Paideia DAO Management Software Suite

[GENERAL] Name and surname of main applicant

Martin Morley

[GENERAL] Email address of main applicant

marty@paideia.im

Additional applicants

N/A

[GENERAL] Please specify how many months you expect your project to last (from 2-12 months)

12

[GENERAL] Please indicate if your proposal has been auto-translated into English from another language.

No

[GENERAL] Does your project have any dependencies on other organizations, technical or otherwise?

Yes

[GENERAL] If YES, please describe what the dependency is and why you believe it is essential for your project’s delivery. If NO, please write “No dependencies.” .

The smart contract designs require some level of on-chain data persistence. Paideia utilizes AVL trees for data persistence on Ergo, while our Cardano implementation will employ Merkle Trees, whereby we store hashed data in contracts to allow state to pass from block to block. https://github.com/cardano-foundation/merkle-tree-java

Based on our research, we expect the Paideia platform/model will be successfully implemented using the Merkle Tree method above, which is well documented and open-source. Any additional research will be shared with the project to contribute further to open-source technology on Cardano. 

[GENERAL] Will your project’s output/s be fully open source?

Yes

[GENERAL] If NO, please describe which outputs are not going to be open source. If YES, please write “Project will be fully open source.”

Project will be fully open source under the GPL license. This means that any derivative software must also be open source.

As has been the case with our prior projects in the Ergo community, everything the Paideia team creates will be 100% open source and well documented, period.

We rely on open-source code for portions of our project and look forward to others using our code for future projects in the Cardano ecosystem.

[METADATA] Category of proposal

dApp

[IMPACT] Please describe your proposed solution.

The problem Paideia is addressing is the lack of fully decentralized, transparent, and automated treasury management systems for Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs) on the Cardano blockchain. Current solutions on Cardano, while offering some elements of decentralized governance, do not allow for on-chain treasury management that is completely automated and decentralized, thus not fully embodying the core principles of DAOs.

Paideia aims to solve this problem by providing simple-to-use DAO tooling that will allow members to manage on-chain governance in a truly decentralized manner. Unlike existing solutions, our platform will ensure that DAO treasuries can be locked on-chain and votes will be required to spend those treasuries, thereby eliminating the need for trust or control by a select few individuals. We also offer a very comprehensive and simple user experience. If you can use Reddit, you can use Paideia. No technical knowledge necessary. 

Users can make proposals and provide a write-up to support their proposal. These proposals can include an automated action, such as a treasury expenditure. There is a discussion section on the proposal where token holders can leave comments and discuss the proposal. Then a vote is tallied on chain. These votes could be accessed directly on-chain without using the Web2 section to ensure decentralization and automation take place, but we provide the web2 software to make it easy for anyone to manage their DAO and view the activities. If our website goes down, the on-chain code still works properly.

The platform is unique because it brings to Cardano a level of functionality and decentralization currently available on Ethereum and other platforms. Our solution is geared towards any project launching on Cardano that has a governance token. We expect these projects to benefit from our tooling, as it will free up their developers' time to focus on their core functionalities instead of building their own governance tools.

We believe this project is essential to Cardano because it not only brings in much-needed functionality but also supports the broader vision of Cardano for a truly decentralized and autonomous blockchain ecosystem. If projects can advertise that they are operating as DAOs, with decentralization, transparency, and automated governance, they will be able to generate trust in their community and focus more on building for the Cardano ecosystem.

[IMPACT] How does your proposed solution address the challenge and what benefits will this bring to the Cardano ecosystem?

Our solution addresses the challenge by providing fully automated, decentralized, and transparent treasury management for DAOs on Cardano. This is crucial for facilitating robust governance structures that embody the core principles of decentralization and autonomy. When a vote takes place on Paideia, the funds are sent automatically, based on the proposal parameters. There is no opportunity for human intervention or corruption to manipulate the outcome.

The implementation of the Paideia platform will also greatly benefit the Cardano ecosystem. It will attract projects to launch their DAOs on Cardano, fostering innovation and growth within the community. Not just because our platform will be easy to use, but because interacting with smart contracts is significantly cheaper on Cardano than on Ethereum. There are no gas fees! Moreover, it will enhance the accountability and transparency of projects that do choose to launch on Cardano, thereby boosting community trust and engagement.

The Paideia platform will contribute to the Cardano ecosystem's growth by attracting new users and developers, thus expanding the community and further solidifying Cardano's position in the decentralized space.

[IMPACT] How do you intend to measure the success of your project?

We intend to measure the success of our project using both quantitative and qualitative metrics.

These include:

1. Total number of DAOs initiated on the platform
2. Number of active users across all DAOs
3. Number of proposals submitted and passed
4. Total Value Locked (TVL) across DAO treasuries
5. TVL based on tokens staked through the platform
6. Number of new wallets created to interact with DAOs

Qualitative metrics would involve gathering user feedback to continually improve the platform and ensuring that it meets the needs of the Cardano community. With our other projects, we always seek community feedback, and some of the suggestions provided by the community have led to the biggest improvements on our platforms. 

In addition, the Paideia platform itself provides a space for communities to discuss proposals and share ideas, since it has a discussion section for each proposal, and DAO members can even create Discussion posts that give participants the ability to discuss governance related topics, without creating a proposal. This functionality is already operational and can be seen at https://app.paideia.im

[IMPACT] Please describe your plans to share the outputs and results of your project?

The code will always be pushed to Github. We will work to launch individual modules and get them connected to the frontend in a timely manner, so that users can assess their functionality. 

The module launch order will be as follows: 

1. Staking (Staking is required for on-chain voting, but does not require a token distribution)
2. Profit sharing (add lump sum to distribute to stakers)
3. Basic proposals and on-chain voting
4. Configurable contracts (DAOs have config options such as quorum and vote threshold)
5. Treasury: send funds through voting
6. Change DAO configuration via voting

What this means is that we will focus on staking first, and once the smart contracts are done, part of the team will work to implement them in the front-end so they can actually be used. This will go through an audit process, closed-alpha, open-beta, and then open launch. Each module will be released as it is ready and the teams will work on their respective sections in order. 

This way, the community will be able to use the modules as they are built, and can verify progress based on the fact that they will actually be able to access different features of the platform as they become available.

[CAPABILITY/ FEASIBILITY] What is your capability to deliver your project with high levels of trust and accountability?

I’d like to start by saying we don’t always get the time estimates right. But having said that, we have already built Paideia on Ergo, so we have a very good idea now of what will go into developing this for Cardano, and since the front-end exists and is working, we won’t have to do that again. 

The project will be managed by Marty, who has experience managing Ergopad, Paideia, Crux, and Coinecta, which are all in different stages of development, and also experience as a freelance web developer with a small team of contractors that help complete projects. The team that created Paideia on Ergo will be part of the Cardano port, and developers with Cardano experience will be hired to fill in any gaps in our team. Harmonic Labs will be contributing a lot to the smart-contract development on this project and we have already worked out contract terms with them. 

We have proven through Ergopad and our other projects that we are accountable to our community. Tokens have always been released on schedule, code is always open source, and no deceptive or misleading statements have ever been made. Our telegram and discord members will attest to that, and our reputation can be verified on Twitter as well. We believe in growing the cryptocurrency ecosystem, especially eUTXO blockchains, and building software that makes blockchain more accessible. That is reflected in everything we do. 

[CAPABILITY/ FEASIBILITY] What are the main goals for the project and how will you validate if your approach is feasible?

Our main goal is to develop and launch the Paideia platform on Cardano, offering a comprehensive tool for managing on-chain governance in a decentralized, transparent, and smart-contract automated way.

To validate our approach, we will:

1. Develop a prototype and conduct rigorous testing to ensure its functionality and security.
2. Conduct a beta launch to gather feedback from early adopters.
3. Track our project success metrics (mentioned in previous answers) to ensure we are reaching our goals.

[CAPABILITY/ FEASIBILITY] Please provide a detailed breakdown of your project’s milestones and each of the main tasks or activities to reach the milestone plus the expected timeline for the delivery.

Design and Development of Paideia Platform on Cardano (Estimated timeline: 12 months)

Smart contract milestones: 

• Staking
• DAO Configuration
• Proposals
• Spend treasury
• Change DAO config
• Voting
• Successful vote
• Unsuccessful vote
• Simultaneous vote tallies

Backend milestones

• Paideia SDK for Cardano
• Paideia API for frontend

Implement the frontend UI/UX

• Update notification system to include Cardano blockchain mem-pool and verified block data
• Create separate front-end for Cardano-based DAOs (the same as the existing front-end but perhaps a different color palette)
• Implement Cardano API with Cardano frontend

Perform rigorous testing

• Beta Launch and Community Feedback (Estimated timeline: 2 month)
• Launch the beta version of the platform
• Collect and analyze feedback from the community
• Implement necessary improvements

Full Launch and Marketing (Estimated timeline: 1 months)

• Full launch of the Paideia platform on Cardano
• Initiate marketing and community outreach strategies

[CAPABILITY/ FEASIBILITY] Please describe the deliverables, outputs and intended outcomes of each milestone.

Milestone 1 Deliverables: Functional smart contracts, backend & offchain infrastructure connected to frontend UI/UX 

Milestone 1 Outputs: Fully developed Paideia platform on Cardano

Milestone 1 Outcomes: Completion of the development phase, ready for beta testing

Milestone 2 Deliverables: Beta version of the platform, Community feedback report 

Milestone 2 Outputs: User-tested Paideia platform, Improved platform based on feedback Milestone 2 Outcomes: Ready for full launch

Milestone 3 Deliverables: Fully operational Paideia platform, Marketing and community outreach strategy 

Milestone 3 Outputs: Fully launched Paideia platform, Increased community awareness Milestone 3 Outcomes: Wide usage of the platform, Growing user base, Increased engagement in Cardano DAOs

[RESOURCES & VALUE FOR MONEY] Please provide a detailed budget breakdown of the proposed work and resources.

1. Development (₳600,000):

• Smart Contracts: ₳200,000
• Backend Infrastructure: ₳300,000
• Frontend UI/UX integration: ₳100,000

1. Testing and Quality Assurance (₳100,000):

• Unit Tests: ₳50,000
• Integration Tests: ₳50,000

1. Security Audit (₳150,000):

• Code Audit: ₳100,000
• Infrastructure Audit: ₳50,000

1. Marketing and Community Engagement (₳100,000):

• Social Media Marketing: ₳30,000
• Community Management: ₳30,000
• Community Events: ₳40,000

1. Project Management, Documentation, and Reporting (₳50,000):

• Project Management: ₳20,000
• Documentation: ₳20,000
• Reporting: ₳10,000

1. Contingency (₳100,000)

UPDATE: We are removing marketing and the security audit from this proposal. We would like to move the audit fund request to Fund 11, so that we can focus specifically on building the project for this round. We have adjusted the fund request accordingly.

Note: The budget breakdown provided is an estimate and actual costs may vary.

As per third-party products or services, we plan on hiring a reputable security firm to conduct a thorough audit of our code and infrastructure. The specifics will be finalized closer to the audit phase, and costs have been allocated in the budget for this.

All developers will be contracted and are accounted for within the development budget. For publicity/marketing, we plan to utilize social media platforms for maximum reach and engagement, and costs associated with this are included in the marketing budget.

For project management, we will utilize tools like GitHub for code management, Trello or Github Issues for project management, and Discord for team communication, none of which require additional expenditure.

The remaining funds will be used as a contingency to address any unforeseen issues that may arise during the development and implementation process.

The total budget requested from the Catalyst fund is ₳1,100,000 ₳850,000. We believe this provides excellent value for money for the intended impact and functionality we aim to bring to the Cardano ecosystem. We are fully committed to managing these funds responsibly to deliver the project as per the proposal.

[RESOURCES & VALUE FOR MONEY] How does the cost of the project represent value for money for the Cardano ecosystem?

Our project cost is ₳1,100,000 ₳850,000, which includes salaries, infrastructure, and other associated costs. The costs have been calculated based on the average wages for the respective roles, and considering the complexity and the expected duration of the project.

This investment represents significant value for money for the Cardano ecosystem. The planned solution aims to integrate DAO technology in a novel way, with an extremely accessible UI that will be easy for anyone to use, including those who aren’t familiar with crypto. This will potentially drive more users and developers to the Cardano ecosystem. Many projects launch their token with touted governance utility and Paideia can provide the tools to actually manage it.

Paideia will also serve as a foundational piece that could be leveraged for numerous further developments, thereby enhancing the overall potential of the Cardano platform. The advancements required in Merkle Tree research for on-chain data persistence will be useful to many other projects in the ecosystem, and anything we build for Paideia will be open-source and documented. 

In addition, our team is composed of highly experienced professionals who have a proven track record in delivering quality work. This not only increases the likelihood of successful project completion but also ensures efficient use of funds. The knowledge and expertise we will gather during the project execution will also feed back into the Cardano ecosystem, as we plan to share our learnings with the community, further enhancing its value.

[IMPORTANT NOTE] The Applicant agreed to Fund10 rules and also that data in the Submission Form and other data provided by the project team during the course of the project will be publicly available.

I Accept