Death by Grant Proposal: Rethinking Funding for Builders

WhalePool Stage

Impact & Public Goods

Spork Castle 1st Floor

Feb 27, 2025

5:30 PM

Funding has played a crucial role in empowering Web3 builders to innovate, contribute, and scale. However, many builders encounter inefficiencies due to misaligned incentives, which hinder creativity and drive away top talent. Drawing on insights from developer education and ecosystem-building initiatives, this talk examines the successes and challenges of current Web3 funding systems across three key dimensions: timing (retroactive funding, proactive funding), decision-making processes (quadratic voting, community voting, committees), and forms of funding (task-specific bounties, hackathon rewards, grants, airdrops). By exploring these dimensions, we’ll examine their strengths and limitations and how to align funding mechanisms with specific goals such as onboarding developers, building ecosystems, supporting businesses, and driving adoption. Attendees will gain a decision-making framework to design adaptive funding systems that empower builders and ensure sustainable growth, helping them unlock the full potential of their ecosystems.

speakers

Eomji Park - Encode Club

Moderator

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