Abstract / Overview
This proposal is to continue to fund the Engineering Workstream’s budget for 6 months, April 1st, 2024 through Sept 30th, 2024.
The ShapeShift DAO relies on the Engineering Workstream to maintain the code base, undertake core engineering work to enable new features, and to provide architectural oversight and technical leadership as we continue to execute the roadmap as defined by the Community and Product Workstream.
Motivation
To continue to provide the DAO the needed engineering resources to maintain the existing product offering and implement new functionality.
Specification
Team
0xean https://github.com/0xean - Interim Workstream Leader (dependent on the passing of SCP-174)
0xApotheosis https://github.com/0xApotheosis - Senior Engineer
gomes https://github.com/gomesalexandre - Senior Engineer
kaladinlight https://github.com/kaladinlight - Senior Engineer
woodenfurniture https://github.com/woodenfurniture - Senior Engineer
To be hired - Senior Engineer
Mandate
No changes to mandate. See previous renewal. https://snapshot.org/#/shapeshiftdao.eth/proposal/0x306dd79215c8463a59db06d3d2fd25cb3111b1305a62fe0bc16eda8a515c84ee
Budget
The details below expand upon the budget spreadsheet https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1xZvbLeVnkNssY8SxH7GRfh0vbGX6x80erZW4T1jU66U/edit?usp=sharing (for reference, here is the previous workstream renewal’s budget https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1lS0dA32rYdEpKnxOGKhSqs3ba7ffHtgX-nIKdvEDJIM/edit#gid=550583440 )
Total amount requested over 6 month: $524,700 + $95,000 USD in FOX
The amount of FOX requested will be locked in on Apr 7, 2024 by using a 7 day daily-VWAP calculated by taking the daily mid price (Low + High / 2), multiplied by that day’s volume averaged over 7 days using data from CoinMarketCap https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/fox-token/historical-data/ . The intended use of this FOX is discussed below.
Recurring costs
Labor
The budget currently retains the 4 existing engineers from the previous workstream. In addition to the existing team, the budget adds room for an additional hire to be made over the next 6 months. There is no compensation for a workstream leader built into this budget as a new WS leader will need to be ratified by governance and can negotiate compensation at that time.
Infrastructure
These costs are currently being paid by the Foundation and are not included in the workstream’s budget but are managed by the workstream.
Non-recurring costs
Miscellaneous
The budget contains a line item for $10,000 USDC of discretionary funds which may be used for travel, conferences, retreats etc, at engineering’s discretion.
The line item above is provisional, and any unspent funds will be returned to the DAO.
Contingency
Unforeseen costs will arise and 10% of the USDC subtotal is requested accordingly.
The budget seeks approval for $49,500 for contingency to be spent judiciously at the workstream’s discretion, shall it be required.
Variance
Unused funds from any budget category will be returned to the DAO at the end of the budget cycle.
In the event that the Engineering Workstream requires more funds, a separate governance proposal shall be raised.
Fox Compensation
All engineers who remain engaged full-time with the workstream for the duration of the budget cycle (6 months) will receive a 20% bonus in FOX that will be paid out evenly over the following 6 months starting October 1, 2024. Any engineer who leaves or is terminated before Sept 30 2024, will not be eligible for this incentive. For any newly hired engineer, the discretion of how to fairly pro-rate this is left to the discretion of the workstream leader.
The price of FOX used for this calculation will be the reference price mentioned above.
Engineers may opt for any additional amount of their stable compensation as FOX.
Reporting
The workstream will continue to post monthly updates ( https://forum.shapeshift.com/t/engineering-workstream-monthly-update-jan-2024/2898 , https://forum.shapeshift.com/t/engineering-workstream-monthly-update-feb-2024/2945 , https://forum.shapeshift.com/t/engineering-workstream-monthly-update-march-2024/2981 ) to the community published to the forum and provide visibility into its work on GitHub (project boards, issues, and pull requests). If the community has additional requests for reporting, the workstream is happy to consider them and ensure that there is visibility and transparency.
Interim leader
0xean will act as interim leader of the workstream but the DAO is encouraged to find and elect another more permanent workstream leader who will replace him as soon as possible.
Benefits
Ensures continuity of the existing engineering team with retention incentives to ensure our small team doesn’t grow smaller.
Adds additional budget to grow the workstream as market conditions and DAO revenues improve.
Drawbacks
USDC and FOX spend
No permanent workstream leader
The team is definitely resource constrained and may need to consider scaling beyond a single individual in the near future.
