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Ritual of Echoes

The Ritual of Echoes describes the DAO Masons contributor compensation system. Income sources include client work, grants and product revenue. When income is received from any source it is distributed according to a "Payout Schema" which may include "Echoes" - payouts to "Share and Loot Holders".

Shares and Loot​

Members of DAO Masons have the opportunity to accumulate Shares (which are required to obtain Voting Rights) and entitles them to Echo payouts. Non-members can accumulate Loot, which entitles them to Echo payouts but does not enable Voting Rights.

Shares and Loot are typically distributed for contributions made directly to a DAO-internal project - aka "Building the Castle". These Shares and Loot are made available through the Payout Schema of DAO-internal projects and attributions are handled by the Project Leads.

If a member loses member status, their shares are converted to Loot.

Project Work​

All compensated work within DAO Masons must fall within the scope of a Project. Projects are proposed to the DAO and approved or denied by the DAO through a quorum vote. Every Project includes a Project Lead who is responsible for defining and administering the Project Payout Schema.

Payout Schemas​

All compensated work falls within a Project, each project includes a Payout Schema, and Payout Schemas are defined by the Project Lead. Payout Schemas specify how contributors to a given Project are compensated.

For client work, the Payout Schema is defined by the Project Lead. The default (recommended) schema is: 90% to direct contributors, 5% to DAO treasury and 5% toward Echoes. The 90% to direct contributors is moved through a sub-schema defined by the Project Lead to reward contributors in relation to the value and duration of the work performed.

For Grants, the default schema is 90% to the DAO treasury, 5% toward Echoes and 5% for those who prepared the grant - splits defined by the relevant Project Lead).

For product revenue the default schema is 90% to the DAO treasury and 10% to Echoes.

Shares and Loot are only acquired by working directly on a DAO-internal project as an alternative to direct cash pay.

Echoes​

Echoes are payouts directly to DAO share and loot holders proportional to their share of the total.

When income is received by The DAO from any source, a portion of those funds are sent out as Echoes. An Echo dispursal is divided among share and loot holders in proportion to their share of total.

Echo Proportion = (Contributor Shares + Contributor Loot) / (Total shares + Total Loot)

Client Projects & DAO Masons Projects​

  • Share/loot/pay schema is specified at beginning of each client contract
  • Workers receive pay according to the payout schema
  • Non-DAO Masons do not receive shares, but may receive loot
  • Client Contract work is encouraged to be just direct pay, not shares/loot
  • Pay schema must specify a portion of income goes to the DAO treasury (at least 10%) according to payout schema
  • A portion of all income sent to DAO treasury is dispersed to shareholders as a dividend according to DAO policy

Echo Policy​

  • X% of remaining is distributed in dividends
  • X shouldn't change very often - could be pinned to an algorithm.

Determining Payout Schemas​

  • DAO Generates a base rate chart for different types of work
  • DAO & Contributors negotiate a rate based on base rate chart at project initiation
  • Option 1: Pay them hourly for work performed based on DAO-determined rubric for value level assessment
  • Option 2: Pay them a portion of a set amount for achieving a predetermined outcome
    • Ideally this is a portion that is proportional to the work performed by each individual using Checkin Mechanic
    • Could also include a flat amount for a clearly defined portion of work

Contract Negotiation​

  • Contracts should be negotiated at an amount that allows contractors to be paid and at least 10% above that to go to DAO for overhead.
  • Using our Boilerplate Contract

Project Accountability​

  • Contributors track their time
  • Work "with the lights on" - where everybody sees what everybody is doing.
    • Say your work in front of other contributors
    • Encourage workers to get feedback from peers on VL of work
    • Team Lead has final say on value level of work
    • Team Lead has the team as sensors to help them understand
    • Phenomenon of "going off scope" and "not billing for it" could be flipped by team or team lead to bill for it
    • OR could put in for a badge and others can signal you earned it.

Earning shares​

  • Shares are earned by DAO Masons when they participate in a Project.

DAO Masons Membership​

Steps

  1. Get rubric together for contractors/workers
  2. Negotiate w/client