The Otonomist — May 2021 OtoCo Introspective
This month is all about us. With OtoCo nearing its first anniversary, we use our May newsletter to post on where we plan to take the project from here (Part I), why a token for OtoCo (Part II), how we plan to issue our token (Part III) and how we propose to govern the project (Part IV). We conclude with a musing on venture building as a multiplayer onchain game. Thanks to all who walk with us on the Road to OtoCo.
- Han
PART I
Our Vision for OtoCo: From Product to Platform
OtoCo is almost a year old. We’ve learned a lot from our users and the wider community since we launched OtoCo last summer as an onchain company formation tool.
We started by bringing company formation onchain, in both Delaware and Wyoming, letting users instantly form an LLC using their Ethereum wallet.
More recently, we added onchain “kits” such as an easy ERC20 token foundry, onchain encrypted messaging, multi-sig company wallets, and more.
And since last month, OtoCo users can pay for our services in all major crypto, as well as with card and Apple Pay, via a simple unified checkout.
These new features hint at where OtoCo is going: towards building an automated assembly line for onchain entities that lets you add the components you need for your project, no matter where you are around the world.
In this first part, we talk about our planned transition from product to platform.
PART II
The OtoCo Token: A Loyalty Scheme, Usage Token and Voting Card — All in One
Our aim when designing the OtoCo token was to do something different, not for the sake of it but with the aim to improve on various token models we studied, some dating back to the ICO days and some from more recent DeFi projects.
Our design had three objectives:
- We wanted the token to have utility without forcing users to buy a native token in order to access services on otoco.io.
- At the same time, we wanted to have a token reward mechanism, not only for loyal users but also for outside developers who build and sell add-ons in our soon-to-launch dAppstore.
- Finally, we wanted to give token holders generally the broadest possible participation rights in the OtoCo project.
In this second part, we talk about the nature of the OtoCo token and how it may provide a template for other projects.
PART III
A New Smart Contract Solution for Building a Pre-Order Book and Automating Token Issuance
Token issuance models vary, from algorithmic “immaculate conception” distributions to manual and often opaque pre-sale rounds using analog legal documentation.
We spent a fair bit of time thinking how to make our forthcoming token issuance simple, fair, and transparent.
We also wanted to see if there would be an easy way to test community interest without having to worry too much about regulatory restrictions at the pre-sale stage.
In what follows, we explain why we made to the design choices we made, followed by a closer look at our proposed token issuance smart contract. We conclude with more details on our OtoCo token sale process.
PART IV
Proposed Governance for OtoCo and Exit to the Community
The proposed governance structure for OtoCo is a synthesis of various decentralized governance models used by clients of otonomos.com and others in the community we learned from.
Its overriding approach is one of radical transparency.
Here too we hope we can help develop a standard for the open company of the future, and expect that many of the governance tools we build for ourselves will meet a demand from other blockchain projects too.
FOUNDER’S NOTES
Towards Venture Building as a Multi-Player Onchain Game
I played video games as a kid and occasionally still do. However it is when I see my kids play that I have the most fun. I have not a single doubt in my mind that the way next generations will experience venture building will be the way kids currently play video games.
The skins they select for their game avatars today will be the legal wrappers for their projects of tomorrow.
They’ll spend on kitting out those skins with various boosts and bundles: add-ons that make their ventures stronger; bundles of dApps that help them battle opponents, online tools to collaborate and overcome adversity together.
They’ll earn in crypto tokens, spend in crypto tokens, store crypto tokens, swap crypto tokens for other crypto tokens, and hold crypto tokens as treasury, each token accruing value and earning spending power in the real world.
The whole business of venture building will be a multiplayer onchain game.
Homo ludens (literally!) at work.
Entrepreneurs doing the work of a playful God, having fun building serious stuff.
Expect an announcement in the next weeks with a firm date of the start of our pre-order period together with details of our token distribution via our official “Road to OtoCo” Telegram channel.
Originally published at https://otonomos.substack.com.
