Thanks for this writeup Janine, and the team for all the really thougtful work that has gone into this. As a Gitcoin Contributor and Steward (and Donor although I’m not sure if my quarterly $100 donations count lol), I lean towards directing our efforts to ensuring the Grants Protocol, the product that the entire DAO is now aligned towards building with the ratified Purpose and Essential Intents, gets all the attention it needs.
However I share the main fear identified by this group that going full-tilt on Option 1 could have detrimental impacts on the community’s perception of Gitcoin and the excitement + momentum we build during each Grants Round. Six months (or potentially longer) is a very long time in this ecosystem, and as a team we need more time (and capacity) to re-jig our engagement and marketing + education efforts, which are currently mainly focused on the Grants Program, towards the Grants Protocol. The one thing that Gitcoin decidedly does better than other grants programs in the ecosystem is the hype that our Grants Rounds generate (and this is no doubt due to the massive effort made by the team during these rounds). I believe six months is enough time for both our brand to lose that central place it holds in web3 as well as competitors to catch up in terms of narrative/product.
And there’s no point focusing our efforts in developing a product that people aren’t excited about. It’d be one thing if we were starting from scratch in terms of community buy-in, but to lose this credibility after all the work we’ve done to build it would be a huge loss.
My suggestion would be to meet somewhere in the middle of even these two options (even though Option 2 is sort of offered as a “middle option”). Over the next few months, we will have a better-defined engagement and product marketing strategy geared towards the Protocol, and having a small Grants Round as scheduled could be the buffer we need to maintain momentum. Option 2 as offered still includes six rounds - what if we just had 2-3 of the most popular of these options (OSS, Climate)? I think our Partners will be more understanding if their rounds end up getting delayed due to this (they run on longer timeframes and don’t lose interest as quickly), but users (donors/grantees) may be less forgiving - running a small GR16 can help provent a complete collapsing of narrative/interest.
Whatever direction we choose, I fully believe in this team’s ability to deliver a fantastic product. I know this because we already have one, and I’d like us to make sure we give it the thoughtful farewell that it deserves.