Cardano Org Benchmark: Strategic Guide

[Proposal setup] Proposal title

Please provide your proposal title

Cardano Org Benchmark: Strategic Guide

[Proposal Summary] Budget Information

Enter the amount of funding you are requesting in ADA

60000

[Proposal Summary] Time

Please specify how many months you expect your project to last

4

[Proposal Summary] Translation Information

Please indicate if your proposal has been auto-translated

No

Original Language

en

[Proposal Summary] Problem Statement

What is the problem you want to solve?

Cardano's organizational complexity, a trait shared with other relevant web3 ecosystems, creates entry barriers for external talent, investors, and enterprises looking to build or provide support.

[Proposal Summary] Supporting Documentation

Supporting links

• https://tritemius.com/
,
• https://drive.google.com/file/d/1DlHK3CFkAOjLMPyBuRtEJT3jK7CedndQ/view?usp=sharing

[Proposal Summary] Project Dependencies

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

No

Describe any dependencies or write 'No dependencies'

No, we do not foresee any critical dependencies for the successful delivery of this project. However, we will highly value any recommendations from the Cardano community or Project Catalyst team regarding the most relevant OGs to interview for the research.

[Proposal Summary] Project Open Source

Will your project's outputs be fully open source?

Yes

Please provide details on the intellectual property (IP) status of your project outputs, including whether they will be released as open source or retained under another licence.

The organizational benchmark will be published and shared with the Cardano community, and made freely available to the general public.

[Theme Selection] Theme

Please choose the most relevant theme and tag related to the outcomes of your proposal

Governance

[Campaign Category] Category Questions

Who you’re targeting, how you’ll reach them, and why this matters for Cardano?

Target Audience:

• Web3 Newcomers: Providing an initial map of the ecosystems' vision, purpose, and organizational structure, similar to an onboarding guide for a traditional corporation.
• Web3 Stakeholders (B2B): Helping companies and professionals understand how to navigate Cardano compared to peers, providing operational and functional clarity.
• The Cardano Community: Offering an objective mirror to identify organizational strengths and areas for improvement.

Relevance:

This project provides a practical tool to support internal reflection and the design of initiatives that strengthen organizational processes. During the recent CF Summit in Berlin in mid-novemeber, the importance of learning from other ecosystems (e.g., Solana’s go-to-market approach) was highlighted. This report answers that call by formalizing those learnings into actionable intelligence.

Provide a list of key activities of your project:

• Design of the research framework (comparative dimensions and KPIs)
• Identification and verification of data sources
• Market research execution (Data collection and Interviews)
• Data analysis, processing and insight generation
• Report creation (writing and design)
• Video report production and final project delivery

What are your success metrics?

• Adoption/Reach: +500 requests to download/read the benchmark (PDF/Notion).
• Conversion: +250 referrals from the report readers.
• Scope: Comprehensive benchmark of at least 3 ecosystems (Cardano, Solana, Ethereum).
• Depth: In-depth interviews with at least 4 OG, or key leaders per ecosystem to gather qualitative insights.
• Rigor: Analysis of +150 distinct data sources.

[Your Project and Solution] Solution

Please describe your proposed solution and how it addresses the problem

Although information about Web3 ecosystems is scattered across numerous sources, there is no structured, comprehensive guide serving as a recognized reference for newcomers or community members to objectively evaluate ecosystems from an organizational perspective.

Talent, investors, and enterprises looking to build or provide services currently face high friction. They must gather fragmented data to answer key questions: What is the ecosystem's purpose? How are decisions made? How does one effectively engage? This lack of clarity creates organizational perceived complexity, acting as a significant barrier to adoption for non-OGs and institutional players who require clear operational mental maps before entering a space.

We will conduct a structured, systematic and indipendent benchmarking analysis comparing Cardano with other leading ecosystems (eg. Ethereum, and Solana). The goal is to offer a rigorous, objective overview that accelerates learning and adoption from an organizational perspective. The research will highlight where Cardano stands out and provide recommendations on best practices to strengthen the ecosystem’s environment for builders, investors, and enterprises.

A Spanish proverb states, "from comparison comes understanding." The brain learns by placing concepts side-by-side to reveal differences; this is the spirit of our proposal.

As a non-technical strategic report, we will conduct a systematic analysis of Cardano, Ethereum, and Solana, focusing on organizational models rather than code or financial metrics. We will analyze five key business functions:

1. Strategy and vision: What is the ecosystem’s current positioning within the Web3 landscape? How is the long-term vision defined and communicated? We will position each ecosystem on a strategic competitor map
2. Governance and decision making: Cardano is a reference point for decentralized governance. We will compare decision-making processes and community engagment in decision making across chains
3. Ecosystem development mechanisms: How do ecosystems attract talent and sustain builders?We will benchmark the Cardano initiatives (e.g. Project Catalyst, CF Venture HUB, CB DAO, etc.) to those implemented by other ecosystems
4. Community engagement: Beyond the Ambassador model, we will analyze innovative engagement structures (e.g., Superteam model implemented by Solana) to propose evolved roles for Cardano
5. Traditional enterprise and Web2 adoption: Protocols are creating specific point of contact able to speak web2 and web3 language in order to build bond and ensure a landing in the traditional world for the projects.How does the ecosystem approach traditional and Web2 companies? What tools or bridges are provided to increase engagement and adoption?

Projects will be structured in three milestones and an overall duration of approx. 4 months.

Relevance

This study provides readers with a structured mental map to navigate the organizational complexity of Web3, transforming scattered information into actionable intelligence. By offering a clear comparative framework, we reduce the cognitive load required to understand how Cardano operates relative to its peers.

Drawing on Tritemius’ deep expertise in the Web3 space and over twenty years of experience in Venture Capital and business building, this project applies a rigorous, agnostic benchmarking approach. It solves the opacity problem that currently hinders outsiders from engaging with the ecosystem.

Crucially, and as already mentioned, while this is a non-technical report, it serves as a critical 'Gate-Opener' for high-value adoption. Corporate and institutional players cannot deploy capital or build infrastructure (on-chain activity) in ecosystems they perceive as chaotic or opaque. By comparing Cardano’s organizational characteristics against Solana and Ethereum, we provide the essential Due Diligence layer that decision-makers need to validate their entry, effectively bridging the gap between awareness and technical integration.

[Your Project and Solution] Impact

Please define the positive impact your project will have on the wider Cardano community

• Strategic Alignment: The project aligns perfectly with Cardano’s DNA of research and peer-review, applying these principles to organizational structure rather than just code.

• Actionable Intelligence: It provides the community with a practical tool for internal reflection. By identifying clear benchmarks, the community can design evidence-based initiatives to strengthen governance and operational processes.

• Competitive Clarity: It offers a comprehensive overview of Cardano’s position within the broader Web3 landscape. The comparative approach ("from comparison comes understanding") allows the community to clearly identify unique value propositions and areas for improvement.

• Unlocking Enterprise Adoption: The report acts as a trust-building mechanism. By validating Cardano’s organizational maturity through an external professional benchmark, we remove barriers for risk-averse institutional players, facilitating their transition from passive observers to active participants (builders and investors) in the ecosystem.

[Your Project and Solution] Capabilities & Feasibility

What is your capability to deliver your project with high levels of trust and accountability? How do you intend to validate if your approach is feasible?

• Tritemius is a Spanish firm focused on investment and venture building within the Web3 ecosystem. Our mission is to foster Web3 entrepreneurship by leveraging the trends driving the mass adoption of decentralized applications.
• Tritemius operates in a unique window of opportunity, driven by increasing institutional and governmental adoption and the emergence of clear regulatory frameworks. We place a special focus on Spanish-speaking countries, aiming to position ourselves as a Web3 connector between Spain and Latin America.
• The group was Co-founded by Luis Pastor, Carlos Fernandez y Sacha Gordillo, who have a combined experience of more than 20 years in the sector
  • Luis Pastor, Tritemius Group CEO, https://www.linkedin.com/in/luispastor81/
  • Carlos Fernandez, Founding Partner, https://www.linkedin.com/in/carlos-fernandez-herraiz-phd/
  • Sacha Gordillo, Founding Partner, https://www.linkedin.com/in/sacha-gordillo-73365748/
• Tritemius has a strong media presence in its relevant markets both at institutional and corporate level thanks to valuable partnerships with internationally known events like Merge Madrid and Merge Argentina and the European Blockchain Convention.
• Senior team is constantly present in web3 and trad-events (eg.Digital Asset Forum by El confidencial, spanish digital newspaper), round tables discussions and podcasts (eg. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZIUNOIrFUco&t=2420s)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZIUNOIrFUco&t=2420s))](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZIUNOIrFUco&t=2420s))) to strengthen acquaintance with the ecosystem and boost web3 adoption.

• Our research area is the cornerstone of our business models, devoted to constant indentification of new trends, use cases and game-changing projects.

[Milestones] Project Milestones

Milestone Title

Research set up

Milestone Outputs

• Research framework, building blocks and sub-questions definition

• Marketing techniques for data gathering definition (e.g. Desk research, in-depth interviews, community event participation, etc.)

• Data collection templates

Acceptance Criteria

Publication of the research plan including research questions, selected marketing techniques to takle each question, preliminary data sources to be used for each question, and data collection templates.

Evidence of Completion

• Google Sheet with the research plan, including the research questions, the definition of the marketing experiments to be conducted and the qualitative or quantitative inputs to be collected

• List of the marketing techniques to be used and the preliminary data sources. Due to confidentiality, we might not be able to disclose openly the full names of the people engaged as data sources but only the ecosystem they relate to

• Data collection templates aligned with the selected marketing techniques (Notion or similar format).

Delivery Month

1

Cost

12229

Progress

20 %

Milestone Title

Data collection, analysis and report building

Milestone Outputs

• Execution of the investigation plan, data collection and recording of the main findings

  • Raw material from interviews, conversations and interactions with direct sources. Confidential materials will only be shared with Catalyst for milestone completion approvals

• Benchmark report production, including recommendations for Cardano

  • Research report will include main insights, a benchmark overview of the organizational dimensions defined in milestone 1, Tritemius recommendations for the Cardano ecosystem based on comparisons with its peers and suggestions for further investigation

Acceptance Criteria

• Raw material from interviews, conversations and interactions with direct sources. Confidential materials will only be shared with the Catalyst team to comply with GDPR and milestone achievement approvals

• List of the data sources engaged. Those requesting confidentiality in order to join the research will only be disclosed to the Catalyst team

• The complete research report, including the highlights, benchmark overview of the organizational dimensions defined in milestone 1 for the selected ecosystems

• Tritemius recommendations for Cardano ecosystem and suggestion for further research contributions

Evidence of Completion

• Data collection templates filled with row materiales

• Final benchamark report (notion, PDF or similar formats for easy reading and reader engagment tracking)

Delivery Month

2

Cost

44803

Progress

90 %

Milestone Title

Closing video and final report

Milestone Outputs

• Video report of the execution of the research, capturing the key moments of the process
• Lession learned and areas of improvement for future research activities related with this topic
• Report diffusion (Tritemius' linkedin and X profiles)

Acceptance Criteria

• Submission of the video including images of th whole process
• Submission of the document with reflections, key learnings and recomendation for further improvement in future benchmark edition
• Proof of report diffusion trough Tritemius X and Linkedin's profiles

Evidence of Completion

• Link to closing video
• LInk to the project report
• Link to the posts with the diffusion of the report

Delivery Month

4

Cost

2968

Progress

100 %

[Final Pitch] Budget & Costs

Please provide a cost breakdown of the proposed work and resources

Total Request: 60,000 ADA

1. Market Assessment & Business Intelligence (Professional Fees): 58,600 ADA

This core budget covers the intellectual effort and professional services of the Tritemius team to execute a high-level consulting benchmark.

• Phase 1: Framework Design (48 hours)
  • Project Director (12h), Web3 Analyst (32h), Senior Expert Review (4h).
• Phase 2: Execution, Analysis & Writing (228 hours)
  • Data collection, processing 200+ sources, and conducting high-level interviews.
  • Project Director (88h), Web3 Analyst (128h), Senior Expert Review (12h).
  • Note: Any incentives for interviewees are covered by Tritemius as co-investment.
• Phase 3: project report & closing (12 hours)

2. Venue Hire & Production: 1,000 ADA

Costs associated with the graphic design of the report and production/editing of the final video deliverable.

3. Licensing & Tools: 400 ADA

Licenses for collaborative tools (Notion Enterprise or similar) to host the report and ensure public accessibility.

[Final Pitch] Value for Money

How does the cost of the project represent value for the Cardano ecosystem?

The project delivers value by providing a comprehensive view of Cardano's organization compared to its peers. By clearly mapping strengths and areas for improvement, it breaks the organizational complexity barriers that currently hinder adoption. This creates a cost-effective gateway for talent, investors, and enterprises to navigate the ecosystem, turning a one-time investment into a permanent asset for growth.

[Self-Assessment] Self-Assessment Checklist

I confirm that the proposal is a non-technical initiative, with ≤20% of the budget for tech support.

Yes

I confirm that the proposal provides verifiable evidence (portfolio, links, reports) of the team's ability to deliver the project.

Yes

I confirm that the proposer and all team members are in good standing with prior Catalyst projects.

Yes

I confirm that the proposal includes clear objectives with both Output Metrics (what proposal did) and Adoption-Focused Metrics (what effect proposal had).

Yes

I confirm that the proposal clearly explains the user journey and provides a credible plan for how the project will equip and motivate users for future on-chain activity.

Yes

I confirm that the initiative clearly demonstrates how it will grow the Cardano ecosystem or onboard users.

Yes

I confirm that the project plan and timeline (≤ 12 months) are realistic and well-defined.

Yes

I confirm that the proposal commits to public outputs and justifies any exceptions.

Yes

I confirm that the budget adheres to all policies: it is for future work, follows the merchandise rule, and excludes establishing local treasuries, incentives/giveaways, re-grants.

Yes

[Required Acknowledgements] Consent & Confirmation

I Agree

Yes