TDC Community Call #2

The quarterly report (1:30)

In the first quarter, The DeFi Collective (TDC) generated enough revenue from providing liquidity on mission-critical tokens to cover expenses and have a large premium (excess revenue)

The premium was 80%, meaning TDC used only 20% of revenue for expenses and had 80% left over as profit to scale up activities.

The original forecast was 50-60% premium to be sustainable, so exceeding 80% gives them room to grow.

The high premium allows them to onboard more contributors and take on some new non-contributor expenses like an improved website.

Grow the Collective (3:30)

The report mentions hiring additional contributors this quarter including for marketing and grant hunters.

There are promising candidates starting in test roles, and Brice is confident about their delivery

So much areas to work on (4:40)

According to Niels, TDC is working on bringing protocol guidelines. They're important for guiding their work on supporting protocols aligned with their mission, which is promoting unstoppable & resilient DeFi. We have to expect a Version 1 on Q2 2024 (april-may-june).

Also working on the local app (Lapp) initiative built by Liquity to improve decentralization of DeFi frontends, which are currently centralized and expose threats.

TDC looked  reluctant to open up in the past while preparing, but now that they've laid the groundwork, they will look to crowdsource help more in the coming weeks.

The DeFi Collective is activist (8:15)

The Association is focusing on formalizing protocol guidelines and accounting/treasury management policies this quarter to structure the collective

The policies will outline responsible practices for managing the treasury assets and voting power.

Certain protocols like Frax are prohibited from receiving votes, no matter the bribe offered. TDC respect those protocols for their work, but they don't represent what they're fighting for.

Looking for more members (10:35)

Currently board members split across different focus areas. Each board member currently oversees 2 areas but some are underserved like marketing, education, etc...

An article detailing how to join and contribute to the Association is coming by end of month. Those interested in joining are encouraged to contribute their expertise.

Luude's journey as a contributor (12:30)

Luude was brought on as an official contributor in December after reaching out to help the Association in the early days.

He learned about the Association through Brice's tweet, and spontaneously offered his skills in marketing, treasury management, and reviewing/editing to assist TDC

His proactive outreach and demonstrated willingness to contribute led to becoming an official contributor.

Luude recommends others looking to contribute, like reaching out to the board members or existing contributors about how their skills can benefit the association

Even if you notice an area the Association is missing or could improve, bring it up as it shows initiative and a desire to help the important cause.

Being proactive is key : highlight what you can offer and how you can fill gaps to work towards an official role.

Yield opportunities (15:45)

TDC wants to better engage the community in its liquidity mining initiatives, not just announce efforts in monthly reports.

For example, it is currently supporting the POOL token on Optimism by supplying liquidity and votes for incentives.

The idea is to have the community join these "opportunities" by also supplying liquidity to targeted pools and earning high incentives.

This helps overcome the "liquidity delay" where it takes time for token holders to notice incentives and supply liquidity. Harnessing the community shortens this delay.

Give NFTs to contributors (18:15)

The Association is exploring campaigns with NFT rewards for those who provide and sustain liquidity as a "quest."

Community members would not just learn about initiatives after the fact but feel part of achieving goals together.

Other ideas include leaderboards, competitions, and ways to make supplying important pools exciting.

This engages the community in the Association's mission and allows them to benefit from early liquidity incentives.

Looking for grants (19:30)

TDC is exploring grants from layer 2s like Optimism, Arbitrum and Polygon zkEVM as a nonprofit with a valuable mission. They are indeed bringing on a grant hunter to pursue these funding opportunities.

Grants can also help fund small projects building on these chains rather than distracting developers with bureaucratic applications.

The idea is that TDC would apply for a grant, and distribute 66-75% to immutable protocols in the form of easy no-strings-attached funding.

The Association acts as a trusted intermediary handling the red tape and doling out grants based on the merit of immutable projects. This avoids developers having to interface with "serial grifters" dominating grants today.

Projections for Q1 2024 (26:00)

TDC aim to secure at least $100k in earnings as a baseline, because expenses will be higher with more contributors onboarded and recurring costs. Expenses could total $30-50k next quarter, and one-time costs like audits will also hit.

To be safe, the Association is targeting $150k revenue - an 80% increase. This provides a buffer above higher expenses.

Revenue is tied to market volatility through trading fees. Flat markets make hitting goals harder. Conversely, raging bull or bear markets both help as volatility boosts income.

With a stablecoin heavy treasury, the Association can weather even a prolonged bear market.

The overall financial position seems strong entering 2024, but specific revenue depends on unpredictable market activity.

Higher contributor costs are an investment in growth to deliver on the Association's ambitious roadmap, but the "ants" are confident they can carry the heavier load and hit their earnings target for the quarter.