Hello everyone!
I was lucky enough to join the Moonbeam Foundation Grant Committee 6 months ago for the first time.
It was a great honor, and as we approach the start of season 5, I wanted to share some feedback with you.
Our work:
This committee reviews grant applications from projects wishing to build on Moonbeam. @0x_thiago makes an initial selection to save us time. Once the projects have passed this stage, we examine their project, their deck and what they want to achieve with the grant.
We then hold a call with the project leaders to understand their proposal in detail and ask the questions we need to ask. Finally, with the committee, we meet every Friday to discuss the projects analyzed and vote on the decision to be taken.
Sometimes, the answer is neither yes nor no, but a revised grant proposal, adapted to our vision and the needs of the chain.
In practical terms, this means both encouraging good projects and eliminating unsuitable ones.
In the 2nd category, projects are rejected for various reasons. Sometimes the team isn’t serious (or transparent), sometimes the project isn’t beneficial to the chain, or we just don’t believe in it. As there was a pre-filter before, this decision is taken following due diligence and a proper video call with the team applying for the grant.
For the 1st category, it’s a little more complicated. The project has to be solid, and so does the team. And the amount requested must be in line with the effort required. We also pay particular attention to the transactions and users a project may bring us. If the project fits into Moonbeam’s 4 priority areas, that’s a plus.
My role:
As a technical expert, my role is to give my opinion on the feasibility and technical viability of the project. I’ll be looking at the code available on Github, the activity of the developers, and the realism of the project.
Very importantly, I always try to encourage project developers to use the technologies that make Moonbeam unique: XCM, cross-chain, precompiles…
If the project already exists on another chain, I’ll look at the activity of contracts on the different block explorers. Unlike subjective fields like communication, tech can not lie.
It’s easy enough to spot falsified metrics, inactive repos or simply unrealizable promises.
My feelings:
I simply loved being part of this committee. The other members are really professional and all have varied skills. Some will look more at communication and marketing, others at economic sustainability and finally I look after tech. Nevertheless, they’re all blockchain connoisseurs (many former developers), so they understand everything.
In season 4, I found that the team was efficient and the analyses were extensive.
It’s also worth noting that the Foundation’s non-community members (@siccomoonbeam & @0x_thiago) do an important part of the work. They’re used to evaluating projects, and it shows.
Generally, we often reach a consensus during the voting process.
In 6 months, I’ve only disagreed twice with the committee’s opinion. I wouldn’t name the projects but they were technically great, unfortunately, their economic viability and/or traction weren’t enough to convince the other members.
These examples show just how important it is to have different experts with different skills on the committee.
The future:
Season 5 starts next month and I’m planning to apply again as a technical expert.
One area I’d like to improve is communication with the Moonbeam community. The new role that’s been created for S5 should take care of that.
After all, we’re accountable to the token holders, so our committee needs to be extremely transparent about what it does.
Also, over the summer, the number of grant applications dropped a little. I think that was linked to the season and the state of the market. During season 5, if I’m re-elected, I’d like to find new ways of making this great grant program known to other builders from other chains.
Thank you so much for reading this post to the end!
If you have any questions or comments, I’ll be happy to answer them.
I sincerely hope to earn your trust again for season 5.
Marin