Founder's Journal

This week, I completed a deep dive into the governance models of MakerDAO and ENS. The key takeaway is the necessity of a phased transition with a community-elected Security Council acting as a safeguard in the early stages. This is a crucial detail that will be baked into our own roadmap to ensure stability and build community trust from day one.

It's not enough to just hand over the keys; we have to build the institutional capacity for the community to succeed. The Security Council model provides a safety net during the transition while maintaining transparency and community oversight. This approach has proven successful in both MakerDAO and ENS, giving us confidence in our own implementation.

The next step is to draft the specific governance parameters and transition triggers. I'm targeting 10,000 Monthly Active Wallets and $5M in transacted value as our graduation metrics, which should provide sufficient network effects and economic activity to support a healthy DAO.

Spent the last few days finalizing the technical architecture for the MyData Agent. The integration with OpenMined's PySyft library is proving to be the right choice for our privacy-preserving computation needs. The ability to perform federated learning and secure multi-party computation without exposing raw data is exactly what we need for our "trust-by-proof" model.

The key insight from this work is that we need to design the agent as a sovereign Datasite Server from the ground up, not as a client application. This architectural decision will enable users to participate directly in privacy-preserving computations while maintaining full control over their data.

I've also been exploring the economic model for data pricing. The current market is opaque, but I'm seeing promising signals that high-value data streams (like health data for clinical trials) can command significant premiums. This validates our approach of creating a transparent marketplace for consented data.

Started drafting our first grant application for NLnet Foundation. Their focus on core internet infrastructure aligns perfectly with our vision of Pandacea as foundational data infrastructure. The key is positioning our work as essential infrastructure for the emerging Agent-First Economy, not just another blockchain project.

I'm also preparing applications for the Filecoin Foundation, emphasizing our use of IPFS/Filecoin for decentralized storage. The technical integration is straightforward, and it gives us a compelling story about building on existing decentralized infrastructure.

The grant strategy is crucial for our Phase 1 development. We need non-dilutive funding to build the MVP and prove the core technical model before seeking any venture investment. This approach keeps us focused on building value rather than fundraising.

This week has been focused on refining our recruitment strategy. The challenge is finding the right balance between technical expertise and mission alignment. We need partners who understand both the technical complexity of building a privacy-preserving protocol and the social importance of creating a more equitable data economy.

For the Technical Co-Founder role, I'm looking for someone who has experience with decentralized systems and privacy-enhancing technologies, but more importantly, someone who shares our vision of data as labor. The technical challenges are significant, but they're solvable with the right approach and team.

The Community & Governance Architect role is equally critical. Building a successful protocol requires more than just good code—it requires a healthy, engaged community and robust governance structures. I need someone who can build movements and design systems that empower people.

The research is complete, the vision is clear, but I can't build this alone. The right founding partners will make all the difference.

Finished the final revisions to all core documents today. The research phase is officially complete. We now have a comprehensive blueprint covering the problem analysis, technical architecture, economic model, governance strategy, and operational roadmap.

Looking back at the hundreds of hours spent on research, I'm confident we have a solid foundation. The evidence-based approach has been crucial—every claim is backed by credible sources, every technical decision is justified, and every strategic choice is explained.

This documentation serves multiple purposes: it proves the depth of our thinking, provides a clear roadmap for development, and demonstrates our commitment to transparency. Anyone who wants to understand Pandacea can dive as deep as they want into the research.

Now the real work begins: turning this research into reality.