Who is the book for, why we wrote it, and how to read it

Web3 is more than the mainstream narrative portrays it to be.

It’s not about building a better portfolio but building a better world. This is why the founders of the web3 world are called “builders,” and this is the goal that motivates them.

Nonetheless, mainstream perception is shaped by mainstream media. This book is, therefore, our attempt to share a different story that remains largely untold and unheard, even though it is already beginning to shape the future.

The origins of this book can be traced to the founding of Ukraine DAO. This organization seemingly appeared out of nowhere and raised $7 million from 3000 people on the internet, thanks to the power of cryptocurrency. The initiative was entirely volunteer-run and used almost every web3 tool available to raise funds for Ukrainians suffering the effects of the Russian invasion.

The speed at which the DAO was formed and the effectiveness of its execution demonstrated a new, practical way of achieving ambitious goals for the benefit of a large number of people. Individuals coming together in cyberspace and around a shared purpose to solve societal-level problems.

We were curious enough to dig deeper into this new model of doing good. We saw the potential of web3-enabled collectives like Ukraine DAO replacing the traditional nonprofit structure to become a norm for solving problems of every order of magnitude.

So, my friend, this book is for you.

You don’t need to be a crypto expert, a crypto advocate, or even crypto-curious.

This book is worth reading if any of the following apply:

• You think crypto is a scam and nothing more. Dive into this book to learn how talented folks are building amazing coordination systems and having a far-reaching, positive impact on the world.

• You have heard of crypto but do not know about the broader web3 landscape. Why are young people engaged, dreamers inspired, technologists, humanists, climate activists, and futurists feeling the buzz? What makes it so attractive for them to build in it? Read on to find out.

• You are interested in what doing good will look like in the future. Learn why nonprofits are not the answer to solving large-scale societal problems and how ImpactDAOs will replace them. The new model provides a brand new efficient way of doing good.

• You’d like to know how DAOs are upending the traditional company. What does the future of work look like? How can you prepare yourself for it? It’s all covered here.

Why we wrote it

Our goal with this book is to provide a reliable snapshot of the current state of DAOs. There are many misconceptions floating around, commonly held and re-iterated in prominent conversations within the web3 community. Unfortunately, this has led to a somewhat blurred narrative around the DAO concept. We wanted to set out the facts on ImpactDAOs, sourced directly from the DAO builders themselves.

To gather the knowledge for the book, we interviewed 30 of these builders. Conversations were held on a 1:1 basis for at least 60 minutes, aiming to receive insights from the Founder and the Contributor’s perspective. We were particularly interested to understand the Contributors’ view, as we believe the Contributor Economy will play a prominent role in humanity’s future.

The selection process that led to choosing 12 final DAOs to include in our study took one month. We prioritized experienced DAOs who had acquired learnings that others could benefit from.

The final list of 12 Impact DAOs spanned three categories - Meta DAOs (enabling DAOs to make a direct impact), Social Impact DAOs (helping the vulnerable), and Climate DAOs (helping the environment). The final group includes some of the foremost examples of “crypto doing good” in the world today.

In addition to conducting intensive research on our target group, we formed an Impact DAO of our own (ImpactDAO Media) to acquire hands-on DAO-building experience. As of the time of writing, this DAO is five months old, and we have learned many first-hand lessons about establishing and growing a DAO. Living the “DAO life” also helped us ask pertinent questions to our interviewees about this process, from seeding to scaling and the challenges therein.

How to read it

Chapter 1 begins the book with a basic overview of the DAO concept, where it comes from, and where it is heading.

Chapter 2 digs deeper into Impact DAOs, a subset of the broader DAOsphere, with the core purpose of bringing about a positive impact on people and the planet.

Chapter 3 covers the 12 Impact DAOs that we studied, how they operate and how they “DAO.”

Chapter 4 provides an overview of the learnings and emerging patterns across the 12 DAOs, based on our conversations with the 30 builders.

Chapter 5 contains a look ahead into the future of work and doing good.

The Appendix has a web3 and DAO glossary that breaks down all common terms in this subculture. It also contains interview transcriptions and links to audio conversations published as podcasts.

I hope you enjoy this book and are as inspired and excited to build the future as we are.

The Team

Impact DAO Media

Today we are launching ImpactDAO’s first NFT on mirror.xyz!

To immediately give utility to it, we’ll be using guild.xyz’s token gating to create a secluded and sacred space for our members that are passionate about Impact DAOs.

Members (MPACTers) that mint our mirror articles will get behind-the-scenes exclusives, community calls, and an all-around intimate and inclusive experience with our DAO w/o all the dedicated contribution/skills to be fully onboarded.

As well as access to token-gated discord channels, we will also be airdropping voting tokens ($MPACT) to MPACTers for JokeDAO contests! We want to know who you think has the most/max impact on the DAOs we have already studied, and we want YOU to decide who we research for our next ImpactDAO study!