CIP 125 - Big Parcel becomes t0wn

Proposals (CIPs)
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TL/DR: The Big Parcel Project will be rebranded as t0wn. Instead of buying thousands of acres and selling thousands of NFTs to individuals to try to build a vast “city,” we will target only high-level DAOs (20-30) to sell high-priced NFTs (> $75k each) in order to create a “t0wn” governed entirely by DAOs rather than individuals. Think NATO, or UN, or Davos for DAOs. If CityDAO creates it, we will have a seat at the table, prestige, and governance in the new world order. The project is in 3 stages, as is the budget, which serves to compensate the team (at the same rate as CIP-100), to hire people as needed, and pay for devs to create the NFT if we get to that point. The land to be purchased is not specifically designated at this stage of the process, and may range from a building in a distressed city to an exquisite lodge in a lush wooded area (see deck, linked below, for more details).

OVERVIEW

After several public calls and lots of private discussion among citizens, there appears to be a strong interest in taking the Big Parcel project in a new direction.

CityDAO will lay the foundation for the first ever municipality owned and governed by a group of DAOs. After identifying and securing an appropriate property, CityDAO will create a low-supply (20-30) high cost (> $75k) NFT which will be purchased by a hand-selected group of DAOs in order to fund the acquisition of the property. These DAOs will become the founding members of t0wn, with CityDAO as its “founder.”

Here is a deck that more completely and visually articulates our ambition.

t0wn will be carried out in three consecutive stages: (1) R&D, (2) Development, and (3) Execution. All stages will be executed entirely by the t0wn Team (defined below).

STAGE ONE (R&D) DETAILS

In Stage One, the t0wn team will:

  • Identify viable properties
  • Call agents representing viable properties to understand parameters, timing of sales, etc
  • Host Twitter spaces to promote the t0wn project, generate interest from other DAOs and web3 orgs, and get feedback
  • Talk to DAO leaders one-on-one and get LOIs / commitments to be inaugural t0wn members
  • Consult with state and local officials in areas where we have identified viable properties
  • Begin to sort out legal implications of DAOs co-owning a property

STAGE ONE - PROPOSED TIMELINE

WEEKS ACTION
1 - 4 Identify viable properties
2 - 6 Call real estate agents for viable properties to understand parameters, timing of sale, etc
3 - 7 Host Twitter spaces to promote the t0wn project, get other DAOs interested, and get feedback
4 - 8 Talk to DAO leaders one-on-one and get LOIs / commitments to be inaugural t0wn members
4 - 8 Start to sort out legal implications of DAOs co-owning a property

STAGE ONE BUDGET

For stage one of this project (R&D), $58,000 USDC will be transferred to the Big Parcel multisig immediately upon the passing of this CIP. This money will be allocated as follows:

  • Team compensation: $32,000 USDC (8 weeks, 10 hrs/wk at $100 p/h [same rate as CIP-100] x 4)
  • Retroactive team compensation for prep work: $6,000 ($2000 each to Gugz, David, ScottA for 20 hours of work at $100/hour) - writing this CIP, building the deck, multiple meetings, hosting public calls.
  • Discretionary expense budget: $20,000 USDC (to be added to what’s already in the Big Parcel multisig) for marketing, legal, etc.

If certain conditions are met (see below), stage two (Development) will be triggered.

TRIGGER FOR STAGE TWO

Ten DAOs signing LOIs (Letters of Intent) stating their intention to become founding members of t0wn at a token price of greater than or equal to $75k will automatically trigger Stage Two, and its budget will be sent immediately to the Big Parcel/t0wn multisig. This trigger can also be met by a smaller number of DAOs that commit via LOI a total of not less than $750,000.

If more time and/or funding is needed in Stage One to acquire the LOIs, the t0wn team may use funds from the discretionary fund to pay for up to four more weeks of work (including team comp) at the same rate as above, after which a new CIP will be necessary for funding Stage One.

If the t0wn Team wishes to proceed to Stage Two with fewer than ten signed LOIs or at a lower token price (below $75k), this will be subject to the passing of a separate CIP.

STAGE TWO (DEVELOPMENT) DETAILS

In Stage Two, the t0wn team will:

  • Manage NFT design and legal contract development
  • Continue to host Twitter Spaces and get LOIs from additional DAOs, with the intent of including 20-30 founding orgs
  • Keep tabs on all viable properties, set up legal entities and put all the logistical pieces in place so as soon as the project is funded, the property purchase can happen immediately.

STAGE TWO - PROPOSED TIMELINE

WEEKS ACTION
1 - 4 Select and engage NFT design team
1 - 4 Select and engage legal counsel to draft applicable contracts
4 - 8 Manage NFT design team
4 - 8 Manage legal counsel
1 - 8 Call real estate agents for viable properties to understand parameters, timing of sale, etc
1 - 8 Continue to host Twitter spaces to promote the t0wn project, get other DAOs interested, and get feedback
1 - 8 Continue to talk to DAO leaders one-on-one and get LOIs / commitments to be inaugural t0wn members

STAGE TWO BUDGET

If the Stage Two trigger is met, an additional $102,000 USDC will be transferred to the Big Parcel multisig immediately. This money will be allocated as follows:

  • $25k for Dev and PM time, NFT design
  • $25k for legal fees
  • $32k team compensation (same rate as above, for 8 more weeks)
  • $20k discretionary fund (in addition to whatever is already in the safe)

If certain conditions are met (see below), Stage Three (Execution) will be triggered.

STAGE THREE (EXECUTION) DETAILS

In Stage Three, the t0wn team will:

  • Have DAOs buy the NFT, and funds will go to the Big Parcel multisig
  • t0wn team will use the funds to buy the property
  • t0wn begins!

STAGE THREE BUDGET

TBD - It is too early to determine the appropriate budget for the Execution stage; therefore, the t0wn team will post a separate CIP for funding when the time comes.

BENEFIT TO CITYDAO AND ITS CITIZENS

If t0wn is a success, CityDAO citizens stand to benefit considerably:

  • Membership Tokens: In return for funding the genesis of t0wn (i.e. Stages One and Two, $160k upfront spend) CityDAO will get either: Three (3) membership tokens or 10% of the total outstanding membership tokens, whichever is greater, the total purchase price of which would be at least $225k.

  • Governance: CityDAO also gets the governance benefit of holding 3+ tokens, which is likely to be the most powerful position in the collective unless another DAO opts to buy more than one membership token. We are open to discussing whether there should be a limit on the number of membership tokens each DAO can buy upfront.

  • Citizen Memberships: CityDAO Citizens will enjoy all the benefits of membership in t0wn, in many cases at a greater rate/quantity due to CityDAO’s larger membership stake in t0wn.

  • Brand / Prestige: CityDAO will be branded / marketed as the “founder” of t0wn, while the initial member DAOs will be “founding members”.

t0wn TEAM

Da3vid: Vision and Legal

David is an attorney licensed in New York since 2005, has a Masters and is now studying for his Ph.D. in Sociology related to DAOs and the metaverse. He has been teaching business law, management and organizational behavior at an international university for 15 years. He also ran the two largest improvisational theater companies in China for a decade (one in English, one in Chinese) with valuations in the millions of USD while also creating and running his own highly successful theater company, all in Chinese. Some of his actors are now very famous in China.

David was on the CityDAO Council, helped to write the Charter and Operating Agreement, facilitated the Legal Guild, served on the first Mission Guild and is currently the facilitator of the Education & Research Guild, which he also founded.

Gugz: Vision and Project Management

Gugz has been producing film and television, everything from shorts and music videos to feature documentaries and big-budget TV, for more than a decade. He has taken dozens of projects from zero to scale. He helped start a management company a decade ago as its first employee and has developed ideas into global films and series. In one instance, he was part of a team of four producers who created an entirely independent, $70 million season of television, for which they built a TV studio from scratch, all in the name of creator ownership (THE FIRST, starring Sean Penn, on Hulu).

Gugz has served in various leadership positions at CityDAO over the past year, including writing its charter with a team of collaborators and founding its grants program. He is co-founder of R3WIND (formerly BlockbusterDAO), a decentralized media organization.

Tasafila: Marketing and Design

Tasafila has worked as a creative and growth strategist in B2B Tech, E-Commerce and Web3; building campaigns, LMS systems and go-to-market strategies for major brands such as IBM, Oracle, Reef, Whirlpool, Therabody, and more. He launched his self-funded vegan grocery startup in 2020 and shipped nationwide. He pulled interest from Shark Tank and an activation with American Airlines before exiting in 2021.

In early 2022, Tasafila launched BlockbusterDAO which garnered global media attention and formed one of the largest web3 grassroots communities in the world, without ever spending a dime on advertising or marketing.

ScottA: DAO Partnerships and Economics

Scott has worked for the government developing programs to end homelessness and alleviate poverty (Housing First Edmonton). He has taught university classes at the undergraduate and graduate levels in economics. He has a strong background in data analysis and various programming languages, such as R. He also has a background in music; he wrote and produced two full-length albums under the band “Making a Monster.”

In 2022, Scott completed a Ph.D. in economics from the University of Alberta with a focus on economic growth. He graduated with top marks and is set to publish two journal articles in reputable publications (Journal of Economic History and the Journal of Institutional Economics). He has taken an active role in CityDAO and organized successful initiatives such as the CityDAO Conference and Journal.

MULTISIG

Funds will be sent to the current Big Parcel multisig. Tasafila and ScottA will be added as signers, with Blackacres remaining on as an independent overseer, to make it a 3/5 multisig.

FINE PRINT

In the spirit of fostering a more autonomous and project-based culture at CityDAO, the following will be effective immediately upon the passing of this CIP:

  • Utilization of CityDAO Members: The t0wn project may opt to, but will in no way be obligated to, utilize any personnel or individuals employed by, receiving funds from or in any way affiliated with CityDAO. The decision of whom to work rests entirely upon the judgment of the t0wn Team.
  • Process of Work: Such that any CityDAO executive body, committee, guild or team is in place at the time this CIP passes (ex. the Planning Guild), this project will not be subject to its authority.
  • Separation of Authority: t0wn will be set in motion by the t0wn team on behalf of CityDAO, but the project, such that it exists, will ultimately be owned and governed by its member DAOs. The t0wn project will create its own operating agreement and will not be bound by the CityDAO operating agreement. It is important that the Member DAOs, who will be paying a large amount of money for these NFTs, are not subject to agreements outside of this project which could derail our effort to create a t0wn that is autonomous.
  • Access to Twitter, Discord and Social Media: This project requires the use of the CityDAO Twitter and Discord accounts. If this CIP passes, the t0wn team will have the ability to post on the CityDAO Twitter.
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Why would CityDAO fund this if there is specifically meant to be no benefit to CityDAO?

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Please see section entitled BENEFIT TO CITYDAO AND ITS CITIZENS. We’re pitching quite a bit of benefit to CityDAO, but happy to discuss these parameters for sure.

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I missed that section.

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This is a gross mischaracterization of both the scope and intent of the project. We see it as an extension of CityDAO by creating an IRL space (led by CityDAO) where web3 orgs can gather, find synergy, and grow together over time. We are in no way trying to compete with CityDAO, but rather extend its reach into adjacent realms.

The reasoning for separating the projects on a legal level are articulated in detail in the proposal, so I won’t repeat them here.

Please just know we spent dozens of hours to try to get this right, AND we are very open to discussing parameters. Consider this a first draft.

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Ok my bad, good you see it as an extension because it looks separate as if its something completely new rather than building on top of CityDAO, it still would be ideal if it was more “owned” by CityDAO.

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This is more of a technical question, but will these LOIs be on chain to create a more permanent and Public record of their commitments.

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Good question, and something we have discussed. On-chain could be a cool way to do it. Another consideration is if a DAO is signing a LOI, theoretically they’d have to vote to sign it, which in itself would represent a pretty significant commitment.

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I like the collaborative outcome for the Big Parcel/t0wn. A thought would be to allow for more NFTs to be purchased by DAOs, but cap it at 2. Selfishly…let’s keep this as a CityDAO anchored movement. Also, as a future endeavor, allowing these first in DAOs to have a permanent place in the municipality. There’s the UN, but also the Security Council. The rebranding of this project, I believe, has been worthwhile. If anything else comes up, I’ll add it later.

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Good feedback. We have discussed ways to ensure CityDAO maintains the most influence/governance rights. Your idea @Blackacres could make a lot of sense. Much of this is still in the development phase as to the detailed specifics. Broadly though, something should be built in to ensure essentially CityDAO always has at least as much or more influence as any of the other Web3 orgs/DAOs.

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This is a valid concern. It should be strongly noted that this is in no way taking from or competing with CityDAO – we are building on top of CityDAO and complementing other projects! The reality is we need to strike a balance between CityDAO interests and the fact that other DAOs funding this can’t be wholly subordinate to CityDAO. We want neither of the following scenarios,

  1. Other DAOs take over, and CityDAO becomes just one of many DAOs involved in this
  2. CityDAO can control it entirely; if so, why would other DAOs invest?

This will be beneficial for all involved!

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I’m excited to support this. A few points:

  1. Have any other DAOs expressed interest in this? Can one person obtain 3-5 Letters of Intent before we fund 4 people to proceed in a host of activities that ultimately rely on having these LOIs?
  2. The promise of Financial Benefits to Citizens is prohibited by CityDAO’s Operating Agreement; this CIP cannot proceed until this is amended.
  3. Legal should be managed by Josh. He is the most familiar citizen with CityDAO’s operating agreement, charter, legal responsibilities and risks. David has previously represented that he’s engaged full-time with his academic responsibilities and has not been a practicing attorney in a number of years.
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Thanks Will. Regarding #1 - gauging interest from DAOs (marketing initiatives, meetings, follow up meetings, etc) takes a lot of time. We’re asking for minimal funding per person, per week, so we can take the time to do these things. We have been working on spec since the beginning of the Big Parcel project.

Regarding #2 - Good catch. Our language was inaccurate, and it’s now amended.

Regarding #3 - we’d like to reserve the right to use whatever council is most appropriate. Could be Josh, could be outside council. There are a lot of considerations with this project and we’ll have to discuss. Also Josh on paper (not to speak for him, just from our POV) is fully committed. He’s being paid a significant amount to handle CityDAO legal, as well as a significant amount to handle your project.

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Thanks, @will ; good points, and happy to hear you are excited to support!

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I do not want to detract from the conversation about your proposal - the deck looks great and really glad to see solid movement!!

I will clarify however… I have never - not once - represented that I was working “full time”, “committing 40 hours per week” or anything like that, on any project, on paper, verbally, or otherwise, ever. Those are words others have used and more than anything its comical to me that I still have to deal with this notion that I am “over committed” - because in reality the day jobs I have worked in have always been significantly more demanding than all of these projects combined. Put another way - I am not over committed and would be happy to assist this project in light of my other projects, if there is a good fit… I will take the fact that I have not even been spoken to at all as an indicator there is not a good fit at this time however, and that is totally ok.

Also clarifying - I am neither “compensated a significant amount” nor “handling CityDAO legal” - my role is simply a legally minded business nature akin to an in house legal resource, and the DAO employs outside counsel to “handle its legal” - as all are aware.

I do have some inquiries, but for now will reserve them for further consideration as things unfold, and am just excited to see the progress. Nice work @gugz!

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Thanks Josh, all makes sense and very much appreciate the encouraging words.

This is the only statement in here that I disagree with. We have simply opted for a different approach to handling legal for this project. Instead of slotting you into the CIP as our defacto attorney like others have done (lol, 111 coming down the pike!) we are going to figure out what legal help we need and integrate appropriate people as things move forward. Right now we are focused on the broader vision. So for now, looking forward to your questions and comments on that, and should this pass, looking forward to discussing the legal side with you as well.

Also, just noting for everyone that no one outside of the named team had any idea we were working on this until today. We wanted to take a slightly different approach to CIP presentation as well, and come forward with a fully formed idea and deck for discussion as opposed to doing it piecemeal.

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Fair, and you got a legit LOL on the 111 comment too :laughing: Well you know where to find me if you ever want me to help or weigh in more substantively!

This presentation sets the bar appropriately high and I appreciate the amount of work that went into this. Level of stoke = maximum!!

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I see this as an amazing opportunity to leverage CityDAO’s positive reputation at the same time that large-scale, influential projects like CIP-100 may become newsworthy, in order to position CityDAO as a key player in the future of DAOs. This is an opportunity for CityDAO to have a seat at an international, world changing table.

In my view, the entire goal of this project is to further CityDAO as an influential participant and leader in the new world order. I believe that DAOs are the future and that CityDAO is perfectly situated to be the organization that creates a curated physical space for DAOs.

We certainly intend no promise of financial benefits to citizens. I am familiar with securities requirements and take this very seriously. As for legal, there is no intention to cut anyone out, but rather to reserve the right to work with anyone we want without having automatic requirements of who is involved.

My opinion is that we are creating a new structure which will require outside counsel, no matter who runs point on legal. As Josh stated above, CityDAO has outside legal counsel. We are legal resources. For CityDAO to succeed, I believe that we can leverage all our resources. I am also a licensed lawyer and want to contribute as well.

As is often the case, a proposal that was internally discussed for many weeks has received a great deal of commentary the moment it was published. This is great. Strong opinions mean people care, and I know we all do. I believe there will be a lot of time for this to be discussed as it progresses. Thank you to everyone for your comments and thoughts.

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To piggyback on this – I feel this should be emphasized. While many will focus on immediate benefits, which there will be, the most significant benefit to CityDAO is being a leader in DAO collaboration. In my opinion, many DAOs will not survive. The DAOs that survive and thrive will be the first to embrace cross-DAO collaboration. This space moves so fast, and it is crucial to exchange best practices and help each other with mutual goals. As Web3 grows, DAO interaction and cooperation will increase. T0wn will position CityDAO right at the center of the action.

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I appreciate this thoughtful proposal and high quality slide deck, but have a couple reservations.

Feedback:

  • Make the budget section a bit clearer. The TBD part can come off like it’s asking for a blank check. I like your current idea of budget milestones, and I’d suggest a lightweight way to do it is by saying the DAO can vote to authorize a maximum of 200k for example, in 50k increments, and as milestones are done, will vote in a 200 citizen quorum snapshot skipping forum to affirm the next release of funds. Then we can avoid the problem of some authority deciding if your LOIs are legit. Citizens can just vote.
  • Not a fan of the retroactive comp ask
  • You should mention incorporation of a separate entity that is managed by the team to create a clean distinction.

I overall want to express my support for this type of proposal as how CityDAO should work - enabling small teams to build and come to the DAO for funding. I also think it is important that CityDAO is not just funding completely separate ventures but things that will grow its ecosystem.

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