Second Annual ATX DAO Pitch Competition

spicynpc

The ATX DAO Pitch Competition is an amazing event that for me shows how a collective DAO effort can boost the Web3 community in general.
Regarding the Operational Expenses of $10,000:
Can we meet as many of these costs as possible in-house with the expertise of the DAO members? Marketing, Branding, Event Management and the Digital Experience (Website etc.). I believe there are many experts in the DAO who are willing to contribute their manpower and help to reduce the expenses for the DAO. To find out who would or could participate and in which department we could create a survey and send it to all members. What do you think?
Do we have to pay a high rent for the location in the Capital Factory or is this a partnership?

Jake

spicynpc we are free to use capital factory rooms thanks to the sponsorship mason locked down with them a couple years ago.

Jake

The current market conditions don't seem to be fostering innovation in Web3 sufficiently to ensure a successful and varied pitch competition. I'm skeptical about the risk-reward balance for the DAO. The primary advantage appears to be "getting our name out there," but arguably, a $3k billboard could achieve the same exposure if not more.

If anything I'd encourage this to be an ATXDAO X Capital Factory pitch competition for web2 and web3 to bring in more companies and to maybe aid in locking sponsorship beforehand or just to get Capital Factory more involved in the logistics. ATXDAO has a history of supporting arts & innovation for Austin locals that extends beyond Web3.

A breakdown of the $10,000 operating expenses would be interesting to see as well since food & drink are likely the largest expense here, and our space is free to use from the capital factory I'm struggling to see how we will spend $10k. We already possess signage from previous events, we have plenty of shirts to give out, posters, etc

512mace

Yeah my hope is that this would be the ATX DAO + Cap Fac pitch competition. Once we get through Permissionless I will begin that conversation.

We will need new signage FYI.

The primary thing with the operations budget is compensating the team for putting on a valuable project that aligns with our mission. Roberto has unique experience and relationships that made the previous event possible and he spent an incredible amount of work coordinating VCs, founders, etc. as well as the event in general. I will need to be compensated for managing the event, and Minero will need to be compensated for handling digital. I'm unsure if people understand the complexity and lift that are required to make this type of event happen and happen successfully.

If people object to the team being compensated, that's a different conversation that needs to be had. Sure, a lot of people in the DAO have experience, but mobilizing and coordinating that as well as teaching is a PM job in itself.

We need a culture of "create a project that delivers value to the DAO in the form of furthering our mission, propose compensation structure, and execute." If impact to the treasury is a concern, I would recommend assisting in fundraising efforts.

Jake

512mace 512mace I totally agree team members should be compensated for their efforts. However I still think we need transparency in the breakdown of how that $10k is being used. I’m well aware of the complexities and I also know you don’t make an event happen like this without having a breakdown of expenses.

Why do we need new signage or merch? We have boxes of old merchandise we’re still trying to get rid of.

512mace

New merch too probably.

velvetbastard

First off, I want to express how thrilled I am about the 2nd Annual ATX DAO Pitch Competition! Last year's event looked amazing and would love to contribute to the 2024s.

I do have some points I'd like to address that are essential for maintaining the transparency and fiscal responsibility of the DAO.

1) Detailed Budget: The $20,000 budget proposal is significant, and I appreciate the work that's gone into planning this event. It's crucial to outline each expenditure category clearly so that everyone understands exactly how the DAO's resources are being allocated for such an event.

2) Formalize a Budgeting System: This event is a substantial financial commitment and suggests the need for a formal budgeting system for projects of this scale. Implementing such a system can only aid us in future initiatives.

3) Sponsorship Compensation: I propose that all sponsorship-related tasks be 100% commission-based. For those who are contributing to various aspects of the event, their time-based compensation should not include sponsorship efforts. This aligns their financial incentives with the DAO's financial health.

4) Job Board: Let's create a job board outlining various roles and responsibilities required for the event. This will allow community members to better understand where their skills can be most useful and how they can contribute effectively.

5) Transparent Post-Mortem: Once the event is over, let's make it a point to go through a transparent post-mortem. This would include accounting for every dollar spent and an analysis of the event's success - all to inform and improve future initiatives.

I personally see this as an opportunity to start setting some standards and formalities - because as we start scaling in size there needs to be standards to obtain consistency, and accessibility, and really empower other members to take on tasks.

Let's make this event an astounding success while maintaining the integrity of our community processes.

512mace

I don't need to manage this event, I recommend that @velvetbastard lead that effort and he can assign things to me like coordinating relationship with Capital Factory as needed.

Ncasares

I’m excited to see the pitch event on the table for another year. Our first event proved to be a great way to support and connect with the community (which is a core tenet of our mission.)

I understand the concerns about the operational costs for the event but I wanted to offer my perspective as someone who has previously coordinated a major event with a team of volunteer contributors. The lift for these events is no small undertaking, and this is a fairly tight timeline. I’m concerned that an event planning process significantly different from our previous approach could jeopardize the event quality and/or timeline.

To be clear, I’m 100% in favor of leaning into our membership’s strengths, but I think we should crawl before we run with a new event management process.

Side note - the proposed event timeline also overlaps Q4 and holiday season (which may result in less committed volunteers due to work/family/travel obligations.)

Jake

Ncasares this is actually a great point, this proposed timeline will happen the same time a bunch of dao members will be in tulum.

RobertoTalamas

Appreciate the feedback. I will try to address all the concerns from the community below

Unique Positioning of the ATX DAO Pitch Competition: It is important to emphasize that the ATX DAO pitch competition stands uniquely as it is not just another party in our roster. It fulfills a distinctive need in the market, catering to budding startups and fostering innovation, which is at the bedrock of one of our core organizational pillars. It aims to cultivate a culture that transcends beyond just "getting our name out there" and fundamentally contributes to the fabric of the Web3 community in Austin.

Detailed Breakdown of Operational Expenses: You all raised valid points questioning the allocation of the $10K for operational expenses. Let's delve deeper:

Food and Drinks: Up to $2,000
Signage and Merch: Up to $1,000 - This caters not only to signage but also merchandising which encompasses a variety of aspects including some fresh and event-specific articles that go beyond the existing inventory of shirts and posters.
Event Management:
- Mason and I: $4,000 split 50/50 - This is essentially for orchestrating the entire event which is a meticulous process requiring an enormous amount of effort and coordination.
- Minero: $3,000 - Engaged for:
  - Website for the entire event
  - On the same website, the startup applications form
  - Registration to attend the event
  - A method to capture the people's choice vote
  - A method for the judges to vote on finalist
  - NFT trophies for the winners
  - NFTs for the semifinalists
  - NFTs for the judges
- It is important to understand that the goal here is to rightly compensate the team which wasn't the case previously. The burden of responsibility and the spectrum of tasks is extensive and requires a big time commitment from the organizers.

Event Timeline and Previous Experience: While your concerns about the timeline are valid, it is worth noting that last year, the event timeline started in November giving us less than 3 months to put the entire event together considering the holiday season. This time we'll have 6 weeks for planning. It was not an issue then and it should not be an issue this time either.

Collaboration with Capital Factory: The suggestion to collaborate with Capital Factory is great and I fully agree. The current proposition does stand to benefit extensively from a partnership with them, potentially broadening the scope to encompass Web2 along with Web3 in order to widen the range of companies and ensuring a richer, more diverse pitch competition.

As Mason said above, if people’s main objection is the team compensation then we can have that conversation separately. If anyone has the time and is willing to put the event together for less compensation to save the DAO a few $$$ then I’d be happy to provide guidance.

Jake

RobertoTalamas My main objection is the fact that only 3 dao members are able to contribute for compensation and they've been pre-determined. I would argue that ATXDAO as a whole has a bad history of doing this and it's gone on for far too long. It has led to inefficient spending and an inefficient use of our greatest resource as a DAO...our people. If you have the experience to make this even happen then you have the knowledge needed to make a job board for this event and to divy up the responsibilities and the operational budget. I'm personally tired of the DAO being used to pad the resumes and pockets of only a select few individuals, and this event, should it happen, is a great chance to set a precedent to change that. (I'd like to clarify, that I think the DAO is an amazing tool for people to not only get paid for the work they put in but also a way to bolster their resumes and experiences. I do not think this is inherently wrong or malicious, rather I would like ALL DAO members to be able to do this and in the past, it hasn't been easy or possible for members to participate in a meaningful way. )

Who knows maybe we can actually save the DAO money, just as an example for the most recent event I was informed we had a budget of $1000 for the door and I found two people who would do it for about $200 and I sacrificed about 10 hours of my own time. You say $4000 is fair compensation for organizing the event but your time might just be worth more than others, I work for $20/hr at my day job so this would be equivalent to me putting in 200 hours.

The more people we get involved the more experienced individuals we will have in the future. It's important for the DAO to begin this transition to a more decentralized system for all future events. My intention is to not call out anyone in particular, I'm not trying to make enemies or trying to denounce the efforts of previous events. I just want to place an emphasis on the fact that it would be great to get more DAO Members involved so that anyone can gain experience, and proposals like this immediately block off avenues for other members to participate.

I am happy to create a spreadsheet and write all the tasks we need and see if we can more DAO members to participate especially in regard to the operational challenges. Here's my first attempt:
https://app.charmverse.io/atx-dao/pitch-competition-job-board-4691656705130802

clifton

I think judges voting on a google spreadsheet when physically present with one-another is going to be much more efficient unless every judge is crypto native.

RobertoTalamas

clifton That's what we did last year and quickly became a mess with versioning and incomplete submissions. If scoring was only needed in the finals then there's no problem but when you introduced several rooms with many judges scoring a the same time the process becomes more cumbersome.

bobwith2bees

Do I remember correctly we gave away a ATX-DAO member NFT as recognition for how much work the last pitch competition was? (i.e. we went over budget) So the budget to me, while high - isn't a deal breaker. Perhaps we add a few additions to the proposal to cover one of the concerns:

Repeatability:

Capture List of major deliverables
Have a post project assessment write up on what went well and what did not. (Last time we had significant challenges with checking in/registration and the food ran out, and we had to pass a DAO proposal to cover the prize money just in case....)
Capture the resource plan for the day of the event in a spreadsheet. Ideally showing heads and shifts (no names required if we just save what was for planning.) Bonus points for what roles scale with more attendees....
Ensure the voting approach is reusable. (At least documented if just a bunch of forms.)
Ensure the external communications are captured. (Not a full communication/marketing plan, but save a copy of the Emails / Tweets / DAO postings.)

willy

Just wanna say that I appreciate @Jake's push to daomocratize event coordination while also understanding that this is hard thing to accomplish at least without somebody “project managing” to identify what all the needs are, who is willing to do it, and ensuring that shit gets done. I think where we landed is a happy medium that will enable more community members that are interested in contributing to get involved while mitigating the risk of the event not going smoothly and potentially having a net negative impact.

Appreciate @512mace, @RobertoTalamas, and @minero for getting the ball rolling for this as well as Jake for voicing his opinion, proposing an alternative, and taking on the role of PM.

Looking forward to our 2nd annual pitch competition 🚀