HYDRA-3: Strategic and Operational Plans

Submitted by: HydraCore Team Members: HydraCore

1. Problem

HydraDAO is a decentralized organization, with numerous stakeholders directly and indirectly involved in achieving its goals and implementation of organizational activities. DAO Members implement activities through working groups called Bodies. Bodies rely on the DAO operational plans and budget to implement activities, compensate members, and ensure continuous treasury growth.

2. Solution

HydraCore proposes the Strategic and Operational Plans below.

In addition to the operational principles defined in HYDRA-2, the following principles apply:

Budgets:

a) Smart Budgets. We design our budgets with the following in mind: every dollar spent on operations is a dollar we can’t spend on research projects. Funding is allocated based on achieving milestones and delivering measurable results.

b) Science first. >80% of the budget is dedicated to financing and building projects. HydraDAO broadly strives to allocate 50% of those resources to groundbreaking moonshot projects rather than funding for incremental technological and scientific progress. We strive to allocate 25% of resources to more immediately relevant topics that would allow for faster integration into medical routine, and 25% to opportunistic topics such as working with reputable organizations on joint projects.

c) Rational use of funds. HydraDAO is not a government body and using each budget line fully is not encouraged, nor rewarded. The principle that Heads will have their performance judged upon is to try to overdeliver while using the minimum amount of resources, without sacrificing quality. Heads are encouraged to manage their budgets prudently and efficiently.

d) Quality of funded projects. We abhor using the number of projects funded as a supposed metric of success. Such a metric only motivates the organization to fund low-quality projects. Rather, we pride ourselves on the quality of projects we fund, and the short and long-term impact we produce.

Compensation:

a) Outputs are rewarded, not inputs. The DAO does not pay salaries by inertia and does not hire for tenured positions. We do not measure the number of hours worked, unless necessary for legal compliance. We operate on the principle of putting in effort today, for the benefits to come in the future.

b) High empowerment, high accountability. Members elected in HydraDAO roles are given very high levels of empowerment. They are rewarded based on their performance, as evidenced by reaching set goals.

c) High performers earn governance influence. $HYDRA is seen as a way to reward valuable contributions to the community through a greater stake in, and ability to influence, HydraDAO’s direction and decision-making. Built on community spirit, we incentivize efficiency and results by rewarding Members and contributors with governance tokens based on their performance. High performers therefore earn more “rights to govern.”

2.1 Strategic Plan

The Heads aim to uphold the Mission and Vision as recently voted in through the HydraDAO Constitution.

In addition, the following overarching goals are proposed.

1. Four projects financed
2. Onboard hundreds of new token holders and DAO members
3. Establish multiple new partnerships (such as token swaps or research collaborations) with other DeSci DAOs, research organizations, and funders
4. Establish a presence on all relevant platforms with the aim of increasing awareness
5. Establish a strong treasury sustainability loop

2.2 Bodies’ Operational Plans

Initially, the operational bodies for HydraDAO shall be:

• Ops, in charge of all aspects of DAO daily operations, including compliance, accounting, and tokenomics
• Marketing, in charge of awareness and community building
• Dealflow, in charge of identifying, reviewing, and funding projects

Heads will meet weekly to coordinate the reaching of the overarching goals. Each Body will develop its project management and member rewards systems. Members are encouraged to apply to join the Bodies as contributors. Each Body will coordinate daily activities with Members.

The operational budget is detailed below. For ease of calculation, USDC-equivalent numbers at the close of the Juicebox financing round shall be used. At the close of January 6th, 2025, HydraDAO raised $4,100,000 in USDC-equivalent, with a total supply of 18,631,450 $HYDRA.

Operational budget:

Item	USDC	% of total	$HYDRA	% of total
Project financing	1,800,000	43.90%	200,000	1.07%
Body operations	180,000	4.39%	180,000	0.97%
Legal, compliance, admin	120,000	1.46%	0	0%
Marketing	100,000	2.44%	100,000	0.54%
Community Rewards	100,000	2.44%	250,000	1.34%
Total	2,300,000	56.10%	730,000	3.92%

The budget above is meant to cover at the very least 12 months of operation, and it is valid until exhausted. Any unused rewards are returned to the DAO Treasury.

Individuals may vote with the token representing their vesting $HYDRA, vHYDRA, immediately.

3. Requested Budget

A compensation budget of 2,300,000 USDC and 730,000 $HYDRA is requested for a minimum of 12 months of operations.

4. Timeline

This proposal should be executed immediately upon a positive community vote, and compensation disbursed as per the framework detailed above.