The passive investment movement is at the heart of my crypto journey. My favoured approach is to have long-term strategic allocations while reserving a small portion of the capital for tactical allocations every now and then, preferably through delegating with expert traders.
This approach leaves one with a lot of time to spare & accordingly, this time last year, I began branching out into the world of writing and research to monetize my time and experiences within Web3. I felt that, as a power user, I had a lot of perspectives to offer that could be valuable to the right audience.
Let’s (Not) Blog!
However, experimenting with various blogging/newsletter platforms, I soon realized that the barriers to entry were too high in this space for anyone to begin monetizing any time soon.
Let’s face it. Starting a blog is easy but for you to be able to monetize it, you need time & consistency to build a reputation & social following. That too if you’re not jurisdictionally limited by the platform or its partners providing payment rails.
The (No) Gig Economy!
Naturally, my next stop was Web2 freelance marketplaces, and while they offered a chance at instant monetization on Web3 topics, simply bidding on jobs without a reputation to precede you is living in a fool’s paradise.
That said, when my perseverance did pay off, I was surprised to know that these marketplaces had extremely high intermediation costs. I can still feel the bad taste in my mouth when paying 20% of my earnings as a cut.
The worst part though was that you couldn’t even instantly withdraw your earnings. There were hoops to overcome in documentation, minimum withdrawal amounts & frequency.
Eureka! Eureka!
Around January ’23 I had pretty much given up on my goal of monetizing my time and experience in Web3 anytime soon. I realized this was a long hill to climb and while great success would come, the barriers to it were equally impossible.
And then, as if by divine intervention, I stumbled upon Dean’s List. Two months and strong with them, I can happily report that I have achieved my goal. In fact, it has been one of the most intellectually & financially rewarding times I have spent in this ecosystem.
Curious? Do you want to know more about Dean’s List? What is it? Where is it? What do they do? How much dough have I made? How can you get involved? Let’s find out.
Dean’s List 101
In its simplest form, Dean’s List is a group of people from around the globe who share the unifying characteristic of being Web3 power users. A power user is simply someone who understands the world of blockchains & interacts with various protocols on a daily basis.
Building on their shared interest, this collective has formed a Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO) — a Web3 company if you will — as a means to organize themselves & solicit work.
Anyone can become part of the DAO by purchasing a membership and there is no requirement to earn your reputation before you can start earning. If what you put forth is valid, it will be paid.
The business model is B2B with the DAO offering its services to other projects across three main verticals:
- Get Better (Feedback)
- Grow Better (Marketing)
- Strategize Better (Advisory)
While still under a year since formation, the DAO has generated $41,000 in revenue and has so far paid out $19,000 to contributors (with not a single $ charged fee).
Payouts are determined by the quality of work submitted & anyone could become a grader (no centralized authority passing judgments here) as long as they rely on established procedures for quality control. Here is a map of where these payments have gone globally.
On top of this, contributors who participate in the day-to-day running of the DAO itself and its future growth have also been paid handsomely. Here is an interesting metric:
Thanks to excellent DAO tooling on the Solana blockchain, treasury management, and overall decision making is done in a transparent manner so that every single $ is accounted for, verifiable, and infused with consensus. 35% of all revenue goes to a community-managed treasury which is utilized for the continued growth of the DAO. Weekly meetings set the tone in terms of direction — strategically & operationally. Here’s a snapshot of us vibing on a weekly DAO call:
Going forward, the DAO is transitioning to become a Digital Network State with a citizenship cap of 100. This is a huge step not just in the change of nomenclature but also in terms of positioning the DAO in the physical dimension (and not just a digital one) with an on-ground presence. On that note, work has begun to identify jurisdictions where workshops shall be held leading to a permanent physical presence.
So What Work Is Available?
Plenty of volume and variety if you ask me. Some broad categories are;
- User Feedback
- Documentation
- Writing
- Marketing
- Design elements
- Video development
- SEO
- Advisory
- Tech development
While the core ethos remains to focus on a limited number of services, the DAO is open to responding to changing market dynamics. This means that new areas of work under the three main verticals may be added from time to time.
Success Stories
Here is a collection of Dean’s List citizens flexing about their numbers from the last payout (all verifiable on the chain so this is not an attempt to fool you):
How Can You Join?
There is plenty of work available with $95,000 of engagements contracted already all the way to June 2023. There is no reason for you to fade this with membership being a pittance compared to what you can potentially earn.
At present there are two ways to become a citizen:
- Head over to our Web3 Ecommerce store and purchase a citizenship pass. This is a one-time fee. Once purchased, One of Us will reach out to you with an invite link to our very exclusive discord server and the base of all operations.
- Head over to Tensor and purchase one of our NFTs. Post your new NFT on Twitter from your profile and tag @deanslistDAO with a message that you’re waiting to begin. One of Us will reach out with the next steps.
All relevant links can be found here.
Parting Thoughts
The evolution of work, like the evolution of anything, is bound to be more inclusive, frictionless, fair, transparent & democratic. If history has taught us anything, it is that out with the old and in with the new is synonymous with throwing out what doesn't work and replacing it with what does.
In this respect, Dean’s List is an interesting social experiment to push the boundaries of work as we know it.
Cheers,
Ahmed
Disclaimer: The views presented in the post are the personal opinion of the author & do not represent that of his employer nor are financial advice. Please do your own research before investing in or using any product mentioned in the post. The author may or may not be invested in any particular product.
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