It’s been..a year. You were there, so no need to get into it. And pretty much over any FTX news at this point 🚮. What did we all learn this year (besides don’t become the main character)? What were your takeaways and what will you do in 2023 that you’ll be proud of this time next year?
What sticks out most for me were the times spent IRL with many of you; from Denver, Costa Rica (pura vida 🤙) to Amsterdam, other parts of the EU and…back to Denver with some stops in between and around. 2023 does not look to let up in that department with many hearts and minds looking to the East! 🐉
Reminiscing aside, thank you for your contributions to this space and specifically to this weird little niche we’ve carved out. 2023 will surely be the year of DAOs, but if not we’ll always have next year. 😜
🥀 The Chili is Dead
We face quite an interesting predicament that’s bubbled up in the past few months, post MCON2 - is the DAO still providing value to the ecosystem as originally intended? Are we good stewards of the treasury or has governance been captured or subverted somehow? Is MetaCartel still a grant giving organization or more of a social club? And is that okay (porque no los dos 🙌)? Does anybody even care anymore (who’s actually reading this on 12/31)😶? Can we continue to innovate or will we let this experiment die and hope the seeds will carry on to new pastures? 🐄
I don’t have good answers to these questions, and certainly everyone has opinions but hopefully the spice will continue to flow, in whatever form.
In retrospect (which is what year ends are for, right?) - MetaCartel planted many new seeds early on, hence the normally programmed rundown for DAOhaus (great work on DAOcember), MetaFactory, MetaGame, MetaGammaDelta, MCV, RaidGuild, and a host of other DAOs surviving through this bear market. 🐼
Surviving is what we are best at here, thriving is for the next bull. 📈
Long Live the Chili 🌶️
Some sprouts are forming though 🌱, one seedling that’s been particularly effective is the formation of PODS (not to be confused with pods.finance - congrats team on the raise!) - essentially, small nimble groups that could quickly evaluate projects and most importantly, execute. The chili pods are delegated workgroups of MC DAO members that can act faster in smaller groups. A side vault is managed by this smaller team but the main DAO can always pull funds and re-purpose for whatever reason.
Dekan gave a quick retro on Chili Pod #1, aka Super Scouts - which funded five teams: Symmetrical, Emergence, BattleZips, ESP, FUX. ⏩
🗺️ Chili Pod #2 (ETHos) brings IRL event experimentations world wide and we look forward to see the beginnings of some amazing new experiences not solely in Denver: https://forum.metacartel.org/t/ethos-chili-pod-2/2646
🎭 The most recent vote to pass has been TravisWyche’s proposal to fund the Pluriverse Pod, excited to see what materializes, and congrats to TW as our newest member.
🗞️ Lastly, Rika’s posted a proposal for a MetaMedia Chili Pod - please take a gander, provide feedback, and look forward to seeing this put to vote in the new year!
What happens next?
Well upon reflection, seems like we accomplished quite a lot of things despite this strange year of centralized implosions: a GM bus has traversed the country 🚌, Onboarding with WGMI and some spicy tejo action in Colombia, Friends Kicked it at a Castle 🏰, PublicNouns.wtf, MetaCamp v1 🏕️, and definitely MCON2 back 2 school edition 🎒 were some highlights, alongside grants that were still given out, even if we haven’t been able to systematize those operations.
But I think that’s okay.
Clearly there’s much more work to be done, especially in a bear (yo, remember the Merge?) Let’s just continue to have fun, build, and re-assess if it ever starts to feel laborious. And if you’re reading this and looking to get involved somehow, ping somebody! 🗣️
Two final things:
1.) We have a new website, in case you haven’t heard: https://www.metacartel.org/
Thanks to all those who contributed, be sure to check out, revisit, and sign the manifesto!
…You can only mobilize and empower a community to contribute when information flows efficiently and freely. Our future vision and direction are decentralized, iterative and driven by its members, not premeditated. Our success will emerge from the community’s own willingness to contribute, self organize and collaborate. Our strengths lie in being flexible and tolerating of the chaos that comes along with community ownership….
2.) Moloch v3 Migration discussion - this is going to happen, and remains to be determined how exactly. cupOjoseph’s provided quite an interesting and potentially contentious proposal here: https://forum.metacartel.org/t/moloch-v3-upgrade-to-moloch-v3-as-a-radical-experiment-in-decentralization-quadratic-upgrading/2693
Look for respectful discussions on how we’ll move forward, and always excited to see what our future holds. In this year of beautiful destruction, loss (RIP to 👵) and pain, bridge hacks, kumbayas, the Merge, ups and downs and further downs - I’m still thrilled to be a part of this community, and thank you for being a part of the journey.💞
Peace and love, see you out there ✌️
-t