To be clear, what I mean by “my own web3 project” is not to be misconstrued with the all too familiar construct of pumping a rug pull token. This is the complete opposite of that as I like to frame this with catchy keywords as an open, zero premine, zero VC backing, fair launched token. Although the original intention behind this is 80% rooted in meme-onomics, the 20% is stemming from an honest desire in building a (for lack of a better word)...something.

The project is named happyhourDAO. It’s sole cringey purpose is to bring a Drink-To-Earn tokenomic model to web3 via its own ERC20 token, $HOUR.

What the hell does this even mean? Let’s break it down…

It’s essentially a rewards system, built on web3 rails, that F&B merchants can leverage to engage with their patrons and build more exposure from a hopeful network effect.

And how can this be accomplished you say?

Now get this (and try not to fall off your chair): Patrons can “clock in” at a certain F&B merchant and earn $HOUR by the amount of time they spend there.

Oh, it gets better!

Degens can now use those $HOUR tokens for in-house utility/benefits at those spots. Think free/discounted drinks or VIP access to special events.

OR…

They can burn $HOUR tokens to get $DRNK, which is the official governance token of the DAO, enabling people to partake in a grassroots fund investing in selective F&B spots.

Get it? Burn $HOUR to get $DRNK.

Ok enough of the bullsh*t. So how did it start and where is it at now?

Motivation

60% - The desire to build a dApp.

30% - The peculiar attempt at extending my colleagues’ tradition of engaging in local happy hours after work.

10% - The sad realization of the pandemic ripping up the F&B industry and forcing many of my favorite bars/restaurants to shutter their doors.

Process

So when designing the overall structure and network for this, I simply thought to myself, what do other web3 projects have that I’ll need to include. So there I went…

A sexy looking whitepaper, done.

A simple, yet flexible logo, done.

Solidity smart contract deployed on Ethereum mainnet, done.

Open-sourced codebase on Github, done.

Full stack dApp with a very web3-ish front end client, done.

Registered domain name of happyhourdao.xyz, done.

Twitter account shitposting on how the F&B industry needs to be tokenized, done.

A blog to record down all the big brain thoughts, done.

A couple of upgrades to demonstrate active dev team, done.

A failed attempt at listing $HOUR on Uniswap, regrettably done.

Launch

And so as I deploy the smart contracts and set everything else up, I thought to myself…what else does a web3 project need?

A banger IRL party!

So I was shamelessly able to persuade a local tea fusion bar, Teapsy, in “joining” the happyhourDAO network. Yes, they’ve become an active PDE (Participating Drinking Establishment) on the network.

Swag? Got ‘em.

People? Forced a couple of close web3 buddies to show up.

Proof of utility? Bought some Ballet custom crypto cards and used them as voucher passes for a BOGO deal during the event.

Real working use case of the happyhourDAO? Check!

Takeaways

I then got tired…

Not because of spending my own funds and time on everything, but realizing that building a community base is 100x harder than building the open-source codebase of your project. I cannot stress this anymore. We all sometimes get wrapped up in the cutting edge tech that's getting shipped out on the daily, but beneath all this still lies the basic fundamental skill of being able to “sell me this pen”. More credit needs to go to a team’s Business Developer or Community Manager. They’re the ones out in the trenches communicating, educating, and persuading people on the WHYs & HOWs. A lot of people would place the value of devs over the BDs, but I've been hit with a newfound appreciation for those having to shake hands and dox themselves everyday.

And I do want to let this whole exercise of putting together the happyhourDAO be a testament to the openness and democracy of web3. This might even sound cliche but all the tools that you need to build a web3 project are truly waiting at your fingertips. The plethora of open-source dev tools are incredible. Ethers.js, WAGMI.sh, Infura, Truffle, WalletConnect, Remix, and etc…

In closing, the idea and proposal of happyhourDAO, in my opinion and from others, is still a unique proposition in formulating a social web3 community around. I don’t plan on taking this to the next level as it is still merely a side project exercise for whimsical laughs, but I do think it’s got some legs to it. And let’s give some credit here, it’s not just a whitepaper and a twitter account, but an actual working application that anyone can use right now. If you’re an F&B merchant looking for ways to get involved with web3, the floor’s all yours!

Lastly, besides all the bells & whistles put together, it sure has been a great way to get people together in creating happy hours.