Proposal description
Dash Core Group December 1st Funding Proposals
DCG is submitting 2 funding proposals for the December 1st budget cycle:
1) DCG Compensation: $209,400
2) DCG Premises: $41,200
This proposal is cross-posted here
What does this proposal fund?
The premises budget was last funded in February 2019. To date it was being exclusively used to pay for the monthly rent for the Dash Core Group office in Scottsdale, Arizona.
This proposal will fund rental expenses for:
Arizona Location: One Office at SkySong
Given budget constraints in early 2019, we have downsized our premises footprint to just one office. The reduction in our footprint has brought down costs from $5,300/month to $2,000/month. This office is and will continue to be frequently shared by Ryan Taylor (CEO), Glenn Austin (CFO) and Bob Carroll (CTO) to conduct business and to hold internal and external meetings. The office we are retaining includes a conference table, whiteboard, office furniture (desks and cabinets), mail services, copy and print services, reception services, utilities, telephony, internet access, custodial services, and unlimited conference rooms (for no additional charge).
During the summer of 2019 we used the facilities to hold a leadership meeting for Dash Core Group Management. We posted a summary of that meeting at the following link: https://www.dash.org/2019/08/05/dash-core-leadership/
Additionally, we plan to host an open house at the ASU offices in December 2019. The conference center space is included in our agreement.
Description of the Arizona property
SkySong is a 1.2 million square foot mixed-use live/work/play facility associated with Arizona State University located in Scottsdale, Arizona. It is operated as a non-profit incubator for innovation and technology, ranging from startups to Fortune 500 companies. Its non-profit status enables SkySong to charge tenants well below market rates for Class A office space. The facility is in high demand, and all SkySong buildings are near full occupancy.
We believe there are several advantages to maintaining our presence at SkySong. First, there are clear productivity gains from having members of our team on-site to work directly with each other. Second, we conduct many professional meetings with prospective partners and this allows us to receive visitors and host events in a business setting.
SkySong provides the flexibility of month-to-month leases giving us the flexibility to either eliminate our office space altogether or to quickly expand, as needed.
As a quick recap from our initial funding proposal, these are the key highlights of the space:
Co-Working Spaces for Developers
One of the disadvantages of having a decentralized team is that co-workers do not have as many in-person interactions with each other, which can be more effective for certain tasks. We have found that having co-workers located together in the same physical space provides a boost to productivity. This requests funding for team members to meet in co-working facilities (e.g., hot desks or small conference rooms) on a periodic basis when needed and beneficial to working on collaborative tasks. Dash Core Group has developed a policy on the types of expenses and the circumstances under which these expenses would be reimbursable. We do not expect these expenses to exceed $1,200 a month among all members of the team.
Quarterly Developer Meetings
Every three to four months Dash developers come together to meet in one central, affordable location. These face-to-face meetings provide the team with an opportunity to interact, plan and align on the necessary tasks to deliver on the technology roadmap. This proposal is requesting funding for the facilities and co-working spaces that the developers utilize during these meetings. We anticipate these expenses to be approximately $1,000 every 3 months.
If you have any questions, please direct them to @glennaustin in this Dash Forum post to ensure we are notified of your request.
Requested funding is as follows for the December 1st budget cycle:
· 329 Dash for core team premises at Arizona Location ($24,000 USD @ $73 per Dash)
· 181 Dash for developer co-working spaces ($13,200 USD @ $73 per Dash)
· 55 Dash for quarterly developer meetups ($4,000 USD @ $73 per Dash)
· 5 Dash proposal reimbursement
Total: 570 Dash
Note: Should any funding remain, we will apply it toward future facilities / rent expenses and related taxes.
DCG is submitting 2 funding proposals for the December 1st budget cycle:
1) DCG Compensation: $209,400
2) DCG Premises: $41,200
This proposal is cross-posted here
What does this proposal fund?
The premises budget was last funded in February 2019. To date it was being exclusively used to pay for the monthly rent for the Dash Core Group office in Scottsdale, Arizona.
This proposal will fund rental expenses for:
- One office at SkySong for 2020 (total cost = $24,000)
- Co-working spaces for developers that would like to collaborate in the same physical location in 2020 (total cost = $13,200)
- Meeting space for quarterly developer meetings in 2020 (total cost = $4,000)
Arizona Location: One Office at SkySong
Given budget constraints in early 2019, we have downsized our premises footprint to just one office. The reduction in our footprint has brought down costs from $5,300/month to $2,000/month. This office is and will continue to be frequently shared by Ryan Taylor (CEO), Glenn Austin (CFO) and Bob Carroll (CTO) to conduct business and to hold internal and external meetings. The office we are retaining includes a conference table, whiteboard, office furniture (desks and cabinets), mail services, copy and print services, reception services, utilities, telephony, internet access, custodial services, and unlimited conference rooms (for no additional charge).
During the summer of 2019 we used the facilities to hold a leadership meeting for Dash Core Group Management. We posted a summary of that meeting at the following link: https://www.dash.org/2019/08/05/dash-core-leadership/
Additionally, we plan to host an open house at the ASU offices in December 2019. The conference center space is included in our agreement.
Description of the Arizona property
SkySong is a 1.2 million square foot mixed-use live/work/play facility associated with Arizona State University located in Scottsdale, Arizona. It is operated as a non-profit incubator for innovation and technology, ranging from startups to Fortune 500 companies. Its non-profit status enables SkySong to charge tenants well below market rates for Class A office space. The facility is in high demand, and all SkySong buildings are near full occupancy.
We believe there are several advantages to maintaining our presence at SkySong. First, there are clear productivity gains from having members of our team on-site to work directly with each other. Second, we conduct many professional meetings with prospective partners and this allows us to receive visitors and host events in a business setting.
SkySong provides the flexibility of month-to-month leases giving us the flexibility to either eliminate our office space altogether or to quickly expand, as needed.
As a quick recap from our initial funding proposal, these are the key highlights of the space:
- A “premium office” in a LEED Silver Certification (class A) building
- Locking glass doors, and locking filing cabinets
- Two dedicated phone lines and voicemail system
- Gigabit Ethernet connectivity
- Mail services
- Complementary conference room access
- 24/7 access to the building
- Complementary copier and printer (up to a monthly limit)
- Kitchen facilities including coffee machines
- Shared reception area with sign-in and waiting area
- Free shuttle service between ASU’s main campus (2 miles away) and SkySong
- Free access to a 385 capacity conference facility on site
Co-Working Spaces for Developers
One of the disadvantages of having a decentralized team is that co-workers do not have as many in-person interactions with each other, which can be more effective for certain tasks. We have found that having co-workers located together in the same physical space provides a boost to productivity. This requests funding for team members to meet in co-working facilities (e.g., hot desks or small conference rooms) on a periodic basis when needed and beneficial to working on collaborative tasks. Dash Core Group has developed a policy on the types of expenses and the circumstances under which these expenses would be reimbursable. We do not expect these expenses to exceed $1,200 a month among all members of the team.
Quarterly Developer Meetings
Every three to four months Dash developers come together to meet in one central, affordable location. These face-to-face meetings provide the team with an opportunity to interact, plan and align on the necessary tasks to deliver on the technology roadmap. This proposal is requesting funding for the facilities and co-working spaces that the developers utilize during these meetings. We anticipate these expenses to be approximately $1,000 every 3 months.
If you have any questions, please direct them to @glennaustin in this Dash Forum post to ensure we are notified of your request.
Requested funding is as follows for the December 1st budget cycle:
· 329 Dash for core team premises at Arizona Location ($24,000 USD @ $73 per Dash)
· 181 Dash for developer co-working spaces ($13,200 USD @ $73 per Dash)
· 55 Dash for quarterly developer meetups ($4,000 USD @ $73 per Dash)
· 5 Dash proposal reimbursement
Total: 570 Dash
Note: Should any funding remain, we will apply it toward future facilities / rent expenses and related taxes.
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Discussion: Should we fund this proposal?
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Dear DeepBlue, perhaps as a MNO you still remember the time when 10 dash could buy 1 BTC, when one masternode was worth over a million USD.
I suppose you would like those times to return.
The guys who work to make that happen definitely deserve our trust and some comfort.
I am always amazed whenever I hear criticism of good projects, whining about wasting money.
And I can't help but think "those opponents of sensible proposals must be Monero trolls undermining DASH".
Food for thought:
https://themoneyadvantage.com/step-over-dollars-to-chase-pennies/
I'm most concerned that there is no response from DCG to reasonable questions. Trust is exactly what we should NOT be having with a cryptocurrency. Transparancy is what we should be having and we are not getting it.
DCG you are wasting our money on paying for empty office space. Why don't you hire by the day? If you don't even consider alternatives such as Regis where you can hire by the day it beckons the question why are you not even considering it at the very least. Why is that?
It appears to me that Arizona State University are receiving preferential treatment with our funds both on this and on other research projects e.g. 52K for paying for a student to do research on zero knowledge proofs. We should know if like Ryan Taylor has a past connections with ASU which could explain why ASU are getting favourable terms. In any investment or position of responsibility it is now a legal requirement in the USA that people in a position of responsibility e.g. Doctors disclose any connections paid or otherwise with industry. This is now law in the US. I feel we need the same level of transparency with Ryan Taylor and ASU and also with Alt36. Both of these projects are getting preferential financial support from DCG that seems irrational.
I've asked these questions several times, if there is no connection then I don't see why there should be a resistance to answering these basic questions. If however, there is a connection and you continue to not answer the question it makes it look more likely that in fact Ryan Taylor does have past connections with ASU and this is the reason why they are getting favourable financial terms. I don't support favourable financial terms simply because there is a past connection with any projects.
The DASH price is crashing now at only 67 USD and falling, not only this we are now in 21st position and falling - we need to make the very most of our investment money. Note it is OUR money Ryan, OUR investment that you're spending. 70% of the ownership of DASH in USD is from the MNOs investment. I don't want to see it wasted for paying for 3 days out of 5 where you are not using office space. That is a complete waste of our investment money.
I am asking these question again because you have not answered the questions previously, which actually does not look good on you. I will also continue to keep asking these questions until there is an answer.
It does not make business sense to me to be paying for empty office space when there are perfectly good alternatives that offer just as high a quality space at a fraction of the cost which you could hire by the day.
I am asking again. What is the past connections between Ryan Taylor and ASU? Did Ryan Taylor attend ASU as or does he have any other close connections with ASU that could account for them getting our money for renting this office space when there are better alternatives available?
An irresponsible waste of money and clearly showing that have absolutely no idea about how to run a successful business. I do know what it takes to run a successful business and wastage on this scale I find disgraceful. DCG wasting money like this on paying for empty office space most of the time is an abuse of their position as a trusted organization within DASH. It also tells me if they are this wasteful with something as simple as hiring office space they are also more than likely being wasteful on their salaries which at 250,000 USD per month for 39 people is outrageous.
DEFINITE NO! A WASTE OF VALUABLE TREASURY MONEY! IRRESPONSIBLE BEYOND BELIEF!
To be clear, we are currently paying $2,000 per month for 1 office which we use roughly 3 times a week. In addition, we have access, and use the conference rooms available at SkySong twice a week.
The additional $17,000 is for real estate costs related to quarterly developer meet-ups and for in person meetings for team members around the globe (in many cases they will use Regus, as we have for all of our previous developer meetups). I hope this clarifies this particular issue.
Therefore, for the record, what you're saying is DCG are definitely using the ASU offices in the following way as an absolute minimum:
Over the entire rental period, that DCG use the ASU office space on average 3 days out of 5 and in those 3 days full working days (8 hours) of use your are in the offices (Please do not include partial visits, drop ins to pick things up or a brief meeting e.g. 1 hour)
The above appears to be the best possible case scenario. However even if this is the case we are still paying for 2 days out of 5 for office space that is unused and laying empty i.e. 40% of the time with no use of the office. DCG can negotiate a better deal if this is the case.
At the least you could negotiate a competing quote at Regis for a flexible package and compare it to what you're paying now for ASU. Something which you appear not to have done yet.
I emphasis the word "negotiate"
Regis is more flexible than Skysong because you can hire exactly when you need it and they also allocate time in a conference room for clients hiring an office space. The conference room use is is normally included in the package and if extended meetings needed then this also can be paid by the hour. The offices are just as prestigious as those at ASU and the rental is more flexible.
you can hire high quality office space by the day from Regis and save us a small fortune. You don't use the offices every day which means every day they are empty we are wasting money.
Hire by the day with Regis the offices are just as good quality:
https://www.regus.com/offices/united-states/arizona/phoenix
"Sell your car, go on foot"
In some situations your penny pinching attitude would be right. But saving money does not mean you will win the race.
And we a in a race, and the race is about winning.