Background
The Nation3 DAO is interested in having many engaged and active contributors that are able to efficiently and effectively carry out work to bring us closer to our collective goal: a thriving cloud nation providing services to its citizens.
Instead of set working hours, HR departments, and salary-based compensation, the open nature of DAOs allows for compartmentalisation of tasks, transparency over renumeration, and assurance that the treasury budget is well spent.
In the case of Nation3, this also allows us to bootstrap an internal economy - one of the core attributes of a nation state. An ability to meaningfully contribute to a growing economy while earning income will inevitably attract more talented individuals and become one of the driving forces for joining.
Proposal
When building a decentralised nation, it only makes sense to use tools that fit the purpose.
Therefore, Iâd like to propose a compartmentalised, task-based model for structuring the DAOâs activities and paying out compensation to contributors.
Specifications
Guilds
All activity of the DAO would be compartmentalised into Guilds. This makes it neat, focused and manageable - ultimately ensuring that things get done.
I propose to start with the below six guilds, but more can be created by any Citizen at any point in time, if thereâs an interest:
- Community Guild
- Product Guild
- Scouts Guild
- Brand & Design Guild
- Growth Guild
- Meta Guild, responsible for the overall running of the organisation, discussion and creation of new guilds, the improvement and restructuring (where needed) of the org-wide processes, and, importantly, the coordination of Guilds between each other.
Each guild would have its own:
- Coordinator
- Quarterly roadmap
- Quarterly budget, with flexibility to review and adjust monthly
- Monthly progress reports
Guild membership should be fluid, and any Nation3 Citizen should be able to join and exit guilds as they like.
Budget planning & incentives
Each quarter, a budget would be put forward by each guild, together with their roadmap. This budget and roadmap would then need to be approved by the DAO in the standard governance process.
Guilds should keep that budget in mind when determining compensation for tasks: itâs in their interest to ensure fair compensation so that the guild overall can perform well against the roadmap. If the entire roadmap is completed, all participating guild members would receive a bonus worth 100% of that guildâs quarterly contributor compensation budget, allocated pro rata to member contributions. For clarity purposes, this means base compensation as determined by budget, plus bonus.
The bonus only unlocks if more than 90% of the guildâs roadmap has been completed. After the first 90% have been completed, the bonus is allocated linearly, to ensure the final push for roadmap completion:
90% of roadmap = 50% bonus
95% of roadmap = 75% bonus
100% of roadmap = 100% bonus
While this might seem like a large amount to be allocated as bonus, I strongly believe that overachievers should be heavily compensated, and itâs paramount for the DAO to attract overachievers if we are to achieve the ambitious goals weâve set out.
Task Management
Each Guild would manage their own Dework board, creating tasks based on their quarterly roadmap. The Guild would assign compensation for each task, according to the total budget they have approved. It is in their interest to compensate those fairly, as the entire Guild is incentivised to complete the entire roadmap to unlock their bonus.
Any Citizen can pick up these tasks, as citizens are free to move around Guilds to work on tasks they see as a fit.
At the end of each month, the Guild coordinator would present a report of the Guildâs progress against the roadmap. The community can then pass a vote to determine whether the roadmap is indeed fulfilled, and unlock the bonus.
Exceptions: roles that require (some level of) permanency
There might be exceptions for roles that require permanency, either for technical or management efficiency reasons, such as:
- Rewards Committee: as multisig holders, it is complex to replace individuals, and cannot feasibly be task-based)
- Guild Coordinators: having a specific individual elected as Guild Coordinator for a period of time helps cohesiveness of the guild. They would be able to oversee task completion towards defined goals while interacting with individual members on a consistent basis. Having a task-based Coordinator would likely result in chaotic dynamics within guilds.
- Community Coordinators: exactly the same as above, it helps achieve coherency in the community to have specific individuals in the role for a longer period of time.
- Treasury Committee: as a high-risk, high-responsibility role, this required expert and thoroughly vetted individuals that have a proven reputation as âtop of the gameâ in the Web3 ecosystem when it comes to asset management. This Committee would also require a high degree of accountability for treasury performance. Finally, due to the nature of Web3 markets, a longer time period might be required to demonstrate performance of a given strategy. Hence, the role cannot be task-based.
Conclusion
This feels like the most suitable format of work for an organisation that scaled to such large numbers within the first few days of existence. This compartmentalisation of tasks allows inclusivity, transparency, and efficiency in a decentralised organisation, while allowing the creation for an internal economy thatâs so critical for a cloud nation.
This model also helps us avoid problems such as âWhy do they get a higher salary than me, I think I work just as hardâ, âWhen will I get a raise?â âhow can I be a core contributorâ, and other issues associated with centralised HR.
