GM 37.1 - Create gm.consulting working group

Author:

Digit

Proposal date:

October 22, 2022

Summary:

This is a proposal to start a new working group within gmDAO called gm.consulting. The purpose of gm.consulting will be to provide web3 consulting services to entities looking to enter the web3 space as well as to existing web3 brands looking to outsource some efforts. Leveraging the experience of DAO members, gm.consulting aims to provide strategy as well as execution in areas like nft project development, web3 marketing, community building, art curation, collection development, smart contract development and more.

Rationale:

Over the past year plus in the DAO we’ve seen a number of people come and go however one constant has been the desire of many members to transition professionally into a web3 career. A number of members have successfully done so while others are still looking for the right opportunity.

gm.consulting aims to give DAO members a chance to work on web3 projects in a freelance manner while gaining experience, receiving compensation and growing their personal networks. The idea came about after both of us completed a few proof of concept freelance projects and were exposed to the quality of work from traditional agencies bidding on web3 work. We believe there is a real gap in web3 consulting - firms either don’t have the knowledge/experience in the space or those that do charge a very large amount for their services. Building upon the gmDAO brand and members, we believe gm.consulting can offer a strong alternative and return value to project contributors and the broader DAO membership.

Operational Specifics:

gm.consulting will be managed by a core team who will oversee all operations. The core team will focus on business development, negotiations, project management and other day to day operations. The core team will be responsible to manage all gm.consulting funds which will be controlled via a multisig wallet.

All key decisions will be taken by the core team via vote - this will not be on-chain, a simple vote/discussion within Discord will be taken. The founding core team will be made up of Nemo and Digit at launch, however we will aim to bring on additional members as operations grow - ideally we get to an odd number to avoid stalemates in decisions. Any new core team member will be added to the multisig and have the same voting rights as the founding core team. The addition or removal of a core member will be decided by vote and like other core team decisions will require a majority to pass.

Much like with gm.studio, we intend for a large portion of the conversations/discussions around gm.consulting strategy, structure, proposals to be in the open within a working group discord channel. However once a project is approved by a client, that work will shift to a private group for only those involved.

When an opportunity presents itself the core team will review the details and build a proposal to submit to the prospect using a team made up of the roster of talent. Any DAO member or non-DAO member will be eligible to join the roster of talent and each proposal will be made up of its own project team selected by the core team. As a general rule of thumb, DAO members will be given first consideration for any project roles however gm.consulting is not bound to only using DAO members. The gm.consulting roster of talent will extend beyond just DAO members in order to ensure a wide spread of experience, availability and rates.

The final proposal submitted to a prospect will always include:

• General scope of work and timeline
• Fixed bid cost
• Standard legal terms

The project cost will be built out by the core team using our internal rate card based on the talent assigned. Each project will have a 10-20% mark-up and those funds will be split evenly between the gmDAO treasury and the gm.consulting treasury.

For the time being the intention is to bootstrap this group as much as possible. We will rely on free to use services, tools and limit any spend till we have a few successful projects completed and a strong conviction that we can grow the service further.

Next Steps:

• Build out the roster of talent. If you are interested in participating or know people who might, please complete our form: https://forms.gle/aRLfSYCUWXAH1G6t8
• Align on the legal structure and requirements (already on-going as part of the DAO incorporation)
• Continue to refine the gm.consulting governance model
• Complete pitch deck
• Create contract templates and other necessary document templates (eg proposal template)
• Activate social media accounts, emails, etc
• Go get some clients!!

DAO Member Benefits:

• New revenue stream for DAO treasury
• Opportunity for DAO members to benefit by working on projects as talent and earning an hourly rate for their efforts
• Opportunity for DAO members to benefit by referring work or resources and earning a commission
• Continue learning and exploring how DAOs can operate

Risks:

• Reputational risk to the gmDAO brand
  • eg. should a client rug, gmDAO might be forever linked to that entity
• Legal risk if client contracts are not properly written/executed
• Execution risk if members are not able to deliver a final product

Should any of these risks prove to be true, the DAO can revoke permissions and dissolve the working group via a Snapshot vote with a 120 quorum.

Sponsors:

Digit, Nemo, Ze_Boubs