[ARBITRUM] AGV Council Compensation Calibration: Benchmark for Next Term & Startup-Phase Bonus

Summary

This two-part proposal seeks DAO approval for an updated compensation framework for the Arbitrum Gaming Ventures (AGV) Council. The first part aims to calibrate future Councils’ compensation to align with benchmarks from comparable roles in similar industries, while the second part would grant a bonus to members of the inaugural Council in recognition of the much higher than scoped work load required during AGV’s startup phase.

Both components of this proposal are to be fully funded within AGV’s existing operating budget and require no additional DAO funds. Together, they ensure that Council members are fairly recognized for past contributions while setting a sustainable, market-aligned baseline for service in the years ahead.

Part A: Benchmark Calibration for Future Council Members

In order to align AGV Council pay with external benchmarks for comparable advisory and portfolio-oversight roles across DAO, venture, and corporate board ecosystems, we recommend the following forward-looking adjustment to Council compensation packages, beginning with the next Council term:

• Annualized Base Salary: $50,000 USD stipend (up from $30,000 USD) for Council members, and a $100,000 USD stipend for the Investment-Committee seat (up from $80,000 USD)

• Bonus: 60,000 ARB token incentive vested on an accelerated 6-month schedule following the Council term.

These changes are intended as a one-time calibration, not a recurring increase. If approved by the DAO, they will not retroactively apply to the current AGV Council.

Part B: Startup-Phase Bonus for Current Council Members

For the current Council (Year One), we recommend a one-time startup-phase bonus of 90,000 ARB tokens per member, fully vested, in recognition of the heavier-than-anticipated contributions required to establish AGV’s structure, processes, and early investment strategy during its startup phase.

This startup phase bonus is a retrospective acknowledgment of extraordinary effort, not an element of the benchmark alignment.

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Rationale

Part A: Benchmark Calibration for Future Council Members

The AGV Council provides sustained oversight of a program deploying 200m ARB in capital. Council members review investment strategies, guide strategic alignment within the Arbitrum ecosystem, and help maintain the integrity of AGV’s operations and budgets.

Currently, AGV Council members are compensated at rates that are below average when compared to comparable advisory and portfolio-oversight positions across DAO, venture, and corporate board ecosystems.

For detailed market comparisons that informed these compensation levels, see the table below:

Table A: Industry & VC Compensation Benchmarks.

Role Type	Scope & Responsibility	Typical Annual Compensation	Structure	Benchamark Source
Corporate Board Members	Strategic oversight, quarterly meetings, minimal operational role	$45K – $90K	USD stipend + occasional equity	NACD, Spencer Stuart
Board Advisors	Subject-matter expertise, low time commitment, very early stage startups	$30K – $60K	Cash + small equity grant (0.1–0.25%)	PwC, Deloitte
Startup Advisors (Seed–A)	Hands-on product, GTM, or domain guidance for early-stage companies	$20K – $50K	Cash or 0.25–1% equity, 2–4 year vest (rarely becomes liquid)	Carta, AngelList
OATs	Independent oversight, reporting accuracy, compliance checks, covers many initiatives, up to 10h a week commitment, diverse responsibility	~$90K USD + 100k ARB (~$50k) = $140K Total	The bonus payment is vested, with funds released after a 24-month cliff following the term’s end	Arbitrum OAT
Current AGV Council	Provide oversight and input program performance, operations, and DAO transparency	$30k ($80k for IC member)	USD annualized base compensation	AGV

This forward-looking adjustment will increase the annualized base salary of each Council member by $20,000 USD, plus grant each member a bonus of 60,000 ARB tokens, vested on an accelerated 6-month schedule following the Council term.

Adjusting Council compensation in this way will set a sustainable baseline for future Council service, while the inclusion of a bonus denominated in ARB tokens directly aligns Council’s contributions with the long-term health and growth of the Arbitrum ecosystem, incentivizing responsible and effective oversight and input.

Part B: Startup-Phase Bonus for Current Council Members

The startup responsibilities required to transform AGV from a concept into a functioning business entity were not envisaged at all in the original Tally proposal. During AGV’s launch, Council members undertook a heavier, more hands-on workload than was scoped or anticipated. This extra work undertaken during AGV’s startup phase was essential to successfully turn the original GCP Proposal into a functioning VC.

These startup-phase efforts, which were essential to successfully turn the original GCP Proposal into a functioning VC, are listed and expanded on in detail below:

Table B: AGV Startup Phase: Scoped vs Actual Council Workload

Category	Original Scope (4 hrs/week)	Startup Phase Scope (~10 hrs/week)	Notes / Impact
Risk Mitigation & Investment Thesis	Advise on initial investment thesis and portfolio approach	Contributed to initial portfolio strategy design, including risk policies and compliance checks	Front-loaded work to ensure robust oversight scaffolding and 0-1 strategic direction
Team Oversight & Nominations	Provide oversight and input on GCP team members and performance	Direct involvement in early hiring of core partners; provided input on org design	Higher time intensity due to recruitment, headcount planning, and onboarding of initial team members
DAO Liaison	Serve as liaison and oversight committee between DAO and GCP initiative	Engaged in foundational DAO communications, collaboration with Arbitrum Foundation, legal, ensuring transparency during setup	Higher oversight/responsibilities, frequency of updates needed at launch
Compliance & Governance	Complete NDAs, KYC, disclose conflicts; uphold Arbitrum Constitution	Helped shape governance documents (bylaws, entity setup), ensuring legal/structural alignment with DAO goals	Expanded scope vs. original role

The AGV team fully supports fair recognition of the Council’s critical role during the program’s inception. The proposed startup-phase bonus specifically acknowledges the extraordinary, front-loaded effort involved in designing AGV’s foundational systems and launching its operations. This one-time award is separate from the forward-looking, market-benchmark adjustment and reflects the Council’s instrumental work in positioning the program for scale.

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Process, Implementation & Next Steps

The AGV team, in carrying out its responsibilities under the Foundation Bylaws to manage general and administrative matters of the GCP Program, including finance and human resources, prepared this proposal using industry and compensation benchmarks identified in Table A (above). The proposal was presented to the Council, which provided key input but recused itself from the decision-making process to avoid any conflict of interest. The Foundation Director has reviewed and approved the proposal in its current form.

In order to seek tokenholder approval on financial discrepancies between the original GCP Proposal and this proposal, the AGV team and Council now submit this proposal for a DAO vote.

Following the posting of this proposal last week, a one-week community feedback period on the forum to gather input from delegates and stakeholders has already occurred.

As the period has ended, this Snapshot vote has been actioned and will remain open for seven days. As this is a modification to an existing initiative, there will be no set voting requirements.

If the proposal passes:

• The startup-phase bonus will be distributed to each current AGV Council member promptly after the vote concludes.

• The new compensation framework will take effect with the start of the next AGV Council term.

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Voting Options

As all the proposed changes are independent of one another, this temperature check will use ‘approval voting’ to better understand sentiment regarding each individual change before deciding how to proceed with the vote.

With approval voting, each delegate may select any number of choices, and each selected choice will receive the delegate’s full voting power. As a reminder, if a delegate does not support any of the proposed changes, they should only select ‘None’ to ensure reliability of results.

Any

... please visit link below to view full proposal

https://snapshot.org/#/arbitrumfoundation.eth/proposal/0x2cffe228c7c8f1b57fb3140ed4d2a8f194f655e551c54177091bdcec43357fe3