Thank you @mrMadila. I would like to nominate myself to join the Index Council.
Following on in @Metfanmike’s format, I hope I don’t bore you all. I must admit there is a lot of appeal in @LemonadeAlpha’s style.
On Index V1
Looking back, going from Q3 into Q4, Index Coop was drifting away from our core purpose. INDEX 2.0 despite all it promised, it did not live up to expectations and the need for a more structured organisation was borne. The council was the solution then and it remains our best path forward today.
The first iteration of the council achieved a lot but left a lot still on the table. The Council achieved what was the hardest task, it laid the foundations and started turning the ship. We will look back upon this time as a pivotal junction in our colourful web3 history.
Creating a remuneration structure, hiring a core team, creating the liquidity pod, launching products and moving the community towards more openly discussing what a sustainably Index Coop looks like, are all Council V1 big wins. Not perfect solutions, but big steps in the right direction. We have a high level vision now, we need to continue building on this, align all parts of our community and motivate our community to achieve excellence.
In Q1, I think the ship started to turn, we need to finish the turn, capture the wind and set sail. There is much, much hard work still to do if we are going to realise our ambitions. I would like to serve on Index Council II through the end of May to help continue the forward progress.
On Centralization vs. Decentralization
Neither. I don’t think we yet know what works best in Web3. We are pioneering things as we go but mostly things are built around narrative and ideology rather than proven tested web3 business models. In traditional companies, some specialise into a niche, others are more a group of business units within global conglomerates. For Index Coop, right now, I think a Council with “win teams” supporting is where we are at. Win teams receive strategic guidance from the council and then are expected to present their findings with the expectation they are adopted. The objective is to be nimble, make informed decisions and for us all to own the community outcome.
On Transparency
The Council should communicate when a decision is made, the rationale for the decision, and, if applicable, the rationale behind dissenting votes. The first 20 mins of the Wednesday call is perfect and the sCoop is a great way to catch up on it if you miss the call.
On Conflicts of Interest
For transparency, I am a contributor at Llama Community who has grants with various DAO for financial reporting and treasury management. I view this as a complementary relationship. I am a methodologist with Scalara for PINT & PAY, if you know if/when these products will launch, I’d like to know.
I will remove myself from any conversation that is seen by myself or others as having a conflict.
On Resource Allocation
I have led / managed projects spanning several continents with truly global teams supporting them. I have run teams in high pressure offshore environments, managed frame agreement contracts, successfully brokered multi-million dollar deals for a world leading engineering company. What I have learnt assembling teams, dispersing them and building again with the project life cycle is you really need to do the core things really well with a lean team and then resource up and down to suit what needs to be done. Index Cooperative should be dense in talent, lean in headcount and experimental at heart. To quote @LemonadeAlpha when something works “pour fuel on the fire”.
I could rewrite what @Metfanmike wrote, but we are cut from the same cloth in this regard. The below quote perfectly articulates what I hope to convey.
We can then evaluate if we need to do any treasury diversification. We might not need to but in time we will know what the future holds.
On Delegation of Decision Making
Looking back over V1, more EWG input would have been great. Our Dev team has grown so much and it would be great seeing more of their knowledge at council level. I think the Council does serve the cross-function role really well, it nearly became a cross-function pod at one point… However, V1 of the council can definitely be improved. Much like @catjam, I am more in favour of 5 instead of 7. We need to ensure the SME are a part of the conversion even if they are not on the Council as such. Delegation is key to scaling, if you boil it down, the Council can set high level directions and then Nests / pods / win teams can figure out the finer details.
I think we do need to figure out who we are before we decentralise out too much decision making. Index Coop is a bit fragmented atm, we don’t all rally behind the same vision. Are we an on-chain business or are we an on-chain local sports club ? We are philosophically divided and I think one of the first things the Council needs to do is figure out who and what is Index Coop. I suspect it won’t please all, but we need alignment.
On why I would make a good council member (IMO)
- I am fully committed, a core contributor at the Coop. I have an extensive DeFi network that I utilise to benefit the Coop.
- I am a hybrid type resource, mostly Finance Nest but dabble in business development and product stuff.
- I like simplicity, structure and to move at speed. My opinions are dynamic which reflect the knowledge I have at the time and own my mistakes.
- Execution-minded - I have built, managed and led teams in multiple countries and in some incredible high stress environments. I have experience in engineering, contract, financial performance and do a lot of project management/coordination in my professional career.
- Strategic - I know DeFi reasonably well and I have informed connections that give me an edge. I created Finance Nest with a strategy and despite Index Coop’s continual pivoting, this team has stayed the same true to the original vision.
- We are an early-stage startup. We need a strong mix of leaders that can craft our strategy and execute it efficiently.
- I also want to give a huge shoutout to @Finance , who does a fantastic job in sharing the workload and ensuring everything gets done in a timely, efficient manner. We run a lean Nest and we work as a team which enables member(s) to step forward to serve the community on the council.
Thank you for taking the time to read the lengthy post and I really look forward to Index Coop pinning down its strategy and defining who and what is Index coop during the second council sitting.