ZecHub: Proposal 2024

Community Grants Applications
1

Hi everyone,

We are excited to share our recent proposal to Zcash Community Grants:

In our proposal we request ZEC funding towards:

  • bounties for open-source contributions
  • compensation for three core contributors

Throughout the year we hope to release many more engaging educational videos and documentation about Zcash and its ecosystem while growing a passionate community of contributors from around the world.

It is worth noting as of September 2023, The ZecHub DAO multisig wallet is also earning staking rewards from the JUNO, OSMOSIS, and STARGAZE app chains. These rewards will also be used to increase funding for the ZecHub DAO treasury, and can only be collected and spent with majority DAO vote.

Please see the detailed proposal:

Applicant Name:

  • ZecHub, an open source education hub for Zcash

Team Members’ names:

Governing Org:

  • ZecHub DAO

Pitch: A one-liner elevator pitch version of your proposal

  • This proposal seeks to grow Zcash’s open-source education hub and onboard more contributors to Zcash.

Previous program → Please provide details:

Period: January 2023 - December 2023

ZecHub was founded by Espresso Systems’ Ian Sagstetter as an open-source education hub for Zcash. It has since grown to 78 members on Dework & 35 contributors on Github. It has hosted several community events and has proven that further decentralization of access to Zcash development funding can be used to effectively leverage the incredible talent and enthusiasm of community members, attracting new people and attention from aligned communities.

—

Please provide details on funding amount, funding source, and any other relevant information:

We are currently participating in the Namada Community Builders Program. It distributes NAM based on votes acquired from other contributors over each epoch (one month).

We are also preparing a grant submission to the Decentralized Cooperation Foundation (DCF). They emphasize Agoric’s proof-of-stake chain and the Cosmos-focused IBC environment with the primary goal of better cooperation between projects.

Applicant background:

Who is contributing to this:

  • @dismad: Background in Mathematics, Computer Science, and Education. Key ZecHub contributor, Cypherpunkzero holder and Moderator, experience in the Automotive Industry for 15+ years

  • @squirrel: Zcash Arborist Community Notetaker.

  • @tecnopapapi: A bilingual Computer Science technician and writer and ZecHub DAO member.

He has his own website where he writes reviews, sponsored articles, opinions, and much more about the digital world.

  • @zechubdao: The ZecHub DAO is a community-led group that governs ZecHub’s strategy and direction.
  • 16 DAO members (active Zcashers)
  • Voting duration – 3 days
  • Passing threshold 67%
  • Quorum 50%
  • Deposit: none
  • Proposer: Anyone

Description of Problem or Opportunity:

ZecHub will provide an open source educational platform where community members can work together on creating, validating, and promoting content that supports the Zcash ecosystem.

Proposed Solution: Describe the solution at a high level.

In an open-source manner, ZecHub provides easy to understand education resources, a ZecWeekly Newsletter, Wallet Demos, Video explainers on Zcash centric topics such as Zcash Explained and a Podcast.

Anyone can review the documentation for accuracy, create new content and use the hub’s structure to facilitate new ideas that benefit the hub’s education stack and the Zcash ecosystem.

This process has incentivized community members to become more active contributors to Zcash and adjacent crypto ecosystem communities to come in and eventually contribute to the protocol.

ZecHub rewards every contribution by distributing ZEC from a pool of funds that is overseen by the DAO. The DAO also controls the DaoDao based multisig with funds from many leading Cosmos based chains. We focus on advancing Zcash education and provide a uniform process for anyone to earn ZEC.

Future grants: We have every intention of continuing our work beyond 5 months however with the state of the market we appreciate some in the community may have concerns about cost. With that said, we opted to have a 5 month grant with the option for another grant if and when ZecHub is needed with efforts in the Decentralizing Digital Task Force

Solution Format: What is the exact form of the final deliverable you’re creating?

The format of the work will be:

  • Zcash Wikipedia
  • Zcash Ecosystem Weekly Newsletter
  • Consistent Zcash education for Crypto Twitter
  • News shows, podcasts and other video content for social media
  • Zcash Wallet tutorials
  • Zcash User guides
  • Twitter spaces / Community events
  • Easy to understand articles about Zcash
  • Media about other privacy projects (i.e. Namada/Agoric), which can introduce them to Zcash
  • ZecHub Extras patronage program

See some of our past work:

Technical Approach: Dive into the how of your project. Describe your approaches, components, workflows, methodology, etc. Bullet points and diagrams are appreciated!

Starting in January 2024:

  • Manage the Zcash ecosystem weekly newsletter which is translated in 7 languages

  • Open-sourced education materials. Anyone can contribute.

  • Continue our process of issuing bounties and paying contributors on a weekly basis.

  • We have a community-led DAO to ensure the hub’s strategic direction includes a diverse set of voices

  • Our DAO votes on all major changes related to the Hub including SubDAO proposals

  • Anyone can use our materials to support their own channels. For example, Zcash en Español…

Dependencies: What external entities is your project dependent on? What involvement is required from ZF, ECC, and/or other external organizations? Who would have to incorporate your work in order for it to be usable?*

The podcast and twitter spaces events are dependent on Zcash community members and other projects being open to attending. ZecHub is dependent on its DAO members and open-source contributors to see the platform thrive.

Execution risks: What obstacles do you expect? What is most likely to go wrong? Which unknown factors could jeopardize success? Who would have to incorporate your work in order for it to be usable?

The biggest execution risk would be misallocation of the Bounty Pool. It is vital that ample time is provided for project planning. Specifically Tasks, Services and Events need to be budgeted for in advance.

Another education risk is the hub’s dependency on one person for media materials. There should be a strong focus on developing more content creators for the hub.

Evaluation plan: What metrics for success will you share with the community once you’re done? In addition to quantitative metrics, what qualitative metrics will you commit to reporting?

The main metrics related to ZecHub’s success are social media metrics (followers, video views, newsletter subscribers, etc) and the number of contributors building ZecHub related items. Here are the metrics from ZecHub’s first year:

Primary Social Media Following:

Twitter - 950 followers

YouTube - 295 subscribers

Newsletter - 200 subscribers

A high level overview. We average 2-10k Impressions per post on twitter. Our Youtube videos average 100 - 500 views. A monthly report will be published with all relevant key performance indicators.

We have consistently delivered quality social media content. Posts include announcements, wiki documentation, newsletters, podcasts, video tutorials, surveys and threads.

If we can make further effort towards our engagement numbers, and grow our social media following along the way, then we would have a successful year in this regard. We will also post content that appeals to crypto ecosystems outside the Zcash community. For example, Decred, Namada and Agoric. This also provides an avenue of exploration for supplementing our funding streams.

If we do this frequently, with ecosystems that are aligned with Zcash, we can grow our following and engagement outside of Zcash. We believe this will bring more people to ZecHub as followers and potential contributors. This widens the net for potential engagement and growth on social media.

We are also able to create educational material such as videos, posters and programs that can be used alongside the main z.cash website and potentially Zcash Global Ambassador seminars or classes.

We will provide a monthly social media report for the community. You can view our main social media channels below:

Twitter
Youtube
Substack

We will also strive to grow other social media channels that are more decentralized:

Bluesky
Farcaster
Mastodon
BisonRelay
Matrix

Contributor Count:

We believe this is the most important metric, we view everything, docs, podcasts, social media, etc., as a means to bring in committed contributors to Zcash. When these contributors are actively playing their part in Zcash education, they will have more things to post about Zcash on social media, in their online communities, IRL, and this will amplify ZecHub and Zcash’s work past our own follower base.

Our goal for 2024 is to see 30 new Zcashers contribute to ZecHub, bringing its contributor count to 65. This will be done via our contributor onboarding process, and community management.

Total Request (USD):

  • $44,980 USD -

Please provide justification for the total compensation budget:

Total ZecHub team member compensation for 2024 - $36,080: $36,080

ZecHub’s contributors:

This represents a 9% increase in wage rate from last year due to performance and expected cost increases. Also note the grant is only 5 months vs. last year’s 12 months.

Contributor Bounty Fund. This will be billed as a startup cost and will be disbursed to ZecHub open-source contributors as they complete bounties. This will be denominated in ZEC:

  • Newsletter - 0.5 ZEC per edition

  • Translating Newsletter - 0.2 ZEC per translation

  • ZecHub Wiki - 1 ZEC per new page published

  • ZecHub Wiki - 0.1 ZEC per accepted edit to docs

  • Research Article - 1.7 ZEC per accepted article

  • Video content - 1.5 ZEC per video and/or audio posted on ZecHub socials

  • Zcash Tutorials (with audio) - 1.5 ZEC per tutorial

  • Creative content for social - .75 ZEC per creative posted on ZecHub socials

Total of costs for 2024 bounty pool - 230 ZEC. (7,000 USD as of 11/10/24)

System costs:

  • Canva: $8 - month / 12x = $96

  • Linktree: $5 - month / 12x = $60

  • Super.so: $12 - month / 12x = $144

  • Website hosting: $300 year

  • Wordpress hosting: $300 year

  • Docs Collaboration - $200 year

  • Misc $500

Total of costs with systems for 2024 - $1,600

Business License:

  • $300 USD

Legal costs:

DAO legal structures are unfortunately difficult to navigate, so as a diligent measure we intend to create a separate grant if required* during the project’s duration.

Schedule and Milestones: What is your timeline for the project? Include concrete milestones and the major tasks required to complete each milestone.

  • ZecHub contributor bounty fund, business license, & systems costs: $8,900

Milestone 1 - estimated completion date: 01/31/2024

  • Milestone 1 - USD value of payout upon completion of deliverables: $7216

  • Deliverable 1.1: ZecHub team report

Milestone 2 - estimated completion date: 02/29/2024

  • Milestone 2 - USD value of payout upon completion of deliverables: $7216

  • Deliverable 2.1: ZecHub team report

Milestone 3 - estimated completion date: 03/31/2024

  • Milestone 3 - USD value of payout upon completion of deliverables: $7216

  • Deliverable 3.1: ZecHub team report**

Milestone 4 - estimated completion date: 04/30/2024

  • Milestone 4 - USD value of payout upon completion of deliverables: $7216

  • Deliverable 4.1: ZecHub team report

Milestone 5 - estimated completion date: 05/31/2024

  • Milestone 5 - USD value of payout upon completion of deliverables: $7216

  • Deliverable 5.1: ZecHub team report

Total proposed USD value of grant:

  • $44,980 paid in ZEC ( not including legal )

If additional legal fees are required we will create a separate grant as required.

How was the project timeline determined?

  • The work will be done and delivered from January 4th to June 1st, 2024.

How did you learn about Zcash Community Grants?

  • Through being active Zcash community members

We can honestly say it has been a joy collaborating with everyone and building up the project over the past year! We would like to hear from the community about our proposal, let us know if you have any questions.

26 Likes
2

Why only 5 months? Why not a full year?

7 Likes
3

We understand ZCG has several important projects to consider that also need funding. Having our project horizon at 5 months is still sufficient enough for us to get a great deal accomplished and allows them a chance to re evaluate the project for continuation.

14 Likes
4

Nice job guys!

I was in doubt about that part.
Why are Bounts paid in zec, if it’s paid in dollars for dao?
If the value of the zec goes up, could it be a problem?
Or will it be paid at the beginning of the proposal?

I support this proposal, I see the dedication of this team.

6 Likes
5

Yes Bounty Pool is funded at the start.

All of our bounties are denominated and paid in shielded ZEC. We are here to show that Zcash can be used to pay people for goods and services so we lead by example.

SubDAO project proposals are made in US dollars (similar to our proposal above) but we can still pay in Zcash. Also there is no ZEC on cosmos yet. So we are experimenting with other assets and waiting for NAM or perhaps some other bridged version of ZEC to make multisig DAO payments in.

8 Likes
6

That seems backwards. Why ask to raise funds for a destination if the majority of people never visit it?

I’m not convinced it’s a good spend of the treasury money, albeit I like the “idea” of DAOs — in practicality, they almost always fall short of expectations.

4 Likes
7

Our level of Twitter & Youtube engagement is something we will improve upon. The other important metric is our Contributor Count which over the past year has been outstanding.

Without fail every week, somewhere in the world there have been several people receiving Shielded ZEC payments for work they did, and its open to anyone: Graphic Design/Website Development/Documentation etc.

‘Wen economies powered by ZEC’

DAO proposals can be made by anyone as well. If you feel Zcash Education is needed on a specific topic you can specify how and when you want it.

see Educational Video Explainers on Zcash Shielded Assets (ZSAs) soon to be released.

7 Likes
8

I see ZecHub and the ambassador program onboarding new users, spreading and explaining the need for privacy and technology around the protocol.
The DAO and those in Brazil bring ways to engage the community with these topics and bring people closer to the protocol.

People feel like they are an important part and that they are contributing to the purpose. This is very important, the market has evolved into governance tokens opening doors for users who want to engage. The dynamics change.

This door must remain open, now is the time for Zcash to invest in better positioning. I see other protocols investing now and I believe they will reap the rewards in the bull.

Crypto is experiencing an unusual moment. Web 2 and governments are making an excellent advertisement for the crypto market. In my opinion, the moment to get your foot in the door is here

9 Likes
9

ZecHub is an important tool for all ambassadors and the entire Zcash community. Together with communities, it is a way to circulate Zec with tasks, tips, rewards and awaken people’s interest in protocol subjects.
I don’t think Zcash has had such an engaged community and committed to the project regardless of the ZEC price.
To the moon ZecHub!

10 Likes
10

I support this proposal 100%! you guys are amazing! good luck! :pray:

10 Likes
11

Impressive!!!

7 Likes
12

Great proposal! I Support you, team!

8 Likes
13

Hi Zechub:

Marketing Plan:
Who is your target market?
How do you plan to gain new users?
What is the cost to gain a new user?

How do you plan to gain new users outside of the crypto communities?

If in one year we talked about zechub’s successes, what does that look like for you?

Good Luck!

6 Likes
14

100% support this. Bravo :clap:t3:

4 Likes
15

i think ZecHub has been one gud addition to Zcash. its main place where to look for info bout Zcash. also newsletter is makin it much easier to stay up to date wats happenin or developments.

one thing id like to see more is pushing it wider and it being no. 1 or 2 place where new ppl wud learn about Zcash. also want to see more of community sharing posts from zechub and if u get asked about Zcash u can send dem to ZecHub article, page dat is exactly wat they lookin for.

and having quality/easy guidelines, templates to make new stuff and tutorials.

7 Likes
16

no brainer :slight_smile:

would be interested in learning more about plans after this 5 month period :thinking:

5 Likes
17

ZecHub has been a platform for meeting, talking, learning and supporting the Global Ambassadors Program and the communities around this program.

Its content has helped promote information and awareness about the use and importance of Zcash, with education being at the core of its existence. In addition, it has allowed people from different countries and languages to collaborate to help build a unique information base about Zcash, helping to strengthen community ties.

It would be a great help to support their work to continue to produce quality content about Zcash and for more people to collaborate in ZecHub’s educational approach.

5 Likes
18

I think ZecHub’s target audience is zcashers with average to advanced knowledge. As a Brazilian team, we use a lot of references from the material created by zechub, helping to onboard new people and as a community product where new users can help with the protocol’s mission. This is really cool because there are tasks of varying difficulty, the community feels included and motivated to learn, it’s not just a blockchain, we are adding real community value. Seek new knowledge, share with different people around the world and motivate them to spread privacy and Zcash.

I don’t see a project like this with a target audience description like marketing planning for a product.

Answer me, who is the target audience for fiat money?
ALL! Anyone who can count.

ZecHub helps ambassadors work and vice versa. In addition to being a tool that helps retain users brought in by ambassadors and guide our work, it is a great educational and onboard product. We take basic knowledge to new users and ZecHub helps to retain them by transforming them into users with more in-depth and technical knowledge.

The plan to obtain new users must be something designed for ambassadors, ZecHub must spend its efforts on quality and easy-to-understand content that reaches any level of knowledge. When the community produces content from the community to the community, it takes those super intelligent people off their pedestal, bringing recognition and a greater rapprochement with the public. I learned this by studying marketing and advertising and validated it in practice.

At Zcash Brazil we always onboard wallets, Free2z, ZecHub, paywithzcash… All products and services are funded by our ecosystem. Motivating people to seek new knowledge is difficult and DAO marketing is unexplored knowledge. but discord has many users accustomed to this DAO dynamic who can become new CONTRIBUTORS.

If we want to explore the marketing of Dao we must understand its differences between other dao (the so-called blue ocean)

1-Absence of leadership positions
2-Truly self-financed Dao

And as for the user cost, it’s easy. The cost of a new user comes along with the cost of new content that ZecHub produces. Showing that ordinary users can participate with their knowledge is a valuable asset.

We are building an ecosystem for new users that does not yet exist on Zcash, more friendly and collaborative.

This is just my opinion. I hope I helped clarify! :blue_heart:

7 Likes
19

The human element is lost on many, I appreciate your thoughts here.

Perfectly encapsulates my thoughts! Yes we are striving to use more decentralized platforms but discord is unqiue in that its a bridge between seasoned veterans and crypto newbies. :world_map:

:100:

Education becomes easier as more folks engage and participate. Some of the content will, with time, become extremely valuable to many people and at different times.

6 Likes
20

Let’s build another legacy! Technology is first, pioneerism in zk, zebrad, PoS, Zashi and ZSA is like magic, now let’s take this magic to the community. I’m very Zebrish for the next Zebrarun, not in terms of value but in terms of delivery, adoption and usability!

6 Likes