TDP 52: Funding Request - mStable Builder subDAO (Jan-Apr 2023)

Author	Cam Soulsby
Discussions-To	https://forum.mstable.org/t/funding-request-mstable-builder-subdao-jan-april-2023/963
Status	Implemented
Created	2022-12-08

Simple Summary

This proposal requests 4 months of operational funding for the mStable Builder subDAO. The proposal will:

Outline a budget proposal for the period of 1st January 2023 to 30th April 2023
Describe deliverables and transparency reporting commitments over the funding period

For more background on the mStable Builder subDAO’s purpose, mandate and structure and internal processes, please see the previous funding request here.

Abstract

Previously, the ongoing maintenance and development of the mStable protocol was funded through a 12-month funding request. Funds allocated under that request were left within the control of the mStable TreasuryDAO and sent to the Funding subDAO to be allocated in line with the broadly approved funding purposes. This request follows a slightly different model in line with the recent restructure of the mStableDAO.

Rather than simply leaving approved funding within the Treasury and having it allocated by a Funding subDAO, approved funds would be dispersed to the Builder subDAO over time, where the funds can be utilized within budget guidelines at the discretion of the Builder subDAO. This offers the following benefits:

Easier accounting for actual spend vs. budget within the subDAO multisig wallet
More agile and timely decision-making due independent signer structure
Increased clarity around the specific purpose of funding
Improved accountability and transparency reporting

Motivation

Purpose of the mStable Builder subDAO

The purpose of the Builder subDAO is to fund a team of core contributors whose mandate is to design, develop, launch and promote upgrades to the mStable product suite as well as new products. The intent of the subDAO is to foster innovation through allowing this team to work with efficiency, autonomy and flexibility, while still ensuring that funds are allocated in line with the wishes of Meta governors and that the subDAO has accountability to stakeholders for producing results.

Mandate of the Builder subDAO

Fund compensation of all Builder subDAO contributors as well all associated operational costs
Nominate two contributors to act as Operational Signers on the mStable ProtocolDAO who will ensure smooth execution of approved governance proposals as well as discretionary decisions made within the granted power of the ProtocolDAO
Develop and maintain shared resources for the mStableDAO, including the mStable codebase, brand guidelines and assets, as well as creation and maintenance of the public documentation
Make proposals to governance to implement changes impacting mStable’s smart contracts
Develop and maintain the mStable front end application built on top of the mStable protocol
Work closely with other subDAOs to promote consistency and alignment across the mStable ecosystem, including the provision of design services and developer support to the Ecosystem subDAO

Specification

mUSD

The total amount of mUSD requested under this funding request is $184,952 per month or $739,807 for 4 months.

The current value of non-MTA assets held by the TreasuryDAO & subDAOs is estimated at $2.4 million (as at 1st January 2023). When considering likely costs across other areas such as the Ecosystem subDAO, protocol costs and signer costs, and considering current protocol revenue, this gives the project a runway of around 11 months based on non-MTA assets. This runway length assumes maximum spend by the Builder subDAO, including the buffer amount described below, and therefore reflects the ‘worst case’ rather than the intended spend.

It is proposed that $184,952 is transferred upon approval of this funding request, with $184,952 then paid prior to the start of each subsequent month of the funding period.

This will provide an upfront balance to be used immediately for expenses requiring advance payment, while ensuring that the overall amount custodied by the subDAO is no larger than necessary.

The mStableDAO is expected to hold the subDAO accountable for using the funds as outlined and for meeting deliverables over the funding period as defined in this proposal.

The breakdown of this proposed budget is below. Note that these are estimates and it is expected that there will be variance in the exact distribution of funds across each month and across each category.

Funding Use	Monthly Budget
Salaries (Product & Engineering)	$82,384
Salaries (Operations & Growth)	$32,431
Security Audits	$25,000
Operational Expenditure	$28,322
Buffer (10%)	$16,814
Total	$184,952

Overall, this reflects a reduction in the total monthly budget for the Builder subDAO of $11,662 per month compared to the previous preiod.

Note that there is a small change from the previous request in that for future funding periods the Builder subDAO has agreed to handle some extra operational costs that were previously paid directly by the mStable TreasuryDAO, including the cost of shared Notion workspaces, GitHub, Google Suite, public documentation, public forums, and web hosting. This adds around $1000 per month to the Builder subDAO request but will reduce direct costs for the TreasuryDAO by the same amount, while also streamlining operations.

A 10% buffer has been added to allow flexibility and ensure that smaller unexpected costs can be met.

Where salaries are denominated in Euro, an exchange rate of 0.92 USD/EUR has been used for conversion to allow some room for movement in the rate.

All unallocated budget after 4 months will be returned to the TreasuryDAO or, at the discretion of the TreasuryDAO, may be subtracted from any subsequent approved funding request. Note that any calculation of unallocated budget should take into account any outstanding accounts payable to ensure that the subDAO can meet future payment obligations.

To ensure that the subDAO is not incentivized to overspend and use the buffer amount, the TreasuryDAO should hold the Builder subDAO accountable to the original budget and consider use of the buffer as a negative indicator of performance.

MTA

No additional MTA has been requested by the Builder subDAO for this funding period as all contributors streams are funded and no additional hiring is expected.

It is proposed that the Builder subDAO recalculates the amount of MTA required to cover future streams for current contributors and any related fees, and retains this amount plus a buffer of up to 50,000 MTA for other uses, returning any surplus to the TreasuryDAO.

If a contributor’s agreement is terminated, the Builder subDAO can hold on to the unallocated MTA from the cancelled stream to compensate a replacement team member if required. Otherwise, it must be returned to the TreasuryDAO at the end of the funding period. It should not be used for other use-cases.

The amount of MTA allocated for ‘other uses’ is primarily requested to cover fees for any MTA streams that might be managed through WorkDAO in the future. It is unlikely that the full amount will be required for this use. ‘Other uses’ could also include small costs such as reimbursing users who have support issues.

Any unallocated MTA at the end of the period will be returned to the TreasuryDAO.

Areas outside scope of the Builder subDAO

To help clarify the difference in responsibilities between the Builder subDAO and the TreasuryDAO/ProtocolDAO, it is important to note some costs that will not be covered under this funding request and would therefore be expected to remain with the TreasuryDAO or be funded by another subDAO.

The following costs are not covered under this proposal:

Payment for ProtocolDAO and TreasuryDAO signer roles
Payment of protocol gas costs (only gas costs for Builder subDAO transactions will be covered)
Payment of any bug bounties that may be awarded by the mStableDAO

Deliverables

This sections outlines what the Builder subDAO team will be working on during the funding period. Note that in the previous funding request the Builder subDAO stated that a set of OKRs outlining more specifics of deliverables would be released during the period. It was later decided that the Builder subDAO would rely on Community Calls and subDAO review calls to provide updates, given that it was difficult to forecast specific outcomes accurately. This will again be the approach for this period. This means that the deliverables offered here are very high-level.

The team will provide regular updates through Community Calls in collaboration with the Ecosystem subDAO. These calls should be expected to happen every 4-6 weeks on average.
The team will continue to work on Meta Vaults. Building new vaults and new features.
The team will continue to work and give maintenance to all products already deployed.
The team will continue to push efforts over the ERC-4626 standard.

Accountability & Transparency

It is suggested that the mStable TreasuryDAO continues to conduct a monthly review to hold the Builder subDAO accountable to the deliverables defined above.

The Builder subDAO commits to providing the TreasuryDAO access to information on all expenditure for each month prior to the 10th of the following month, including the category of expenditure. This will either be provided through a report, or through another tool such as Parcel if the functionality is available.

The TreasuryDAO can also monitor the ongoing development work of the Builder subDAO through the mStable GitHub repository.

Additional and Future Funding Requests

If the Builder subDAO requires additional funding during this funding period (for example if a new hire is proposed) this will require an additional governance proposal.

To ensure a smooth transition between funding periods, the Builder subDAO will present a subsequent proposal to Meta Governors in late March to early April 2023, proposing funding for the next period. The length of future funding periods will be proposed in the associated funding request.

TDP 52: Funding Request - mStable Builder subDAO (Jan-Apr 2023) Source