Written by: Lotta Spjut, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
Can DAOs replace traditional organizations, and How do you choose a DAO? This article is the last part of three, and the purpose is "only" to give You an overview; still, You will hopefully get it and have some overall understanding. In the first part, You get the basics of What a DAO is and How a DAO is different from traditional companies (centralized organizations) when making decisions. In the second part, You learn more about the pros and cons of a DAO and in what sectors can DAOs be useful.
This last part is about; Can and should we replace traditional organizations with DAOs and, if You are interested, how to choose what DAO to join?
Can and should we replace traditional organizations with DAOs?
Source: scrum.org
In a traditional organization, a company is owned and operated by a small group of individuals, or a single individual, solely responsible for the success and overall management. This method creates an environment in which one person takes on financial risk and nearly all the reward. The business owner(s) would need to hire an entire team of individuals to operate the company's back-end operations and manage its people, then hire another team of employees to run the business. While this will continue to work for certain companies, many new companies will convert to DAOs.
By converting companies to DAOs, it is possible to eliminate several expensive job positions, reduce risk and increase total investment by accessing funds available to a larger group of people with a similar goal. In addition, of course, there are additional benefits, such as community decision-making, higher availability of funds for reinvestment, and overall improvements in morale and dedication.
Source: www.tokenizedhq.com
How to choose which DAO to join?
That depends on Your interests and goals. There are many types of DAOs. You should decide what projects You are interested in and why You want to join it based on what You believe in, are passionate about and what type of ROI you want. For example, I told You that I joined two DAOs because of my interest in Blue Chip NFTs (high-priced NFTs) and to buy these together with others. As a result, the investment is shared, I learn, and I am part of a community with people with the same interests and goals.
It is always the responsibility of the individual, You, to do the research, DYOR (Do Your Research. However, there are a wide variety of DAOs, and there are also people using the term DAO for their business; without having a functioned DAO or even intending to have it. Therefore, the research time for Your investment and choosing the correct DAO for You will often take the longest.
According to DeepDAO, there are already 1.7 million governance token holders amongst the 4 832 organizations listed on their site as of May 2022. However, the exact number of active DAOs is challenging to pinpoint due to the decentralized nature of these groups.
Many DAO investors will search for investment-based DAOs with the possibility of giving the most significant financial upside. Some investors contribute to DAOs that focus on causes they are personally interested in and want to participate in actively. It can be climate change, charitable causes, community revitalization, education, etc.
It is essential to understand the primary goals of the DAO, no matter if Your interest is based on NFTs, DeFi, or real-world assets. Like any investment, DAO projects should be carefully vetted to ensure legitimacy. Spend time in the DAOs community chat room, ask questions, verify contract audits, read documents/white paper and check the roadmap. These are all great ways to get started on researching any potential DAO investment.
Learning by Doing
The best way to learn about something is by doing. As I told You at the beginning, I am part of different DAOs, and one of them is named Balloon DAO. This DAO is relatively new, and we are developing it daily. The reason I joined this DAO is because of my interest in NFTs.
Ballon DAO is a group of NFT ‒ and Web3 enthusiasts and is our form of expression and vehicle for collective coordination to acquire Blue Chip NFTs. Blue Chips NFTs are well-known, established, and stable NFT collections. Fractional buys and Blue Chips are the cornerstones of Balloon DAO.
The communication and activity are handled in the medium Discord, where we have different channels for different subjects. Every week we have direct calls together and follow a structured schedule created in the tool Miro.
The members in the group have many different skills, experiences, and knowledge, and we learn from each other. Our next step is to launch our governance token and “product.” The best part is that everyone can contribute with ideas, everyone’s voice is equal at the same time, and You can learn in a welcoming group. You will find a short summary (under progress) here if you want to know more.
Summary and Future
Nearly 2 million people already hold DAO tokens, and there are already thousands of different DAOs. Many advocates for DAOs believe it is here to stay, and DAOs will only see more adoption as cryptocurrency gains more influence in the public eye. It will take time to entirely restructure existing businesses to adopt and implement DAO ideology, which is on the horizon for many companies today. However, due to the non-hierarchical nature of a DAO, the DAO’s structure can allow for more satisfied members compared to the traditional methods of conducting business and boosting team morale. For the survival of some companies, the DAO structure may even be necessary, particularly with the introduction of a native token used for overhead and daily operations.
DAOs are a new “tool” that can design social structures more trustfully. However, DAOs are not a magical solution that will fix all the governance problems over the night. It is still in an early stage and unclear how DAOs will evolve into the future and for Web3 builders, it is no need to be in a rush to launch one. At the same time, it increases governance transparency and trust-minimization while still being dynamic enough to compete with Web2 systems. People’s understanding and knowledge will also evolve as some DAO structures fail and simply are not adopted while other DAOs are successful and flourish.
Creating your own DAO is the “easier” part technically, though running a DAO successfully is the challenging part. Many simple tools exist to get you running quickly. However, the key to creating a successful DAO will be your project, product, and community.
Like I used to say, the future will tell. There is much more to explore and learn about DAOs, than what these articles give You, and remember, You are still very early. If you are interested in learning more, I highly recommend you do so. Being an early adapter has its benefits in the long run.
Disclaimer: I am not a financial advisor, and this article only overviews the topic. You should not take my own shared experiences for any financial advice. Technology is moving fast, and updates happen regularly. I have linked to some sources where You can learn more if there is an interest. The internet is full of links about the topic. Just remember to DYOR of the originals. Also, DAOs are banned in some countries, so please refer to your federal laws before making a DAO.
To learn more from Lotta, you can visit her website and connect with her social media accounts; Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Linkedin. Read more from Lotta!
Lotta Spjut, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Lotta Spjut has a passion and drive to inspire and empower people, especially women around the Globe. To use the skills they have, learn new skills and knowledge to grow themself, and become successful individuals and/or entrepreneurs.
She has made hundreds of lectures, speeches, and individual and group training for private and public companies, built on empiric knowledge. Sharing what she has learned and experienced herself to inspire and empower people. Not to compare with her or anyone else but to get inspired. The amount of listeners is not important for her; it is what each person gets out of it.
Lotta is a TEDx speaker, and she was one of 20 Global Women Leaders to Look up to 2021 by Passion Vista & Unified Brainz. She was also selected for Brainz 500 Global Awards 2021” by Brainz Magazine as one of the "500 Global Companies and Influential Leaders recognized for their entrepreneurial success, achievements, and dedication to helping others”. 2022 she got selected for "Who´s Who of the world" and got her own Coffee Table Book.
Lotta’s main business over the last decades has been as a Business Developer, Global Speaker, and Trainer. She has thousands of people all over the world whom she has mentored and educated in leadership, personal development, technology, and entrepreneurship.
Her background is as an Experienced Chief Executive Officer with a demonstrated history of working with leadership. She was an employee for 10 years before she resigned and became her own boss. Master's Degree in Didactic, Bachelor of Education, and many years of experience as a teacher in elementary school and at University. Certified Business Pro Executive Coach, coaching CEOs in different businesses. Bachelor's degree as a health and nutrition developer. Educated people in the health, nutrition, and fitness industry.
Lotta is skilled in Leadership, Coaching, Entrepreneurship, Team Building, Education, and Management. Strong business development and 2015 she started to educate herself about cryptocurrency and blockchain technology and the latest area she is developing her knowledge in is the NFT ‒ and Web3 markets. Lotta’s mission is to help more people understand and get educated about the opportunities within the innovations in technology and web3. She especially wants to inspire and empower more women to learn more about web3.
Her favorite quote is from Arthur Ashe: "Start where You are, use what You have, and Do what You can"! And "You don´t need to be great to start, but You need to start to be great".
