measurable and impactful outcomes.

We put together a SAMPLE rubric of example categories and criteria to demonstrate our perspective on what we think makes for good incentive applications. In our opinion, projects must achieve a substantial amount of points according to this sample rubric to qualify for incentives.

Category Rekt (0 pts) Ok (1 pt) Bullish (2 pts) Euphoric (3 pts)
Aligns with Arbitrum Long Term Objectives Project application does not identify long term Arbitrum objectives, nor the impact of incentives on such objectives. Minimal alignment shown, with vague relevance to Arbitrum’s goals. Good alignment with a clear understanding of objectives. Identifies Arbitrum’s Long Term objectives, and explains the general impact of LTIPP’s incentives on objectives. The project application directly supports and enhances Arbitrum’s long-term goals with innovative solutions. Application thoroughly explains the impact of incentives on specific objectives, and uses data to support impact of incentives on objectives.
Detailed Description of Incentive Deployment Missing incentive distribution plan Basic general use of funds mentioned, lacking specific details. Detailed breakdown of incentives with thoughtfulness. Description of incentive timeline, target groups, and milestones. Comprehensive, clear distribution schedule and mechanism. Thoughtful resource management and alignment with KPIs. Includes timeline, milestones, target groups, and novel distribution mechanism to maximize impact.
Potential to Onboard New Users to Arbitrum No potential of new Arbitrum users. Limited potential of onboarding new users to Arbitrum. Likely to attract a significant number of users from multiple chains onto Arbitrum. Clear, compelling value proposition to onboard and activate a diverse user base. Novel incentive mechanism to reach unique target groups.
Positive Impact on the Arbitrum Ecosystem Minimal, or negative, impact on the Arbitrum ecosystem. Minimal impact with limited scope or scale. Well-defined plan of positive contributions to the Arbitrum community, liquidity, and userbase. Transformative, substantial positive impact on the ecosystem according to long term strategic goals across multiple ecosystem verticals.
Promotes Collaboration Among Ecosystem Projects No plans to collaborate with Arbitrum projects. Little promotion of collaboration, lacking depth. Surface level intention to collaborate. Active fostering of partnerships and joint efforts to create innovative incentive mechanisms. Exemplary collaboration strategy, creating significant ecosystem synergies. Clearly explains opportunities to integrate incentives with multiple Arbitrum projects.
Has Thorough KPIs and Shows What Success Looks Like No mention of KPIs or success criteria. Basic KPIs defined but not directly measurable. Detailed, relevant KPIs with clear success metrics. Exceptionally clear and thorough KPIs, well-defined and measurable. Well-defined plan of action to impact KPIs with incentive distribution.
Potential to Onboard New Developers and Builders to Arbitrum No evidence to support developer reach. Limited potential to attract new developers/builders. Mentions incentive distribution to builders without specific retention plan. High potential to attract new builders. Exceptional potential with a clear value proposition for developers/builders. Articulates the ability to reach a significant amount of builders with clear plans to retain builders.

What are your goals for this program?

  • A fair and balanced distribution of incentives
  • New users
  • Sticky liquidity
  • Growing mindshare
  • New social capital (rise of new collaborations)
  • Greater innovation
  • Help emerging projects get enough traction to generate and sustain growth
  • Help further establish the arbitrum ecosystem as the dominant DeFi hub for L2s

Our goals for this program are, in no particular order, to grow the Arbitrum community, promote an ecosystem of ambition and collaboration, offer quality builders a chance to create the best products possible for the community, and build the total amount of mindshare and social capital within the Arbitrum DAO.

Also, our goals would be to focus on some of the areas where Arbitrum can use some attention. We believe that Arbitrum is the DeFi powerhouse of crypto, however, what doesn’t get as much focus is things like gaming, NFTs, and other consumer apps. Arbitrum is more than Arbitrum One and we think if we can properly incentivize the Orbit chains as a part of the LTIP, there could be a strong growth there as well.

At the end of the day what matters the most to us is the sustainable growth of the Arbitrum ecoystem. We have seen many ecosystems crash and burn, and we feel like with our aligned interests at stake (being ARB holders, working with Arbitrum projects, and being an educational public good in the ecosytem). If we are chosen, we plan to cover the LTIPP process extensively and help bring more and more awareness to the Arbitrum ecosystem as a whole. We plan to be active with two minds to make well-thought decisions and put our heads together to get the best results possible. By upholding our original principles, bringing our vast DeFi experience, utilizing our platform/audience, and being meticulous about our process we believe that there is no better candidate. A vote for The Rollup is a vote for long-term, sustainable growth in Arbitrum.

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Name: Max Wavé
Position I am applying for: Council
TG: MaxWave_Realm
Twitter: @max_wave_
Affiliations: Product Design Lead at Realm, a partner of TreasureDAO.
Expertise: Web3 Gaming, Web2 Entertainment, AAA Gaming

Why would You be the best candidate for this position?

I am seeking to round out the proposed council by providing strong working knowledge beyond DeFi in verticals such as gaming & entertainment. I have 20 years of experience working closely with “AAA” studios and publishers such as Nintendo and Valve.

Arbitrum Native
I have a long history on the Arbitrum network, starting with Realm back in late 2021. I am passionate about the network and decentralized governance, with a thorough understanding of the Arbitrum culture and ecosystem as both a community member and builder.

Web3 Gaming Expertise
With over 2 years of experience in building one of the first and most successful gaming projects to launch on Arbitrum, I have developed a strong working knowledge of web3 gaming fundamentals, including:

  • Game Design
  • Game Theory
  • In-game Economies
  • Tokenomics
  • Community Building
  • Interoperability
  • Partnerships

Working closely with our core partner TreasureDAO, we have pioneered interoperability across gaming in Arbitrum.

AAA Gaming Experience
It is important that this council features strong working knowledge of the gaming vertical, and my experience in both AAA and Web3 gaming will be valuable as we strive to create programs that can properly assess, engage and support applicants looking to embrace this opportunity.

Web3 Gaming will prove to be a increasingly driving force in blockchain adoption, and Arbitrum should be ready to position its self to attract high quality game publishers and studios. With its Stylus update approaching, Arbitrum is exceptionally well positioned to attract top talent from the AAA gaming sector as EVM development becomes much more accessible on our network.

Highlights of my web2 experience include:

  • Co-founding an Emmy Award-winning post-production studio.
  • Working directly with AAA gaming studios such as Nintendo and Valve.
  • Collaborating with commercial clients like Netflix, Amazon, Google, and many more.

Grant Program Experience
In the web2 fields of entertainment and audio production, I bring over 15 years of experience with grant programs as an applicant, adjudicator, and program advisor. I have served on grant committees for numerous private, provincial, and federal programs in the Canadian market. Additionally, I have helped create program outlines for key initiatives in the music industry, demonstrating a strong comprehension of the strengths and limitations of such programs.

What do you think a good incentive application looks like?

  • Clarity: A good application should be clear and concise, outlining project goals, problem-solving and solutions, use of funds with justifications, alignment with the Arbitrum Network, and overall impact.
  • Innovation: Given the competitive and rapidly evolving nature of Web3, I am excited about protocols proposing innovative solutions or novel approaches.
  • Scalability: Applicants should demonstrate the feasibility and scalability of their proposed projects within the Arbitrum ecosystem.
  • Strong Team: The application team should have a proven track record, relevant technical expertise, and execution capability.
  • Impact and Engagement: Applications should meaningfully impact the Arbitrum network, either through user growth, increased TVL & network activity, or other means. I realize that benchmarks for these metrics will vary between applicants & verticals and recognize the program should have an open mind to different and innovative forms of impact.
  • Interoperability and Synergy: A strong proposal might include focus on interoperability within the Arbitrum network, fostering a cohesive and integrated ecosystem.
  • Metrics and KPIs: Applications should include specific metrics or KPIs to measure success, demonstrating their relevance within their vertical.
  • Sustainability: Applicants should address potential risks and strategies for long-term project sustainability, and demonstrate how they can continue to provide value after the funding period.
  • Alignment: The application should support the growth of the Arbitrum network, improve its technology, and enhance the ecosystem and user experience.

What are your goals for this program?

  • Effective and Fair Evaluation & Governance: Establishing a fair, transparent evaluation process, while ensuring delegate involvement and collaboration between the council and delegates. The Arbitrum community has entrusted delegates with their votes, and it’s important their voice is clear in this process.
  • Enhancing the Ecosystem: Supporting projects that contribute significantly to the growth and development of the Arbitrum network.
  • Promoting Innovation and Forward-Thinking: Encouraging innovative and forward-thinking projects that align with the evolving nature of the Web3 space. I am excited about projects that push the boundaries of what’s currently possible and set new standards in the industry.
  • Diversity and Inclusivity: Ensuring the program is inclusive of applications from various verticals, open to any strong project meeting the criteria.
  • Supporting Interoperability and Collaboration: Promoting projects that strengthen the Arbitrum ecosystem through interoperability and network effects.
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9

Background

Name(s): Serious People, Inc.

Position I am applying for: Application Advisor

TG:

Twitter:

Affiliations (Currently I am working with, invested in, etc.): Serious People is a partner of the following organizations: SushiSwap, Bond Protocol, Steer Finance. We work with these protocols in the role of advisor, providing consultancy services designed to help optimize sustainability and ROE.

Why You

Why would You be the best candidate for this position?

Serious People comprises a dynamic team of DeFi sustainability experts, distinguished by our commitment to demystifying complex DeFi concepts and delivering practical insights to our clients and partners. Our ethos centers on fostering a paradigm shift within the industry, transitioning from a myopic focus on short-term gains to a more holistic emphasis on long-term value.

Over the past five years, the efficiency of token emissions has exhibited a static trend, presenting significant opportunities for enhancement. At Serious People, we employ a strategic approach, continually refining our methods to ensure our clients benefit from the most impactful products in the market. Our core values revolve around fostering collaboration and embracing an innovative mindset, challenging industry norms while advocating for sustainability in DeFi.

Our commitment to excellence is exemplified through meticulous research and analysis of the DeFi landscape. This enables us to proactively address unique challenges with data-driven solutions, constantly seeking out new problems and optimal resolutions.

In this role, if selected, we pledge to guide applicants in optimizing their approach to the LTIPP, ensuring a comprehensive and effective submission process. We have thoughtfully outlined the responsibilities of an application advisor, underscoring our readiness to fulfill these obligations through meticulous preparation and expertise. Furthermore, in order to ensure that Application Advisors are able to fulfill their duties it is imperative that the applications themselves be uniform in nature and therefore we have put together a proposed application template, pending the feedback of the Council and other Advisors: Application Template

What do you think a good incentive application looks like?

A compelling incentive application, in our view, is one that places a strong emphasis on generating a substantial Return on Emissions (ROE) for the issuing protocol, the Arbitrum DAO in this case. Our belief is rooted in the conviction that protocols should conscientiously integrate ROE considerations into the fabric of their various incentive-utilizing strategies.

While acknowledging the inherent challenge in quantifying certain aspects, our team has dedicated extensive thought and effort to formulate comprehensive methods for calculating and assessing ROE. This commitment is evidenced in our recent publication that aims to kickstart a dialogue on defining overarching goals and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for DAO success, as detailed in Serious People: Proposed KPIs

From our perspective, an exemplary incentive application should be meticulously crafted to yield a positive ROE. Drawing upon our role as architects of ROE calculation methodologies, we are well-positioned to guide applicants in strategically setting themselves up for success in the dynamic landscape of incentives.

What are your goals for this program?

Our primary goal for this program revolves around positioning the Arbitrum DAO to fully realize its unique potential. Recognizing its standing as a prominent ecosystem within web3, coupled with substantial backing from a considerable treasury, we acknowledge the need for a strategic and optimal utilization of resources. Rather than critiquing past decisions, our approach is rooted in learning from prior expenditures to continually enhance future strategies.

An observation within the STIP programs is that the distribution of $ARB tokens often lacks a long-term positive ROE. Addressing this concern is paramount to our advisory role, where we intend to guide applicants and grantees in crafting plans that yield enduring ROE. Our commitment to improving the use of resources is driven by a thorough understanding of the factors contributing to suboptimal outcomes in past token distributions.

A commendable aspect of this program, in our estimation, is the allocation of funds for ongoing research. We consider this commitment to be pivotal in optimizing the eventual Long-Term Incentive Program (LTIP) implemented by the DAO. To this end, we have taken a proactive step by outlining specific research focus areas in our publication, Serious People: Proposed Research Buckets for LTIPP, ensuring a robust foundation for the pilot program and subsequent long-term success.

In summary, our overarching goal for this program is to witness the realization of Arbitrum DAO’s monumental potential. With a strategic and informed approach, we aim to position Arbitrum as the epicenter of DeFi and Web3 innovation for the years ahead.

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Background

Name: Castle Labs

Position I am applying for: Application Advisor

TG: @atomist, @theconsequence

Twitter: @castle__cap, @0xatomist, @francescoweb3

Affiliations (Currently I am working with, invested in, etc.): Castle Labs is currently supporting Curvance as an Advisory partner surrounding Marketing, Content, and Technical Writing. Members of Castle Labs Governance team are contributors at Rysk Finance and Brahma Fi, both in Marketing, Growth, and BD capacities.

Why You

Why would you be the best candidate for this position?

  1. Trustworthy and Reliable Research Collective

We are a research collective deeply rooted in the on-chain world, offering a unique perspective that aligns with the needs and dynamics of market participants and DeFi power users. Since coming out of stealth in Jan 2023, we have gathered over 1,600 subscribers to our newsletter, over 5,800 followers on Twitter, and have become a household name in the Arbitrum ecosystem and DAO.

Newsletter Publication: https://chronicle.castlecapital.vc/
Typefully Profile: Castle Capital (@Castle__Cap)

  1. On-Chain Natives

We are on-chain native users and protocol contributors at heart, coming together to form a research collective. This allows us to have a different point of view from larger corporate-style research firms and governance-centric entities.

Our USP lies in our deep integration with the DeFi and Infrastructure communities, especially on Arbitrum. We don’t just observe but are active participants who engage, interact, and evolve with the market, its builders, and its users. This on-chain native approach allows us to provide insights, strategies, and advice that are not only current but also forward-thinking, aligning perfectly with the needs of protocols and teams that this grant program will target.

  1. Experience from STIP

During the initial STIP, we used our initiative, acting as an informal Application Advisor in the forum and subsequently through conversations with projects and delegates in DMs, many of whom we have built strong relationships with. These efforts were very well received by the DAO and the wider Arbitrum community.

We aimed to provide applicants with detailed and actionable feedback on their proposals and give delegates additional context and deeper insights before voting on proposals. Moreover, this feedback comes from a perspective that is highly aligned with the on-chain native communities rife throughout Arbitrum. Not only did our research provide detailed feedback for applicants, delegates, and the DAO, but it also served to disseminate DAO activities and excitement for governance to our social audience of on-chain Arbitrum natives who are often disillusioned with DAOs.

Our main tasks/workflows during the STIP were:

  • Rubric and core value creation
  • Analyst research and scoring
  • Formulating applicant responses
  • Protocol and delegate communication

STIP Impact: Out of 46 responses, 35 projects engaged with us in the forum, resulting in 21 updates to proposals. Of these updates, 14 lowered their requests, totaling 12.37M ARB saved for other protocols - https://twitter.com/Castle__Cap/status/1721158651161760071

STIP Codex containing our rubric, scoring system, notes, and detailed responses: https://0xatomist.notion.site/3f6e523ef9c041a38464de9194ef5923?v=911678fe70794950b24694bcb1ae0565&pvs=4

Arbitrum Forum (at time of STIP): 40 days visited, 12h read time, 101 topics viewed, 1.7k posts read, 193 likes received, 76 comprehensive posts created

Furthermore, we also have experience crafting and editing a grant proposal in the STIP with Rysk Finance (Atomist), as well as informally advising applicants desiring a STIP round 2 and those seeking GMX ARB grants.

  1. Arbitrum DAO Coverage

What do you think a good incentive application looks like?

Our Core Values on what makes a good application:

  • Arbitrum-Alignment: Teams should demonstrate how they are committed to the chain’s stability and longevity. They should prove this through their alignment with the ecosystem, in terms of their existing protocol as well as their application.

  • Team and Product Effectiveness: The team should evidence their experience, reputation, and expertise in delivering products, executing plans, and overcoming obstacles.

  • Ecosystem-wide Incentive Goals: Granted ARB should trigger a wave of ecosystem benefits to Arbitrum, amplifying impact across the chain. Teams should focus on outsized impacts to growing the ecosystem, not just their siloed user base and liquidity. These goals and impacts should be clear from the outset.

  • Innovation First: Teams should demonstrate and evidence the uniqueness and innovative nature of their products. This is the driving force of Arbitrum and should be continually incentivized to create new primitives not yet imagined.

  • Collaboration over Competition: Innovation can be accelerated massively due to crypto’s open and permissionless nature, creating a vast ecosystem of interconnected products. Teams should evidence their open and collaborative approach to the Arbitrum ecosystem unleashing a new wave of composability.

On top of this, an application should have laid out KPIs surrounding the final output and impact from the applicant, most likely based on the following criteria:

  • Increase user events and gas paid on-chain (extending beyond their protocol)
  • Increase builder activity and integrations with other protocols on-chain
  • Increasing liquidity attracted to their product (and subsequently others)
  • Increase supported assets on the chain and how this can bring more users
  • Decrease UX friction and user journey complexity and how this can attract new users

These KPIs should also include context on the following:

  • Product Market Fit (PMF): How their KPIs link to their own PMF, whether they are attempting to drive usage in an already successful product or search for the PMF they are on track for.

  • Logical Calculated Request: A clear calculation of the grant value they are requesting linked to product usage and KPI goals

  • Sustainability: How to secure and retain increases in impact after the close of incentives (strong future plans)

  • Second-Order Effects: How their product success will lead to a wider impact on the Arbitrum ecosystem and protocols around them

What are your goals for this program?

  • Implement Post-Mortem Lessons from the STIP: Implement key lessons from the previous STIP and create an ever-improving long-term incentive program. This should be largely from data-driven quantitative analysis from the STIP, but also through qualitative data and participant anecdotes.

  • Achieve Long-term Sticky Liquidity and User Retention: Discover whether we can design a long-term incentive program that achieves sticky liquidity on the chain rather than short-term mercenary farming capital.

  • Create a Strong and Robust Framework and Processes: Establishment of a well-designed, robust, and transparent process to evaluate and support applicants, with strong alignment between Council and Advisors. This should encompass following grants through to completion with data-driven post-mortems fed back to the Council and Advisors.

  • Cast a Wide Net: Support as many builders as possible in their search for grant funding - many will have never written a proposal before or have the resources to dedicate to it, even though they may be building an incredible product. We want to ensure that smaller, resource-stretched teams have the potential to become giants and do not slip through the cracks of the process.

  • Champion the Advisor Role: Advisors must not only guide applicants through the process but also enable them to learn and understand the core pillars of the program. Even if unsuccessful, applicants should complete a grant application round not only understanding how to write a compelling application but also why it needs to be written in that way. This is on top of ensuring applicants receive timely, concise, and actionable feedback to iterate their proposals.

  • Support Arbitrum and its Future: We wish to be instrumental in laying the foundations to improve the distribution of future incentive programs on Arbitrum, contributing with our expertise to ensure the most efficient distribution of funds, with the broader goal to benefit the Arbitrum ecosystem as our number one priority.

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Background

Name: Pingus, a member of and on behalf of Protector

Position I am applying for: Council Member

TG: @PingusProtector @749 @apingfeng

Twitter: Protector (https://x.com/nounsbuilderscn?s=20); Pingus (https://twitter.com/realpinguis); Pingfeng(https://twitter.com/byobu4); 17Commons(https://twitter.com/17commons)

Affiliations (Currently I am working with, invested in, etc.):

Pingus is a lawyer licensed in the State of New York, and he is the founder of a law firm, offering legal, regulatory and consulting services to crypto start-ups.

Pingfeng is an influencer and independent researcher in the field of creator economy and onchain governance in the Chinese Community(17k+ followers), and she hosts a Chinese crypto podcast Onchain DokodemoDoor with10k+ subscribers.

Long is an independent crypto researcher with extensive academic background in philosophy. He is focusing on political science, public policy, and philosophy theories in the crypto space.

yiqi is an independent defi/governance researcher and coder. He coordinates Protector’s governance meetings and research projects.

Apart from the above, Protector and its members are not affiliated with or invested in any other projects. We cherish our independency.

Why You

Why would You be the best candidate for this position?

Protector is a governance research squad, entirely composed of Chinese members. We are a team of four active governance researchers, consists of a diverse background, that works in conjunction with one another.

Our History

Having been in operation for almost two years, starting in October 2021, our primary emphasis from late 2021 to 2022 was on theoretical and case studies pertaining to the self-governance of public goods. We coordinated the efforts of 86 individuals to conduct seventy-five book clubs and research meetings. We transitioned towards active participation in the governance of NounsDAO at the beginning of 2023. As of November 14, 2023, we have accumulated a membership of more than 200 individuals and have independently performed due diligence on proposals numbered 237 to 438. We convene a weekly public governance research meeting for a total of 47 sessions, during which we apprise the community of noteworthy observations, insights gained from the proposals, and contentious issues.

Our Governance Philosophy
Our name, ‘Protector,’ reflects our role not as Holders or Builders, but as protectors of the community’s social fact layer. We believe that in a well-organized governance system, every value can be expressed, leading to a harmonious emergence of diversity. This necessitates a role that continually strives to present the community with the complex nature, rules, strengths, weaknesses, and values underlying events, constantly restoring distorted facts.

What do you think a good incentive application looks like?

Our primary principle is to vote in ‘Against’ only. Our fundamental philosophy is not to define what are good incentives, but to stop applications with detrimental effects entering our sphere of discussion.

We can define applications with detrimental incentives as follows:

  • Unverifiable, difficult-to-track, or ambiguous metrics. Applications with aforementioned characteristics will trap the community in pointless debates and impose substantial accountability costs.
  • Projects fail to capture substantial value, such as TVL or more long-term users. This may cause ample discord among token holders and ecosystem contributors as a result of the inadequate return on grants.
  • The application is deliberately intricate. It imposes an implicit exclusivity to the interpretation of the application. Said interpretation is restricted to technically proficient bureaucrats within the community. Those who possess a comprehensive understanding of the intricacies of the Arb ecosystem, such as users, researchers, or projects, will encounter challenges in incorporating their ideas into the community’s vision, therefore impeding its growth.

With regard to incentive applications, we prefer to exercise caution. We adopt a more measured approach in examine applications that posse radical ideals. We are in the opinion of leaving ideals to the hands of community, applications are the not the proper venue to express such radical ideals. With respect to the definition of “good”, we forfeit our right to define and allow the community to develop it organically. Our entire focus is directed towards safeguarding the ethos against distortion, which could lead to inequity and perpetual internal conflict.

What are your goals for this program?

Protect, conserve, and stop waste.

Adhering to our governance philosophy, during our tenure as council member, we will only cast vote in against or abstention when rendering the selection decisions. However, we are not forfeiting our rights to exam and express our unbiased view on each applications. On contrary, our neutral position will only strengthen our stance to think without banister.

Throughout the governance history of Nouns DAO, we have witness countless instances of waste of public fund. Often, they are funded because of a noble cause but with wrong means or is channelled through wrong hands. Witnessing projects like such being funded and supported by DAO treasury, the health of morale and ethos were severely tempered. Therefore, we have to protect not only the fund of this Long Term Incentives Pilot Program, but also the values our community embraced.

We view our roles as the following: 1. prevent and deter the intentional wrongdoers from causing irreparable damages to the overall health of the community and its eco system; 2. explain, express, and debate each note worthy applications to the active community voters; 3. for the majority of community members, we shall protect the plurality of discussion, enabling the community to grow its values organically.

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Background

Name: padzank | Thales

Position I am applying for: Application Advisor

TG: @padzank

Twitter: https://twitter.com/padzank

Affiliations (Currently I am working with, invested in, etc.): Thales Protocol Growth, Strategy, Risk Management, Product Owner and Business Development

Why You

Why would You be the best candidate for this position?

As a professionally employed Growth lead of a successful onchain protocol for 3 years, I have acquired a deep knowledge base of onchain projects, protocols, networks and most importantly Governance Structures. I also have an active BD relationship and open comms channels to the majority of the most prominent ones. My responsibilities over the years have been designing tokenomics and incentive programs, designing governance structures and participating in governance structures, acting as a bridge between core team members and users/community, designing UX flows as a Product Owner and broad public relations.

I possess a multi year experience as a successful Writer, Editor and Applicant in various Delegated Governance structures. I have personally written:

With hands-on experience in Delegated Governance, I have a pretty deep understanding of what constitutes an honest, productive and value-adding grant proposal. With my participation in public discourses over the years, I am confident in my abilities to work with councils and teams, recognize issues and provide constructive and precise feedback. Other than Delegated Governance comms experience, I have also written and built countless official documentation pages, official Blog Posts and have multi year experience in Community Comms and Public Relations in Defi.

My experience in Business Development role over the years have honed my skills of understanding the ever-changing growth venues for protocols and for networks. I maintain a close working relationship with many prominent entities, teams and projects, such as (but not limited to) Offchain Labs, Arbitrum Foundation, Optimism Foundation, Base Network, Polygon, ZkSync, Chainlink, LayerZero, Synthetix, Biconomy, Particle etc. Roadmaps of the L2 rollup space are clear to me and I know what are the key points to focus on so the grant programs are effective in bootstrapping long-term growth. I have seen my fare share of growth bootstrap attempts, failures and successes of token incentives via various mechanisms, studied feasibility of many of them and can say with confidence that I can contribute to optimizing the LTI program through this Application Advisory role.

What do you think a good incentive application looks like?

There are three key focus points that a high quality grant application must nail down before it’s considered for approval:

  • Clear and precise description of the applying project, its current growth and development status on the Arbitrum Network

    A good incentive application must convey information about the applying project in a manner that is easy to understand but also precise. All readers need to be helped to form a crystal clear picture of the project current state to minimize non-constructive misinformation discussion, preserving the focus of discussion on the grant itself and how it ties to the project’s sustainable growth on the Arbitrum network. This point is detrimental to the success of not only the project’s application but also the entire LTI program decision making.

  • Clear and precise outline of how the grant can bootstrap the applying projects long-term growth on Arbitrum, how it combines with it’s roadmap and how will it positively impact the growth of Arbitrum ecosystem entire.

    After sufficiently conveyed data on the project’s status, growth and goals, the next detrimental point is usage of the ARB grant itself. There needs to be a high quality outline on the precise venues of incentivization backed by strong arguments around high effectiveness, high efficiency and sustainability. There also needs to be a show of solid understanding on how to not leave room for anyone gaming the incentives to preserve the long-term quality, which is especially important for the LTI program.

  • Arguments on how the applying project can sustain the bootstrapped growth after the grant funds are depleted.

    This third key point ties the first two points to a conclusion. This point combines the gathered information about the project itself and the planned ARB emissions to reach a conclusion why it’s worthy to support the project in question with a long-term oriented grant. It requires strong arguments on the long-term project value for the Arbitrum network, alignment to Arbitrum long-term strategic goals and self-sufficiency in scaling.

What are your goals for this program?

My goal for this program is to use a combined effort of all relevant management parties to set a norm of how a successful community-ran long-term ecosystem bootstrapping should look like. By analyzing previous program executions (internal and external) to evaluate optimization points and isolate successful aspects, this program has an opportunity to evolve the Arbitrum Ecosystem to a sustainable long-term growth and I want to participate directly in making it a reality.

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Background

Name: Tané
Position I am applying for: Council
TG: Takeshi
Twitter: Tané (Takeshi and Ikuma)
Affiliations (Currently I am working with, invested in, etc.): At Tané, we are running validator nodes for various projects including dYdX and being active delegates in multiple DAOs like dYdX and Optimism. We have a separate entity that focuses on venture arm that has invested in various crypto projects. You can find its portfolio from here. (NOTE: we will definitely abstain from discussing and proposing projects that we are affiliated with.)

Why You

Why would You be the best candidate for this position?

Investor mindset

At Tané, we started as a venture/incubator fund that has invested in and supported a number of important crypto projects. We have developed our views in selecting great projects to contribute to the ecosystem. The expertise should be considered quite relevant to the crafted application selection.

Avid DAO contributor

We have also started involving in the DAO governance in multiple projects including dYdX where we are recognized as an Endorsed Delegate to contribute to the decentralization of the protocol governance. Thus, we have a clear understanding of how DAO should be involved in the selection of the projects to be given grants to contribute to the protocol growth.

Strong product development background

Since we are a team of product builders including entrepreneurs, engineers and product managers, we have technical capabilities like running validators for a few projects including the new dYdX chain as well as technical and non-technical contributions to various crypto projects. This unique capability is clearly beneficial to a competent council that evaluate many protocols and projects in the ecosystem.

Japan representative

We have various connections to the communities in Japan where many traders and consumers are interested in interacting with protocols and products in the Arbitrum ecosystem. We covered what happened with the STIP in our podcast and received good feedback from Japanese audience. Our perspectives with support of those communities and people in Japan should be very important to diverse nature of any council or sub-organization with in a decentralization organization.

Product management expertise

Lastly, the representative of Tané for the council will be Takeshi, who has been a seasoned Product Manager in a global tech company and great at facilitating discussions, organizing opinions from multiple stakeholders and championing the best outcome of the projects. With all of the above, he will be a great addition to the operating council.

What do you think a good incentive application looks like?

A good incentive application should be clearly articulated based on the criteria described below:

Relevant to and aligned with Arbitrum ecosystem’s goals

First of all, the program’s primary reason of existence should be to grow the Arbitrum ecosystem as a whole by providing a part of its treasury to the projects who are aligned with what the Arbitrum ecosystem needs to achieve. Without the project’s relevancy and alignment (or clear explanations about it), however popular, good or promising the project is by itself, its application should be considered to be rejected. During the STIP phase, we felt many delegates ended up voting for the projects that are popular by themselves. We should avoid those situations by having the better system like this program.

Potential impact that the project will bring with given incentives

Ultimately, what matters is what the project can bring to make positive impact on the Arbitrum ecosystem by making use of the given incentives. Clear clarifications on how the project utilizes the requested incentives, execute the plans with a limited resource that the project has, and converts them into measurable impact should be provided. By being able to measure impact, the follow-through plans and actual reporting mechanism should also be covered in the application.

Diversity of projects

It might be beyond the evaluation on “an application”, but as a council member, it should consider the set of projects to be given the incentives as diverse enough for the Arbitrum ecosystem to thrive not just by being the number one DeFi chain but also by cultivating the other aspects of the ecosystem, and promoting projects for underrepresented areas that the ecosystem needs to grow, so that the Arbitrum network become a complete set of the de-facto rollup ecosystem for all kinds of users and developers.

On top of the above, we should look into the criteria like the team competency, the security measure, the collaboration readiness and long-term contributions to the ecosystem, etc and create a rubric based on all of them but those points should be weighted based on the priority of each criterion. The council should also evaluate the selection as a whole to ensure it’s diverse enough for the Arbitrum ecosystem to thrive in the long run.

What are your goals for this program?

Our primary goal for this program is to successfully execute the pilot program to gather data, feedback and ideally make significant impact on the ecosystem by incorporating the data, feedback, and insights from the STIP and its related discussions, and supporting the projects and collaborating with delegates and other actors in the DAO during the process. As a council member, we should also commit to the impact we make as the projects and other actors do.

The second goal is to explore the best way to support the ecosystem by making it official for an longer-term incentives program to continue to support newly created and joined projects in the Arbitrum ecosystem. It might be out of scope from assigned responsibilities of a council member, but we consider it a necessary process to make this “pilot” program meaningful.

The last goal that is related to the one that we mentioned above is to commit to the diverse projects that are given incentives to contribute to making the Arbitrum ecosystem robust and vertically attractive in the long run.

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We have extended the deadline to apply for a Pilot Program position to January 12th to allow more time for applications to be posted

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Background

Name: Ian

Position I am applying for: Council member

TG: @seriousian

Twitter: @icpossibilities

Affiliations: I currently work with Serious People, SushiSwap, Bond Protocol, Steer Finance, ICHI

Why You

Why would You be the best candidate for this position?

  • I am applying for the Council Member position because I genuinely think it would be valuable to have one person on the council that is also fulfilling the duties of an Application Advisor. That being said, my team is also applying for the Application Advisor position and if you disagree with the need for there to be representative crossover then please pass on me here and only vote for us there.
  • Reasons I can add value to the council:
    • I have been heavily involved in contributing to the building of the STIP and LTIPP through my role as CEO at Serious People, offering up several ideas and frameworks that have already been implemented.
    • Thanks to years of developing and refining an analysis metric that we at SP call ROE (Return on Emissions), I feel well equipped to compare emission methods of projects in a fair and unbiased way.
      • Therefore, I will enforce high ROE standards
    • I have a deep understanding of liquidity, both CEX and DEX, due to my years of experience working directly with exchanges within the Defi space
    • I have a heavy background in traditional finance and have been in crypto for 7+ years, working at various start ups and DAOs
      • Disruption Joe can attest to my tenure in crypto as I was once a frequenter of his crypto meetups in 2017
    • It is paramount that there is consistency throughout the entire process. One thing I have learned over working in many similar groups and situations is how easy it is to underestimate how much time is wasted and frustration caused due to information asymmetry. Having a few strategic players that span larger than just their individual working group is vital, with this we would have myself and Matt, which sounds reasonable for a project of this size.
    • It will be comforting to projects knowing that there is a link between the Council and the Advisors. This ensures the applicants that the advice they are being given will ultimately ladder up into precisely what the Council is looking for. Matt is going to be involved in regards to ensuring application viability, but he has to span a much larger surface area and this is worth having overlap on.
    • I am well spoken and have always been able to explain complex topics in such a way that they are easily understood. It is always important to have a strong communicator on a Council like this to ensure that we are being well received and understood by applicants, delegates, etc.
    • I take notes on everything and will take meeting minutes. This means I can easily keep both groups informed on each other - which, in a decentralized environment, is crucial. When people miss meetings they can check the notes and stay caught up. At the end of the day disorganization is the bane of efficiency, and I am incredibly good at keeping things moving forward and keeping them organized
    • Arbitrum also needs to fund research to make the DAO’s spending more efficient and be able to accurately gather data to assess the efficacy of the program. There is a 200k ARB allocation earmarked for this specific purpose in this proposal. Serious People is leading the charge on how we can go about gathering that research (and hopefully helping with the liquidity area) and what questions we need to be answering. We plan to continue on this front as we are huge data nerds, so it would be beneficial if I got to be a part of the entire end-to-end process
    • I would be in a great position to interlink with Matt and essentially be a key support character. This is going to be a large program and a lot of work to pull off successfully - we need to think strategically about battle placement when working in a decentralized environment, even more so with new teams and a ton of moving pieces

What do you think a good incentive application looks like?

  • Thankfully I can let my team’s work speak for itself here. We have been actively involved in shaping this program and working to improve the LTIPP.
  • See the work by Serious People and team posted on the forum.
    • We have come up with the initial framework for KPI’s, using a metric I helped invent called ‘Return on Emissions’ (ROE )
    • We rewrote the application to streamline it to draw out important data for underwriting the projects tokenomics (something we do very well at serious people, come talk to us if you are curious , while also gathering details on how they actually plan to achieve a high ROE on the money Arbitrum would give to them. We need to ensure this spend is not wasted. Personally I think a lot of money was wasted in the STIP program - ROE makes this brutally apparent. We want people on the council that deeply understand this and are going to be stewards of ensuring high ROE spends, or honestly not emitting funds. Putting me on the council will ensure
    • We also revamped the entire scope of the advisory role
    • We also are leading the charge in driving the research and development portion of this program.
  • At the end of the day its pretty fucking simple though. We need to be striving to generate more value than what we spend. And using emissions on worthless programs like farming needs to stop. Our industry needs to be built on sustainable financial tooling with realistic returns that works for all stakeholders. A good application shows how they plan to bring back more value than what they spend.

What are your goals for this program?

  1. Drive projects to do things that bring tangible value to the ecosystem, as stressed above
  2. Maintain consistency as the scribe, and help maintain organization
  3. Support Matt in his role as Project Manager
  4. Drive meetings and ensure everyone is engaged, active and involved
  5. Enforce robust standards for ROE, working tirelessly to get the highest return for the DAO
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Name: Boardroom
Position I am applying for: Application Advisor
TG: @kevinknielsen
Twitter: Boardroom Twitter
Affiliations (Currently I am working with, invested in, etc.): Boardroom has existing or past relationships with 0x, Optimism, Compound, and Aave.

Why You?

Why would you be the best candidate for this position?
Boardroom’s expertise in decentralized governance is evidenced by our successful integration of hundreds of DAOs into our data platform, emphasizing our role as a neutral, independent builder and data provider in the governance vertical. Boardroom specializes in addressing complex governance challenges, aligning with the Arbitrum community’s values for sustainable governance. In addition to our product experience, our governance facilitation service extends to stakeholder engagement, where we have established robust relationships and effective communication channels, fostering informed, inclusive decision-making in several other DAOs, including Aave and Optimism. In guiding proposal processes, we’ve assisted in drafting and aligning proposals with community goals and enhancing governance outcomes. We have experience in building and maintaining:

  • Stakeholder Engagement Initiatives: Bringing a proven track record in stakeholder engagement and governance facilitation, honed through our extensive work with communities to establish proper stakeholder management programs. We’ve effectively managed communication channels and integrated feedback across multiple projects, ensuring informed and inclusive decision-making processes.

  • Proposal Guidance and Onboarding: In our role as an advisor, Boardroom brings a wealth of experience in guiding the proposal process, a key aspect of which involves offering specialized support to governance applicants, something we deem highly relevant to the Application Advisor role. This includes assisting in drafting proposals, ensuring they align with community goals, and facilitating communication between proposers and key stakeholders. Our history of engaging in these advisory roles has equipped us with the skills to effectively mentor and guide project teams in creating well-structured, impactful proposals that resonate with the community and advance governance objectives.

  • Meta-Governance Insights: At Boardroom, our platform and delegate portal leverage state-of-the-art analytics, providing insights from over 350 DAOs. This extensive data, combined with our strategic experience, enables us to extract key governance learnings and apply them effectively to the Arbitrum ecosystem. Our goal is to use these insights to foster growth and innovation within Arbitrum, tailoring our strategies to meet its unique needs and leveraging the best practices developed across multiple governance systems.

What do you think a good incentive application looks like?
We believe that an effective application should be a strategic blend of innovation and practicality. It must align seamlessly with the Arbitrum ecosystem’s strategic goals, embodying transparency and efficiency. Our vision for incentive applications centers around creating proposals that meet technical and governance criteria and resonate deeply with community values and long-term objectives:

  1. Alignment with Community Goals:
  • Applications should clearly articulate how the project aligns with the strategic vision of the ecosystem.
  • Demonstrate an understanding of community needs and how the project addresses these needs.
  • Detail how the project contributes to the growth and stability of the ecosystem.
  1. Transparency and Clarity:
  • Provide detailed yet accessible explanations of the project’s objectives, methodologies, and expected outcomes.
  • Highlight any potential risks and how they will be mitigated.
  • Ensure that all aspects of the proposal are understandable to various stakeholders.
  1. Feasibility and Sustainability:
  • Outline a realistic implementation plan, including resource allocation and a clear timeline.
  • Focus on the sustainability of the project, considering long-term impacts and adaptability to future changes.
  • Discuss ongoing maintenance and scalability to ensure lasting value for the ecosystem.
  1. Clear Metrics and KPIs for Success Measurement:
  • Applications should define specific, measurable Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) that align with the project’s goals and the broader objectives of the Arbitrum ecosystem.
  • Detail how these KPIs will be tracked and reported, ensuring transparency and accountability.
  • Explain how the achievement of these KPIs will contribute to the long-term success and sustainability of both the project and the Arbitrum community.

What are your goals for this program?

Our goals for the program include:

  1. Encourage Community Engagement: At a macro level, we aim to deepen applicant engagement, fostering active participation and discussions. On a micro level, our objective is to ensure that applicants not only submit compelling proposals but also understand the core principles of the application process. We’ll provide timely, concise, and actionable feedback to empower applicants in crafting their proposals effectively.

  2. Improve Information Accessibility: Our goal is to minimize information asymmetry by creating accessible updates, guides, town halls, and content. We’ll guide applicants in drafting proposals that align with community goals, helping them navigate the application process and understand why their proposals need to be structured in a certain way.

  3. Maintain Effective and Sustainable Practices: Enhancing overall governance transparency, community involvement, and long-term stability is crucial. We aim to work with council members to optimize token distributions to yield enduring growth goals, ensuring the program’s sustainability, but more importantly to our role, we will help applicants learn how to design proposals that align with governance principles and contribute to effective and sustainable growth.

  4. Ensure Applicant Onboarding and Retention: We want to focus on simplifying the onboarding process for newcomers and providing ongoing support to retain their engagement. We aim to guide and mentor applicants, helping them understand the application process and stay involved in the Arbitrum ecosystem even after submission.

  5. Build Robust Processes and Support Systems: Creating transparent evaluation and support processes with strong alignment between Council and Advisors is pivotal. We’ll assist a wide range of builders, ensuring resource-stretched teams have opportunities and receive guidance, and will support applicants in navigating the program’s processes, guiding them to submit well-structured proposals.

  6. Evolve the Application Advisor Role: Advisors are pivotal in guiding applicants and ensuring the success of the program. We recognize the need to not only champion the advisor role but also to foster its evolution. We are committed to creating frameworks that empower advisors to continually improve their support mechanisms, mentorship, and guidance for applicants.

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Background

Name: 404 DAO
Position I am applying for: Council
TG: @cole_schendl @RikaGoldberg @JackSanYoda @pruitt_martin
Twitter: @404DAO
Affiliations: 404 DAO is a delegate for Optimism and Uniswap in addition to Arbitrum

Why You

Why would You be the best candidate for this position?

404 DAO is a dedicated and long-standing member of the Arbitrum community, having actively participated as a delegate since the DAO’s inception. Our governance team, primarily consisting of Georgia Tech graduates and current students, has diverse expertise across data analytics, blockchain development, blockchain security, business development, and MEV. With degrees in Computer Science, Data Science, Business, Finance, and Cybersecurity, our team is well-equipped to handle various interdisciplinary challenges. To learn more about our team please visit our notion page.

Active Involvement in STIP Round 1: Our team was an active participant in STIP Round 1, diligently reviewing and voting on over 95% of the total applications. While we recognize the good intentions behind STIP, we believe that its true effectiveness will be revealed only after a thorough, data-driven analysis. These types of data reports are critical for informing the DAO’s future strategies and ensuring meaningful progress for program design. It was this belief that motivated our team to produce a data driven recap of the voting results for STIP Round 1. This recap helped our team understand the challenges delegates faced in reviewing applications for round 1 and it sparked numerous internal discussions about enhancing the program. We expressed these thoughts in the working group and support the steps the authors have taken to iterate on STIP Round 1. As we look towards the execution of LTI PP, our primary focus will be to adopt a similar analytical approach for reviewing applicants to ensure the DAO gains detailed insights, which will be crucial for refining and evolving the design for the full long-term incentive program.

Working Groups & Governance History: From the inception of the Arbitrum DAO, we have been involved in its working groups and have emerged as influential voices in shaping its most significant proposals. For instance, we were among the first major delegates to publicly speak out against AIP-1 at the outset of the Arbitrum DAO and actively advocated for the adoption of the Plurality Labs Grants Program when its passing was uncertain. Our involvement extends to being one of the nine signatories on the STIP multisig, and being key contributors to multiple working groups across the DAO. We are active participants in the Hackathon Working Group and are leading the Onboarding Working Group. Our team consistently participates in L2Beat’s weekly Governance calls, where we discuss and provide insights on active proposals. Additionally, we have stayed updated with the progression of the LTI Pilot Program by participating in relevant calls and discussions with the Arbitrum Incentive Program Working Group.

Experience with Similar Responsibilities: Apart from governance work, our team has successfully organized two major web3 conferences and an accelerator program, which featured 7 early stage startups. There is significant overlap between the responsibilities of the Council and what is required to manage an accelerator program. Our team designed an internal scoring rubric, assessing applicants based on factors like team merit, innovation, and likelihood of success. We also provided feedback and coaching to each of our teams and helped them achieve considerable progress along their startup journey. These experiences have helped prepare us to be an effective council member for LTIPP.

Non-Bias: As a non-profit organization primarily focused on Ethereum protocol governance and education, we maintain neutrality toward existing and future Arbitrum based projects & protocols. Should we be elected to the council, our unbiased position as a delegate and ecosystem participant will form the basis for transparent and objective council decision-making, facilitating unbiased reviews of each application.

What do you think a good incentive application looks like?

A good incentive application aligns with a rubric that emphasizes program goals and milestones. We believe that an effective rubric for a pilot program should be designed to allow for operational flexibility with incentive mechanisms. This approach will allow teams to experiment with different incentive designs while maintaining a clear focus on the pilot program’s goal of gathering data for the Long-Term Incentives Program later this year.

Below, we have outlined the key criteria that we believe to be the most important in an application and provided a sample rubric & scoring method.

Clarity: Grant size, budget breakdown, and how the funds will be used to drive long-term benefit to Arbitrum, should all be extremely clear and presented in straightforward language.

Measurable KPIs: Data-driven methodology with pre-determined success metrics. Measurable and Quantitative to allow for effective analysis of distribution data.

Sybil Resistant Mechanisms: Mechanisms to combat sybil attacks are critical for successful implementation of incentive programs. Applications that fail to address strategy around sybil vulnerabilities will be penalized.

Quality of User Acquisition: Incentives should aim to attract sticky users that add long-term value to the Arbitrum ecosystem and community. Applications that incentivize short-term farming will be penalized.

Team Viability: Teams with a high propensity to execute and deliver will be prioritized. Bringing the best talent and teams to Arbitrum has, and will continue to be a primary goal for the DAO.

Product Innovation: Enabling products that present new ideas and innovative product designs should be a priority for the DAO across all Grant Programs and specifically this Pilot program.

Arbitrum Aligned: Clarity on whether the protocol is native to Arbitrum and the date of deployment on Arbitrum mentioned. Past performance details, key metrics, achievements, and relevant dashboards provided. Clear description of the protocol roadmap. Historic audit information and results.

Novel Incentive Design Mechanics: We believe trying and testing new ideas is critical in a Pilot program so we can evaluate what incentive mechanisms work best. We also understand this will look different for each industry niche (gaming, defi, etc). This is why we have added a novel incentive design bonus point to our sample rubric design, which you can find below.

Sample Rubric

Category Incomplete Application (-1 pt) Necessary (0 pt) Sufficient (1 pt) Exceptional (2 pt)
Completeness of Required Information Does not include required information Includes all required information N/a N/a
Clarity of Objectives and Execution N/a Application lacks detail and/or breakdown of use of funds is missing OR Application lacks clarity on how the grant will foster innovation and growth within the Arbitrum ecosystem OR Execution of grant is not well-defined Grant Information is clear and presents a thorough breakdown of planned use of funds AND Application thoroughly shows how the grant will foster growth within the Arbitrum ecosystem with a sound execution strategy Grant Information is clear and presents a thorough breakdown of planned use of funds AND Application clearly shows how the grant will foster innovation and growth within the Arbitrum ecosystem AND Execution strategy, grant justification, and timeline is thorough detailed. AND Proper risk management is detailed
Team Execution & Track Record Team has shown an inability to execute effectively Team has a limited track record and their ability to execute is unclear Team has proven a track record in ability to execute N/a
Product Innovation Score Product is an obvious copy pasta fork Product lacks new innovation design Product brings new ideas and/or innovative designs to Arbitrum N/a
Measurable KPIs & Distribution No trackable KPIs for distribution or effectiveness of incentives KPIs are given but they are not thoroughly thought out or lack effectiveness Applicant has a quantitative approach to distribution with pre-defined success metrics Applicant has a quantitative approach to distribution with pre-defined success metrics AND Sensible smart contract architecture to distribute rewards
Sybil Resistant Mechanisms Includes no mechanisms to protect against Sybil attack vectors Mitigation tactics to combat Sybil attacks are unclear or incomplete Application presents thorough mechanisms and/or strategy to mitigate against sybil attack vectors Application presents thorough mechanisms and/or strategy to mitigate against sybil attack vectors N/a
Quality of User Attraction Incentive Design leaves gaps for short-term exploitation Incentive design accounts for short-term exploitation but fails to focus on long-term value creation Incentive design focuses on long-term value creation N/a
Arbitrum Alignment Fails to address deployment, protocol performance, roadmap and audit information Addresses deployment information but lacks sufficient information around protocol performance, metrics and audit information Thoroughly presents Arbitrum deployment information along with protocol performance, roadmap, and audit information Protocol has historically displayed Arbitrum alignment through its deployments and support for the ecosystem AND Thoroughly presents all protocol performance, roadmap, audit information
Commitment to Data Reporting Fails to acknowledge commitment to data reporting requirements and consequences of non-compliance Acknowledges commitment to data reporting requirements and consequences of non-compliance N/a N/a
Novel Incentive Design (Bonus) N/a No novel incentive designs presented Application presents a new and unique incentive design N/a

What are your goals for this program?

As delegates for Optimism and Uniswap, we’ve had the opportunity to learn from successful grant programs, gaining insights into the review processes of their councils/committees. By incorporating best practices while allowing room for innovation and keeping an Arbitrum-specific approach, we aim to elevate this pilot program beyond STIP Round 1, laying the foundation for the full LTIP. Some specific factors that will lead us there:

Communication and Congruence

First and foremost, ample and open communication lines between applicants, application advisors, and the council are critical for a successful Grants program. Clear communication to applicants about the program’s goals will lead to stronger applications, better design mechanics, and a higher likelihood of success for the DAO. Achieving congruence across all parties involved, from the Council to Application Advisors and Applicants, is crucial.

Inclusion, Neutrality, and Openness

We firmly believe that the distribution of incentives should not show preferential treatment towards any particular user group. Instead, our focus is on identifying and supporting teams that demonstrate the highest potential for successful execution and delivering substantial ROI for the DAO. This approach is deeply rooted in the guiding principles of Arbitrum’s governance as stated in the Arbitrum DAO constitution, which emphasize the importance of nurturing open innovation, enabling seamless interoperation, and ensuring user choice. By striving to create an equitable landscape for all network participants, our aim is not to pick winners and losers but to cultivate a fertile ground for diverse ideas and projects to flourish. This commitment to impartiality and equal opportunity is the cornerstone of our philosophy, ensuring that every decision made under the Long Term Incentives Pilot Program contributes to a balanced and thriving Arbitrum ecosystem.

Iterative Design + Feedback = Commitment to Improve

Our commitment to the Long Term Incentives Pilot Program is fundamentally rooted in the principle of fostering iterative design and feedback loops. We recognize that initial grant designs may not be perfect, acknowledging that there is always room for enhancement and refinement. This mindset is vital as we learn from ongoing initiatives like the LTI Pilot Program and STIP R1. We firmly believe that through a continuous cycle of experimentation, feedback, and redesign, we will develop an Arbitrum Incentive Program that achieves longevity and sustainability.

To achieve this, we actively encourage a culture of open communication and constructive criticism. We invite delegates, protocols, and users to engage with us transparently, sharing their honest feedback about all aspects of the Pilot Program. This input is invaluable, as it provides us with the insights needed to evolve and strengthen the Grants Program. This collaborative approach is key to building a Grants Program that not only meets the current demands of the ecosystem but is also robust and flexible enough to evolve with its future challenges and opportunities.

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Name: Ali Husain
Position I am applying for: Council Member
TG: thechaingamer
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/thechaingamer
Affiliations (Currently I am working with, invested in, etc.):

  • I am the founder of Forgotten Machine, an indie games studio

  • I am the co-founder of Navigate, an AI (Artificial Intelligence) data platform powered by crowd sourced data. Navigate is a Web 3 company that raised 7.625 MM USD from investors such as Distributed Global, Alan Howard, Kraken Ventures, Outlier Ventures, and more

  • Web 3 Communities/DAOs I am a part of/invested in:

    • Treasure DAO Arbitrum Representative Council Member
    • 333 Club & Zen Academy – Brand Ambassador for Zen Academy
    • Treasure DAO
    • Pixel Vault Founders DAO
    • Treeverse
    • Pluid
    • Axie Infinity
    • RON
    • Arbitrum
    • Ape Coin
    • Bored Ape Yacht Club
    • Forgotten Runes Wizards Cult
    • Parallel
    • Paragons DAO
    • Treasure Ecosystem Games – Beacon, Kuroro, BattleFly, KoTE, Zeeverse, SMOLBrains, etc.
    • Real Agency
    • And lots more…

My Background

After my B.A. in Economics and my BSc in Computer Science from The University of Texas at Austin, I began my career at Microsoft where I drove the development for Dynamics AX mobile applications and later transitioned to SparkCognition, an award-winning industrial AI company. I joined SparkCognition during its initial startup days when there were a handful of people and left at the end of December 2023 when the company had grown to 400+ people and was valued over 1.4B USD.

During my tenure at SparkCognition, I made significant contributions to the company’s growth, prototyping the first version of its Natural Language Processing platform and many other innovative applications for the enterprise market. A lot of work I did was in the Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality space, designing and building applications for Enterprise customers deployed on a wide array of devices.

I served as Chief Software Architect and Chief Product Officer at SkyGrid, a joint venture between SparkCognition and The Boeing Company. As a founding member of SkyGrid, I led the company’s product strategies, developing AI and blockchain technology to address complex challenges in the urban aerial mobility market. SkyGrid was named as one of the top 50 companies using blockchain in 2021.

Utilizing blockchain as a core part of the SkyGrid stack is something that I was extremely passionate about and did a lot of talks on the applications of blockchain in aviation and enterprise in general. One of my speaking sessions was at one of the largest Airshows – Farnborough International – on Blockchain in Aviation.

I transitioned back to SparkCognition in mid 2023 when The Boeing Company acquired a majority stake in SkyGrid.

I am a Co-Founder at Navigate, a Web 3 AI data platform powered by crowdsourced data and was part of the core team that raised the seed round of 7.625MM from numerous investors.

I have been very actively involved in Crypto and Web 3 since 2015. I have been part of the Treasure DAO since its inception during the Loot Derivative phase.

For 2+ years, I have been working on Ruffion Reborn, a self-funded project that is built to enable other developers to create their own games on Arbitrum and in the Treasure ecosystem. All the art assets are CC0, and all the code is open source. The alpha went live earlier this year.

I have also been building other projects that will be going live on Arbitrum this year.

Why would You be the best candidate for this position?

I believe I would a great fit for a council position for the following reasons:

  1. I have traditional industry experience in Enterprise across large companies as well as nimble startups and have drafted and evaluated multiple grants/proposals during my leadership roles within these companies

  2. I am a builder through and through. Having worked on enterprise software and consumer applications as well as games, I have a wide array of experience in being able to assess strengths and weaknesses in product plans and proposals.

  3. I am also part of several Web 3 DAOs. Being an early and active member in the Treasure community as well as the Arbitrum community, I have evangelized the Arbitrum ecosystem, made introductions and brought several builders over to the Arbitrum ecosystem.

  4. I was elected and I am currently serving as a council member of the inaugural Treasure Arbitrum Representative Council and have been involved in evaluating and voting on various proposals as well as working on proposals to further the growth of Arbitrum.

  5. One of my biggest strengths is being able to assess a situation and make decisions quickly while minimizing the risk of failure. A critical requirement for any startup/nimble organization.

What do you think a good incentive application looks like?

  1. A well-defined product/program that highlights needs being addressed and clear goals to be accomplished

  2. Very explicitly state how the Arbitrum ecosystem benefits via growth and sustainability

  3. A timeline, preferably with clear milestones and “demo days” where the team can highlight the progress that has been made

  4. Long term roadmap that highlights what kind of enhancements and updates are being thought of based on the product’s success

  5. Team’s background

What are your goals for this program?

  1. Onboard great builders and enable them to build great products

  2. Do 1. in a way that grows the Arbitrum ecosystem in a sustainable manner by bringing in more users (who keep coming back) and increasing on-chain activity

  3. The products/programs funded by this LTIP become a very real and positive marketing tool for Arbitrum as well, encouraging others to come and develop on Arbitrum

Links

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ali-husain1/
Forgotten Machine: https://www.forgottenmachine.com

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Background

Name: @SEEDGov

Position I am applying for: Application Advisor

TG:
@axlvaz for @axlvaz_SEEDLATAM.eth
@pedro9992 for @pedrob

Twitter: https://twitter.com/SEEDGov

Affiliations (Currently I am working with, invested in, etc.):

SEEDLatam Gov, being a vertical from SEEDLatam organization, has high participation in some of the most prominent governances in the web3 ecosystem such as Optimism (Some of its members are Badgeholder, part of the Grants Council Reviewer and previously the team was part of the DeFi Committee and Tooling), Arbitrum (chosen as Domain Allocator in the Education, Community Growth, and Events category), Starknet, Connext, MakerDAO (Sovereign Finance AVC) and GnosisDAO.

Even though there is not a specific disclosure requirement in the application template, we can firmly state that we have no conflict of interest with any possible candidate for the incentives. We have no affiliations, receive any kind of payment, incentive or have close relationships with any protocol aiming to apply for the Long Term Incentives Pilot Program. This is a guarantee of our impartiality.

Why You

Why would You be the best candidate for this position?

About SEEDLatam Gov

SEEDLatam Gov, being a vertical from SEEDLatam organization, has high participation in some of the most prominent governances in the web3 ecosystem:

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Here you can read an article with our 2023 review.

In Optimism, our delegate Joxes has been recently elected to be part of the Grants Council Reviewer. In Optimism, the Governance Fund grants process will be managed by an elected Grants Council.

The Grants Council is tasked with processing Grants Applications as per their internal operating procedures, reviewing these applications in regular cycles with established deadlines for submissions, and publishing reports on grant finalists for each category (intent). The Council is also committed to diligently assessing if grant recipients achieve set milestones and ensuring that their operations and performance remain transparent to the community.

Joxes has been elected to be part of the Grants Council Reviewer, particularly in the Builders Sub-Committee. His tasks will be similar to the proposed Application Advisor position: to maximize the number of builders building projects in the Optimism ecosystem by publishing forms, rubrics and giving feedback to projects.

Also, Joxes has been recently elected to be part of the Anticapture Comission, all which highlights our ethics, impartiality, and commitment to decentralization.

In MakerDAO we’ve engaged with the ecosystem in a different way than in the traditional delegate system: the Aligned Votter Committee. During 2023, we conducted 26 MKR holders & delegates meetings (called subcommittee meetings), where we invited guests to discuss various aspects of the Maker ecosystem, both ecosystem actors and outsiders. The aim was to provide different perspectives and contribute alternative approaches to the forms and tools traditionally used in the protocol.

This high-quality and diverse governance participation gave us a critical and objective perspective. We have reviewed proposals from multiple applicants for various types of programs and have questioned, critiqued, and supported them when we deemed it appropriate.

In Arbitrum currently we are part of the development of the Arbitrum Education, Community Growth and Events domain.The work performed in the domain allocator also has lot of similarities with the one needed for the LTIP: Proposals are evaluated in depth, questions from the bidders are answered, we hold public conversations and hold meetings with proposers to help them improve some aspects of their proposals.

Our experience and commitment during STIP

During Arbitrum’s first Short Term Incentive Program (STIP), SEEDLatam Gov formed a multidisciplinary team responsible for deeply evaluating the grant proposals.

For the purpose of analyzing the 106 submissions, we developed several essential criteria to determine which initiatives to support:

  • Protocol metrics in relation to the requested grant.
  • Innovation inherent to the protocol.
  • Potential impact of the proposal and acquisition of new users.
  • Reputation of the applying team.
  • Ability to attract liquidity.
  • Impact on the Latin American ecosystem, in line with our vision and mission to support the region

You can check here all the feedback we’ve given to the submitters and also the rationale behind our decisions.

We have also shared a spreadsheet detailing the analysis we conducted on each submission, along with the reasons for approving or rejecting their funding request.

Last but not least, we held a series of governance calls to give the opportunity to the projects to introduce themselves and answer all the questions the community had in order to better understand their proposals.

In the end, we decided to support 32 proposals out of the 106 initial ones.

Our highly positive experience in the previous STIP, where we developed the technique from scratch to collaborate and analyze protocols, positions us as a unique team capable of adding significant value. It’s important to note that all this work was carried out without the expectation of additional compensation. Providing our team with resources will greatly enhance their capabilities and the resulting outcomes.

What do you think a good incentive application looks like?

As with the opportunity to evaluate the STIP submissions, in this case, we believe that the bare minimum that projects must communicate is:

  • Protocol metrics in relation to the requested grant.
  • Innovation inherent to the protocol.
  • Potential impact of the proposal and acquisition of new users.
  • Reputation of the applying team.
  • Ability to attract liquidity.

We should note that in this opportunity the geographical impact of the protocol won’t be taken into consideration. We aim for the whole Arbitrum ecosystem to grow.

We also agree and will encourage and collaborate with submitters to also fulfill all the outlined eligibility criteria:

Additionally, we will encourage protocols to disclose the following items in order to allow the Council take the best decision:

  • Time Since Deployment.
  • History of Exploits or Hacks: Disclose if the project has experienced any security breaches or exploits.
  • Importance of the Protocol in Its Niche: Assess how the protocol stands out in its specific niche.
  • Number of Similar Protocols on the Chain: Analyze the saturation of the blockchain with similar protocols.
  • Composability with Other Protocols Also Applying: Look into how the protocol can integrate or work in synergy with other protocols seeking grants.
  • Comparison with Similar Protocols Participating in the Grant: Compare the protocol with other similar projects in the grant program. Consider factors like innovation, performance, community support, and potential impact. This comparative analysis can help in understanding the protocol’s relative merit.
  • Impact if Previously Granted Funding: If the project has received funding before, evaluate the outcomes of that investment.

What are your goals for this program?

Our objectives for the proposal remain aligned with the STIPs: To experiment and search for the most efficient way to attract protocols, users, and TVL to Arbitrum.

We believe this is a great opportunity to assemble a strong team alongside other members of the Arbitrum ecosystem to develop frameworks that will serve as a long-term foundation for the DAO to allocate resources effectively. Additionally, we are in the stage of gathering extensive data on which forms of incentives work and which do not, in order to refine these types of proposals in the future.

We are still executing the STIP funds distribution, so the final data about its effectiveness will arrive in a couple of months. Both STIP and LTIP will be a great source of information for future incentives rounds.

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Name: Joshua Scigala

Position I am Applying For: Council Member, Long Term Incentives Pilot Program

TG: @Vaultoro

Twitter: @jscigala

Affiliations: Co-founder, TheStandard.io, Vaultoro.com

Why Joshua Scigala is the Ideal Candidate

Professional Experience and Blockchain Advocacy

My journey in the blockchain space began in 2010, deeply rooted in Bitcoin and expanding through various significant ventures and initiatives. Notably, I co-founded Vaultoro.com in 2014, the first Bitcoin/physical gold exchange fully audited by BDO, and introduced the Glass Books transparency protocol, an alternative to Peter Todd and Gregory Maxwell’s Merkle tree solution. I designed the protocol to enhance transparency in the CEX domain. My experience extends to leading TheStandard.io, a next-gen borrowing and stablecoin protocol on Arbitrum, emphasizing borrower flexibility through trading locked collateral and dynamic NFT’s integrated smart vaults so that people can sell their CDP’s.

Contributions to Arbitrum and the Crypto Community

As a cofounder of TheStandard.io, my focus has been laser-aligned with the success of Arbitrum. My advocacy for Layer 2 solutions, stemming from the Bitcoin blocksize debates, reflects my firm belief in their necessity for scalable blockchain technology. Arbitrum’s role in Ethereum’s ecosystem is paramount, and my contributions have been dedicated to reinforcing its position as a leading L2 solution.

Vision and Motivation

My motivation for joining the council is anchored in my extensive experience and ability to discern promising projects from fleeting ones. Having witnessed the evolution and pitfalls of DAO grants within the first real functioning DAO (DASH) I have seen what works and what doesn’t enable real groth in a protocol. I was one of the few publically calling out algorithmic stablecoin projects including Terra Luna two years before it’s demise because I had seen it before with projects like bitshares. I bring a seasoned perspective to the council. My vision for the LTIPP involves prudent investment in promising protocols, education initiatives, and R&D to maintain Arbitrum’s status as the premier Ethereum L2 platform.

Approach to Incentive Applications

A good incentive application, in my view, should demonstrate a clear understanding of Arbitrum’s ethos, scalability potential, and a tangible plan for contributing to the ecosystem’s growth. Rigorous evaluation standards, balancing innovation with practicality, will be my guiding principle in reviewing applications.

Goals for the LTIPP

My aim is to leverage my 13 years of industry (both CEX and DeFI) experience to guide the council in making informed, forward-thinking decisions. Ensuring the longevity and robustness of Arbitrum as the go-to Ethereum L2 is paramount. My role will include contributing insights from my exchange management experience and a comprehensive understanding of the crypto landscape’s nuances.

This is me 12 years ago letting people know that bitcoin is not a scam and shows my dedication to decentralisation.

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