Request for Discussion : Robot Index Working Group

Product Products
1

Dear all,

The work on iRobot continues after successfully making it through DG1.

Whilst we are checking off the boxes of the onboarding process that will lead us to DG2, a window of opportunity has opened to bring improvements / clarifications to the community methodologist framework.

  1. Opportunity : iRobot is the 3rd community index proposal to have reached and passed DG1 (following MVI and preceeding YHI).
    It is a complex strategy which requires intensive market research, data processing as well as a creative marketing approach to make it understandable and enticing to the largest possible audience.
    By growing and maintaining the 1st product of this kind internally, Index Coop has the opportunity to expand its capabilities even further and re-affirm its position as a top-talented and innovative organization, able to incentivize such contributions from within the community.

  2. Status Quo : while the community methodologist role has originally been laid out by @DarkForestCapital and @verto0912 to set a precedent for further community-managed products, it seems there is an ongoing need to clarify this position inside the community :

  • Does a community methodologist automatically become a full-time contributor of Index Coop ?
  • How does a community methodologist prioritize contributions in areas outside of product management against the ā€œnormalā€ index maintenance and growth activities, and avoid conflicts of interest ?
  • How can a community methodologist be compensated for his work if heā€™s not a full-time contributor ? How to manage expectations in comparison with external methodologists ?
  1. Tentative proposal : forming a fully-fledged working group focusing on iRobotā€™s growth and maintenance. After a bootstratping period this WG could become autonomously funded by redirecting part of the revenue generated by iRobot itself to the groupā€™s multisig. Proposed functions would be identical to those already described in the community handbook :
  • Ensure the overall maintenance of iRobot and explore its integration with Index Coopā€™s current or future products.
  • Keep all documentation related to iRobot up to date, tracking performance and sending out updates monthly/quarterly/yearly as appropriate.
  • Stay visible to index holders and Coop members to answer questions and act as a single source of the truth in relation to iRobot.
  • Combine sales & BD efforts with other WGā€™s - including marketing, distribution, promotion and product development.
  1. Feedback : I look forward to reading your comments and feedback to this tentative proposal below !

In my opinion, encapsulating iRobotā€™s growth and maintenance in this WG framework provides the following advantages for new community methodologists as well as the Coop as a whole :

  • Ensures the methodology can be maintained with continuity and by more than 1 person.
  • More flexibility and potential to learn / iterate on budget & contributor organization while maintaining a high level of transparency / accountability to the community.
  • More clarity and concrete expectations in terms of deliverables (KPIā€™s directly related to the productā€™s success).
  • No overlap with already operating WGā€™s.
  1. Intended next step : moving forward to a formal iRobot WG proposal.
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2

After joining the community call a few weeks back. Iā€™m sold on the vision and the in-depth methodology behind it. With that being, if thereā€™s an opportunity to learn and contribute into this potential WGā€¦ Iā€™m more than happy to serve and offer my skills. And i really want to make this product a success. :slightly_smiling_face:

3

Arenā€™t all kinds of names starting with an ā€œIā€ linked to Apple? Renaming a product later might be costly. I would not be surprised if iRobot is already a protected name. Maybe icRobot would be better.

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Hey @pujimak_in awesome, thanks for your support ! :robot:

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5

Hey @Elmit thanks for raising this, not sure if Apple is that far already but will double check again :wink:

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6

Hi @Monportefeuille you may find this template helpful [TEMPLATE] Working Group Proposal - Google Docs

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7

Thanks @lee0007, the formal proposal that Iā€™m aiming to post this week is based on this template :wink:

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8

Looking forward to this one the most. :slight_smile:

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9

This is a great idea, and considering the complexity of the product, a dedicated working group will significantly improve its continued maintenance and success. Perhaps @afromac could help provide some context and direction for how they operate within the Automated Indices Pod.

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10

We just had a heads up thatā€™s thereā€™s a new WG Proposal template currently WIP, likely due within next week.

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12

Oh thanks a lot for letting me know, this might have a knock-on effect on the plans for iRobot DG2 vote. Would you be able to share additional details or point me towards the owl looking into this more in detail ?

13

Agree it is likely to have a knock-on effect. @Pepperoni_Joe @DarkForestCapital word is that thereā€™s a new Working Group Proposal Template (WIP). For those of us currently working on WG proposals, can you indicate please when the new WP Template will be available?

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14

Hey @Monportefeuille just a heads up that as at todayā€™s date still no more news on the new WG proposal template. Sorry if this was just ā€˜hearsayā€™ on my part. We waited for about seven days but didnā€™t see an answer here or any further mentions so have proceeded directly to working group proposal using the current template. Look forward to seeing you proposal

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No problem at all, thanks for sharing ! In the meantime I also had the confirmation from @Pepperoni_Joe that I could use the current template.

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