WellnessDAO Briefing Document
-- PRE-CALL CHECKLIST ---
General Discovery
Researched by: Jaris James
About the event
- Project: WellnessDAO
- Guests:
- Eric (Founder) | https://twitter.com/the_web3_yogi
- Zeez (Co-founder) | https://twitter.com/bienamii
- Topic: Bringing mindfulness and wellness to web3
- Event schedule: 06/14/2022 11 or 11:30AM PST
- NOT FINANCIAL ADVICE
About our guest speaker
- Include guest name(s); try to include name pronunciation.
- Write a short bio about the guest(s) including their role at the project they are speaking about.
- Find one or two things that are unique or interesting about our guest. Little known facts are great! i.e. owns two Shiba Inus in real life so bought a lot of SHIB.
- Eric: Yoga Teacher, and Jiu Jitsu practitioner. Lives in NY, but originally from the Bay Area.
- Describe their crypto journey thus far. i.e. graduated from college in 2016, got their first bitcoin as a graduation gift, fell down the rabbithole of Ethereum, launched a DeFi protocol in 2020.
- Eric: in and out of investing/trading 2019/2020. Spun up WellnessDAO 2022
- How has their crypto journey impacted their decision to join/launch the project they work on today?
- Eric: Fan of open composability, and respects the power of community.
- What are some notable achievements that increase their web3 reputation?
- Eric: Just joined Disco full-time, Solutions engineer
About the project
- What is the general positioning of the project? i.e. DeFi, NFTs, DAOs, governance.
- DAO
- What is the value proposition of the project? How does it clearly differentiate itself from others in the web3 space?
- A global community sharing/promoting wellness practices across digital and physical spaces. Many DAO contributors are experiencing burnout; but WellnessDAO intends to be the community to help folks focus on wellness amidst the chaos.
- How does it benefit it community members and general web3 communities at large?
- WellnessDAO is creating a holistic wellness community that combines personal & professional coaching, real human connections, shared experiences, tools & frameworks for living well, and above all, a strong and compassionate support network. WellnessDAO shares conscious practices with each other, bridging digital and physical mediums to practice together and live well.
- Is it bridging blockchains, protocols, tools, communities, etc.?
- N/A
- Does it bring a unique vision or approach to solve challenges in web3?
- wellnessDAO is the future of community-driven wellness — a modern health and wellness club, dedicated to elevating the global community’s collective psyche through digital and physical experiences. To expand beyond the dynamically changing web3/NFT space, wellnessDAO is opening up a dialogue around spiritual growth and caring for psychological needs to combat FOMO, 24/7 market alerts, and negative impacts of hustle culture
- How does it improve the web3 ecosystem?
- WellnessDAO intends to bring “peace of mind” to a busy, and somewhat chaotic space.
- Generally, how does the product work?
- Provide basic information about the product
- wellnessDAO exists to connect individuals seeking full, enriched lives. WellnessDAO introduces its members to different approaches to wellness, and creates a platform for open discussion and learning. Together, their members will review and decide how to each approach the different dimensions of wellness.
- Results of the product so far
- High Level Roadmap Feb 2022: Beta launch for early community members who will guide and shape the direction of our community. Feb / March 2022: Host our first series of events for genesis members, tracked through non-transferrable contribution NFTs and wellness NFTs A few possibilities: guided sound meditations from one of our coaches, seminar on topics of the community’s choice, in-person retreat(s), town hall discussions Organize into a DAO and start identifying how to use funds, and obtaining access to world-class instructors across practices Q2 2022: Launch utility NFTs which activate retreat access (one a year), token-gated community access, governance, perks and physical wellness perks. Mid 2022: broader community launch, including prospective token offering, and reward engagement with the issuance of new tokens. Late 2022: Acquisition of community assets (e.g. tickets to retreats, physical space, expert seminars, bank of coaching sessions, host our own online and real-life events, etc.) 2023 and Beyond: expand to additional assets and creation of a global membership community. Establish Wellness Centers IRL across the world!
- Practical applications of product.
- WellnessDAO Values.
- Acceptance - of ourselves, and each other; we’re all on a journey Awareness - of our thoughts, feelings, and actions Authenticity - each of us being unapologetically who we are Connection - between our minds, bodies, and spirits; and with each other Growth and Adaptability - embracing our human and spiritual dynamism through self-awareness and being open to feedback and change Compassion - understanding ourselves to be human and treating ourselves and others with respect and love
- Outline steps for a beginner to get started.
- Head into the wellnessDAO Discord, participate in conversations, and let the team know your ideas! Interested in contributing? Please go here and fill the form: https://airtable.com/shrlbk7Oy9yg6bR8c
- Token economy.
- No Token
- Community updates or changes
- August/September 2022: hosting a physical wellness retreat in Bali with @HighVibesNetwork
- Jan 2023: Web3 x Wellness hackathon ⇒ Build a blockchain-based application focused on wellness! Give out prizes and seed fund winners with funding.
About the ecosystem
- Find one or two things the speaker has shared in the past about the future growth, impact of web3?
- Prioritizing your mental health and wellness in a culture that prioritizes hustle and capitalizes on Fomo is a radical act of courage, vulnerability and strength - Eric Chen.
- How will their project(s) contribute to the evolution and adoption of web3?
- Inaccessibility of existing healthcare systems: treatment is not cheap, nor is it easy to get. Using the example of board-certified psychiatrists, psychologists and psychiatric nurse practitioners (as one of many approaches to wellness), according to the American Journal for Preventative Medicine, “about one quarter (27%) of metropolitan counties lacked a psychiatrist, compared with 65% of non-metropolitan counties. About one fifth (19%) of metropolitan counties lacked a psychologist, compared with almost half (47%) of non-metropolitan counties”. And if one happens to live in the same county as a practitioner, average rates for therapy are $100-$200 an hour, with dubious insurance coverage. Even if one is fortunate to have psychiatrist/psychologist visits covered by insurance, high deductibles make it difficult to seek out help and treatment due to the upfront costs. Resource sharing allows us to scale and fractionalize these resources across a broader base, creating functional utility while managing individual cost.
Expanding the Narrative around “Wellness”: many dimensions of wellness are either ignored or vastly minimized in their importance. For instance, in many global cultures today, physical wellness is commonly prioritized over mental and emotional wellbeing. As wellnessDAO grows, we aim to leverage the platform of the community to continue to share our wellness journeys with the world to bring visibility to how critical some of these other aspects of life are (and how to think about and work on them as needed!).
Providing access to coaches, thought-leaders, and peers: initial proceeds from the Genesis membership NFT will allow us to scale much more rapidly, and create meaningful value for community members from the beginning.
Rather than direct the community to healthcare systems, we tap into expertise of coaches and non-board-certified practitioners, understanding that healthcare systems are not one-size-fits-all. DAOs (and the associated assets) also naturally provide a lightweight but effective set of incentives through which we can curate, maintain, and grow a healthy and thriving community.
Establishing a sense of order and governance: By building a tokenized community, governance and buy-in is inherently built into the structure of the organization.
Collective decision-making: the community should have agency over future direction and initiatives to pursue. Existing models of community-led governance lack the scalability and accountability of fully-public, immutable voting system.
- What are some web3 projects/tools that the project integrates to create a more robust ecosystem?
- Utility NFTs which activate retreat access (one a year), token-gated community access, governance, perks and physical wellness perks.
Resources
References
- Whitepaper: https://mirror.xyz/0x55F594Ab1218DBf4a95bd820B7C3A04aa7729e18/-llr5l8VlrSzRrtMnqnuWQV2gScGp-T77XmlNBe4eCM
- Eric’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/the_web3_yogi
- Zeez Twitter: https://twitter.com/bienamii
Sources
- Quick call with Eric while he was at Consensus 2022.