Protocol Ambassador - Guide

[Mringz]

Authors: @mringz @oneski22

Introduction

After the initial protocol ambassador forum post. We believe it will be good to recommend a mandate and process for protocol ambassadors to follow to bring the best out of the program. These recommendations will be based on what we have observed so far from protocol ambassadors as well as what activities the meta-governance committee has done so far.

Protocol Engagement

We believe the first step to introduce protocol ambassadors to a protocol is by an introductory forum post. Similar to what was done here. This is good for formally introducing the ambassador into the protocol community and sets the tone for what the protocol community can expect from the protocol ambassador.

Setting up a call with a core contributor of the protocol. Key for understanding how the protocol governance works and how to get more involved in the community.

Report back to Index Coop on initial engagements. This process will give Index Coop community an indication of what the protocol ambassador expects to do with the protocol and what to expect based on the initial engagements. Example of a brief report back here.

What to expect from protocol ambassadors

Expanding on the initial forum post we have highlighted the following executables:

• Communicate with affected protocols on meta-governance committee decisions e.g. AAVE, COMP - These decisions should be shared in the respective protocol forums.
• Drive new meta-governance integrations
• Integrate Index Coop products into governed protocols
• Attend weekly community call of governed protocol
• Provide a monthly governance report to Index Coop

Protocol Ambassador Compensation

In the original post, the protocol ambassadors are due to be compensated for their assistance. We believe we should use the following table to base compensation off.

Contribution	Compensation
Attend weekly protocol calls & produce a monthly protocol governance report	$500
Communicate meta-governance votes to affected protocol forum	$25 per proposal
Advice meta-governance committee on proposals	$25 per proposal
Meta-governance integration	$2 000
Product integrations*	$2 000

Any feedback on the above recommendations is most welcomed.

(*) - signals a change from the original proposal.

Poll added

FOR

Adopt this guide to reward protocol ambassadors

Against

Do not adopt this guide for protocol ambassador compensation

• Adopt this guide for protocol ambassador compensation
• Do not adopt this guide for protocol ambassador compensation

[mel.eth]

FOR: This program is a great way to make sure we’re staying informed as a DAO. Love the clear path drawn from contribution to reward; we need more of this. Thanks @Mringz and @oneski22

[Metfanmike]

Love the best practices post, @Mringz!

Straightforward and specific with concrete examples of the reporting.

The only feedback/questions are on the comp table. If I’m understanding your proposal, if an ambassador worked to integrate all of our current products (5) onto a protocol, that’s a $10k upfront payment (maybe $12k if INDEX is included), regardless of whether the initiative attracts new flows or succeeds. Is that accurate?

Similar to what I’m raising in the Kiba post, how do you think about rewarding business impact relative to upfront rewards for a multi-product integration? I believe there should be compensation for both, but the question is how we strike the right balance, so curious to hear your perspective.

[Mringz]

Thanks for your reply and support for this Mike. Very good question. My goal is to reward effort. I think we need a separate structure to reward impact, as that is more complex to reward. However I do take your point. Do you believe we need to reduce the Product reward?

[Metfanmike]

It’s not a reduction per se - more so a shift towards revenue share over upfront payments to ensure the business value is created. I could see the compensation being MUCH higher for an initiative that works but the Coop will be happy to compensate because the value has clearly been created.

To be clear, there is value for an integration being successfully negotiated and completed, so there should be compensation for that.

The hypothetical in my mind was that if you successfully completed an integration, and we’re at the point where we have seven products, and all are listed, but then nothing happens…that per product payment (in particular) would keep going up without value/revenue generation.

[Mringz]

I definitely understand your point. To mitigate against this. I would adjust to if an ambassador opens the doors for a Index Coop product integrations reward them a flat fee regardless of how many index coop products are on boarded after. Then allow another reward scheme that is geared towards tracking the results of value generation after an integration to reward the impact.

[Metfanmike]

Makes sense! If we get to a good place with the retroactive rewards construct, that might be a good model for this as well.

[overanalyser]

In addition to the retrospective considerations, I think the “Work required” payment may need to be scaled depending on the protocol involved.

Getting integrated into Comoupnd is much more work (and I would argue valuable to the coop even if not used), than getting a DPI:ETH vault on FARM.

[Matthew_Graham]

I believe the current contributor rewards structure captures the exertion involved in attaining listings like Aave and Compound.

[Zeb]

Was told of this new guide and immediately acted upon it. Things had already been set in motion last month by me as the Kyber ambassador, but this structure can be a great restart. So thanks!