TrueSight DAO — who are they and what they learned growing a Decentralized Autonomous Organization
DAOs have sparked the interest of the web3 scene in 2022. Day by day more solutions and systems are enabling us to operate with such a business model. However, I noticed that some DAOs go for the standard solutions instead of thinking out of the box and finding solutions that fit their organization. (Sometimes it would turn out that the organization does not even need to be a DAO and should instead implement a couple of elements of decentralization.)
Here is a summary of what you will find in this article:
What is TrueSight DAO?
A short summary of their journey of becoming a DAO.
Their key learnings from the past year.
In a space where there are so many people with passion, enthusiasm, and motivation, it makes me sad to see their DAOs fail just because they did not have enough confidence to pave their own unique way. BUT!
Along my exploration journey, I have come across a distinct organization. They matured into being a DAO step by step, ironically without even knowing for a long time they were building such a thing. How did that happen?
I had so many questions piled up in my head when I started the first calls with my dear friend Gary Teh, the founder of TrueSight DAO.
What I have summarized here in the article is just the tip of the iceberg. It took me in total 3 sessions with Gary (along with some side chats and philosophical discussions) to put everything in place.
First of all, let me explain to you what TrueSight DAO is.
In simple words, TrueSight DAO is fighting fake news by developing an AI engine that scans and then presents the most authentic scenario. They are also going to do the same for stock markets.
To understand better what created the need for such a tool, we will take a look back at the world from 2,5 years ago, around the time when the pandemic was announced.
Since the beginning of 2020, Gary has been traveling around the world, especially between West Asia and Europe. He has noticed that in every country, the pandemic news in the mass media is communicated differently. After doing some thinking, he concluded that the fake news AI engine could be the key to solving the problem of global miscommunication.
Discovering the basics
In the beginning, there was a very small core team of around 7 people. They determined the “why” of the organization, so the core purpose of TrueSight’s existence. Throughout the brainstorming process, they dug deeper into the mindset that would steer the organization. They concluded that it will be the best to operate like a teal organization.
Many people in the web3 may have come across this term, but if that never happened to you — a teal organization is a flat organization, like a DAO, but without blockchain technology.
The exploration
The next phase was a cycle of implementing and executing, seeing what works well for them and what doesn’t. The first few months for TrueSight DAO were a big experiment.
The moment when they were contemplating introducing a token into their governance model, they realized what kind of organization they are leaning into. Gradually they were becoming a Decentralized Autonomous Organization.
(PS. They officially decided to distribute their tokens on Solana.)
Things start speeding up
Officially the token was introduced in December 2021. Overall, that month was a breakthrough for them. As they were able to start distributing tokens (which before were symbolic points gathered in Excel Sheets) their organization scaled up.
It allowed them to:
- measure the performance of members,
- encourage people to interact with the AI,
- and thus allow the AI to learn and grow.
Where are they now?
Since then, TrueSight DAO has been working on developing the foundation using the milestone-based vesting model (about which I will say more below). You can receive regular updates from their AI engine called Edgar by email with the latest fake news updates. TrueSight DAO is also trying to broaden its network for possible collaborations and is restructuring the onboarding process for newcomers.
Besides telling you the story of TrueSight DAO, Gary shared with me some learnings that some of you may find useful in growing your DAO.
Focus on the milestones
Since then they have kept developing the foundation for the organization using milestone-based vesting.
Milestone-based vesting is an organizational style that does not measure the success of the company using deadlines but focuses on the achieved goals regardless of how long it took to reach them.
“Workflow is like a river, you cannot push a river to get earlier to the point.” — Gary
According to Gary, setting deadlines or time limits for a decentralized organization is not effective. It rather discourages people and kills the creative flow. Especially in such an early phase, people should have the freedom to experiment with different solutions to achieve the desired goal. Allow your DAO to be time-wise decentralized!
Let people take the action
In an early stage DAO, the person who is known to be the founder should not interfere too much in the execution of tasks. The best way to approach it is to make sure that the problem is stated clearly and allow the members to take up the initiative. No matter how much you would be tempted to take the action, people need to develop their systems and discover what interests them in your DAO.
Know what you stand for
When being in such an organization, values are your king. They are the guide for the community and a foundation for a decentralized workflow. Also, the more your organization will scale, the easier it will be for you to avoid attracting people that might put your DAO in jeopardy. Values become your filter.
Thank you for reading this article! Let us know if you found this story useful and give us your feedback in the comments!
And if you feel like fighting fake news in a decentralized style, get in touch with Gary Teh (click the link to add him on LinkedIn) and see what it is like to be a part of a DAO!
Your UFOstart Marta.
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