[RFC] Strategic Alignment Initiative (SAI) for VeloraDAO

Research and Discussion
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Abstract

As VeloraDAO continues to grow and mature, we are seeing strong signs of progress across governance participation, contributor activity, and structural development. Initiatives such as the Governance Task Force (GTF), the Delegate Incentive Program (DIP), and the Velora Growth Committee (VGC) have contributed to improved coordination, transparency, and engagement across the DAO.

Given this positive trajectory, we believe now may be an appropriate time to ask a broader question of the community:

Should VeloraDAO define a shared strategic focus for the year ahead?

This would not be a binding or rigid framework, but rather a way to align governance, contributor efforts, and protocol initiatives around a set of agreed-upon priorities—clarifying what the DAO is collectively trying to achieve over the next 12 months.

Before considering any formal process, we would like to gather feedback and better understand how the community views this idea.

Goals

This post is intended to start an open and constructive conversation. We are not proposing anything specific at this time, but we are interested in whether the DAO believes there is value in pursuing a shared strategic direction, and if so, how such a process might be designed.

We are particularly interested in community input on the following:

  • Would VeloraDAO benefit from identifying a small number of strategic priorities for the year?
  • If so, what kinds of outcomes should we prioritize (e.g., onboarding users, increasing protocol revenue, expanding brand awareness, strengthening internal governance)?
  • How might a process to define and align on these priorities be structured in a way that is open, inclusive, and flexible?
  • Are there potential downsides to consider, and how could they be mitigated?

Why This May Be Worth Exploring

A shared strategic focus could offer a number of benefits, such as:

  • Providing clearer direction for proposals, funding decisions, and contributor work
  • Helping delegates and working groups coordinate efforts around shared high-level goals
  • Making it easier to evaluate progress and identify where further support is needed
  • Encouraging more proactive and outcome-driven governance

That said, it’s equally important to consider the risks, such as reduced flexibility or added complexity if not implemented thoughtfully.

Next Steps

At this stage, we are simply seeking input. If there is sufficient interest and alignment, we would be open to working with the community to explore what a lightweight, community-led process could look like.

We encourage all delegates, contributors, and community members to share their thoughts in the comments below. Your feedback will help determine whether this is something the DAO should pursue further.

Thank you for your time and consideration. We look forward to hearing your perspectives.

1 Like
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Hi @Curia team!

This is an excellent initiative, and it has our full support. While we believe delegates and community members should remain free to propose their own initiatives based on evolving circumstances, we also believe that the DAO as a whole must establish its strategic objectives, determine how to implement them, and develop a concrete action plan to bring them to life.

With some nuances compared to the idea you outlined, we at SEEDGov —in our role as the Governance Task Force— are planning to launch a framework in the near future (end of Q3 or beginning of Q4) to convene the entire DAO —delegates, tokenholders, and all stakeholders— to collectively define the DAO’s strategic objectives for the short, medium, and long term. The goal is to discuss how to implement them and prioritize initiatives with the greatest potential impact.

This will require careful planning, the creation of clear and accessible materials to facilitate community participation, coordination of collective efforts, and ultimately, analysis and synthesis of all contributions into a clear set of strategic goals and implementation tracks.

We are therefore fully aligned with this proposal and excited to contribute to its design and implementation, as it aligns closely with a key priority we had already identified within our scope:

We have studied the unsuccessful experience of Arbitrum’s Strategic Objective Setting (SOS) process, which is yet to be finished and still impossible to assess its impact. We believe there are valuable lessons to draw from that process that can help us build a more effective and tailored initiative for VeloraDAO.

If it seems right to you, and depending on the feedback this thread receives from the community, we’d be happy to communicate to coordinate and exchange ideas with you to jointly shape a stronger, aligned initiative that can further the DAO’s development.

2 Likes
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We wholeheartedly agree on defining a shared strategic focus for the year ahead. Any initiative that aligns DAO and contributor efforts with broader protocol initiatives/priorities is a positive in our eyes.

Would VeloraDAO benefit from identifying a small number of strategic priorities for the year?

Absolutely. Scroll’s governance team publishes quarterly goals broken up by operations, ecosystem growth, global community, governance iteration. We could consider a similar structure for Velora, broken up by our desired priorities.

If so, what kinds of outcomes should we prioritize

We’d be in favor of prioritizing onboarding users and expanding brand awareness at the least; those seem like two of the most high-impact things to focus on with the rebrand.

How might a process to define and align on these priorities be structured in a way that is open, inclusive, and flexible?

We could use a forum poll with the best options that we brainstorm here to get the wider community’s feedback. We don’t think a formal Snapshot vote is necessary for this, but we’re not completely opposed to the idea. A forum poll is a lightweight way to make sure the community’s voice is heard.

Are there potential downsides to consider, and how could they be mitigated?

Time-wasting. Sometimes these sorts of efforts can be overlooked by the community, especially if progress isn’t regularly updated. We’d need to make sure that follow-up posts are detailed & showcase direct links/metrics to show that progress is being made on the priorities. Something similar to Laita’s update threads which are easy to follow and concise. Community calls could also dedicate ~5mins or so toward highlighting progress here.

It seems that the SEED team is working along these lines already, so we’re happy to support their work and look forward to reading the deliverables. It could also help to clarify how often these priorities will be revisited in case some metric favored by a community member isn’t chosen for the first cycle.

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Thanks @Curia for proposing this RFC

This is exciting to see taking shape, this kind of community-driven prioritization is exactly what the DAO needs in order to channel our collective energy into the highest-impact areas over the next year. By convening delegates, contributors and service-providers around some clear objectives feels we’ll finally have a north star to guide growth, governance and ecosystem efforts in lock-step.

From the VGC’s perspective, imo VLR’dao’SAI :wink: could help us synchronize our efforts with the broader DAO vision, pure coordinated wins and again through DIP, delegates can rally their voting power and proposals around these shared goals and the GTF can steward the facilitation process to keep us on track. :paw_prints: :leopard:

What if we kick off with a lightweight “daoSAI forum workshop" in late Q3 or early Q4 to co-define these priorities this gives everyone time to prepare and come up with some ideas which also gives our GTF time to propose the framework they working on…

Fully in support and look forward to see this developing further.

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This is a good idea. My 2 cents on it:

Adding to what others have already said, we could draw inspiration from Lido’s approach, with their GOOSE and Hasu’s submission.

The DAO would benefit from having high-context contributors like @Laita proposing/helping to shape the core strategy, laying the foundation for the discussion around what the end proposal would be.

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Thanks for surfacing @Curia

I agree with the spirit of intent and that alignment around goals/objectives is important for any organization to grow.

I believe in the work that @SEEDGov and look forward to seeing the aforementioned structure they are developing.

I agree with @boardroom that the model from Scroll is effective as it sets practical goals and provides regularly green/yellow/red status reports on their progress.

A caution to all of this is that we don’t create “plans for plans” and ensure that whatever goals we set are SMART and focus on creating sustainability and growth for the wider ecosystem.

I would also suggest we, as stakeholders, be willing to adapt and change and be willing to identify and move quickly from what isn’t working and focus on what is. Mike Tyson said it best “everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face”

LFG!