This document is version 0.1.0 + should be considered a "rough draft". The version numbers will increment to v0.2., v0.3., and so on... until an endgame plan is accepted by DAO governance (version 1.0).
Warning: This resource describes planned functionality and processes that has not been implemented and is not part of any official roadmap. Be aware that parts may be inaccurate or out of date. This document should not be relied on for financial, tax, business, or any other type of advice. This document is not legal advice, please consult your own lawyer .
Where are we going?
TLDR
Gitcoin will focus on tuning it's product market fit, financial sustainability, and eventually ossifying itself.
Goals
Ensure Gitcoin is:
- Mid game - Stabilized - Roadmaps aligned, teams are executing, and DAO burn is normalized to high measurable ROI investments.
- Mid game - Thriving - financially, socially and technically. Gitcoin will continue to be a model for sustainability and DAO excellence.
- End game - Decentralized across governance, protocol advancement, token holder representation, computation (where applicable).
- End game - Lucrative - for those participating, for those integrating, for those with ambition and those willing to invest. (Not just financially, but socially, emotionally and technologically)
Values
Other values to adhere to along the journey:
| Value | Comment |
|---|---|
| Mission alignment | Gitcoin's mission is to Fund, Build, and Protect What Matters. We'd like to stay true to this mission. |
| Ethereum alignment | The Ethereum ecosystem incubated Gitcoin, and Vitalik's endorsement did much to raise Gitcon's profile. Ethereum is the most legitimate L1 ecosystem out there with the most capital out there. By staying true to Ethereum, we stay true to our roots and tap a very large market. Building around Ethereum values like credible neutrality, modularity, self custody is a way to stay true to the movement that birthed us and unlock the power of Ethereum. |
| Simplicity at the center, Complexity to edges | Gitcoin has evolved many different product lines and socical movements. The core of Gitcoin should be simple, and this complexity should be pushed to the edges by leveraging the property of subsidiarity to give autonomy/decision making rights to the edge fo the network. |
| Mutualism | Gitcoin aspires to be a 21st century platform co-operative that is governed by the community that it serves. We abhor hierarchy and instead aim for mutualism. |
| Outside Legitibility | Gitcoin benefits a lot from working in public. Working in public is a superpower, it is a way to stay comprehensible to the community that governs us, uses our products, and it builds partnership opportunities. |
| Incentive Alignment | There are different stakeholders in the network, we should aspire to align their incenetives whenever possible. |
| Momentum & Network Effects | Momentum begets momentum, and network effects begets network effects. When possible, we should aim to be a hot knife through butter. |
| Pragmatism | It is easy to be judgemental and maximalist about your values from the sidelines. Once you are in the arena, you have to make do with what you've got and be pragmatic about working through tradeoffs. Sometimes we will need to make short term tradeoffs that accrue debt. In times of abundance, we can pay off these debts. |
Core Elements
This Endgame Plan consists of the following main components, in sequence:
- Maximize Product market fit.
- Financial sustainability.
- Ossify core.
Tradeoff space
There are tradeoffs between these value & goals.
One of the primary ones is market successs vs decentralization. Here is a visual of Gitcoin's journey along these two axises:
Over the course of endgame, it will be necessary to weigh these tradeoffs and sequence work in a pragmatic way.
We will call out these values & surface recommended paths through tradeoffs, but it'll be up to governance to decide the path through..