Threshold
@SAXEMBERG/Governance thank you for your support.
This is not a proposal to just attend an event. It’s a new type of networking approach to boost direct marketing, business development and investor relations, and doesn't as such fit into any existing bounty, although parts of it could be covered by several bounties.
We jumped the gun too early and submitted a draft proposal to the new Events Bounty. It boomeranged back at us, rejected. You can read the long answer here: https://forum.polkadot.network/t/polkadot-at-slush-2024/9053/9?u=tomi
Our intention is to create a replicable concept, tools and materials that can be used by groups of networkers in other events and again in Slush 2025. Together with the extended team we have now created a solid proposal that is better suited for OpenGov.
@Pieky Ingo said that PoKe participation is unlikely because they focus more on big enterprises and governments. Slush is a very entrepreneur-centric get-together with 13,000 founders, investors and other industry professionals.
Having said that, we are very happy to collaborate with any Polkadot ecosystem teams and assist supporters who decide to join us. We will be there as one Polkadot.
Update: Jimmy Tudeski has asked to be removed from the Networkers' team. We wish him well and will soon communicate who his replacement is.
We have a new team member. Gustavo Joppert Massena, an entrepreneur, lawyer, and consultant has led digital transformations for dozens of companies, co-founded a data science institute BI0S, played a key role in incubating and accelerating over 150 startups with the Rio de Janeiro government and co-founded 12 more as a Venture Builder. Since 2021, he has been part of Polkadot's Brazilian Business Development team. Bem-vindo à equipe, Gus!
@BRA_16-D the 13 people who will be traveling to Slush to do the direct networking are Lucy, Six, Gábo, Luuu, Zoé, Strindbergman, Daniel (Polkadot Agent), Gustavo, Max, Filippo and Bill, together with Patti and I. This is all outlined in the full proposal.
@EzioRed I would like to point you to the AAG from a few weeks ago where we explained the concept before submitting.
This is not a typical sponsored event but a BD, marketing and investor relations program that can be repeated and improved afterwards by any other team.
Mind you, should this be a success, next year we can spend 5x this amount, produce the most amazing booth ever with the help of the Events Bounty and take Slush by storm. We have already discussed this with the Slush team and, according to them, March 2025 is the best time to initiate those conversations.
I took a look at the Slush website and a peek at the speakers, I was not familiar with the event and I must say it is most interesting. I have faith that our representatives will do a great job, although I would include a couple more people who could give that “one more thing” to the BD department 😉
Hi Tomi, I support 100% this proposal. I agree with the proposal to have a different approach for investors and founders to reach out. Most of the outreach focuses on developers and users. I don't see many initiatives toward investors/founders from Web2 outside of Polkadot East that focus on APAC/SEA. Good luck with the proposal and the team
@TheUglyTruth with 0 DOTs and 0 votes, you seem to have one of those alternate accounts. Nevertheless, I will address your concerns.
If you think lack of KYT is an issue, vote AYE for this:
https://polkadot.subsquare.io/referenda/1083
It is true that Polkadot ain't perfect (yet) and I'm sure in one year's time it will be better and more complete. Likewise, our approach ain't perfect yet. One of the key reasons to do networking in Slush 2024 with a decentralized direct marketing approach is to learn what the needs are among non-Web3 investors/founders, see what type of messaging works and what doesn't. This way, we can be even more successful in Slush 2025 and in other non-Web3 networks where we decide to engage with investors and founders afterwards.
As for the approach "feeling outdated", I'm not sure what to make of that comment. What is outdated is us trying to fight for pennies with other blockchains inside the Web3 bubble. Slush is "the largest gathering of venture capital on the planet. Collectively, investors attending have over 3 trillion dollars (US) of assets under management." If we don't tap this opportunity, someone else will. In fact, as an "interoperability maxi", I would love to go to Slush 2025 next year together with other chains and their communities. We win as one unified Web3.
Finally, the downside of doing this in a decentralized peer-to-peer manner is that it takes ridiculous amounts of time to research things, discuss things, negotiate things, plan things, design things, organize things and put the pieces of puzzle together. It would be great if we had a Decentralized Futures funded company paying for our salaries so we wouldn't need to budget for those. Unfortunately, we don't. This means we need to take time away from our families, day jobs and other commitments to get things done.
I have done this alone since January and with Patricia since June. Without her support, I would have given up already. It's a small miracle that we ow have a support team of 5 and 11 high-class Networkers ready to put Polkadot on the map in the Web2 world. Next step is to engage the rest of the Polkadot ecosystem and start the marketing efforts towards our target audiences. None of this happens without effort.
As for the networkers voting for this proposal, I hope they all do. We cover for their transport, accommodation, food and Polkadot-branded attire but apart from that they are not getting paid. I hope you appreciate their volunteering as much as we do. My personal take is that in OpenGov people should vote for their own proposals to show commitment and skin in the game, but I haven't done so (yet) because I could anticipate comments like this.
For further clarifications, come talk to us at AAG. Thank you for your interest. Now, let's focus on getting stuff done.
Due to the feedback from @EventsBounty and questions from @EzioRed , @BRA_16-D and @cesar , I have decided to Tomi waive my Slush 2024 preparation and design fee. To ensure continuation, this 10,000 € can be used by the next year's team to prepare for Slush 2025. Should there be no proposal submitted by the end of June 2025, the Polkadot Community Foundation will return this amount to the treasury.
The proposal has been edited accordingly and the changes have been highlighted in red.
Big fans of the budget description as well as the event. We have been following this referendum since the early drafts some months ago so this referendum was fast tracked due to our previous knowledge of it.
Any reason why to seek direct support from the treasury instead of going for the events bounty?
We don't have any strong opinions against direct funding, we're just curious about this fact.
We have voted AYE in the meantime and we look forward to see Polkadot being represented at this high profile event.