Amendments to ZOMG and Potentially ZIP 1014

[Dodger]

Cross-posting this from another topic, as it’s also relevant to this discussion.

@Dodger

I and the rest of the Foundation board agree that ZOMG’s first year could have gone smoother but the important thing is that it is up and running, and is making grants (over $2.4m worth to date). There is clearly scope for operational improvements (in terms of the time commitment and resource constraint issues highlighted by Chris) but we believe that we have a solid plan for addressing those issues. To be specific, we are actively recruiting to expand the Zcash Foundation team (with several candidates at the final interview stage) so that we can devote more time and resources to better supporting ZOMG operationally, and to address the more strategic challenge of attracting high quality teams to submit grant applications. More details can be found in my response to the thread that Chris started.

With the ZOMG elections just round the corner, and candidates already volunteering to serve on the next iteration of the Committee, we don’t feel that it is necessary or appropriate to put everything on hold, and effectively suspend the major grants program. That would kill the momentum that we have begun building up, and cast doubt upon the reliability of ZOMG as a source of funding, discouraging potential grant applicants.

Instead, in the short term, we intend to continue working with both the current and next Committees to implement our plans to address the resourcing, support and time commitment issues raised by the Committee members, and to begin building a pipeline of grant applicants who can leverage the ZOMG funds to make a real impact on Zcash.

For the avoidance of any doubt, we’re happy to continue the discussion about whether changes to ZIP 1014 can make ZOMG more effective but we feel strongly that it is not appropriate to rush into making such changes, given the time and effort that went into drafting and approving ZIP 1014. We will continually review our progress and, if it becomes apparent that the plan is not working, we will, of course, revisit this decision, take a step back to examine whether changes to ZIP 1014 are necessary, and take appropriate action.

In the longer term, the other ideas that Chris raised (e.g. managing a treasury in order to accumulate an endowment, and transitioning ZOMG to a DAO) require a lot more discussion. We’re happy to participate constructively in such discussions and put relevant questions to ZCAP when the time is right. However, for now, the structure described in ZIP 1014 is the settled consensus of the Zcash community.