The Aragon Association and Aragon Labs Core Teams’ First Response to Proposal: Transfer the Aragon Project Funds to an Aragon DAO Governed by (Delegated) ANT

The following response represents the views of the core team members of the Aragon Association and Aragon Labs:

The Aragon Association and Aragon Labs (to be referred to as the “core teams”) were blindsided by recent amendments to the Proposal: Transfer the Aragon Project Funds to an Aragon DAO Governed by (Delegated) ANT, specifically reducing the core teams’ runway to “continue existing operations up until November 30, 2022”. This amendment has consequences on the core teams’ ability to continue moving the Aragon Project forward, retain the talent and team that was rebuilt over the past 18 months, preserve the progress that has been made, and participate in a successful transition to AN DAO.

This said, we are respectfully requesting to extend the discussion period of this proposal to June 13, 2022. The intent of this request is to give the core teams the opportunity to recommend amendments to this proposal, prior to the vote period. We have the opportunity to leverage in-person collaboration to regroup, plan for this transition and strengthen the proposal during our next team offsite in Croatia from May 30, 2022 to June 3, 2022. The core teams are aligned on the importance of transitioning AA/AL into the AN DAO. We appreciate the collaborative approach Placeholder has brought to this process and are keen to continue working together to make this transition successful for everyone involved.

We are concerned by the lack of context and communication affecting Placeholder’s ability to craft a proposal that will lead us to a successful transition. There has been a lack of direct communication between the core teams, the committee members, and Placeholder - particularly with regard to recent research, technology and product developments. In short, these teams have not been granted a meaningful opportunity to present their plans and progress on multiple projects advancing in parallel. In addition, they have been working in challenging circumstances : building on a foundation of upheaval, losing engineering talent, transitioning team leadership, and working towards a merger. Communication to the committee has not accurately reflected the reality, the multiple work streams, nor the direction of these teams. This breakdown has not only jeopardized the progress that has been accomplished to date, but the integrity and future of the Aragon Project as a whole. It is both symptom and cause of the duress the core teams have experienced in recent months and must be taken into account with compassion for the humans invested in this project.

Our intent is to build on the current proposal by bridging the gaps in information being shared and clearly communicating our recommendations. Again, we ask that the discussion be extended and the vote period be moved to June 13, 2022.

We wish to continue working towards this transition together. And most importantly, we wish to continue to advancing the Aragon mission together. Thank you for your consideration.

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Just to be clear, this request concerns only Step 2 of the proposal, correct? The current vote text includes the option to extend runway from 6 to 12 months before switching to the new treasury system, should it get implemented. Is the intention here to include a different set of options under this particular vote question or perhaps to remove this question from the vote altogether?

PS. The questions above are completely sincere - since the implication is to change the proposal, I’m just trying to understand which parts of it this request is targeting :slight_smile:

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Hello Mario

Specifically, as it pertains to the ‘Timeline & Voting Requirements’ section of your proposal. We request that the ‘Buffer (vote preparation)’ have its end date extended to June 13 2022 (from May 31st) as written in our request. The start of the vote would be June 14th, as opposed to the vote start being June 1st.

We want to have this opportunity to arrange our team during the first week in June in person, and coordinate a public request to amend your proposal in a few key areas – notably Step 2 of the aforementioned proposal.

As to your final point about the runway extension. We are requesting an extension of the buffer timeline, moving this date precedes the actual vote, and the vote text.

To be clear on your last point – as we have clearly stated we do intend to transition everyone to a DAO-owned treasury – so it is primarily a change in options in section 2.

Best,
Core Team Members of the Aragon Association and Aragon Lab

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Thank you for clarifying, although I’m not sure I understand the need to extend the buffer if the only issue is Step 2. The current vote text already includes two alternative options on this point. If people would like to add more options, please provide suggestions in the vote text thread. Either way, I defer to the AA to make the final call on this, or suggest running a forum poll over the weekend.

Hi Mario

As forum polls are anonymous and open for every forum member, we can’t assure that only the committee is voting. Due to this limitation, we have sent an email to all committee members and put all team members in CC.

Dear Joe, Jorge, Jordi, Luis & Stefano
Kindly respond to this email with everyone in CC with «Yes, I agree with delaying the vote» or «No, I don’t agree» to our vote delay request noted in the following forum post: «The Aragon Association and Aragon Labs Core Teams’ First Response to Proposal: Transfer the Aragon Project Funds to an Aragon DAO Governed by (Delegated) ANT».
We expect a response by end of today (Friday, May 27th 2022 11:59 pm UTC) as this is the buffer end date originally denoted. If you don’t respond within this timeframe to delay this vote, we will assume there is no support for the June 13th extension request.

Best,
Core Team Members of the Aragon Association and Aragon Lab

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I also recommend implementing trust levels on the forum so that it’s possible to run forum polls that only certain users can participate in. I’ve seen this done on other DAO forums and it seems to work reasonably well for quick temperature checks.

Hi Mario

Our request via the aforementioned email to delay the vote has effectively been declined by @luis and @jorge. Due to this, as Core Team Members of the Aragon Association and Aragon Lab, we accept the proposal voting terms.

We are optimistic about transitioning to a DAO. Expect initial proposals soon to focus on stabilizing runway concerns from dedicated team members who wish to plan their futures with Aragon, amongst other governance proposals, prioritized accordingly to make this transition as smooth as possible.

We appreciate everyone who has participated and your timely response regarding our timeline concerns.

Best,
Core Team Members of the Aragon Association and Aragon Lab

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Thank you for the update! Please review the latest comment in this thread to provide any final feedback/suggestions to the vote questions.

2 Likes

Looking forward to those proposals!