Incentive Pools - A novel model for results-based treasury funding to unlock growth for the Polkadot network.
Requested DOT: 1,000,000 DOT 👮♀️🚨🔎
tl;dr: Check out this clip from a recent episode of AAG where I discuss what Incentive Pools are.
Greetings Polkadot community
I’m Agyle and I’m a serial entrepreneur, business operator, and the co-founder of Talisman. In my career so far I have been accumulated both significant financial rewards and scar tissue as I’ve built organisations, dealt with customers, hired or fired over 50 people, and done my best to empower and incentivise teams to do the best work of their lives. I wrote this proposal in an attempt to address what in my opinion are addressable incentives problems with current practices around treasury funding, specifically when funding the most loyal and credible teams in the Polkadot ecosystem.
This proposal has multiple aspects to it, and I hope the community will offer thoughtful critique on each of them:
- An argument for why results-based funding is an essential next step for the treasury.
- An approach to implementing results-based funding tentatively named Incentive Pools which I hope can be developed in collaboration with Polkadot stakeholders.
- A proposal the creation of the first Incentive Pool for Talisman
- A spec for how to implement the first Incentive Pool as a prototype using a pure-proxy, multisig, staking proxy, and group of trustworthy community members.
What are Incentive Pools?
Incentive Pools novel concept that aims to enable the treasury to deliver superior results for tokenholders by shifting the definition of success for treasury proposals away from the completion of tasks outlined in the proposal itself, to the accumulation of on-chain actions that are attributable to the work of teams participating in the Incentive Pool.
How do Incentive Pools work?
Incentive Pools work similarly to commission-based salary packages that are typically offered to sales people. They provide a stream of cash flow that can be deployed with minimal oversight to pay for operational expenses, enabling teams to take risks and work autonomously toward the accumulation of attributable on-chain actions. They also offer participants the largest benefits for successfully generating results, as well as the ability for pool curators to cancel the pool, ending the cashflow after a notice period and clawing funds back.
👉 Please read the full proposal here 👈
Long live the Paraverse! 🫡
Comments (12)
First and foremost, I want to encourage everyone to read the full proposal, and Agyle, I think it would be great to upload a recording of you going through the presentation you showed on AAG today. Thank you for creating this, Agyle & Talisman team. I do think it is direly needed - at least, it certainly seems like an improvement over the current situation, and I am always a fan of incremental progress. One thought regarding the Pool Size parameter: Did you consider whether there should be a direct link between the total available commission and the amount of DOT that gets staked to generate the cashflow segment? Unlinking them would allow greater flexibility, essentially creating a spectrum from completely results-based, to basically where we are today. Maybe a team is willing to take 0 cashflow in exchange for an insanely lucrative commission if they are very confident they can pull it off, and I think that would affect voter sentiment as well. But, maybe that specific case isn't suited for Incentive Pools.
Similar to YungBeef, i'll encourage everyone to pay attention to details..
The idea of** results-based funding through Incentive Pools** is great for the Polkadot ecosystem. This is about achieving tangible, on-chain actions that add real value to the eco and the community. This shift is aligned with value for money. I know some stuff are qualitative(ex; events) and i'm not fading on that.
I see this as Polkadot directly investing in the foundation of growth by supporting teams that onboard new users to the eco. By enabling teams to work autonomously and take calculated risks, this create a dynamic environment where innovation and progress can go hand in hand and foster a culture of excellence and meaningful contribution.
While this openGov is still nascent and highly experimental, I think the concept of Incentive Pools opens up new avenues of what's possible and opens up a discussion on how initiatives are funded. It's a AYE for me on any prop that focuses on growth, and value creation for Polkadot/Kusama.