Introducing: The Living DAO, a more dynamic model for decentralized autonomous organizations

Coordinator, Product Manager, Event Producer, DAOist, Privacy Advocate

Most DAO’s start with an idea. A group of like-minded individuals coalesce around a vision. They share some values and the desire to explore the whacky world of distributed organization— behold, a DAO is summoned!

Very quickly the product/service/output becomes central to the day-to-day function of the DAO, with most (if not all) resources internally gravitating towards it. 

Making decisions as a group (ie, governance) is copypasted from an existing model and maybe addressed as needed. Onboarding is optional and self regulating— show up, figure it out and contribute, or not.

If we envision a DAO like a stack with the product on top (what it does, value to community); membership below that (defined roles, awesome docs, effective methods of  consensus); and onboarding on the bottom (ability for newcomers to find a role, reputation, healthy general chat), then we have something like this:

Contributors enter through the bottom and move up the stack as they participate. Membership can’t exist without people, and the DAO can’t output things if its members aren’t able to come to agreement.

Now we can represent a product focused DAO with the following diagram:

Issues begin to arise when too many resources are focused on the top of the stack and not enough anywhere else. Excited, talented people show up ready to contribute— and can’t figure out how to. They quickly bounce out and take their skills elsewhere.

The members who do stick around face issues with consensus— the model is broken, gameable, or simply doesn’t fit the needs of the community and isn’t easily adjustable. Perhaps incentives are adversely skewed and power accumulates in weird places. Maybe nobody can agree on how to agree in the first place.

The Living DAO is an exploration of an alternative model. Instead of focusing primarily on the product from the start, the Living DAO begins at the bottom of the stack and works up.

This bottom-up approach establishes a strong base of governance and onboarding, atop which the value of the DAO can sit. It looks something like this:

Essentially, take two of the more difficult (and, to many, less sexy) issues that DAO’s face currently and tackle them first, before putting significant resources into developing the idea or product or service.

While arguably more work up front, a strong onboarding and governance system pays off over time. It allows long-standing members to focus on building and doing what they love, while new talent can more frictionlessly show up, integrate and begin contributing (read: adding value) where they’re needed right away.

A stream of new members also encourages the constant progression and evolution of the DAO. Newbies can tap in for older members who might need a break and bring fresh ideas and energy to the table.

A robust consensus mechanism and incentives that prioritize new ideas and iteration allow the DAO to continually evolve any part of itself (even its own consensus mechanisms!)

A Living DAO is both an independent entity and an ongoing reflection of its participants. Nothing is stagnant that doesn’t absolutely need to be— roles, governance, values and even its mission should be seen as parts of a highly dynamic system that is constantly seeking equilibrium.

If the whole wishes it to be, then be it shall, and individuals may at any time choose to leave and gift their time and skills to a DAO more aligned.

A Living DAO that incentivises dynamic membership and participation might look something like this:

Imagine an ecosystem where members may flow in and out of any number of DAOs. We can visualize it like this:

Each of those DAOs can then be made up of any number of their own Living DAOS, and the model can replicate itself fractally at significant scale.

Any organization can build a product or offer a service.

DAO’s, however, are capable of evolving to be as complex and self regulating as any living organism, and achieving things no top down profit driven organization can (or would want to) ever dream of.

By viewing a DAO as a dynamic, living thing not dependent on any one person or idea, possibilities become infinite. Fresh ideas, dynamic adjustments and unfathomable value can be created.

Start from the bottom, work up and see what happens!

This is understandable, as the product is what defines the DAO from the outside. It’s an easy way to measure success and provide clear, tangible contributions to the community or client.