This is a Steem Alliance foundation structure proposal made by Steem witness Paulius Uza (@upheaver). This proposal is work in progress and is subject to change based on community feedback and commentary.
Steem is the perfect technology for building decentralized community centric applications on blockchain, but so far its success has been resting on the shoulders of just one corporate entity.
An independent foundation is needed to take the development of Steem ecosystem to the next level and to encourage new developers and businesses to build their next big thing on Steem.
To create and grow a sustainable ecosystem around Steem blockchain.
To make Steem the leading blockchain for decentralized apps and communities worldwide.
- Memberships
- Organizational Structure
- Function
- Budgeting
- Legal and Accountability
- Fund Diversification
- Feedback and comments
- License
The core funding capability and governance mechanism of Steem Alliance Foundation would be based on individual and corporate memberships.
Allows established companies to support Steem blockchain and its communities and to participate in the governance of the Foundation. This is the designated primary source of revenue for the Foundation.
- Silver
- US$ 20,000 (employee size greater than 5,000)
- US$ 15,000 (employee size between 500 and 4,999)
- US$ 10,000 (employee size between 100 and 499)
- US$ 5,000 (employee size <100)
- Gold
- US$ 100,000
- Platinum
- US$ 500,000 or more
Corporate memberships provide a range of benefits based on their level, including but not limited to: invitations to guest speak at events and member-only events, potential seat on the Board of Directors (subject to Member Election), prominent placement of organization’s brand on the Foundations properties, and much more.
Allows individuals to support Steem blockchain and get access to member-only events and offers, as well as to participate in the Foundation's governance process through Member Elections and to submit proposals for Development Grants.
- Member requires a small financial contribution, gives a few member benefits
- US$ 99 per year
- Free for Students
- Hero requires a substantial financial contribution, gives VIP member benefits
- US$ 2,999 per year
Fees are suggestive and are subject to change at the discretion of the Foundation's Leadership team
Board of Directors is comprised of 6 or more members selected by Foundation members via Member Election:
- Individual members can elect up to 6 representatives to the board.
- Corporate members can additionaly elect up to 3 members for each level of membership (3 for platinum, 3 for gold, 3 for silver).
- Both corporate and individual members can nominate only one candidate.
- Nominees need to be public individuals with no criminal record, and cannot be corporates, proxies or anonymous members. They also need to explicitly accept the nomination and be able to fulfil their roles as a board of directors member.
Chicken and Egg problem: the first election of Board of Directors members would need to be held on chain via rules established by the Steem Alliance Working Group. Initially the elected BoD position term would be limited to just 6 months during which the proper operation of the foundation can be established an a proper Member Election held
- 1 membership = 1 vote.
- Positions are rotating, members can be elected to the board for 1 or 2 year terms.
- Consecutive terms are allowed, with no limit, subject to re-election.
- Elected Board of Directors members then self-elect a Chairman of the Board for a 1 year term.
- Chairman of the Board has the right to veto simple majority (1/2) resolutions.
- Chairman can be subject to a vote of no-confidence if at least 1/2 of the board members demand it.
- Vote of no confidence requires supermajority (2/3) concensus.
- Board Resolutions require simple majority.
- In case of a tie, Chairman has the tiebreaking vote (counts as 2 votes).
- Board can vote to remove members who have been inactive for more than 3 months or have broken rules of conduct agreed by the Board of Directors.
Leadership team members are selected at the absolute discretion of the Board of Directors via Board Resolutions. The leadership team of the foundation would be comprised of:
- C-level positions: CEO, CFO/COO, CTO/CIO
- Executive Directors executive positions for specific branches of the foundation (grant program, direct investment, events, etc.)
- Vice Presidents non executive positions for general direction oversight (growth, operations, product)
- Legal Counsel internal or external
A Board of Advisors can be selected by the CEO with approval of the the Board of Directors and can comprise of technical, security, financial and legal experts to advice on day-to-day operations. These are a voluntary positions, but can be decided otherwise by the Board of Directors.
A board of Community Advisors is comprised of up to 7 members selected quarterly by broader Steem community via on-chain election. This position grants ability to raise issues and general suggestions to be discussed and considered at the Board of Directors meetings.
This does not grant the observer seat to the board meetings themselves, but instead a guarantee to get an official response and position from the board on the raised issue within 45 days.
A honorary title awarded by Board of Directors to prior distinguished members of the Foundation or broader Steem community and grants a non-voting observer seat at the Board of Directors meetings. Revocable subject to code of conduct.
Foundation's functions can be split into 6 main categories:
Project Incubator program allows users to donate their software, apps, and software projects which they are no longer able to effectivelly maintain to the Foundation for consideration to be incubated. A successfully incubated project will enjoy long term support from the Foundation, including arranging and funding the necessary development resources and making sure the project is live and available for all Steem users. Foundation can choose to discontinue, re-license or change the monetization of the incubated project if it deems necessary.
Development Grants can only be submitted by individual members of the foundation. Development grants can be requested for projects which can have a high impact on Steem ecosystem and priority should be given to projects which have not yet materialized due to lack of monetization options (core infrastructure, scalability, platforms, developer tools, interfaces).
Projects which are already established within Steem ecosystem, and have or are planning to have a legal entity backing the project, can apply for equity or revenue share backed investment from the Foundation. Such deals will be subject to Board of Directors approval.
Foundation's Leadership team will research the best course of action and assign a part of it's budget to software development and security bounties, which can be redeemed by anyone who successfully completed the requested task. Bounties allow anyone to contribute to Steem ecosystem development without any up-front cost or identity requirements - anonymous are welcome.
Foundation will arrange and provide commercial training and development consulting service for corporate partners.
Foundation will organize community-welcome and member-only events to enhance the visibility of Steem blockchain and to enhance its fundraising capabilities.
While the exact budget will be decided by the Board of Directors, as a general guideline the Foundation's funds should be spent in the following way:
- 80 percent for executing the mission and purpose
- 10 percent for administration costs
- 10 percent for fundraising expenses
While the foundation itself will engage in profit generating ventures and direct investment, any income generated will be re-invested back into the Foundation's funding pool.
Foundation should be based in a well respected and well established legal jurisdiction, which has a clear and concise history of non-profit litigation and rules, as well as low legal overhead for operating a foundation.
At the very basic level, foundation should adhere to local financial reporting laws. In addition to that it should make public a yearly or quarterly report, which would offer transparency on foundation's spending and fund allocation as well as key decisions taken during that time to the general public.
Foundation should keep its funds in a diversified manner, preferably spliting its holdings 50/50% between fiat and crypto, or other assets (stocks, bonds, etc.).
If you'd like to leave feedback on this proposal, you can do that here. Alternativelly, if you noticed an error or want to make a suggestion, please open a pull request.
Steem Witness @upheaver
This proposal is licensed under MIT license