The Evolution of dOrg: The Builder DAO

This is the story of dOrg’s evolution from a few passionate engineers to a heterarchical network of builders developing industry-leading Web3 software.

The year is 2020. DAOs are starting to govern everything, from lending and trading protocols to investment funds, insurance pools and prediction markets. But a much simpler use-case has been quietly gaining traction: a development agency called dOrg.

(Disclaimer: The author is a member of dOrg)

Part 1: Single-Celled Origins

dOrg spawned in late 2018 as a 2-of-3 multisig with the mission of enabling decentralized organizations. After successfully shipping the Colony Task Importer and DAOstack Launcher, the team decided to incorporate in order to take on a higher volume of large-scale Web3 projects. Unfortunately, there was no way to grant smart contracts legal personhood at the time… so they invented one!

With the help of the legal minds behind Vermont’s Blockchain-Based LLC legislation, dOrg became the first legally recognized DAO in the US. How?

Step 1: Deploy a DAOStep 2: Register an LLC that references the DAO as its source of governanceStep 3: Boom! You have a DAO that limits liability and can enter legally binding agreements (or, in reverse, an LLC with fully on-chain ownership interests and governance)

Part 2: Emergent Complexity

As new builders join dOrg to take on client projects, higher-order structures have emerged to assure client & builder satisfaction, quality control, and legal compliance.

These mechanisms– including builder onboarding, project sourcing incentives, budgeting, governance, and more– are outlined in the Builder Handbook.

This evolutionary process has transformed dOrg into an execution engine that regularly ships dApps, governance utilities and SDKs for some of the most popular projects in Web3.

Some highlights include:

• Balancer Pool Manager and Exchange
• DAOstack UI Library, SDK, and Launch GUI
• Gnosis / DXdao Fundraising App
• DeversiFi / NecDAO Reputation Distributor
• Compound Governance SDK
• The Graph Web3 Mutations
• Uprtcl 
• eToro DAO-Curated Identity

15 months since official formation, dOrg has:

$650K+ Revenue generated, perhaps more than any other DAO, with $0 fundraising30 Builders onboarded, with 20 currently active across 6 countries21 Projects shipped with $200M+ TVL and 8 projects under active development18 Clients serviced with 95% client satisfaction score

Part 3: Mutations Ahead

These experiences have set the stage for dOrg’s next phase of development.

Web3API

The collective is releasing a new integration standard for smart contracts that brings the simplicity of Web2 APIs to Web3. Web3API allows app developers to interact with smart contract protocols from any language through GraphQL. This totally eliminates the need to embed language-specific SDKs into dApps. dOrg has discovered this path to seamless app integration from numerous experiences bridging the gap between smart contracts and applications. Find out more here.

Continuous Development Services

dOrg’s consulting practice is also leveling up as a new wave of client projects and talented builders enter the pipeline.

Clients can now book dOrg for continuous development services. For a flat weekly rate, clients receive the relevant expertise at the right time from a dynamic rotation of builders. In addition, a dedicated project manager, weekly syncs, and chat support ensure tight coordination throughout the project lifecycle. Lastly, dOrg is committed to finding ways to foster long-term alignment, such as accepting a portion of payments in the project’s native token. The Continuous Development Services model will enable Web3 projects at any stage of development to progressively decentralize by working with dOrg.

Seamless Builder Onboarding

The source of dOrg’s effectiveness is living, breathing humans! These include a range of professionals, from full-stack engineers and UX/UI designers to business strategists and crypto lawyers. DAO-curated selection of applicants ensures an ever-growing pool of talented, good-spirited builders who take craft and professionalism seriously.

Applying to join dOrg is seamless. Simply submit a mini-hack tailored to your area of expertise that ‘enables decentralized organizations’. Once the DAO accepts your activation proposal, you’ll have access to high-profile paid client work and an inspiring community of like-minded builders. Go here to get started.

Follow:

• dOrg Homepage
• dOrg on Twitter
• dOrg on Keybase
• Ingamar on Twitter

Special shoutouts to Ori Shimony and Jordan Ellis for the edits!

(Disclaimer: The author is a member of dOrg)

Previously published at https://medium.com/dorg-tech/the-evolution-of-dorg-the-builder-dao-77d7d1f394bf