Peter Yang: A Creator’s Guide to DAOs
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Episode Summary
The term ‘web 3’ has become more and more solidified in the last couple of months, being broadly an umbrella term for the development of all blockchain based technologies. But how does everyone and their moms actively participate in web 3 is a whole other question, and an important one as web 3 needs to gain mainstream adoption to continue to be relevant.
Peter Yang is working on tackling this problem through an education DAO called Odyssey. Through his journey of writing web 3 beginner-friendly content and guides, such as Curious Beginner’s Guide to Crypto, or Step to Step Guide to NFTs for Creators, he’s realized just how important it is to ensure that people have a guided path when traversing into web 3. Through Odyssey, he’s hoping to help web 3 products feel more intuitive, showcasing the utility value and pushing people away from speculation, and minimizing bad experiences such as scams.
Perhaps the more interesting story though is Peter’s experience becoming a web 3 creator and successfully creating a DAO, having won the Product Hunt Golden Kitty Award in the first year! Having had years of experience as a product leader in the Web 2 world, he is really able to compare and contrast the two modes of operating. Some highlights of web 3:
As a creator, you own the upside of your work rather than being dependent on platforms
Permissionless contribution allows for people to naturally emerge within communities to become core members of the operating team
Mission and vision are really important in attracting contributors, but compensating them with NFTs and community tokens which provides a deeper sense of ownership and vested interest
The ability to assemble a productive team of people spread across multiple geographies that would otherwise have never come together is something that brings great joy
DAOs also come with its unique challenges:
In the beginning, there are far more lurkers than active contributors and it takes a lot of initiative and work for the DAO creator to engage and keep the community active
Creating a fundraising round through NFTs and tokens require a healthy level of ownership from true fans and community members to avoid price speculation and traders simply looking to flip the asset
Traditional roles such as product management is still very important as DAOs still need organization and alignment to avoid everyone running in completely different directions
If you’re thinking about starting a DAO, Peter has some practical advice for you:
Ensure that you already have a following and engaged community
Don’t scale too quickly, focus on building core members and avoid having to many lurkers
Know why you’re creating a DAO, not all communities need to be one. The logistical overhead is cumbersome
When fundraising (issuing NFTs and tokens), make sure the most invested people get priority access. Think: if this was a startup, who are the ones you want on your cap table?
As for the future of Odyssey and education in the Metaverse, Peter hopes that people will be able to find reputable alternative educational communities to traditional colleges such as the Ivy Leagues as a way to have a more self-directed path to learning what they love and being able to contribute and work earlier.
About the Guest
Peter is the founder of Odyssey, an education DAO focused on bringing the next 1 million people to web3. Peter is also a product lead at Reddit and previously worked at Twitch and Meta. You can find his writing at creatoreconomy.so.
Show Notes
[2:15] Reality of being a Web 3 Creator
[3:00] Fluidity of roles in DAOs
[6:15] What does it mean to onboarding people to Web 3
[9:50] NFTs vs. regular (fungible) tokens for Creators
[15:05] Wallets as gateway to Web 3
[20:10] Peter’s experience starting a DAO
[22:15] Fundraising for a DAO
[28:00] Step to Step guide for starting a DAO
[30:35] Are DAOs worth it?
[33:40] L1s and L2s
[36:10] Education in the Metaverse