ZOMG Meeting Minutes 4-13-2021

Community Grants Community Grants Updates
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ZOMG Google Meet Meeting: April 13, 2021

[Minutes taken by Danika]

Meeting minutes:

Attendance:

  • Hudson Jameson

  • ML_Sudo

  • Shawn

  • Chris Burniske

  • Holmes Wilson

  • Danika Delano acting as notetaker

Pre-meeting Agenda:

  1. proposals on the table.

  2. Jack call

  3. funding academic research.

Notes:

A lightweight web wallet for Zcash

  • Shawn informed the members that the applicant agreed to scrap the web wallet idea and submit a metamask proposal instead. So ZOMG is waiting for the new proposal.

Content Creation and Translation in Farsi (CCR)

  • Danika explained the applicant had reached out to her in March and she instructed them to resubmit their CCR as a grant proposal and post on the forum but it does not look like they followed through (Danika followed up again after the meeting).

Zeme Team

  • Chris read the private response from Ziga that included LinkedIn, Twitter & portfolio information.
  • Chris explained that he was the most enthusiastic about this proposal because it was creating a platform and they are posting good content. He shared that he believed them to be a legitimate player who wants to work on Zcash and it is a high leverage thing to fund vs other proposals that are single pieces of content. He also pointed out that they have many followers on Twitter.
  • Hudson replied that he is starting to get sold on this. After hearing Chris’s viewpoint, he thought the risk vs reward leads more toward reward.
  • Shawn said he likes the build out of the website and, as a platform, it seems interesting.
  • ML voiced concerns over committing to a substantial grant and effort when the quality of media output so far has been just okay
  • Homes asked about the collaborator, Zipha. He commented that it would be helpful to get more data and suggested asking for their portfolio. He shared the concern of quality but acknowledged that they are motivated to make high quality stuff so ZOMG should take the steps to verify.
  • Chris shared that the Ziga twitter handle has a lot of translation and since Zcash is a technologically nerdy community that doesn’t have many who break it down, the simple language would make Zcash more accessible. He listed examples of their work and disclosed that he started following Ziga on Twitter.
  • Shawn pointed out that the proposal is relying on Ziga and Zipha to produce a platform, not just their content, as it’s intended to be community led. He also noted that 6 months to keep a website running is a short amount of time. In the future, they may need to have another grant for hosting costs, maintenance, etc.
  • Chris summarized that they should ask for Zipha’s portfolio and to extend the period to 12 months
  • Chris- asked if anyone was absolutely opposed and no one one said they were but the group wanted to get questions answered before approving. Chris reiterated that he feels good about Ziga and will ask about Zipha.
  • Shawn agreed that they should do their due diligence for those that are not known to the community but they still want to not allow anonymous applicants to contribute.

Payment Gateway

  • ML updated the members that the applicant had not responded yet but acknowledged that there had not been much time since her last message.
  • Chis voiced that he is not super hot on payments.
  • ML shared that she spoke to DC and Andre (ECC) and they liked the idea, especially if they and can use results on adoption for their own long term plans.
  • ML explained that the applicant expects that it may not make sense to go through all milestones if he finds unmovable blockers along the way, so the grant is derisked.
  • Hudson commented that he liked that they had DC’s insight and user cases would be helpful for future grants.
  • ML admitted that it is not likely that a million people use it when the project gets launched, it will take time to accrue the users.
  • Chris told the members he is not a hard no.
  • Homes said that he thought the applicant is strong and a thumbs up from ECC is helpful and positive. He noted that testing for demand is not in the proposal so it is good to have an investigation milestone so they can line up 3 potential users (a handful of users to go through the exercise). ML responded that it would be great to test for interest but she doesn’t think they’re likely to get meaningful feedback. Hudson agreed that they would easily be able to do that so it wouldn’t prove much and pointed out that the applicant is more of a developer than a user researcher. Holmes replied that that is more of his concern but agreed that ZOMG should fund the applicant to do something.
  • ML commented that ECC and ZF would probably be able to promote and investigate.
  • Holmes stated that he is persuaded by not needing every proposal to contain all pieces
  • Shawn voiced that he is still on the fence and added that there is relatively no risk if they go with what ML proposed and go milestone by milestone and see how it goes.
  • Hudson asked if they should change the status to “approved, pending milestone discussion” and Shawn replied that an $80K ask is a big ask for something that is not 100% and is not sure of the user benefit. He added that if they subdivide the grant, it would be helpful. Holmes said that the “approved pending due diligence” is the status that it would fit. Hudson suggested they wait for a milestone response and give everyone time to think.
  • ML reiterated that she is a yes because it is an experiment worth conducting and there is a known high quality community participant behind it. Shawn shared that he would lean toward a yes if they can nail down milestones. ML added that she likes that the applicant isn’t sure if he can do it but wants to try and is transparent about that.

Zecwallet Liteclient Research and Development

  • Holmes commented that ZOMG told ZecWallet and Nighthawk to ask for more money and to fund development for time and they both ended up in the same place.
  • Hudson stated that this proposal is important enough for the ecosystem that he is okay funding this amount of money for 6 months.
  • Shawn explained that it would fund 3 people for 6 months with a full time researcher (Aditya), a Devops part time, and a part time researcher.
  • Hudson shared that he originally thought it was longer and $187.50/hr seems high.
  • ML brought up that people have been naming their price so far and asked if they should set rates because it is hard to control for quality. Hudson replied that it should be evaluated on a case by case, project to project basis as experience and level of skill come into play. He suggested they could ask applicants to justify their rates. Holmes brought up that this is not the typical foundation funding space and they should trust them to make reasonable judgement for compensation. He added that there are teams all around the world so if ZOMG sets a rate they will limit the pool that wouldn’t serve their interests and it is hard to evaluate over long periods of time for most grantees.
  • Shawn told the group he did quick google search and the salary ranged from $75-$180/hr.
  • Chris said that how much they pay themselves is up to them and if they pay themselves too much, they may not get follow up. He shared that Placeholder doesn’t ask what people pay themselves but keeps an eye on outcomes.
  • Hudson shared that they made consideration for where people live and those that had family at Etherium.
  • ML clarified that she was interested in having a generic conversation about cost.
  • Chris stated that at VCs, developing strong relationships over time is important.
  • Hudson commented that resumes and previous work help to evaluate and for Aditya they know his background and experience over time.
  • Holmes brought up that there is a distinction between a 1st time applicant and a one off. Some will have some long term projects and accountability beyond the grant period.
  • Chris commented that it shows up over time on how often funding is sought vs progress. At board level there can be limitations on an executive level. He suggested they put in a ceiling hourly rate like $200/hr is the highest dev rate.
  • Hudson reminded the group that a takeaway from the call with Jack is ZOMG is not here to set rules and guidelines beyond the current committee/term.
  • Shawn and Hudson said the proposal is okay as is and the scope of work is needed. They were pleased that they told him to think big and he did. ML said she is a go. Chris said it works for him.
  • Holmes voiced that it is completely on point and suggested that one thing that could make it stronger is to double in a year. He explained that they could attach a performance incentive to grow the user base. Hudson replied that there are too many variables in cryptocurrencies. Holmes brought up the idea of a bonus. Shawn said that he is not in favor of bonuses as some parts of the proposal may get dropped; the bonus would be to come back in 6 months and ask to be hired again. Holmes suggested that they ask how much he wants to grow in 6 months.
  • In summary, all members approved.
  • Holmes volunteered to reply.

Nighthawk Wallet Design and Development ‘21

  • Hudson summarized that Nighthawk Wallet & egg are asking for a similar amount for almost an identical grant as ZecWallet.
  • Shawn clarified that it would be for 9 months with more developers.
  • Holmes added that ZecWallet has goals for user adoption and NightHawk Wallet doesn’t. ML suggested they ask them to add some.
  • Holmes voiced that he thinks they should do this but the proposal is fuzzier and the stage is earlier than ZecWallet. Ultimately, he was supportive of funding. Nighthawk Wallet is building on ECC SDK that is not as far along, is not as far along in user adoption, doesn’t have desktop use, and has had less time.
  • Hudson said he is in favor.
  • Chris said it is a big team with a big project and it makes sense as long as they are credible, as others have verified.
  • ML asked what metrics were being used. Chris replied, unique, monthly and daily users and Holmes added app downloads.
  • Shawn shared that he likes that they don’t use trackers or google analytics…
  • ML suggested they brainstorm ideas to track success and they should talk to them first given it is such a large number. ML volunteered to be the liaison and Hudson volunteered to join the call if the time works out.
  • Shawn told the group that he doesn’t feel compelled to vote today.

Jack Convo

  • Danika exited the call due to a conflict of interest while the ZOMG committee members debriefed their call with Jack.
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