Level K Worker Proposal and Payout 1/2022 - 2/2022 - LATE SUBMISSION

[JohnKelleher]

This is number 3 of 5 catchup proposals

1: Level K Worker Proposal and Payout 9/2021 - 10/2021 - LATE SUBMISSION

2: Level K Worker Proposal and Payout 11/2021 - 12/2021 - LATE SUBMISSION

4: TBA

5: TBA

Timeframe

This period I was working full time and it includes a 10 day trip to Denver for ETHDenver in February.

• 1/1/22 - 2/28/22

• 2 months

Responsibilities

• Support Arbitrum base operations, mostly Swapr farming.

• Organize and run weekly dev call

• Speak on community calls and as needs and opportunities arise for public speaking

• DXdao Multisig transactions

• Keep up on all product chats

• Keep up on all Discord chats and ensure users/community members’ problems with products are being addressed

• Coordinate smart contract auditing and architecture

• Interview new product team candidates and support onboarding

• Support technical due diligence and review as needed across squads

• Organize and manage DXdao ETHDenver hackathon bounties

Accomplishments

• Lead due diligence and effort for DXventures to give a grant to Karma

DXventures Grant Investment to Karma

Background In February 2021, DXdao community members proposed the creation of a DXdao venture arm, coined DXventures. Community members quickly adopted the idea, and web3 projects have since approached DXdao regarding investment opportunities. About Karma Karma is a reputation system for DAO contributors. Karma aggregates and curates DAO member activity across various DAO tools to recognize their contributions and help build their reputation. The blockchain space has seen an explosion of DAO…

• Establishment of dedicated QA, starting with Kinga from Space Inch

Space Inch Development work in January 2022

Space Inch is a development studio that has been providing contract work across Aqua and now Swapr. This is their 6th proposal. The proposal below is a payout for January 2022 totaling $35,378. Below is a recap of the contributions along with links to a Master Service Agreement and Scope of Work that govern the relationship going forward. These are written as contractual agreements between DXdao and Space Inch. Passage of this proposal is a “signature” from DXdao to those agreements. Timeframe …

• Kick off feeReceiver upgrade effort with Oskar and Swapr Squad

• Coordinated signal proposal reserving time for DXdao’s first engagement with Sigma Prime, a top tier auditing firm.

DXvote

• Coordinated with Omega Team and DXgov on DXgovernance audit

• Worked closely with Zett, Venky, Adam, Ross, Augusto, and Melanie, on transition to new pay structure, structure of product teams, audit prioritization, developer recruitment, developer onboarding, and roadmap creation.

• Helped DXdao fund 1Hive trivia. I generally try to help wherever I can, and in this case was able to advance funds for trivia. And the trivia was lots of fun. All credit here goes to DXvoice for facilitating.

• Lead effort to post DXdao bounties for ETHDenver, which resulted in a few rewards to hackers and increased awareness of DXdao.

https://twitter.com/DXdao_/status/1492646870153240578

Level K Reimbursement for Sponsoring ETHDenver Hackathon Bounties

Level K Inc. provided the funds to sponsor DXdao’s ETHDenver Hackathon Bounty prizes, which are outlined here: DXDao — ETHDenver 2022 The total deposit to ETHDenver was $15,500, which included $15,000 to back the bounties and a $525 fee to ETHDenver for them to manage the bounty payouts which included tax forms. Based on the amount returned by ETHDenver to Level K, I believe this fee was actually refunded. The original deposit transaction for 15,525 USDC is here: Ethereum Transaction Hash (Tx…

• Reviewed Hats audits and smart contracts to build confidence in DXdao participating in Hats vaults and deploying treasury capital into DXdao’s Hats vault.

• Support Keenan in launch of DXdocs.eth

What I think went well

I organized an airbnb for a good number of the DXdao team at ETHDenver, and that and the conference booth at ETHDenver as well as other events that week in Denver were great team building experiences.

Auditing relationships with Omega Team and Sigma Prime took strides during January and February.

The transition to the new pay structure involved conversations about where contributors stand in there responsibilities and levels and I thought this process went smoothly and helped strengthen the product teams.

What I think needs improvement

Could have been more organized going into ETHDenver in terms of bounties and promoting them. ETHDenver also went big this year which was great in terms of overall number of people in Denver, but I think left the hackathon and hackers getting less focus and being left a bit behind.

A lot of time is spent keeping up on all communication channels (keybase, discord, various telegram, Daotalk, DXvote, and various calls). To provide leadership and coordination this is necessary. Being behind on communication means possibly missing key and time-sensitive information. However, it is also time consuming. I would estimate greater than 20 hrs per week of my time is spent keeping up with communication. And I think as a result, my involvement in technical architecture and review of smart contract systems is not as in depth and thorough as it should be. I hope to find ways to change this balance. I think maybe relying on other leaders within DXdao to relay relevant types of information to me could allow me to cut back on time spent reading chats or on meetings. I will explore this further.

Compensation

Experience Level: 8

Month one.

• $9,000 (9000 xDAI)
• $9,500 DXD
• 0.1667% REP or till 4% max is reached

Month two.

• $9,000 (9000 xDAI)
• $9,500 DXD
• 0.1667% REP or till 4% max is reached

The full 2 month period.

• $18,000 (xDAI)
• $19,000 (DXD) to be paid in a vesting contract continuously for three years with a one year cliff.
• 0.3334% (REP) up to 4% max

Experience

I have been involved with DXdao since inception, as part of Level K, involved in a variety of areas of responsibility. You can find Level K worker proposals via the governance interfaces by searching for “Level K”

For fun, and some historical context, here are some podcast links:

Blockchain Brad

dxDAO Interview | BlockchainBrad | A Sovereign Collective | Decentralizing DeFi | Governs/Grows DeFi

FTX Podcast

- YouTube

[Powers]

Thanks for these. Bear with us as we go through all of these. A couple questions/comments

It was disappointing that you chose not to give an annual update on the product strategy call, as the DXvoice, DXgov, DXbiz, Governance, and Swapr squads all did over this proposal period. This would have been a great opportunity to discuss technical product development and communicate to REP & DXD holders. You mentioned on a Friday call that you would give one for high-level product development as other squad leads did. The failure to do so underscores the confusion on what exactly your responsibilities are.

In this proposal you mention, "Reviewed Hats audits and smart contracts to build confidence in DXdao participating in Hats vaults and deploying treasury capital into DXdao’s Hats vault.” Maybe I’ve missed something in your subsequent late worker proposals, but have you achieved this goal?
On January 30, 2022 (over this proposal period), a mainnet proposal passed that sent 790 DXD to the DXdao Dev multi-sig to deposit into the DXdao Hats Vault. You said on a governance discussion you would “refresh yourself on the process” and “help the rest of the committee members”. On February 3rd, you posted into DXdao MS keybase chat:

And then in April, you circled back around and said you’d coordinate the deposit this week.

Six months after that proposal passed, the 790 DXD is still in the dev multi-sig and there has been no update from you to REP and DXD holders on whether the DXD will be deposited or whether it should be returned to DXdao.

And finally:

I would estimate greater than 20 hrs per week of my time is spent keeping up with communication.

This is a shocking reflection from you and seems far too high. DXdao would have been far better served with your time focused on technical development and not Discord. This is exactly what the worker proposal and reflection process is supposed to catch.

[EvanVanNess]

@Powers

This is a shocking reflection from you and seems far too high.

Spending 50% of your time communicating with people via chats/emails/calls/meetings seems entirely normal for any managerial role, and perhaps even on the low side. Every technical manager I’ve ever known laments not having more time “for the tech”

On the other hand:

@Powers

The failure to do so underscores the confusion on what exactly your responsibilities are.

While worded a little passively, this is the sort of thing people say when they are directly calling into question someone’s effectiveness.

Candid and direct feedback is a plus! Seems like a conversation worth having.