ETHos, Chili Pod #2

Scaling the ETHOS :large_blue_circle:


Spawned from the loins of MetaCartel, ETHos Chili Pod was created in November 2022 as a low-friction incubator for IRL events. ETHos has now funded five events across four continents.

Our mission is to identify global events that unite groups of diverse humans, exploring the intersections of Web3 technologies and human reality.

ETHos is enabled by a small and distributed team of 6 mentors that have been working together to surface, review, and fund values-aligned Ethereum events.

You can read all about our progress here :point_down:t3:

How We Make Funding Decisions :yellow_circle:

We have been super frugal with the funds we received last year:

  • Each event receiving an average of just over $3k - by only spending funds where the group felt 1) the event was both interesting enough and values-aligned and 2) that the event might not otherwise happen if this funding was not provided.

In December we funded “notfellows” to attend ETHindia, where 25 hackers setup shop and proceeded to develop 11 new Dapps, 3 of which won top prizes in the hackathon. We are also currently working on a DAOtokyo house to support their efforts in 2023.

In January we funded an event in Partnership with the Blockchain Club @ Nigeria University that 140 Engineering students, Designers, and Product Managers attended. The talks focused on finding product market fit, Ethereum integrations, and how to influence regulation of Blockchain technology in Nigeria.

In February we funded the RaidGuild <> Nonce house bridging the East and West Communities by bringing hackers, from all over the world, together to Denver collaborate on hackathon projects. They went on to deploy 5 new projects and pitch them to Bufficorn Ventures Studio.

We have 2 events pending, MetaFest in August of 2023 which we are advising and supporting with sponsorship outreach :money_with_wings:

And finally Web3Lagos happening in July 2023, last year 700+ ppl attended this event run by @Ebunayo and his team :niger:

We believe that we can do much more this year, and so we are requesting another tranche of funding.

Our Funding Distribution Plan :green_circle:

In season one, we identified the regional leads, established our initial processes, and made contacts with event organizers from across the ecosystem.

In season two, we plan to build a subdomain of MetaCartel.org (metacartel.org/ethos) where folks will find a typeform link to apply for funding.

Applications will be reviewed weekly by our ops team and voted on by our regional leads.

Each project will receive a written Synopsis post event execution, including tips and trick that will be released publicly on our Substack.

We also plan to experiment with sustainable treasury solutions, not in DeFi, but in lending.

Using DebtDAO, we are able to provide low interest loans to projects like https://metafest.wtf/ who need the money now to organize their events, and will likely receive sponsorship money closer to the time of the event.

Any revenue that comes from the loan interest will be rolled back into the grant treasury and allocated to new events.

This is one of multiple strategies we plan to deploy over the next 9 months.

Our request from the DAO :red_circle:

We request 66 ETH, to be allocated to grants and loans over the next 9 months.

10% of this funding will be used for ops and administration.

  • Including website development
  • Typeform subscriptions
  • Graphic design
  • Copy writing

The entire remaining budget will all be allocated to grants for events selected by the stewards, with the aim to fund at least 10 more events in the coming cycle.

The next iteration of the ETHos pod will include faster feedback cycles on how to run awesome, value-aligned, IRL events that have genuine impact.

We have three planned initiatives to increase collective ownership and responsibility for the group’s success:

Connect: We will make connecting with others within the ETHos network easier, so we can all help each other to continually improve the resonance of the events being put together.

Collaborate: We will make it easier for stewards - and the wider MC community - to collaborate further by mentoring and supporting events they are interested in.

Document and share: After a funded event has occurred, interviews with event organizers are scheduled to collect information about how ETHos could have helped more, what organizers can do to run successful events, and what to avoid when planning an event.

We will also be seeking partnerships with other orgs like ConsenSys, Ethereum Foundation, Protocol Labs, etc etc to help increase the stake-holder network and optimize the value created through these grants.

The ETHos Pod Stewards

Please reply with any feedback or thoughts on this proposal below :point_down:

~ We greatly appreciate your support in this initiative :saluting_face:

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