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.