How to DAOs for Creators
Come for the money, stay for the tech/community/vibes ✨💫
Welcome to Introduction to the Creator and Passion Economy Module 4! This course was created by Faces of Web3.
Previously, we learned about the creator economy, introduction to cryptomedia, and how to power your career as a creator with cryptocurrency. You can catch up with the previous modules here.
We have 5 free tickets to epic web3’s summit, so keep reading to find them!
💬 As the unemployment rate and cost of living continue to skyrocket in most African countries, many creators in countries like Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, SA, and lots more (regardless of technical background) are flocking to the decentralized communities that are DAOs and earning in cryptocurrencies of various sorts to hedge against inflationary rates.
💡FOW3 has been teaching and contributing to and sharing Africans' experiences in the web3 and DAO space.
🧑🏾💻 We’ve put together a lightweight, yet comprehensive enough course to get creators started on how to earn some cryptocurrency as a DAO contributor.
P.S: You do not need programming or technical skills/knowledge to get started with contributing to a DAO, DAOs are increasingly in need of creators to help bring ideas to life, so whether you’re a web, content, Youtube creator, artist, or community builder, there's a dire need for your skills and creativity in DAOs. You need a sense of curiosity, a willingness to learn while doing, and an ownership mentality. Let’s dive in!
What is a DAO?
Decentralized Autonomous Organizations are internet-native ways people come together to organize and work towards a shared mission, they’re also communities where members have the power to make decisions and oversee a shared treasury and the operations/implementation of such day-to-day activities.
In simpler terms, a DAO is like a Facebook group where anyone can join as a member and engage with others except in this instance, members are also involved in how the group is operated. Everyone in the group, along with admins has the power to decide what’s acceptable behavior in the group and what gets discussed daily. It is also an open, sometimes permissionless community with a shared purpose where decision-making (including how funds are allocated/spent, partnerships, or hiring talent) and day-to-day operations are done by community members or anyone interested in becoming a member.
The rules that define and guide the organization are stored on the blockchain through the use of smart contracts.
One can also think of a DAO as a startup/company, except, in this case, decisions aren’t made by just CEOs and boards of directors alone, but by those who exist in its community and those who contribute to its mission.
“Whether you're referring to a group of people using DAO software, or the software itself, the purpose of a DAO is to facilitate coordination. Treasury management and collective governance are two of the most challenging areas for any organization to implement. DAOs are an exceptional tool for managing these areas. So, when you hear someone say “you should join a DAO” what they mean is that you should join a community, team, or project that is using DAO software to coordinate decisions”.
As a creator, DAOs can potentially offer you the freedom to carve your path and do what you love in web3 and a chance to work in a collaborative, yet fast-paced environment.
“DAOs are all about maximizing stakeholder value. The users and contributors are also the investors and owners. While community ownership seems weird and novel and almost hippie, it’s actually a more natural model than a few outside investors and board members dumping a bunch of money into a company and deciding what it should do. The reason we do it the way we do is that, until now, it’s been too hard to coordinate having a lot of small owners/stakeholders who all get a say in decision-making. Technology is finally enabling the more natural model.”
Essentially, DAOs support communities, fund projects, and incentivize participation.
Why are DAOs important?
Group organization and coordination are one of the most significant and recurring themes in solving major local and global issues. On a macro level, global crises like (world hunger, climate change, food and national insecurity, species extinctions, corruption, widespread disease, and lots more) only persist because only a few people happen to care about them enough to actually do something about it.
Global issues require global coordination in order to solve them, this is where DAOs come in. DAOs present us with the tools to come together, deliberate on problems, and provide solutions to them in a transparent and inclusive way.
But Global issues are not the only issues that DAOs solve. DAOs fundamentally solve coordination and profit-sharing problems, which means that small groups can also form DAOs in order to launch an album, a comic book collection, or a series of short films.
Types of DAOs
There are currently over 225 listed on the List of DAOs, (a directory for DAOs) each of which has its mission and focus. In the same way startups and corporations have various industries such as fintech, e-commerce, health tech, or big data, all focusing on different missions yet following similar operation frameworks, so do DAOs exist in various types, sizes, and forms. A DAO can choose to focus on education, venture funding, or philanthropy. It all depends on its mission and goals. There are currently no less than 8 types of DAOs and as a creator, you need to be aware of these different DAO types so you can make a well-informed and well-suited choice when you’re ready to join one. Although it’s more likely for most creators to enjoy contributing to social and media DAOs a lot more than say, a protocol DAO, it doesn’t mean there’s no room to thrive in other non-social DAOs.
There are numerous use cases for DAOs ranging from an organization raising funds for the Ukraine army to the governance body of Defi protocols. As such, this suggests that there are many types of DAOs worth exploring further.
Protocol DAOs are DAOs built to govern decentralized protocols like dApps or decentralized exchanges. For instance, Uniswap is a decentralized protocol and cryptocurrency exchange platform governed by its community members and holders of the UNI token, this means that most decisions regarding the protocol require community inputs and votes. Other protocol DAOs include Yearn Finance, Maker DAO,
Grant DAOs are dedicated to providing access to grants to Web3 projects in need of funding, and in some cases, operational support. If you have any experience in non-profit donations, grants, and even support, Aave Grants DAO, MolochDAO GitcoinDAO, Metacartel grants, and Ocean grants DAO are amongst the best DAOs you could get into.
Media DAOs are community-operated media companies. They provide media services like marketing, research, content writing, or design to Web3 projects or clients. If you’ve any prior experience in media, Bankless DAO, Pub DAO, and Forefront DAO are a few DAOs you could consider joining.
Service DAOs provide services to different groups ranging from web design, content creation, marketing, and project management to the Web3 ecosystem. DAOs to look out for in the service are Raid Guild, dOrg, DXdao
Venture DAO members pool funds and use democratic principles to decide on what promising early-stage Web3 startup or project to invest in. Prominent on this list are:
Collector DAOs pool resources and capital together to collectively own or invest in promising NFTs or collectibles.
Social DAOs run on vibes and are focused on bringing like-minded individuals or creatives together to form social communities and coordinate based on specific goals
Impact DAOs are decentralized organizations focused on delivering a positive impact to the world either through funding projects that affect human lives or by providing support. Climate DAO, Nation3, Bloomeria, and Biodiversity DAO are all great examples of impact DAOs.
Product DAO are communities where people come together to collectively build and ship products. A great example of a one is Party DAO
In our next lesson, we’ll dive deeper into each type of DAOs listed above and explore how you can join, contribute, and earn from them.
📚 Further reading
Decentralized Autonomous Organizations and the Promise of Utopia
Slaying Moloch: How DAOs can end world confusion, non-cooperation, and disorder.
What are ecosystem DAOs and why will they be important to Web3?
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