Summary
A small number of Etherian magicians and longevity enthusiasts, including Vitalik Buterin are building a “pop up city.” This proposal explores ways Gitcoin could support this event with resources (time and financially), and deliver impact for the Ethereum community, Gitcoin and the general growth and funding of public goods to help build “pop up cities”.
Below you will find details for how we might support, grow and build lasting relationships, processes, and support for those looking to stand up pop up cities and fund their shared needs in the future.
Abstract
Zuzalu is a new concept proposed by a core team of builders with the goal of building intentional community amongst like minded individuals in a location that offers those participating a positive social environment for learning, being healthy and coordination. This pop up city has the support of the local government. This support extends to housing locations, visa applications and some other real life requirements (like utilities, internet, etc.). Vitalik is personally subsidizing a large percentage of costs incurred by this experiment, an incredible gift and experiment in collaboration with the broader Ethereum community. I believe Gitcoin should help make this event successful and help fund public goods for Zuzalu so that learnings from this experiment can be replicated elsewhere.
It is a rare opportunity that we might help support the creation of a new city and enforce the value of funding, building and supporting public goods (values core to Gitcoin that we now have an opportunity to support IRL). Gitcoin is known for our ability to rally and empower communities to fund their shared needs, and with the expertise we have, I believe we can help shape a regen culture for these newly emerging pop-up communities and provide valuable technical infrastructure as Gitcoin to empower communities, like Zuzalu, to allocate capital to community members in a highly democratic way.
Motivation
Gitcoin has been invited to support Zuzalu in a number of ways, and it is my strong opinion we should rise to this occasion and support in a fiscally responsible, but open hearted way. Below we outline a few of the ways Gitcoin can support this event without trying to coop the intent, or the outcomes!
I (Janine) have been invited to lead and support the “boots on the ground” initiatives. My experience in building intentional communities and planning, hosting and cultivating meaningful in-person events and love of public goods leaves me in a unique situation to dive in head first and ensure the event is successful (more on that below). We as Gitcoin have a unique opportunity to showcase the Allo protocol, and fund a Public Goods round for the event participants. This QF round will support the collective funding of Zuzalu’s shared needs, which are shaping up to be quite expansive (basic necessities, OSS projects being developed, experiences, etc.)
It is our intention to support Zuzalu in a way that brings back learnings for how to apply funding models to local communities. Said differently, we want to build a playbook for how Allo protocol can be leveraged to fund shared needs. And we want to do this in a way that does not shill our protocol as the only solution, but instead invites learnings and feedback to help us improve.
Specification
This proposal is broken down into four main categories: Resourcing and the tasks those resources will be taking, protocol support with details and timing thoughts, matching pool funding to enable the round, timeline and expectations for the longevity of scope.
Resourcing
I am requesting $82,000 in funding to support myself and 3-4 other team members in coordinating, leading and executing the Zuzalu event in coordination with the core planners on the initiative. We will cover the following scope:
- Event Logistics and project (or city) management
- Team and volunteer building and management
- On-site Public Goods conference event
Protocol Support
In an effort to showcase Allo, and gather feedback from participants of Zuzalu and beyond we would like to run a Quadratic Funding round where Allo is used with support from our team (PGF, Allo Workstream, MMM, etc.). There is no direct cost associated with this request, but it would inject minor requirements to their seasonal commitments. We expected that work to entail:
- Operating the Zuzalu Public Goods round so both local Zuzalu residents and those who cannot be there but want to participate virtually can
- Promoting the grants round to the broader Ethereum community to support high impact projects
Matching Pool Funding
The Zuzalu team would love to run a Quadratic Funding round for Zuzalu, and Gitcoin has the ability to step up as a primary funder of this event. By pledging $100k from our matching pool, we can incentivize community members to participate and fund Zuzalu’s shared needs and public goods more broadly to support intentional community building. This request feels like a small amount of money, with a large impact on the Zuzalu experiment, especially given the generosity of Vitalik’s involvement in our Grants Matching pool to date (dog tokens) and constant support marketing every grants round. It would be incredible to support a project that is not just pushing forward technology in the crypto ecosystem but also the broader social and cultural infrastructure we live in. I’d love to see Gitcoin support Zuzalu in this experiment.
Timeline and Duration of Scope
Zuzalu is scheduled to kick off on March 25 and run through May 25 2023. I am planning to continue to focus my time energy on this project during its duration, with some minor wrap up period. If the DAO agrees to support the grants round, our involvement will run throughout the course of Zuzalu and ideally help gather feedback and ideas for new features on grants stack or builds on the Allo protocol. As such, our budgeting request is to cover costs during the duration of the first IRL Zuzalu.
Benefits
There are numerous benefits to supporting this event. I have outlined below some of the reasons that stand out:
- Legitimacy - We have an unique opportunity to showcase our ability to support novel experiments in the Ethereum Ecosystem. Our support showcases our expertise in community building, event facilitation and also offers us the ability to get feedback on our protocols. This will broaden our legitimacy as experts in enabling communities to fund their shared needs, and also sharpen our ability to deliver impactful results with our efforts.
- Grow Public Goods - Zuzalu has a unique opportunity to build Zuzalu Public Goods so the rest of the world can benefit from this experiment freely and openly. In addition, there is a planned Public Goods week (PGw) at Zuzalu where Gitcoin can play a part in furthering our Grant Program’s goals of funding public goods.
- Development - Zuzalu is positioned as a two month long hackathon. Having boots on the ground who can support interest in Allo protocol, and Passport will be immensely valuable in seeding the development of novel dApps on the protocols. Though this is not a primary goal (ie, we do NOT want to shill!), we do expect there to be genuine interest that can be best supported through direct involvement in the event.
- Relationships - Deep participation in an event like this builds and strengthens relationships with those at the forefront of innovation and experimentation in our Ethereum Ecosystem. We will develop meaningful relationships translating into future funding partners, protocol devs, grantees and contributors to public goods. Showcasing Gitcoin’s excellence will invite novel opportunities for us to expand our reach and network.
- Funding - We know that while this opportunity is largely being funded by one individual, that can’t be the model moving forward. Learning from this experiment to help future Zuzalu’s allocate funds has value.
- Talent - If this is a success, it will help us attract talent to our DAO and hopefully to the regenerative side of crypto as a whole.
This list is likely not exhaustive but showcases the intentionality we have in pursuing involvement and support for Zuzalu.
Drawbacks
While the benefits list is large, it is not without potential drawbacks. I have tried to offer those drawbacks as honestly as possible, but I am biased given my desire and interest in seeing us support Zuzalu.
- Resourcing - It was recently announced Annika will not be returning to Gitcoin after her maternity leave. Me stepping away to focus on supporting Zuzalu will both open opportunities for two team members, but also test the PGF team and their ability to plan our next Grants round (scheduled for the end of April). We have already started to put a plan in place to ensure they will be successful, but there will likely be unforeseen risks.
- Capital - funding an initiative like this won’t be free, and my request comes at a time when Stewards are calling for more focus and reduced spending. I am proposing this as I believe the ROI is significantly larger than the cost, but the cost are real.
- Distraction - Zuzalu could be considered a distraction to our most important thing (Allo protocol). While I understand that the launch of our Allo protocol is our most important focus area, I actually feel like this is in an effort to ensure that launch is successful, by positioning it as a possible solution for how Zuzalu may fund its shared needs.
- Measurement of outcomes - The timeline for this event is rapidly approaching and we do not have the ability to be as thoughtful in how we might measure success (to then report back on if we actually delivered the outcomes we set out to achieve). There are ways to mitigate this, but the credibly neutral analysis on if this had the impact we expected will likely be difficult to generate.
This list is likely not exhaustive but showcases the potential drawbacks to our approach. I would encourage feedback and discussion if folks feel there are others that we should mitigate!
Vote
I am proposing this vote with three options, and will not post this with an abstain to prevent that option from being the one chosen. Here are the three options:
1 - Vote yes to completing funding the initiative with the requested resources and matching pool funds:
- $100k in Matching Pool funds
- $82K in remuneration for the team working to deliver this event and these outcomes.
2 - Vote yes to funding the initiative, but not offering the matching pool funds for the event.
- $82K in remuneration for the working team and events at Zuzalu
3 - Vote yes to funding the matching pool, but not offering remuneration for the team work:
- $100k in Matching Pool funds
4 - Vote No on financially supporting the event in any capacity.
5 - abstain (edited based on @krrisis comment below)
If during our discussion period more voting options are presented that the community would like us to include, we will do that as well.