Proposed: November 18, 2021
Status: Failed
Link: GitHub PR
Justin de Guzman
Beanstalk is more likely to become the dominant stablecoin protocol if it can attract a strong network of long-term, high-quality capital in both the Silo (liquidity providers) and the Field (creditors).
Raising capital and forming connections with other protocols in a decentralized, anonymous capacity is difficult. While Beanstalk has succeeded in attracting substantial initial capital for both the Silo and Field, Beanstalk must continue to grow in order to attract other crypto projects to utilize $BEAN as a reliable stablecoin. Over the past few weeks, Publius has spoken with a variety of potential long-term, high quality capital to explain how Beanstalk works. While this has resulted in a strong organic network forming around Beanstalk, anonymity makes it difficult for Publius to tap into a larger network of potential investors. Furthermore, time spent managing relationships with potential investors is time spent away from developing Beanstalk.
Ensuring large investors understand Beanstalk and have a point of contact for questions can facilitate larger capital allocations to both the Silo and Field. Because Beanstalk is a complex project and understanding it often requires multiple readings of the whitepaper and consumption of complementary materials like AMAs, FAQs, and a plethora of Discord posts, having someone who understands it who can walk you through the learning curve goes a long way.
Additionally, the crypto ecosystem relies heavily on conferences and in-person events to develop deep relationships with investors and partners. Beanstalk’s decentralized nature and Publius’ anonymity has made it impossible for someone related to Beanstalk to attend these events thus far.
Upon passage, the Silo will hire Justin de Guzman as Capital Formation Advisor.
Upon passage, Beanstalk will mint and allocate 300,000 Beans to hire a full Capital Formation Advisor for 2 years. 240,000 of these Beans will be allocated to hire Justin for 2 years. The remaining 60,000 Beans will be allocated for expenses related to capital formation.
The Capital Formation Advisor role be formed with the following primary tasks:
The Capital Formation Advisor’s will lead all community efforts around attracting high-quality capital to Beanstalk. The Advisor will interface with investors through meetings, in-person events, and conferences to explain how the Beanstalk protocol works and help investors understand the advantages and trade-offs of investing in the Silo or Field given their unique risk profiles. They will also organize the capital formation efforts around Beanstalk generally.
While Publius will give guidance to the Capital Formation Advisor and participate in calls selectively, it is expected that the Advisor will start managing relationships going forward for current and potential investors.
The Capital Formation Advisor will lead and manage efforts to attract high quality partnerships and integrations with other DeFi protocols and exchanges. They will coordinate with Publius, Beanstalk Farms, and any other DAOs working on Beanstalk to facilitate the most useful and relevant relationships.
The Capital Formation Advisor will attend an average 2 conferences a month to meet potential investors and partners. They will organize and lead various Beanstalk investor events to attract high quality eyes to Beanstalk.
Justin was previously at Social Capital, a prominent, Palo Alto-based venture firm, where he worked on the investment team for Chamath Palihapitiya. He is also currently a scout for Lightspeed Venture Partners. His extensive network in the venture capital, hedge fund, and crypto communities will allow Beanstalk to develop relationships with long-term capital. Justin is also currently one of the top pod holders, making him heavily incentivized long-term to contribute to the success of the Beanstalk protocol.
Justin will be paid 10,000 Sown Beans/month. Upon passage of this BIP, 240,000 Beans for a 2-year commitment will be Sown as Pods in a single Plot. Pods will be paid out on a bi-weekly basis from the front of that Plot. In the instance there is less than 240,000 Available Soil at the time of passage, the maximum Beans possible of the 240,000 will be Sown. The rest will be held as circulating Beans until there is more Soil. The relationship between Beanstalk Farms and the Capital Formation Advisor will be at-will and can be terminated at any time, for any reason, by both parties. If the relationship is terminated, any remaining unpaid Pods be allocated elsewhere or burned at Publius’ discretion.
Effective immediately upon commit.