How We Win 
: Principles for Index Coop and Methodologists
authors: @setoshi @fallow8 @scott_lew_is @BigSky7
Background
Since the launch of Index Coop over a year ago - our principles have been our foundation. These principles shape everything we do within the DAO, they shape how we treat each other, how we welcome newcomers, and how we resolve disputes.
Methodologists are vital for our success and we need strong principles to guide our partnership with them. We affirm the principles laid out in this post - and hope they can serve as a guide for our next 100x of growth!
Index Coop is a Platform 
Index Coop is a platform for launching the best Web3 indexes in the world. Our full-stack team of global contributors works closely with methodologists and technology providers to design, launch, and maintain cutting-edge financial products. Community, Technology, and Methodology are the three central pillars of the Index Coop platform.
By harmonizing all three core pillars, Index Coop creates a powerful feedback loop. Great product ideas, incredible technology, and a strong community ensure that we launch the best possible products.
Each separate pillar is vital for our success.
Our Community provides deep expertise across the entire platform - including business development, marketing, product, engineering, and leadership. Contributors partner closely with methodologists and technology providers through every stage of the product life-cycle. Every contributor is vital for our success.
Methodologists generate product ideas and iterations. They come in all shapes and sizes - large data providers such as DeFi Pulse, DAOs like Bankless and Llama, or community-led teams like the passionate individuals behind $MVI and $DATA. Each methodologist brings something different to the table, but they all rely on Index Coop to help make their ideas into an incredible reality.
Index Coop builds products using sophisticated smart contract Technology. We work closely with the leading engineering teams in DeFi (specifically our founding members, SetLabs) to safely and effectively implement our indexes.
Principles for Methodologist Relations 
Imagine the Apple App store without any apps or Xbox without Halo - these would not be very successful businesses. Index Coop is only as successful as our partners. We want the most visionary thinkers in DeFi to build and launch on our platform.
To form long-lasting partnerships with a broad ecosystem of methodologists - we need to establish a common framework for working together. This framework is built around common principles and understandings. Individuals and groups may change, but the culture and values of Index Coop remain the same. Our values ensure that everyone is engaging with the Index Coop on a fair playing field.
In partnering with methodologists, we strive to maintain these principles.
- Focus on collaboration with clear roles and outcomes
- Ensure that Index Coop is a reliable partner to build a long-term business with
- Build with sustainable product economics that fairly reflect responsibilities
- Maintain clear and effective communication across all parties
DeFi is a fast and constantly evolving space. Alongside this, our community is multiplying in size and is continually adding new leaders and ideas. Strong principles allow us to cut through the noise and execute powerful strategies that rely on mutual trust, regardless of changing participants.
How we win 
We win by making Index Coop the best possible platform for launching great products. Giving methodologists confidence in our principles and clarity around our expectations is the first step towards creating an environment that fosters extraordinary innovation.
Over the past month, we have spent time examining almost every aspect of the Index Coop model. This study has helped generate significant clarity around crucial friction points and shortfalls. We hope that by by implementing these principles we can lay a rock-solid foundation for all our partners.
Collaboration
Index Coop strives to grow and build with our partners. We are only as successful as our partners. Collaboration is the key ingredient that ensures we are growing together and everyone is winning. The strength of our community is our ability to bring people and organizations together, and facilitate collaboration towards a common goal. By working together we accomplish far more than by working alone.
In traditional finance, there is often a focus on zero-sum games with clear winners and losers. At Index Coop, we strive to move away from this model and instead design collaborative games that facilitate mutual value creation and problem-solving. At Index Coop, we strive always to be playing collaborative games - both internally and with our partners.
Collaboration and collaborative games are central to everything that we do. Effective collaboration requires clear incentive structures and a clear understanding of everyone’s roles. We are committed to ensuring that our methodologist partners have a clear understanding of the Index Coop platform. Alongside this, we will ensure clear points of contact and product owners within our organization.
Reliable Partner
Index Coop strives to be the most reliable partner possible. Each product will have a clear product owner within our organization who is responsible for that product. Methodologists must be comfortable that no decisions will be made around the baseline economics or design of their products without full consent by all parties.
Index Coop will manifest this commitment to its partners by ensuring that each product has a clear product owner within the Coop. These contributors will be directly responsible for each product- and will be expected not to work on competitive products. Alongside this guidance will be established for product exclusivity and termination.
Sustainable Product Economics
We strive to launch products with incredible upside. Each product requires extensive investment from all parties. Ensuring that all parties receive a fair share of the upside based on both upfront investment and continued work is essential for making long-term agreements that work for all parties.
Designing good product economics requires lots of hard work upfront, and it takes time to understand the scope of responsibilities fully and who is responsible for what work. These frameworks illustrate what the required work looks like and should serve as the jumping-off point for further analysis of future products.
Moving forward, we will be implementing detailed product fee splits for all future products that clearly delineate lines of responsibilities across Index Coop and external methodologists.
Clear and Effective Communication
DAOs present many challenges. Lines of accountability are often unclear, and for outsiders, the entire structure appears opaque and hard to navigate. Methodologists will have clear and established methods for communicating with our community throughout the product life-cycle.
We need to be incredibly disciplined within the fast-moving and constantly evolving DAO structure. With so much change, it is easy for communication between parties to become degraded quickly. Maintaining effective communication is a discipline, and this discipline pays off exponentially over time.
To make sure that we are communicating effectively, we are setting up clear APIs communication meetings between methodologists and the Index Coop. These documents will provide clear responsibilities and all parties will be responsible for scheduled product updates.
Call to action 
Index Coop is only as strong as its partners. We welcome methodologists of all sizes and backgrounds - build with us! We are committed to ensuring that our organization becomes the best DAO in the world to develop long-term partnerships with.
As we partner with more and more methodologists, we will refine our processes and improve our frameworks. But what is essential is that our principles and values remain sound.
I am committed to these principles and hope that our community continues to set the example for all of Web3 with unparalleled professionalism, integrity and, and virtue.
