[RFC] Encode Club Grant Proposal

Title: EncodeClub Grant Proposal

Author(s): @encodeclub

Related Discussions: N/A

Submission Date: December 8, 2022

Simple Summary:

Encode suggests to receive $30K USD from Euler and allocate to grant projects as it sees fit, whilst engaging, consulting and involving the community in decisions.

Abstract:

Encode Club will organise a pilot grants programme that will aim to familiarise their community with the Euler DAO’s bounties. Their team will be entrusted with their promotion and furthermore tasked with evaluation of the best projects submissions, making sure that each is up to the standards set by the DAO.

The programme will closely resemble the previously successful “Bounties4Bandits” grants that Encode ran for Saddle. A summary of its execution and results can be found here.

Encode Club is a web3 education community. We help people learn, build and launch their web3 careers. We do this through high quality events such as educate series, hackathons, accelerators and bootcamps. 1000s graduate from Encode programmes each month with many getting jobs and starting companies (Euler itself won an Encode hackathon).

Motivation:

Encode Club will crowdsource ideas for bounties from the community and will decide what bounty size to allocate for each. Each of the bounties should consist of:

  1. Brief summary and explanation

  2. Clearly outlined deliverables

  3. Execution and delivery within the timeline of the programme

  4. Amount of funding attached

There will be two types of bounties:

  1. Competitions → several projects compete and the best gets the bounty award at the end of the programme.

  2. Award → a single team is selected to answer the bounty, and receives the award upon completion by the end of the programme.

Bounties will be listed on the Encode website and a public call for participants will be made. Encode Club will take care of promoting and marketing the initiative as well as organise several education events with community members and investors from the Euler community throughout the bounty period.

Teams then build by the deadline and the best are given bounties as judged by Encode, with a show and tell finale. The total value of the funds distributed by EncodeClub is $30K USD. For the pilot, Encode will not charge any operational fee and run the programme pro bono for the benefit of the Euler ecosystem.

If the programme proves successful, Encode would iterate and apply again from Q2 2023 for a follow up grants programme and will charge its standard operational fee at the time.

  • Yes - move this proposal to voting
  • No - do not move this proposal to voting

0 voters

3 Likes

Hi, thanks for the RFC.

Since incubation, how have you been involved with Euler / the community? I would’ve thought, given how much of the token you hold, you would be more involved (e.g, I’m surprised that this is your first forum post).

A few questions:

  • What are your core principles as it relates to Euler?
  • What does a successful program look like? It shouldn’t just be “gave out grants” - I’d like to see a few metrics or KPIs we as a community can use to gauge the success.
  • I’m a little confused about Encode giving grants as it sees whilst involving the community in decisions. Can you expand more on this? It feels conflicting.

To the community, are there open bounties or a list of grants we’re trying to fund? If not, this feels like doing something just for the sake of doing something. I’m all for grants, but we as a community should have a clear thesis on what grants are of the highest value to us to give out.

Before providing additional details to your points, there’s one thing we believe deserves to be addressed from the very beginning:

I would’ve thought, given how much of the token you hold, you would be more involved (e.g, I’m surprised that this is your first forum post).

What you are referring to is Encode’s investment arm. This post and the Grant Proposal initiative as a whole originate from the Operations team, which will eventually be tasked with the programme’s execution (if the proposal is to be approved).

As for your other questions, we’re more than happy to dive in and provide more info:

  • What are your core principles as it relates to Euler?

Our core principles remain the same regardless of the project we’re partnering up with. Encode’s goal is to deliver top tier programmes that aid enthusiasts, developers and projects alike in achieving their goals and pushing the web3 space forward.

  • What does a successful program look like? It shouldn’t just be “gave out grants” - I’d like to see a few metrics or KPIs we as a community can use to gauge the success.

Very good point and we agree completely.

  1. No grants will be given away for the sake of just doing so. Grants will be awarded only if the previously outlined prerequisites are met (outlined in the bounty requirements under the Motivation part of the proposal).
  2. Any Unused money will be returned directly to the DAO upon completion of the programme.
  • I’m a little confused about Encode giving grants as it sees whilst involving the community in decisions. Can you expand more on this?

Involving the community is crucial and we believe it should have a say in the direction the grants programme will take. We’ll be taking its suggestions and ideas under consideration with regard to picking the proper bounties. Encode will then refine them and in due time - make sure the best builders are rewarded adequately for their efforts.

1 Like

Thank you for the proposal @encodeclub

Could be please help us understand:

a. Out of the total $30K ask, how much will be used to award teams vs covering your own costs?

b. Based on your past engagements, are there any metrics which you could share which have benefited the core protocol?

Eg:

Onchain metrics such as DAUs, TVL
Social media engagement stats
Or anything else which you can share

c. The teams which you have rewarded with Saddle have received vested tokens. Would you be open to receiving and awarding vested EUL tokens for Euler as well?

d. Are there any milestones which you recommend for this project and would you be open to receiving milestone based unlocks for this grant?

a. Out of the total $30K ask, how much will be used to award teams vs covering your own costs?

We’ve touched upon this in the initial post - the requested amount is for grants only. Encode will run this programme pro bono.

b. Based on your past engagements, are there any metrics which you could share which have benefited the core protocol?

DAUs, TVL and Social Stats are not great metrics for programmes like these. Instead our focus is on teams and submissions. That being said, these vary greatly from one programme to another and are heavily influenced by other factors such as the respective ecosystem’s state, challenges formulation and bounty sizes. Our goal with this programme would be to push for a high number of teams engaged throughout the programme and subsequently - a good amount of project submissions for the selected bounties.

c. The teams which you have rewarded with Saddle have received vested tokens. Would you be open to receiving and awarding vested EUL tokens for Euler as well?

We are open to follow the DAO’s direction on this. Stables are the usually preferred option, but if the community wants to do this specifically on EUL - we’d be fine with it.

d. Are there any milestones which you recommend for this project and would you be open to receiving milestone based unlocks for this grant?

Our goals are to encourage and foster building through organising an engaging, challenging and rewarding programme. Additionally we’d love to listen and involve the community in structuring and outlining the grans.

Hey! First of all, thanks for the proposal. While there is no detailed description of the bounties to be implemented, I like the style of the proposal. It is good that u focus particularly on devs teams (if I understood u correctly), that is going to bring long standing value to the Euler ecosystem. Additionally, since Encode is going to implement is pro bono , and given its reputation in the industry I do not see big financial risks here. Finally, given Encode detected and supported Euler, I count on its expertise.
Just curious, do u have a list of teams to involve in mind already?
Tend to support this proposal.

Just curious, do u have a list of teams to involve in mind already?

Not at the moment.

If the proposal is approved, we’ll proceed with identifying the appropriate bounties that teams should build for and then start promoting them.

1 Like

Go for it. Considering Euler came through an Encode Club hack back in the day this would be a great way to foster the next generation of Eulertarians. Encode Club are a great source of projects and good talent, the latter which is very hard to come by. Looking back at their history: Euler Finance, 0xmons, Reflexer to name a few :wink: .

$30K seems like a reasonable place to start and any unused funds are returned as discussed above.

1 Like

This is a super exciting proposal and I think it would be a great move from the Euler DAO to support this (as a delegate I am 100% behind it).

Euler began at an Encode hackathon. To have the opportunity to grow further with Encode, while fostering new talent is an absolute no brainer. To top it off, the “pro bono” offer is a very nice touch.

Let’s get this to vote.

1 Like

I’d say this has passed the temp check given that most are pleased it’s being handled for free. Voting will start tomorrow!

2 Likes