Octant Accelerator Application

# Octant Accelerator Application ## Describe your project in one concise sentence, focusing on its core purpose and unique value proposition. Farcastle turns a Warpcast channel into a Moloch v3 DAO ## What are you building, why does it matter, and who will benefit from it? Farcastle is the intersection of communication and decision-making technology. We are creating a new DAO experience by integrating Moloch v3 contracts with the Farcaster protocol, transforming Warpcast channels into communities capable of onchain coordination. Our vision is to enable communities to focus on what truly matters: their values, culture, and purpose. We imagine a world where smart contracts and governance tools are seamlessly integrated into interfaces tailored to each organization, prioritizing the right vibes and user experience. Our Early Adopters are existing Warpcast channels looking to add governance features and DAOs seeking to enhance communication. By embedding DAOhaus functionality directly into the Farcaster feed, we empower communities to make governance easier and more intuitive, paving the way for sustainable, self-governing communities. ## What specific problem are you addressing with your project? Communication is hard and governance is boring. Many communication channels currently lack built-in tools for governance, making it challenging for communities to manage decision-making processes directly within their existing platform. DAOs often use multiple platforms (such as Discord, Telegram, Twitter, etc.) for different types of communication and governance activities. This fragmentation can lead to disjointed discussions, information silos, and confusion among members. ## Have you previously received any form of funding (e.g., angel/VC investment, grants, retroactive funding)? ## If yes, list the sources, amounts (in USDC), and the specific programs or rounds. We are getting 13,030.89 OP and 13,064.52 HAUS ($27,000.00 USDC) from the DAOhaus Ecosystem fund. ## Outline your project roadmap for the next 4 weeks, 2 months, and 3-6 months. - 4 weeks: Milestone 1 - 2 months: Milestone 2 - 3-6 months: Milestone 3 and beyond ### Milestone 1: Launch a Proof-of-Concept DAO Channel at MCON MCON III will be held in Detroit, MI, from September 26 - 28th, 2024. We will demonstrate the feasibility of restricting access to the [Post Yer Ale](https://warpcast.com/~/channel/post-yer-ale) Warpcast channel to holders of the Proof-of-Drink (POD) NFT. This initiative leverages the excitement of the conference to engage our core community and promote the Brood. The channel will capture the energy of the RaidGuild x Decent DAO [Battle of the Beers](https://lu.ma/4twhgbdc) event, providing a space for participants to document their experiences and continue discussions post-event. With a captive audience, this will serve as a fun onboarding activity to test DAO-like community interactions. #### Deliverables - POD protocol-gated `post-yer-ale` channel on Warpcast - Landing page at a subdomain on `brood.beer` - Promotional activities during Post Yer Ale Happy Hour on [Tavern](https://tavern.fm/) (September 19th) - Pimped-out channel with active community usage ### Milestone 2: Build Core Tooling to Add DAOhaus Features to Farcaster Frames Develop essential tools and integrations to bring DAOhaus features into Farcaster Frames, focusing initially on displaying DAO data and executing basic transactions from the Warpcast feed. These foundational tools will support future enhancements to DAO governance capabilities. We will showcase these features by turning the [now-playing](https://warpcast.com/~/channel/now-playing) channel into a DAO. This will be done transparently, with the development process documented to create guides for future users. #### Deliverables - View DAO Overview Frame - View Proposal Frame - Vote on Proposal Frame - Execute Proposal Frame - Farcastle website - Guide to creating a DAO from a channel on Warpcast - Guide for configuring Automod - Now Playing DAO ### Milestone 3 As we move beyond the initial proof-of-concept and core tooling development, the next phase of Farcastle will focus on refining and expanding our solutions based on the feedback and insights gathered from the first two milestones. Our approach will remain flexible, with deliverables and future initiatives shaped by real-world use cases, community input, and evolving needs. ## Describe your strategy for achieving financial sustainability. **What revenue streams do you plan to develop or grow to reduce dependence on grants?** We are exploring a professional services model, where we help communities create and manage channel DAOs on Farcaster, offering customized governance and communication solutions. Additionally, we’ve developed a crypto crowdfunding tool called Yeeter, which allows these communities to raise funds directly, with a 3% fee on raised amounts going to us. These two streams—services and transaction fees—position us to support sustainable growth while reducing reliance on grants. ## What is your current financial runway? Provide the remaining amount in USD and the estimated months of runway based on your current burn rate. We expect the grant from DAOhaus to sustain us through the end of 2024. We are converting the OP to $20,000 USDC, which provides us with 4 months of runway at a burn rate of $5,000 USDC per month. ## What do you hope to achieve from being part of this program? We have been building the DAOhaus platform since 2019 and are committed to open-source software. However, finding a sustainable revenue model has been a challenge. We’re ready to grow. Through this program, we hope to gain the guidance and network to share our tools with the world. We’re excited to deepen our involvement in the Octant public goods community and hope to expose these tools to other real-world use cases into the ecosystem. ## What are the top three challenges your project is currently facing? Have you taken any steps to address these challenges? If so, please describe them. 1. Increasing Complexity of Technology Stacks: Technology stacks are becoming more complicated, but we’re addressing this by building on the tools we’ve already created, simplifying them, and expanding their capabilities through new protocols and use cases. 2. Rapid Changes in the Farcaster Protocol: The Farcaster protocol and development tools are evolving quickly, often causing code to break. We’ve been addressing this by attending Farcaster Dev calls to stay informed on upcoming updates and actively engaging with other builders in the space. 3. Limited Active Crypto Users: The current bear market means fewer active crypto users. We’ve responded by focusing on building things we care about—projects that have stood the test of time—so that even without immediate growth, we’re creating something meaningful to us. ## What are you most proud of, in regards to your project? We’re most proud of sticking to our principles. While many projects raised big treasuries with VC funds, we’ve stayed true to our values and have been supported by our community. We continue to experiment and test new ideas by shipping software, not just discussing theories. We’re hands-on builders, constantly trying new approaches and learning from what works. Above all, the lasting relationships we’ve built with each other matter more than anything. We are comrades more than colleagues. https://daohaus.mirror.xyz/0NEWxKEKAhR2lDpSaG9aTPTv0Xwo1uynTetajbvurnw ## What would you love to learn more about during this program? We are eager to learn more about achieving financial sustainability and growth while staying committed to our core values. We’re excited to experiment with unhinged approaches to marketing while continuing to evolve our product and mission. ## Tell us more about your team and why you're the right team to tackle this project: We are DAO OGs committed to solving coordination challenges. With years of experience, we’ve contributed extensively behind the scenes. Our core team founded and refined DAOhaus and RaidGuild, and we’re driven by the belief that real-world use cases are the best way to test and improve these tools. We have a solid track record of shipping projects and are excited to focus on pushing the boundaries of decentralized coordination. **earth2travis**: With a rich background in product management, earth2travis has overseen development for renowned brands like Nike and ING Bank. His involvement in the crypto space is deep-rooted, having been a core contributor to DAOhaus since 2020. He is also an early member of Raid Guild and launched the first fractional NFT marketplace on Arbitrum. **Sam**: A genesis engineer of both DAOhaus and the renowned Raid Guild, Sam has been instrumental in the evolution and development of various DAOhaus experiments. His expertise doesn't stop there; he launched the Peaches digiphysical NFT project, showcasing his versatility and commitment to the bringing crypto into the real world. Together Travis and Sam led the devlopment of DAOhaus v3, released two iterations of the Yeeter unruggable crowdfunding tool, and have launched the Bootleggers service DAO. This summer their Speedball project won the trading track in the Coinbase Buildathon. We still belive in The Golem Networks vision of "a global group of creators building ambitious software solutions that will shape the technological landscape of future generations by accessing computing resources across the platform." And are eager to advance the cause. ## Describe a time when your team faced a significant challenge or pivoted due to unforeseen circumstances. What did you learn from that experience, and how has it shaped your approach to your project? With DAOhaus v2, we learned that the best technology doesn’t always lead to market acceptance. We did not experience the growth we had hoped for or onboard as many communities as expected. With v3, we pivoted our focus to developers building DAO tooling. Instead of offering a one-size-fits-all interface, we shifted to providing building blocks that allow organizations to assemble their own solutions based on their unique needs. This approach proved valuable and the SDK has allowed our team to quickly spin up other projects using our existing technology. We’re taking this learning into Farcastle, prioritizing the development of modular components that are consistent across organizations and serve as the foundation for custom clients tailored to different community needs that we can build in the future. ## Have you conducted any user research or gathered feedback from potential users or customers? If so, please summarize the key findings and how they have influenced your project development or roadmap. We’re passionate about customer-driven innovation, using feedback to shape our roadmap. We also believe in scratching our own itch to find problems worth solving. Our first channel DAO is built on our experience from other platforms, and this knowledge is shaping the problems we want to solve with Farcaster. By demonstrating our vision, we’ve already attracted a second channel DAO from another community contributor. As we continue to grow, maintaining a close connection to the community remains our top priority. We’re focused on solving real user problems, not just building technology for technology’s sake. ## What's your growth been so far? **User metrics, project metrics, growth stats are great. Storytelling with metrics is even better** We are in the early stages of the project but have already seen traction within the community. People are excited about the project and eager to contribute. These early adopters are a strong signal that we’re solving real problems and exploring a compelling opportunity. We’re focused on building momentum by demonstrating our tools and engaging deeply with communities, prioritizing quality over quantity. As we continue to expand, we expect growth to accelerate as more communities recognize the value of this approach. ## Social Credibility (development progress, awards, notable GitHub commits, testimonials, endorsements from recognized figures in the field, or a history of successful project completions) <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">DAOhaus is the metal band of Web3. If you're not tracking their work, you need to examine WTF you're doing.<br></p>— 0xJustice.eth 😈 (q/acc) (@singularityhack) <a href="https://twitter.com/singularityhack/status/1710016487459623190?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 5, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> ## Twitter links for your project + you @DAOhaus ## Farcaster link: @samkuhlmann @earth2travis ## GitHub Link: https://github.com/HausDAO ## Project Discord (or main community discussion channel) Link: https://discord.gg/HNXHfN8ZUJ ## Project Website: ## Discord Contact: earth2travis ## Telegram Contact: earth2travis ## Wallet Address: 0xBC5b552641e5d203f0a6C230aA9dC14DA7450053 ## Why should you be chosen for the program? We have the experience, passion, and principles to achieve anything in this space, but are constantly scrambling to secure enough funding to keep things moving. What we need is focus. Given the chance to participate in this accelerator, we commit to working harder than anyone to figure out a sustainable revenue model. We are ready to experiment with bold approaches and embrace candid feedback. We are relentless problem solvers committed to seeing this project thrive. As the Octant community grows we can bring our history and network into the fold so that we may build together. And as the Farcaster protocol grows our tools will be what enable communities to focus on their values, culture, and purpose. We still believe in The Golem Networks vision of "a global group of creators building ambitious software solutions that will shape the technological landscape of future generations by accessing computing resources across the platform." And are eager to advance the cause. ## How do you define impact for your project? What metrics are you tracking? We define impact by how effectively we empower communities to coordinate and govern themselves using decentralized tools. Success for us means that communities can seamlessly manage their governance and communication through Farcaster, without relying on fragmented systems. The key metrics we are tracking: Number of Channel DAOs launched: Measuring how many exsiting channels integrate governance and how many existing DAOs migrate comms to Warpcast. User engagement: Tracking active participation within the DAOs, including activity within the channels, votes on proposals, and use of funds to promote the causes each organization cares about. The metrics most important to our project right now are acquisition and activation.