Grace & Milena
Summary
The transcript discusses various challenges and considerations around compensation and reward models within DAOs. Here are the key points regarding compensation/reward models:
- Equity and Compensation: Grace emphasizes that it's unethical to treat contributors who are not co-founders as if they are, particularly in terms of compensation expectations based on future profits or token value appreciation. There's a strong stance that work should be compensated fairly and transparently.
- Global Disparities in Payment: The challenge of compensating contributors from different parts of the world is highlighted. Grace suggests a tiered payment system based on the cost of living in the contributor's country, acknowledging that this approach, while not perfect, might be necessary to address global income disparities.
- Transparency and Fairness: In DAOs, compensation is often very transparent, which necessitates clear and fair compensation policies. Grace notes the difficulty in balancing compensation to ensure fairness across different roles and contributions.
- Contribution vs. Appreciation: Grace criticizes the conflation of contribution with appreciation, particularly in the context of tools like "praise" used within DAOs. They argue that appreciation (social recognition) and compensation (financial recognition) should be distinct, as they serve different purposes.
- Value Creation and Compensation: There's a critical view on the actual value created by many DAOs, suggesting that much of the work may not contribute meaningful value and might be likened to "bullshit work" that's nonetheless compensated within the ecosystem. This raises questions about the sustainability and ethical implications of such models.
- Sustainability and Real-world Impact: The discussion touches on the idea that DAOs should focus more on practical, real-world contributions that ensure community members are taken care of in tangible ways (e.g., housing, safety), rather than just circulating digital tokens among themselves. Cabin DAO is mentioned as an example moving in this direction.
- Problem of Parasitism: Grace critiques the broader Web3 and DAO ecosystem as creating a sort of "UBI for smart people," allowing participants to live off the real-world economy without contributing meaningful value. This is seen as part of a larger societal issue where many industries do not directly contribute to essential goods and services.
In summary, the transcript outlines several key challenges and considerations around compensation models in DAOs, emphasizing the need for fairness, transparency, and a focus on creating real-world value. It critiques the tendency to equate social appreciation with financial compensation and highlights the ethical implications of global payment disparities and the sustainability of current models.