Event Description

The Arbitrum Growth Circle is a three-month, eight-event series designed to empower the community as a self-sustaining support system for early-stage and high growth (pre-token) protocols. Running bi-weekly, each two-hour session creates a focused environment where protocols, developers, and ecosystem participants can gain insights, share experiences, and build lasting connections. The sessions surface hidden expertise within the community and provide a structured space for peer-led support.

This series is a direct response to findings from the AVI Pilot’s ecosystem investment thesis, which emphasizes the importance of empowering skilled builders to become leaders within the ecosystem. By creating a scalable peer support network, we can create an environment that’s less dependent on direct engagement with any one expert group.

Sessions include breakout discussions, expert clinics, and guided workshops, ensuring participants receive actionable guidance while expanding Arbitrum’s network of skilled builders. By surfacing and rewarding community expertise, the Growth Circle creates a self-sustaining support system that drives long-term ecosystem growth.

Some examples of session topics include:

• Orbit Chains: Is it the right fit and when to deploy
• Go To Market Clinic
• Strategic Relationship Development with Institutional Stakeholders

Event Organizer

Farstar, the group behind the Arbitrum Ventures Initiative, has successfully executed similar programs at large-scales across 10+ countries, managing parallel teams and an annual events budget in excess of $1.5M+. We’ve been recognised for our work in startup communities like the Royal Academy of Engineering in the UK and alongside the likes of Oxford University and Imperial College.

As the direct event organizer, our team will handle all aspects of:

• Participant curation and engagement
• Event design and execution
• Session facilitation
• Insight tracking and documentation
• Post-event analysis and reporting

Benefits of the Event to Arbitrum

The Arbitrum Growth Circle creates a scalable solution for the growing demand for direct support within the ecosystem. This aligns closely with AVI’s goals of empowering entrepreneurs to act as leaders within the ecosystem and serves as a natural continuation of the flywheel effect started by the AVI Pilot.

• Scalable Support: Streamlines expertise sharing, lowers bottleneck effects, while empowering community-driven problem-solving and knowledge sharing within the ecosystem.

• Ecosystem Growth: Accelerates onboarding, expands access to market makers and liquidity providers by helping protocols to understand how to engage them and drives adoption of Arbitrum.

• Market Connections: Bridges gaps between loosely connected community members and establishes direct support-related feedback loops.

• Empowering Community: Elevates emerging experts, fosters peer-led problem-solving, and builds a sustainable mentor network.

Proposed Budget

Total Budget: $67.2k USD

Budget Breakdown

• Growth Circle Clinics: $15k
  • 7 clinics with 3 facilitators
• Marketing and Participant Recruitment: 12k
  • Onboarding prep and execution
  • Graphic design
  • Execution of the Marketing Plan described below
• 1:1 Support: 7k
  • Over 60 one-on-one support sessions
• Program Design and Development: 10k
  • Conceptual development of the program
  • Participant journey design
  • Creation of templates and session formats
• Reporting and DAO Engagement: 9.6k
  • Bi-weekly updates
  • Post-event impact report
  • Delegate engagement from pre-conceptual state to final report
• Unconference: 13.6k
  • Event preparation
  • Pre-curation of sessions
  • Engaging session hosts
  • Facilitation

Budget Tracking

We have extensive experience running similar events and have established budget tracking processes to ensure funds are used effectively to maximize impact while maintaining financial integrity.

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

| KPI | Target | Tracking Method | | -------- | -------- | -------- | | Net Promoter Score | Target +50 | Post-session surveys of all participants | | Qualitative | At least 5 specific impact stories published in the report. *Usually time needs to allow for these to materialize. Meaning might be expanded within 3 months after the final event. | Qualifying anecdotes from surveys and conversations clearly demonstrating both impact and attribution to our intervention in alignment to the logic model | Consistent Attendance and Participation | Maintain a core cohort of at least 20 ‘activated’ participants, who attend at least 1/3 of the events | Have the program manager track registered people, attendees during the sessions and engagement with surveys. | Network development | 50%+ | % of ‘activated’ participants report that they have met their original relationship development target, because of the event series as measured by entry and exit surveys (Eg with investors, market makers, partners, employees. Activated means they have participated in over ⅓ of the available sessions). |

All of these metrics are meant to align with a Theory of Change and Logic Model ultimately demonstrating how we are driving Primary Outcomes such as Orbit and Stylus adoption, more protocols launching on Arbitrum, more token launches, more high quality sticky liquidity on Arbitrum One and Orbits.

Event Logistics

This will be a virtual-first event with in-person participation at major conferences our team is attending (eg. ETH Denver, EthCC). The Farstar team will handle all online logistics, including Zoom webinars, Miro boards, worksheets, and Gathertown coordination.

Format & Timeline

Hybrid Model:

1. ETH Denver: On-ground curation to identify & onboard protocols

2. Seven Virtual Clinics across 2–3 months. Each session ~2 hours, featuring expert presentation + interactive "live coaching.” An example of a virtual clinic is “Building Effective Market Maker Relationships" which includes:

• 30min Expert Panel: Leading market makers share their best practices and common pitfalls
• 60min Interactive Workshop: Participants break into small groups (2-3 teams) with experienced mentors to workshop their specific liquidity challenges
• 30min Community Solutions: Teams present their refined strategies, getting real-time feedback from peers and experts
• Post-Session: Teams implement learnings → Track measurable outcomes → Share success stories in follow-up sessions → Successful teams become future mentors

3. Unconference: Invite only for select protocols becoming part of the Arbitrum Growth Circle

• Breakout in pre-curated streams: Full day event with 3 to 5 tracks, 4 to 7 35-min sessions each, with 2 planning sessions, optimised so a participant can join for the full or half of the event.
• Participation of key experts
• Focus on pre-seeded ‘community heroes’: with them lead the knowledge sharing and Arbitrum expert guests being positioned as equal knowledge peers playing a supporting role
• Focus on relationship building: Specifically introducing builders with industry peers, rather than promising them direct collaboration with any one expert group.

Service Providers Required

No external service providers needed.

Support Required

The Arbitrum Growth Circles naturally align with the community engagement efforts from AVI Phase 1, allowing us to seed participation through referrals even without formal support from the DAO or ADPC. However, reaching a broader audience—including DAO contributors who can share their expertise—will further strengthen the initiative. To achieve this, we will request marketing support from ADPC, amplification from AF through retweets and promotion in relevant Arbitrum Telegram groups.

Timeline

Provide a detailed execution timeline and key milestones assuming the proposal is approved.

• IRL Engagement & Onboarding The Farstar team will use ETH Denver as a key touchpoint to connect, onboard, and mobilize relevant participants. Many meetings with relevant participants have already been scheduled through AVI. And the Farstar team is running office hours on the 1st of March on the Arbitrum booth in the main venues.

  Furthermore we will rally participants for an Arbitrum builder gathering around any event where there might be an overlap of attendance and our team is present (e.g. ETH Bucharest).

  Most importantly, we will conclude in EthCC in Cannes where we expect a large presence. This is an opportunity to aid Arbitrum Growth Circle participants in mobilizing each other toward achieving shared goals.

• Session Development & Participant Curation While AVI has provided a strong foundation through prior discussions with dozens of participants, additional outreach and effort will be required to engage new stakeholders and refine session topics to align with emerging interests.

• Speaker & Mentor Coordination We will collaborate closely with speakers/mentors to align on session formats, securing speakers, and optimizing knowledge-sharing opportunities.

• Twitter Space Kickoff: We’ll hold a Twitter space announcing the series and showcasing the purpose of the initiative, demonstrating empathy with the community and commitment on the side of Arbitrum to offer support and respond to emerging needs.

• Conduct Series: The series will run bi-weekly, culminating in a final evaluation session to assess impact, gather feedback, and discuss next steps.

• Post-Event Documentation & Impact Report: All remaining materials will be compiled and shared publicly on the Arbitrum Forum, alongside a detailed Impact Report summarizing key outcomes and insights.

Communication Plan

• Announcements: Posts on the Arbitrum Forum, Discord, and Telegram to build awareness.
• Participant Outreach: Direct engagement with protocol teams, developers, and key ecosystem members.
• Speaker Coordination: Private channels for logistics, pre-event briefings, and shared event materials.

• Forum Updates (1-2 per mo): Session highlights, key takeaways, and upcoming topics.
• Session Summaries: Recaps posted on the forum and shared in Discord/Telegram.
• Engagement Tracking: Monitor participation, adjust formats, and encourage re-engagement as needed.

• Impact Report: Participation data, key insights, and recommendations for future iterations.
• Community Feedback: Open to discuss and evaluate the response to the event.
• Resource Compilation: Public archive of session recordings, key takeaways, and additional learning materials.

Marketing Plan

Target Audience Outreach

Our primary focus is high-potential protocols that are relatively new to building in the Arbitrum ecosystem or are currently underserved. To reach them, we will:

• Targeted Outreach – Leverage a subset of the 60+ protocols and 25+ fund managers from the AVI market consultations, prioritizing those most relevant.
• Direct Engagement – Engage directly with protocols we have strong rapport with, ensuring they understand the event’s benefits and alignment with their goals.
• Referral Network – Ask each participant to refer 2-3 others who could benefit, expanding reach organically and identifying existing communities to empower ambassadors.
• Participant Database – Utilize our 500+ participant longlist from AVI, including metadata on DAO and AF grant recipients, to identify relevant participants and seek introductions.
• Channel Activation – Tap into available channels from ADPC, AF, and DAO, along with possible engagement from X (Twitter), Arbitrum Discord, and community forums, without relying on them as primary outreach.

Content Strategy

Regular promotional content and participant success stories to maintain visibility and drive engagement. Updates will be shared via the Arbitrum Forum (structured updates), Twitter/X (broader reach), Discord (direct interaction), and additional relevant channels.

Alignment with Arbitrum’s Mission, Vision, and Purpose

The Arbitrum Growth Circle directly advances Arbitrum's mission by:

1. Ecosystem Development
   • Accelerates builders transitioning onchain through peer learning
   • Empowers builders to advance scalable applications
   • Supports the growth of Orbit chains
2. Product Excellence
   • Promotes best practices in development
   • Accelerates adoption of Stylus
   • Improves technical knowledge sharing
3. Community Strength
   • Builds a more robust and connected ecosystem
   • Develops community leadership
   • Fosters collaboration among builders, prioritizing action over promotion.

Post-Event Impact Report

Our report will include:

1. Executive Summary
2. Detailed Metrics
   • Attendance data
   • KPIs
3. Impact
   • Interpretation of the KPIs and correlation with a Theory of Change / Logic Model
4. Financial Analysis
   • Value analysis
5. Recommendations
   • Future improvements
   • Scaling opportunities
   • Community feedback