[Proposal to HoM, rejected by HoM] NEAR Ecosystem Connect (NEC)

NEAR Digital Collective
1

Proposal: Near Ecosystem Connect

Near Ecosystem Connect (NEC) is a program to streamline the inbound funnel of new founders, products, and service providers seeking partnerships or integrations within the Near Ecosystem. This proposal outlines the need for NEC, its objectives, the resources required, and the expected impact on the ecosystem’s growth and decentralization efforts. By formalizing processes and establishing clear criteria for engagement, NEC aims to enhance visibility, support innovation, and foster a more antifragile, censorship-resistant, and decentralized ecosystem.

Objectives

  • Streamline Inbound Lead Qualification: Implement a productized solution to efficiently qualify and source ecosystem-wide inbound leads.
  • Enhance Ecosystem Collaboration: Facilitate better collaboration between the NEAR Foundation, NDC, and Vertical Owners (VOs) through clear processes and criteria for lead handling and support.
  • Support Decentralization Efforts: Contribute to the ecosystem’s decentralization by distributing founder support and lead management responsibilities across various ecosystem nodes.

Key Deliverables

  • Top-of-Funnel Form & Categories: Develop a structured intake form to categorize and qualify inbound leads.
  • Qualification Criteria & Lead Management: Establish and finalize qualification criteria for leads and a process for managing these leads through a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system.
  • Focused Vertical Owner Collaboration: Identify and finalize top verticals for focus, along with respective VOs, and establish Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs) for collaboration.
  • Resource and Budget Assessment: Conduct a comprehensive assessment of the resources and budget required to implement and sustain NEC operations effectively.
  • Leads Qualified: Current backlog of inbound leads have been triaged, qualified, handed over to Vertical Owners. A significant percentage of leads have been converted to funded projects.

Section 1 - Project Information

Organization Name: Near Ecosystem Connect (NEC)

Proposal Title: Strengthening the NEAR Ecosystem Through Streamlined Inbound Business Development

Establishment Date: To be formed immediately following approval from NDC

DAO’s Category: Ecosystem, Community Led

Project’s Category: Business Development

Section 2. Previous Funding

Have you received funding for this project from any source? Not exactly for this project.

Section 3. URLs

DAO / Project Website: To be established following funding decisions.

Social Media Distribution Channels: We will leverage NDC, NEAR WEEK, and strategic ecosystem partners.

Is Your DAO/Project Targeting a Specific Country? No, the target is Global.

Which region will your DAO/ Project support? International

Section 4. Applicant Information

Name of Point of Contact: Kazanderdad

Link to Governance Forum/near.social Profile: Kazanderdad.near

NEAR Wallet ID: Kazanderdad.near

Country of Residence: Canada

Twitter & Telegram: @KazanderDad

Section 5. Team Members

Cameron: Sponsor, HoM member, Founder

Kazanderdad: Lead and main contact

Other Team Members:

  • Additional council members to be recruited from the community following funding.
  • Operational staff / PM to be recruited from the community.
  • Vertical owners will be onboarded from NF, Proximity, Aurora, Mintbase, BuildDAO, DevHub, NDC and more to come.

Section 6. Experience

Short Summary of Your and Team’s Professional Experience: The team is to be formed by experienced members of the NDC ecosystem, with a focus on procurement and financial services, aiming to streamline operations and financial transactions within the NDC.

List Web3 Projects You Have Completed:

  • Banyan Collective
  • BAF, Blockchain Accelerator Foundation
  • NEAR Foundation
  • GoodDollar.org
  • I-Am-Human.app
  • Cheddar.farm
  • NDC GWG

Relevant Work Experience:

  • Kaz has 25+ years of experience in the fields of Operations Management, IT Strategy and IT Service Procurement as an Executive at one of the Big5 global consulting firms.
  • Cameron has been working in web 3 full time for seven years and has been working on NEAR for the last 3.

Relevant Data Points Showing Your Competencies: Based on the charter and planned activities, competencies mentioned in project management, financial processing, and governance, this leadership team is highly credentialed and capable of getting this project started.

Section 7. DAO/Project Charter/White or Litepaper and Goals

Project Overview: Near Ecosystem Connect (NEC) is designed to create a structured, efficient pathway for founders, innovators, and service providers to engage with the Near Ecosystem. By streamlining the process of collecting, triaging and qualifying inbound leads, NEC aims to foster growth, innovation, and collaboration across the ecosystem.

What Problem Are You Aiming to Solve? The primary challenge NEC addresses is the lack of a centralized, efficient process for managing inbound interest and queries from potential ecosystem contributors. This leads to missed opportunities for collaboration and innovation within the ecosystem.

DAO/Project Charter:

  • The NEC Charter outlines the structured approach to be undertaken for the qualification and management of inbound leads, ensuring alignment with the ecosystem’s strategic objectives and facilitating efficient handoff to Vertical Owners (VOs).

See detailed charter document here: NDC Ecosystem Connect Charter

Expected Impact:

  • Improved Lead Qualification and Management: Streamlined processes for managing inbound leads, resulting in more efficient and effective partnerships and integrations.
  • Enhanced Ecosystem Growth: By supporting founders and service providers, NEC will drive innovation and growth within the Near Ecosystem.
  • Decentralization and Resilience: Distributed responsibilities and decision-making will contribute to the ecosystem’s resilience and decentralization efforts.

Roadmap of your DAO/project, Milestones, and Achievements:

  • March/April: Establishment of NEC, development of intake form and processes, and initial engagement with Vertical Owners.
  • Q3: Evaluation and refinement of processes based on initial phase feedback, expansion of Vertical Owner engagement.
  • Q4 Onwards: Scale operations, incorporate continuous improvement mechanisms, and ensure sustainability of the initiative.

Section 8. Budget

Projected Budget for the next three months:

  • Personnel (PM and operational staff): $15,000
  • Technology Infrastructure (CRM setup and maintenance): $0
  • Marketing and Awareness Campaigns: $0
  • Total: $15,000

See detailed budget here: NDC BD Inbound Budget

Length of Commitment to Delivering Your Project: Initial commitment of 6 months, with ongoing evaluation for further extension.

Will your team be fully remunerated from this budget? The budget includes remuneration for all team members involved in the initial setup and operational phase of NEC. Several of the executive team members will not be requesting funding from this budget, they are already funded elsewhere.

Section 9. Project/DAO Longevity

Does your project/DAO require one-time or continuous funding? NEC will require continuous funding in the initial stages, with plans to develop sustainable funding models through partnerships, service fees, or ecosystem contributions.

Will your DAO/Project devise a way of sustaining itself after this round of funding? No. While it might be possible for NEC to explore various models for sustainability, including potential service fees for successful lead conversions, partnerships, and direct contributions from ecosystem projects benefiting from the initiative, we recommend not to do so at this point. We recommend that NDC deliver this service as a public good within the ecosystem, pending satisfactory results, for the reason that doing so will reduce the friction for external parties to join and help us grow the Near economy.

What are the possible roadblocks to the success of your project/DAO?

  • Engagement: Achieving high levels of engagement and buy-in from ecosystem participants and Vertical Owners.
  • Resource Allocation: Ensuring sufficient resources are allocated and available for the successful operation of NEC.
  • Sustainability: Developing a long-term sustainability model that supports the NEC’s operations without compromising its objectives.

Conclusion

NEC presents a critical opportunity to address a known challenge within the Near Ecosystem, offering a structured and scalable solution to enhance our support for innovators and contributors. We request the executive team’s approval and funding support to initiate this vital project, aligning with our broader goals of fostering a decentralized, resilient, and thriving ecosystem.

Special thanks to Kaz, Blaze, Josh Daniels, and Yuen for their contributions to this proposal and our weekly calls.

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Assuming this proposal is to pay for 2 individuals to help run the NRC program?

1 individual part time at $25/hr and another at $100/hr to manage?

Has the manager been selected yet? The charter seems to state that applications should be sent over through email? Seems like @Kazander has potentially been selected, but it’s unclear.

Also, could it be laid out what set up work is expected from the manager in April that wouldn’t be expected afterwards. Seems like 8k is being budgeted specifically for this work in April?

Lastly, would be great if this could be proposed using the BOS page now that the flow is available within the NDC.

3

I would like open Call from the Community for this role.
Btw @Kazander already have a PM role.

4

@chloe

Yes, two paid individuals plus Cameron. I’ve put my hand up to run point on setting it up and get someone recruited and up to speed.

But no, the hourly salary was an early assumption that was later removed. It’s a now proposed as a fixed cost. Honestly, between everyone involved we’ve already spent more hours on setting this up than the proposed budget would cover, and there is still more to do. Noone will get paid even close to $100/h with this budget.

Month 1 work includes:

  1. Reaching out individually to all remaining stakeholders that would be receiving proposals to understand and document the relationship individually which each one (what type of deals do they entertain, who do we work with, establish an MOU). This work has already been started but needs finishing.
  2. We would work with NF to re-establish the intake form, update it as needed, document RACI chart on how to collaborate with their BD team.
  3. Establish processes, procedures, tracking of dealflows, etc.
  4. Get started on processing the backlog of requests

@DDeAlmeida
Both this proposed role and the one I’m doing to set up GoodWorks are both fractional PM roles. I would not double charge.

There have been several calls organized already to get this started, particularly with a lot of folks who has influence over how to run the process. Who would you propose to include in this new call and what’s the purpose?

  • HoM? I would welcome it. But I don’t have access to HoM, perhaps you could help organize something that works with HoM members calendar?
  • Open community call? What’s the purpose? Ask them about changing the design of the intake form? If they want BD process or not? My opinion is that there is little input to be gained from an open call with the community. We already know that they want access to a BD process again. But if someone wants to host a call then I’d be happy to join and talk about it.

If this proposal gets approved then we would of course be holding community calls to introduce the process to the community

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