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.