Onboarded companies playbook

[IMPACT] Please describe your proposed solution.

A big part of the team activities is related to onboarding impact companies to Catalyst & Cardano.

The team had several funded-related proposals that aim to onboard more companies to the ecosystem: 

• Fund 7 - Business Development Hub Geneva - closing video & Closing report
• Fund 7 - Strategy Framework - miro board 
• Fund 8 - Community lead generator
• Fund 8 - Cross-chain impact lead generator    

Some companies we managed to onboard already:

• www.Seedstars.com  
• www.Goodwall.io 
• www.Digifarm.io 
• https://accelerate2030.net/
• https://thepondfoundation.org/  

And we are in ongoing discussions with many more companies and we aim to onboard them Cardano & Catalyst. Some of which are traditional organizations like universities, non for profit, and non-tech-related companies.  

The success of our work led us to understand the great potential to continue and onboard companies and the impact it could have on Catalyst and Cardano. The closing video of the business hub Geneva proposal is a good showcase for it. We are now working on building the tools and infrastructure to expand the hub to multiple locations with the vision to create Cardano Smart Business Hub Center. 

We are already developing the guidebook to onboard companies, which could be viewed in this link. The challenge is that once the companies are onboarded the next step is to figure out some key areas:

• Receive and manage funds: wallets, accounting, FIAT
• Admin around catalyst
• Communication and connection to the community
• How they can use Caradno technology for their operation and projects

We are getting those questions and requests for support on a regular basis and would like to dedicate time and efforts to provide a more systematic solution. This proposal focuses on developing the playbook for the services we can provide companies that got catalyst funding. It will facilitate interaction with catalyst and community and will guarantee a long-term engagement. By doing so we will support the onboarding of new companies and we will have some ready answers for repeating questions mainly around receiving ADAs. Each fund's more issues will come based on the catalyst progress & adjustments as well specific information related to the fund. For example for fund 9, what is CLAP token and how do we change it to ADA?

The solution will therefore offer:

• Developing a basic playbook for funded companies 
• QA written section
• Cardano technology for business intro document
• Office hours to answer specific questions
• Connecting to relevant ecosystem players and community members
• Collaborate with the Treasury-Guild team to design accounting process and reporting 

[IMPACT] Please describe how your proposed solution will address the Challenge that you have submitted it in.

The challenge text states:  “When receiving Funds, many emerging Projects in Catalyst face legal and financial issues which block them from moving forward.”

This is exactly what the proposal is about with a focus on funded companies that are making their first steps into blockchain and Cardano and project Catalyst being the starting point. As we already showed, many great companies are interested to come on board and make an impact on the ecosystem. Supporting those companies also post-funding will increase engagement as well as attract more companies. 

What we already noticed is while companies first come to Catalyst to offer their services post-funding they evaluate how to use Cardano technology for their operation. 

[IMPACT] What are the main risks that could prevent you from delivering the project successfully and please explain how you will mitigate each risk?

Risk one: within companies and especially big companies there are multiple stakeholders to interact with - this could create confusion and sync issues. In our work, we will take into account also the possibility to communicate with multiple stakeholders - accounting, communication, admin, operation and share relevant information 

Risk two: Catalyst is very unique in its operation and there are no “official” docs or letters. Recently a major organization/university asked for some sort of a signed letter explaining the catalyst process and funding. We interacted with various IOG and CF members and as of now, there is no such thing. The challenge we have is how to streamline the onboarding with traditional/ rigid organizations. The way to mitigate it is to find ways to build confidence and show a track record of catalysts and companies already onboarded. We will also need to adapt the explanation about Catalyst bearing in mind those types of companies/organizations.  

[FEASIBILITY] Please provide a detailed plan, including timeline and key milestones for delivering your proposal.

Pre-funding

In the last 6 months, we already started activities to onboard companies to Catalyst and Cardano and learning as well as building some tools and helpful content is already happening and will continue. 

The result of fund 9 is scheduled to be announced on September 1st and the first payment on September 6th. We will therefore need to prepare some initial key information prior to knowing if the proposal got support or not from the community. 

Post funding plan 

September - onboarding

• For the first two weeks, provide support with the onboarding process and receiving funds process, coordinating with the company accounting and admin teams, and understanding payment schedule…
• Based on the interaction with the companies, collect questions and issues discussed as a base for the playbook and QA section 
• Office hours with each company

October - November playbook, and documentation - Deliverables 

• Prepare the playbook for first-time funded companies 
• QA section 
• Cardano technology for the business document/ppt - this is especially helpful to create further engagement with the companies
• Treasury guild accounting processes for business 

Ongoing work September - December

• Based on needs schedule meetings for information
• Support connecting to the Catalyst and Cardano ecosystem
• Advice on how to best interact/integrate and communicate with the community
• Support for fund 10
• 
  
• Promote the activities to companies through Cardano&Catalyst channels

[FEASIBILITY] Please provide a detailed budget breakdown.

• Meeting with companies - $6000
• September - December - on average 30 hours/meetings with companies per month for 4 months (September to December)  
• The meeting will include:
• Post fund 9 accounting support
• Connecting to the ecosystem support 
• Preparing for fund 10
• 30 hours x $50 per hour = $1500 x 4 months

• Playbook and Q&A - $2500 
• collecting information from companies and research 
• preparing the documents and presentation

• Treasury guild accounting processes for companies $2500 
• Wallets strategy
• Recording of income
• Invoicing
• Co-proposers scenario  

• Cardano technology for businesses - $2500 
• Research
• preparing the documents and presentation 
• including use cases

Total budget $13500

[FEASIBILITY] Please provide details of the people who will work on the project.

The team is already working together on various projects in the last six months. We have a complimentary experience as well as located in different timezones & cultures to be able to best fit the needs of companies. Weare all aligned on values and dedicated full time to Cardano and Catalyst. We all have previous funded proposals as well as multiple proposals in fund 9. This specific proposal is focusing on mainstream activities we have already done in the last 6 months and will compensate for our time dedicated to the community in addition to the need to prepare the suggested documentation. As mentioned above this proposal is connected and part of a smart business hub model we are working on for Catalyst & Cardano.

• Razali Samusudin, research lead https://www.linkedin.com/in/razali-samsudin

Educator, Editor, Digital Economy, Blockchain & Sustainability Researcher, Social Entrepreneur, Catalyst Proposal Mentor, Wada UN SDG and Education Coordinator, Co-Founder of Sustainable ADA & Catalyst School Core Member 

- Cole Bartlett, youth lead,  https://www.linkedin.com/in/cole-bartlett

UNITE 2030 Youth Delegate, a recent graduate in Economics & Sustainability, Founder of Sustainable ADA, Blockchain & Sustainability Researcher, & Social Entrepreneur, Ecoquest Education Foundation - Sustainability Research, B Impact Clinic part of UNH's Changemaker Collaborative - Kikori, Sustainability Splash Program Organizer, Bronze UNH Sustainability Award Winner

- Nori Nishigaya, Tech lead https://www.linkedin.com/in/nishigaya

Founder of the Salmon Nation Decentralized Alliance (SANADA), Bridge Builders, and SAMON pool. Member of the Catalyst Circle Admin Team, Cardano4Climate, and Rapid Funding Challenge Team. Cardano Ambassador, CA, and Funded proposer. Passionate about radical inclusivity and community, and devoted to making Cardano the best community on the planet. Nori brings over 30 years of experience in software development, agile methodologies, leadership and managing teams, and founding and running technology startups.

- Yoram Ben-Zvi, partnership lead https://www.linkedin.com/in/yoram-ben-zvi-446836

A social entrepreneur. In the last five years, Yoram is focusing on combining impact and business. A mentor with the international board, operations, and startup experience. Yoram is an active catalyst member, CA, and part of the Cardano4Climate community. In Addition, active in promoting the Catalyst and Cardano community to impact companies and networks to connect them to the ecosystem (i.e. seedstars.com)   

- Jo Allum: Designer, Impact Entrepreneur, Ecosystem builder https://www.linkedin.com/in/joallum/ 

 Co-founder of a community-led coworking space, Entrepreneur Support Organisation (including incubation, acceleration programs) and a country-wide network of ESO's for Impact entrepreneurs. Contracted to support Angel Association New Zealand's Investor network and member of the committee of New Zealand's Open Source Society. CA F7, F6 Funded Proposer, Challenge Team member at Improve and Grow Auditability.

Treasury Guild

Treasury Guild : offers a 1 to 1 accounting and treasury service to projects within the Catalyst ecosystem. Setting up and managing Project Wallets and the distribution of funds. Keeping track of all budget items and the exchange rate at which the funds were released to ensure that the budget is spent correctly. Including metadata in the transactions enabling future dapps to pull data and create dynamic tailor made dashboards & templates.   

More information could be found at: https://treasuryguild.github.io/Gitbook/

Treasury

Treasury Guild will set up the wallet for {Proposal}, 

Arrange ADA payments to Project team members, maintain budget records and record transactions in GitHub and Gitbook, 

Create Dework & Discord server & channel and gitHub action that sends transaction messages to channel

Miro

has 20 years of experience in managing finances and organising the business of NGOs and the University. He also worked as a Human Resources Manager (HRM). Joined the Catalyst Circle Admin team together with Andre as treasurer in Nov 2021. Currently he is recording, documenting and managing all transactions for CC Admin Team, Swarm, Cardano4Climate, Community Governance and Bridge Builders. LInkedin

Andre 

has experience in small business operation and accounting. Joined the Catalyst Circle Admin team as treasurer in Nov 2021 and has expanded this role by starting the Treasury Guild alongside Miroslav to support projects in the Catalyst community as well. Currently using and documenting GitHub Actions to help automate some of the tasks in Catalyst Circle and treasury work. Linkedin

[FEASIBILITY] If you are funded, will you return to Catalyst in a later round for further funding? Please explain why / why not.

Yes, we are full-time on Catalyst and believe in providing value to the community and the growth of the ecosystem. We will probably return in the future funds. At the same time, we do hope to transfer the business hub model into a profitable unit center. We managed to do it already for a local hub in Geneva and the goal is now to do it in multiple locations.

[FEASIBILITY] Are you or any member of your team working on any other proposals in this Fund9?

[FEASIBILITY] Are you or your team working on any other proposals from previous Funds?

[AUDITABILITY] Please describe what you will measure to track your project's progress, and how will you measure these?

Deliverables: 

• 120 hours of people/meeting with companies
• Prepare the playbook for first-time funded companies 
• QA section 
• Cardano technology for the business document/ppt - this is especially helpful to create further engagement with the companies
• Treasury guild accounting processes for business 

Key metrics to measure:

How many funded proposals done by companies are making use of these new solutions and services - we expect a minimum of 10 for fund 9 and over 20 for fund 10

How many downloads of guidebooks - we assume 50 in Q1 2023 and 100 in Q2 2023 - showing scalability of the services to companies presenting in Catalyst or in the Cardano ecosystems 

We expect by Q1 2023 at least 5 new companies to develop solutions using the Cardano technology and not only offering their services. 

[AUDITABILITY] What does success for this project look like?

Success will be achieved once we see companies using the service and easily onboarded with their admin and connecting to the community. The next step is than supporting the companies in using Cardano technology for their operation and not only for offering their services. This is the major opportunity we see for Cardano for a long-term collaboration - “building on Cardano” and this proposal will support that.

Another success factor will be the use of the guidebooks by the wider community as we aim to make this information relevant also for companies already engaged on Cardano.

Finally, this proposal is part of the smart business hub model we are developing and will be available and used also by Catalyst/Cardano hubs globally.

[AUDITABILITY] Please provide information on whether this proposal is a continuation of a previously funded project in Catalyst or an entirely new one.

The team had several funded-related proposals that aim to onboard more companies to the ecosystem: 

• Fund 7 - Business Development Hub Geneva - closing video & Closing report
• Fund 7 - Strategy Framework - miro board 
• Fund 8 - Community lead generator
• Fund 8 - Cross-chain impact lead generator