Proposal description
Overview
We are now in the final stretches of development and couldn’t be more excited for the initial release of the Nexus platform!
Since our update last month, we have finalized the visual style for the platform and made significant development progress, bringing us closer to launch. Assuming that we are able to secure the funding necessary to complete the project, we will have the following release schedule:
Over the next few weeks we will be releasing several short videos showcasing specific features, as well as a ‘teaser video’ that we will promote to the broader business community. This will help attract new users to the Dash ecosystem and remind the world that Dash is still the undisputed leader in decentralized governance.
Progress
We made some great progress on the Visual Design for the platform available at this Invision Link!
We'll also be rolling out more updates to the Leaderboard next week:
Ask
Even though our project is still severely underfunded, we have made the necessary adjustments to allow us to have minimal delays to the original launch schedule.
With that said, our team has assumed significant personal financial risk in doing so and is dependent on the approval of this proposal to have the funds necessary to complete development and execute our product launch.
Below is a chart showing the financial records of our original proposal’s payouts:
As you can see, we received significantly less funding than we asked for, even after our contingency was depleted. While this was a challenging setback for our team and required pulling back resources, shifting around priorities, and assuming personal risk - we are still on track with the execution of the project.
We are requesting 380 Dash/month for a period of 3 months to cover:
Roadmap:
Beyond the initial release, our vision is to continue developing and upgrading the Nexus platform to ensure that it addresses the needs of the growing Dash ecosystem.
We have already received some amazing ideas and feature requests from community members that have made their way onto our roadmap. These additional features will be rolled out gradually with updates being released every few weeks. This will allow Nexus to continue expanding its functionality and for Dash to stay ahead of the competition.
We hope that you share our vision for the future of Dash governance and will continue to support our endeavor. Thank you for your time and consideration in evaluating our proposal!
-Jeff and Yuri
For any questions, please leave a comment, email us at hello@dashnexus.org, or contact us on discord in the #dash-nexus channel.
We are now in the final stretches of development and couldn’t be more excited for the initial release of the Nexus platform!
Since our update last month, we have finalized the visual style for the platform and made significant development progress, bringing us closer to launch. Assuming that we are able to secure the funding necessary to complete the project, we will have the following release schedule:
- October - soft release. We will be inviting proposal owners to create the first round of content with the new Proposal Creator. This will pre-populate the Nexus platform in preparation for launch and weed out any bugs/fixes that need to be addressed prior to the live release.
- November - platform launch. This will be the live release of Nexus v1.0. The platform will be open to all users and will have the MVP feature-set, including on-platform voting.
- December - maintenance and support. The first few weeks following launch are a crucial time for the platform. Our team will be in close contact with the entire Dash community to provide a smooth on-boarding process and address any issues that may come up.
Over the next few weeks we will be releasing several short videos showcasing specific features, as well as a ‘teaser video’ that we will promote to the broader business community. This will help attract new users to the Dash ecosystem and remind the world that Dash is still the undisputed leader in decentralized governance.
Progress
We made some great progress on the Visual Design for the platform available at this Invision Link!
We'll also be rolling out more updates to the Leaderboard next week:
Ask
Even though our project is still severely underfunded, we have made the necessary adjustments to allow us to have minimal delays to the original launch schedule.
With that said, our team has assumed significant personal financial risk in doing so and is dependent on the approval of this proposal to have the funds necessary to complete development and execute our product launch.
Below is a chart showing the financial records of our original proposal’s payouts:
As you can see, we received significantly less funding than we asked for, even after our contingency was depleted. While this was a challenging setback for our team and required pulling back resources, shifting around priorities, and assuming personal risk - we are still on track with the execution of the project.
We are requesting 380 Dash/month for a period of 3 months to cover:
- Price depreciation from the original proposal
- Additional costs that arose out of the necessity to extend the duration of the project
- Sufficient funding to cover maintenance and support in the weeks following launch
Roadmap:
Beyond the initial release, our vision is to continue developing and upgrading the Nexus platform to ensure that it addresses the needs of the growing Dash ecosystem.
We have already received some amazing ideas and feature requests from community members that have made their way onto our roadmap. These additional features will be rolled out gradually with updates being released every few weeks. This will allow Nexus to continue expanding its functionality and for Dash to stay ahead of the competition.
We hope that you share our vision for the future of Dash governance and will continue to support our endeavor. Thank you for your time and consideration in evaluating our proposal!
-Jeff and Yuri
For any questions, please leave a comment, email us at hello@dashnexus.org, or contact us on discord in the #dash-nexus channel.
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Discussion: Should we fund this proposal?
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DashNexus Launch by DashNexus
http://bit.ly/DWDashNexusOCT18
DashNexus - Next Generation Treasury and Governance Platform by DashNexus
http://bit.ly/DWDashNexusSEP18
Looking forward to the coming transition.
But I cannot fathom why this proposal is so expensive. Correct me if I'm wrong, but you intend to simply roll out a more useful version (we hope, anyway) of DashCentral, correct? If so, how could that possibly cost $70k a month? And do you have any recurring costs anticipated for the future?
Unfortunately, I'm already finding your leaderboard page less useful than the now-defunct DashVoteTracker.com in that it doesn't continue to deduct total available Dash down the list into the un-approved proposal section. This oversight does not give me confidence about what would be revealed in a launch.
We appreciate you sharing your thoughts regarding the rolling total for available funds on the leaderboard. We recently heard similar concerns regarding this from other community members and will be rolling out an update to address this.
I'd also like to point out that the current Nexus leaderboard is a pre-alpha release with limited functionality. Our intention is to share ongoing progress with the community to receive as much feedback as possible. We are always happy to hear your ideas and concerns and would like to encourage you to take part in the conversation on Discord in the #dash-nexus channel!
Regarding the costs of the project, you can find a detailed breakdown on our original proposal: https://www.dashcentral.org/p/dashnexus-strv
STRV is a world-class development agency and the platform they are helping us build will lay the groundwork for the next stage of expansion of the entire Dash ecosystem.
We hope this addresses some of your concerns and we are happy to answer any other questions you may have.
-Yuri & Jeff
Has the Nexus team ever seriously thought about, or for that matter spoken with DCG about, becoming practically self-sufficient (in future), by actually demanding the transfer of the 5 DASH proposal listing fee to the Nexus team for EVERY SUBMITTED PROPOSAL to the Dash DAO, rather than continuing with the current BURN practice of the 5 DASH proposal listing fee ??
In such a scenario, the proposal listing fee protecting us from proposal SPAM would really go towards the very system which is managing, overseeing and publishing all the proposals, which wouldn't consist of a purpose-alienation of such funds in any sense, and should therefore be OK (as long as there is MNO consensus about using Nexus and thereby granting them the priviledge of collecting the proposal listing fees).
This could considerably relieve the monthly Dash budget itself from continuos Nexus-related drain, or at least maybe reduce the Nexus operating costs for the DAO budget to half of what it would be otherwise.
I understand that Nexus team may be reluctant or unwilling of such a possibility, because of fears of underfunding.
But additional (supplemental) funding could be still asked from the DAO, especially in the launch and after-launch phase, and that should be no reason not to have MNO's seriously think about the possibility of (partially) funding Nexus with the 5 DASH proposal fee, in future.
Perhaps there should be a proposal for the MNO's to decide, whether to continue with the 5 DASH proposal fee burning practice, or else stop the burning practice and use these funds to help pay for future Nexus instead.
Please consider letting us MNO's vote on how to use the 5 DASH proposal listing fee in future:
1) continue to burn the 5 DASH proposal listing fee
2) helping funding Nexus with the 5 DASH proposal listing fee and (partially) relieving the DAO from recurring costs of Nexus
As i said, You guys don't need to be afraid of future underfunding in such a scenario, because You can always ask for additional (supplemental) funding, even if the collected amounts for proposal listings were not enough to offset running operational costs of Nexus.
Thanks.
If I use Dash Nexus for example to post my proposal then 0.25 Dash from the 5 Dash do not get burned and are rewarded to Dash Nexus for helping post my proposal.
This can provide income for proposal sites so they could be potentially self-sustaining at one point and might provide a little bit of competition I guess.
solarguy
But PLEASE try to keep spending and recurring costs in-check !!!!!
$30k monthly for a small-sized team, or
$100k monthly for a full operational team
is simply too much IMHO, especially given the current circumstances of our budget.
We are looking at some ways we could reduce our recurring costs, including bringing some more of the resources in house.
One particular area we will be focusing on is design. While STRV has been exceptionally valuable at laying the groundwork for the initial release, the design system that we they created will allow us to make further iterative changes internally, reducing the burn rate.
After the initial release, we will adjust our ask based on market conditions and demand on the treasury. In times of abundance, like we saw in December - we would like to accelerate development to provide maximum long-term value for the network. If we continue to see further decreases, we can slow down and provide only core maintenance support, so that other valuable project are able to receive the funding they need.
My account recently got blocked on the DASH Forum however my account is now working again. But for 2 days I could not access the DASH forum immediately after one of my posts was moderated and taken down. I could however access Dash Forum with a test account using the same internet, same PC and the same IP address. Only my DeepBlue account was blocked. I tried many times over a period of 2 days with my DeepBlue account and could not gain access to the DASH Forum.
I asked for clarifications on what happened to my account however none of the Forum Admins I communicated with were able to throw any light on the situation and why my DeepBlue account could not access the forum after my post was removed.
My Dash Forum account however was freed up after I had made the issue public and posted the issue on DASH Central stating I intended to record the situation and make it public unless my account became usable again. One other MN had the same issue as me MN "unstoppable" after his post was also moderated at the Dash forum.
These incidents made me realise the value of having a non DCG controlled means of public communication. I am not saying that my account was censored by the admins at Dash Forum, however it did make me think that the only way to ensure we cannot be censored in the future is to have separately controlled funding proposal code that is not controlled by one organization. This gives MN another avenue to raise awareness of any possible reasons for accounts being blocked in the future. If an account is blocked on both the forum and on the DashCentral then this can effectively silent our voice. There is a risk with one organization holding the code to all means of communication. We need to keep the Nexus code separately maintained from DCG in my opinion to maintain DASH with the spirit of decentralization.
but hope u guys come up with a sustainable model to run free and independent in the long run
And not project sustainability
In theory I agree with you that proposals should try be self-sustainable. Practically however, I can't think of any way that proposals with a supporting role in the Dash Network, like Dash Nexus, Dash Watch and to an extent also Dash Force News, could do that. The only thing I could think of for Nexus for instance, is that in the near future when they are widely used by MNOs, they could charge for proposals to be listed on their site. However, even without considering centralization and barrier to entry issues that go against the spirit of Dash, I don't expect it to make any difference. It is very likely that proposals would just ask for more funding to offset the listing costs, which means that in effect the treasury is still paying for Nexus. Therefore, I just don't see how these services could cover their costs other than using treasury funds. At least not with how proposals are set up currently.
If you have any suggestion how these services could reasonably be self-sufficient I would appreciate it if you would share your ideas.
Thank you for your time
Aezel
We're always open to community contributions!
Please reach out either on Discord in the #dash-nexus channel, or via e-mail to hello@dashnexus.org
Seems we have a few groups either Core or strongly tied to Core draining the entire budget and possibly using their MNs to vote their own projects through.
No x12.
So if i understand this correctly, dash nexus had asked $460,161.00
To date they have received $381,996.00
So the difference should be 80,000~ roughly
Why are you seeking an additional 225,000.00
Please clarify thank you
I wanted to apologize for the confusion the website metrics may have caused and clarify that the Total Combined Payout in USD of $290,532 is indeed the estimated USD value of all the Dash payouts received at the times they were received. This is, in our opinion, the most illustrative figure of the value given to a proposal owner at the time it was given which is the reason we placed it above the rest.
The Total Original USD Funding requested $460,161.00 is approximately how much the proposer requested in USD value at or around the time of submission.
The USD Cost at payout of $381,996.00 is confusing and will either be hidden or more aptly renamed the 'Total USD Cost at First Payout' or 'Total USD Cost if all payouts were made at the time of the first payout.' We created this metric only as a way to show how Dash appreciation or depreciation after the first cycle affects the value received by proposal owners.
One could argue that the Total Original USD Funding requested and the Total USD Cost at (First) Payout seem to have the same purpose of demonstrating how much value was lost or gained by depreciation or appreciation, however, sometimes proposers submit their original funding requests 3-4 weeks before the payout actually occurs, so for this reason there is sometimes a big difference between the three figures which is why we included all of them including the: Total Original USD Funding Requested, Total USD Cost if all payouts were made at the time of the first payout, the Total Combined Payout in USD.
I hope that clarified things a bit, and we would definitely appreciate if you let us know whether you think we should completely hide or simply rename the column presently titled 'USD Cost at (First) Payout'
Please if you can make the required modifications so we dont make judgements based on misunderstandings thank you
It seems that there is some confusion regarding the numbers shown on the DashWatch site, as the link you gave shows two numbers:
1) Total combined payout in USD: $290,892 - actual value that matches what we have shown in our table in the proposal (there is a discrepancy of roughly $4k likely due to the timing of the price snapshot or exchange choice)
2) USD Cost at payout: $381,996 – not representative of the fiat conversion we received. We have reached out to Dash Watch and expect them to confirm this shortly
The actual difference between the original ask and what we received is closer to $170,000.
You are correct that at the current Dash price our proposal is asking for roughly $225k, which is 30% greater than the $170k we are short. We included the additional buffer to account for potential further price volatility during the 3-month term of this proposal, as well as to have the additional funding necessary to support and maintain the platform immediately after launch.
Any excess funding that we receive in the event the Dash price increases will go towards the future development of the platform.
Thank you for the timely feedback, few concerns stood out.
1) on-going costs to run dash nexus once launched
2) ownership of source code and all IP, ( in the event you are serking further funding and not funded )
Thank you.
Given that there is continued support from the MNO network and sufficient funding in the Treasury - we would like to continue developing the Nexus platform to ensure that Dash remains the leader in decentralized governance.
We will also have more flexibility in adjusting our burn rate than we do now, as the platform will be fully functional and all of the additional features will be enhancements. As such, we will be able to add or remove development resources based on the network's demands and market conditions.
2) We believe that the Nexus platform should be owned by the network as a piece of critical network infrastructure and have been working towards making that a reality. We have been in close contact with DCG and will be leveraging their experience with setting up a trust to make this legally possible.
The answer seems very ambiguous in respect to ongoing costs, essentially sounds like we may see large asks in the future,
Although i see the benefits that dash nexus brings to the dao, it still does so at a higher cost than we currently pay, as is the case with DC.
Would you be in a position to provide some ball park figures please
Thank you
We believe that the Nexus platform is a critical piece of network infrastructure that will be owned by the network itself. As such, it will require ongoing support and iterative improvements to its functionality to continue supporting the evolving needs of the network. The rate at which it evolves will depend on how much resources the network is willing to allocate to its improvement. To give you a rough idea, here are several possible scenarios:
1) The network does not wish to allocate any further funding to the Nexus project beyond the platform's initial launch. In this case, we will halt all further development and the platform will exist in a state similar to Dash Central today (functional, but without much in the way of support or development). We will earmark $5000 from the current proposal to cover hosting costs for the first year, after which point we will rely on donations or put in an additional proposal to cover further hosting costs.
2) The network wants to see ongoing support from the Nexus team.
We can provide support and maintenance services, including general support, bug fixes, admin services, as well as minor improvements to specific modules of the platform for $10-15k/month.
3) The network would like to proceed with developing the roadmap features that are beyond the scope of the initial release. Here, we begin to have some flexibility with the RATE at which these features are developed:
-At an absolute minimum, we would need to keep one full-stack developer engaged on the project.
-Preferably, we would have one dedicated back-end and one front-end developer.
-In an ideal world, we would keep a team of 2 front-end and 2 back-end developers to maintain a rapid pace of development.
-In addition to the development resources, we would also require some design, QA, and project management resources.
The total cost of these options would range from $30k/month with our team and a single full-stack developer, up to $100k/month for a full team. The way we proceed will largely rely on the market/treasury conditions and the network's appetite for further improvements.
We understand that in the event of a prolonged bear market, we will continue to have a constricted treasury budget and may need to slow down or pause development, as other projects may have a higher priority. However, in the event the prices rise and our treasury expands once again - we believe that investing in developing the network's governance infrastructure will provide tremendous ROI.
We hope this provides some clarity and we are happy to answer any other questions you may have regarding our project.