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title: 🤔 The What, Why & How of Your DAO
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> _"To ask the right question is already half the solution of a problem."_ - Carl Jung

While in our case here, _knowing_ the solution is only the seed of a solution, it is nonetheless critical to ask the right questions.

Originally made by [Felipe Duarte](https://twitter.com/duartedao), [_DAO Canvas_](http://daocanvas.webflow.io/) is a simple tool for you to answer some of the most important questions when starting a DAO.

You may not have all the answers now, but you should at least try answering them.

-   To start answering these questions, open [this doc](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1iS3xRLsaZORNGnhAmYekGPJyqYLtax-h62estIsF90s/edit?usp=sharing) then go "File" > "Make a copy" and off you go 🙃

If you need any help, don't be afraid to [ask us anything](https://discord.gg/6JFXC9T) 😇
<br />

## Core

### Name your DAO

> Just don't make it generic; this is not San Francisco.

### What do you want to achieve?

> Take time to really think it through & condense it into a sentence.

### What are the three most important [values](https://www.google.com/search?q=list+of+values&sxsrf=ALeKk00gKf4qjEK4puOgs1zch0Q-z3SeRw:1601637375655&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiysNaW5JXsAhUql4sKHaZdCoYQ_AUoAXoECBkQAw&biw=2091&bih=1225) to this organization?

> -   TBD
> -   TBD
> -   TBD

### What decisions are made through voting?

> Budget allocation? Hiring? Investments? Everything? Nothing?

### How would the success of this DAO impact the world?

> Think long term & aim high.

### What/who is needed to achieve the goals of this DAO?

> What are the things that need to happen? Who are the people that need to join? What do you need to do?

<br />

## Community

### What is the backstory?

> Why are you here & why are you doing this? Why should people care? Tell a story, people love stories!

### Communication platforms

> How does your DAO communicate? Where do you chat daily? Where do you do meetings? What about async long-form thought-sharing? Where do you store knowledge? How do you inform the less active members & the wider community? Where do you share your message & recruit new members?

Here's what we use for MetaGame:

-   **Daily chatting:** _Discord_
-   **Long-form async:** _Discourse forums_
-   **Less-active & wider community:** _Substack newsletter_
-   **Knowledge repository:** _Docusaurus wiki_
-   **Outside comms:** _mainly Twitter & related community channels but also niche-related forums/reddits_

### Community’s rhythms and rituals:

> Weekly meetings? Meetups? Newsletters? Podcasts or AMAs? Do you celebrate birthdays? Do you play games together? Do you take time to check-in before each meeting?
> _This is something better figured out over time, but worth thinking about._

-   **Weekly:** _Ex: a community call or something?_
-   **Monthly:** _Ex: a regular time to address token allocations?_

### Who is responsible for what?

> Who are the people responsible and who keeps the pulse of the rituals?
> _As you might not even have the people yet, this is something you'll need to figure out over time. Alas, make it a habit to make sure there is 1 person responsible for keeping the pulse on any task or initiative lest you end up with the [story of Everybody, Somebody, Anybody & Nobody](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/8a/1d/73/8a1d73ef7261e9c6f1bcdcaab2b5153c.jpg)._

### Member journey

#### Describe the new user onboarding process

> How do people discover and join your DAO?

#### How do new users catch up?

> Getting started page, calls to action, newsletter, etc...

#### How do you keep users engaged?

> Why should people stick around after discovering your DAO?

#### Why do people leave your DAO?

> Eg. lack of clear direction & widespread understanding of what is going on. Failure to properly onboard people through clear written information & human connection. Failure to engage people and let them know of all the little ways they could contribute. Failure to reward them. These are the things you need to think **a lot** about.

<br />

## Governance elements

### How do you know you are succeeding?

> What are you optimizing for? Are there any key performance indicators?

-   \# or % active users (per week)
-   \# of proposals made/passed (per week)
-   Any other concrete outputs you're looking for?

### Reflect on these governance polarities

-   Global - the organization’s physical infrastructure - Local
-   Decentralized - how distributed amongst people is its decision making - Centralized

### Caps and global constraints

> Is there a cap on the tokens to be minted? Maximum burn rate of funds? What are users not allowed to do?

### Common issues

> What are the decisions that need to be made daily and are not considered critical?
> Do you want them made by the people on the front-line or do you want it all through voting?

### Critical proposals

> What are the critical decisions that the DAO can take that need a high degree of consensus?

### Legal strategy

> How does the DAO negotiate its legitimacy with the legacy legal system? Think about legal wrappers if needed.

### Doubts and concerns on the parameters

> Questions, comments, and concerns go here.

<br />

## Stakeholder Analysis

### From the users’ point of view, what is the DAO’s primary objective?

> Should be one sentence or less.

### What connects your different user personas?

> They might share goals, ambitions, ideology, or a problem. What is it?

### How do members coordinate strategy, planning, and direction?

> Where/how does the community coordinate so that the DAO can operate in a peer to peer way?

### How can users leverage participation for individual benefit?

> What do people get out of the DAO? Connecting their needs/desires to the collective process is important to keep your users engaged.

### Describe your user personas:

> Think about their age, lifestyle, and goals.

-   Persona 1
-   Persona 2
-   Persona 3

### How will you fund it and why would someone invest in your DAO?

> Will you need a lot of money to build this DAO? If so, what is the incentive for people to fund it? How do you plan on making a return on their investment? Will you go the VC way or the crowdfunding way? Membership fees?

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