At Hats, we see that DAOs are changing the world.
We are impassioned by the possibility of a vibrant future, one that is fairer for everyone and resistant to capture by bad actors. One where our shared technological infrastructure lifts us up instead of extracting our data, money, and attention.
We envision a future where coordinating is less costly than competing; where we are able to work together effectively to address the complex issues of our time; and where everyone is able to contribute to their fullest ability while sharing in the governance over and upside of collective endeavors.
We believe that DAOs can get things done at scale without resorting to the hierarchical power structures of traditional organizations.
We know we can work together to usher in a new paradigm of human coordination.
We are DAO operators and builders. We participate in DAOs, design mechanisms, write code, and communicate in a DAO-native way. Hats was born out of and continues to be informed by our own experiences in DAOs.
We are dreamers. We seek to help humanity transition to the post-scarcity economy that facilitates a safe, fair, and healthy world for all.
We know the power of collective action and collective intelligence. Coordination is integral to who we are as humans, and advancing coordination is imperative to our progress as a species.
We uphold that DAOs are the most capture-resistant form of governance to-date, and we are inspired to build new tools and mechanisms that advance this form of sovereignty.
We believe that sovereignty and autonomy are foundational to the future we want to live in. We see this as a precondition to self-actualization, fulfillment, and thriving for individuals, and also as a prerequisite for a sustainable collective.
We believe in a future that is fun. We live into joy and play in all aspects of our life, including our work. This informs how we relate, how we design, and how we show up.
We uphold the following values and principles in our work:
Positive-Sum Coordination — Hats will thrive if the DAO ecosystem thrives, and we commit to an ethos of coordination in all that we do. We believe in the power of composability, in building on one another’s gifts and accentuating collaboration over competition. We make tradeoffs in favor of openness because we see that the sum is greater than the parts.
Attribution — We commit to transparently tracking the contributions that people make to the protocol, and recognizing the value of those contributions.
Inclusion — We recognize the potential of every person to contribute, and seek to advance a paradigm where individual capabilities can be expressed fully in service of collective goals. We see web3 and the DAO movement as an opportunity to reorganize the economy so that everyone is included. In our own nascent organization, we are committed as a first step to actively recruiting non-male contributors, and ensure that all contributors are respected and heard.
Practicing What We Preach — We will be dogfooding Hats Protocol to catalyze our ability to operate as a DAO as early as possible. Our intention is to progressively distribute power as quickly as it is safe to do so.
Living into First Principles — We acknowledge that we’re on the frontier, that there won’t always be examples, and we’re not afraid to come to our own conclusions.