We support initiatives that onboard delegates, introduce governance improvements, and uphold agreed-upon governance procedures.
What we want to see happen in Uniswap governance over the next year
We believe it is critical for the community to prioritize sound governance practices that are responsive to the goals of all stakeholders. As such, three things we want to see happen in Uniswap governance over the next year are:
Increased Delegate Activity: We'd like to see a focus on conversations about delegate engagement, retention, and compensation as we help establish a cultural practice of frequent re-delegation and delegate campaigning.
Reduced Information Asymmetry: Keeping up with the latest in DAO governance is cumbersome for the average tokenholder. Boardroom produces the leading weekly DAO governance newsletter and has contributed to several DAOs, including Uniswap, in the form of helping to reduce information asymmetry by producing easy-to-read Governance updates. As a Uniswap delegate, we would make solving this problem a priority.
Experimentation in Governance: Uniswap should experiment with innovations in decentralized governance, such as flexible voting, the use of working groups and SubDAOs, and governance privacy enhancements.
Reasons we want to be a delegate
From our vantage point in the industry, we see many recurring issues in DAO governance. Some examples include information asymmetry, social dynamics hindering newcomer participation, limited access and support for large tokenholders and delegates, and widespread apathy and low participation among tokenholders. These issues create barriers to effective governance, making it difficult for stakeholders to stay informed, contribute meaningfully, and navigate the decision-making process.
Boardroom is well positioned to kickstart initiatives that can address these challenges by improving information dissemination, fostering community engagement, providing support to stakeholders, and promoting a more participatory governance environment in the Uniswap ecosystem onboarding. As a Uniswap delegate, Boardroom will offer support to contributors who don’t have the connections or the voting power needed to propose new initiatives and contribute to the governance and growth of the Uniswap protocol.
Skills and areas of expertise
Boardroom supports the governance of nearly 350 protocols and DAOs via our platform and has been an active participant in the growth of decentralized governance over the last three years. The team is constantly auditing governance contracts, systems, and processes to power our governance data API and governance client which is trusted and widely used across the industry. Boardroom also maintains close relationships with delegates and contributors in most major DAOs and their feedback has been helpful in analyzing tokenholder preferences and relaying industry best practices across the space.
Past contributions to Uniswap ecosystem and/or demonstrated protocol knowledge
Boardroom has supported Uniswap governance on our platform since its inception, receiving thousands of votes and hundreds of delegations. Last year, we provided a Governance Weekly Recap in the forum highlighting new and active proposals, the most important discussions across forums, linking relevant contextual information such as Twitter threads, and advertising events like the Uniswap Community Calls.
Our views on three past Uniswap governance proposals
UNI 24: Create the Uniswap Foundation. For - Important for establishing the structures that support evolving governance practices and setting standards.
UNI 31: Deploy Uniswap V3 on BNB Chain. Against - Forwarded a proposal with the selection of a service provider elected through a non-standard RFP process that had not been previously discussed by the community.
UNI 37: Uniswap Deployments Accountability Committee. For - Outsourced responsibility to a specific set of elected contributors that help establish a system of checks and balances.
Disclosure of Conflicts of Interest
Boardroom is a venture-funded company with investors that include delegates in other protocols that could become competitive with Uniswap. Boardroom also has integrations (client and platform) and has provided governance facilitation services to stakeholders in the Optimism, ENS, Compound, and Aave ecosystems.
Top Issues
Public goods
We believe that the public goods ethos prevalent in protocols such as Uniswap and Optimism is essential to continuing improvements in governance practices.
Meta governance
Experimenting with new ways to conduct governance, distribute voting power, and organize contributors is key to avoiding stagnation as a DAO.
DAO working groups
Working groups are necessary to distribute responsibility, create scalability, and provide checks and balances; they are a key part of avoiding tradeoffs between decentralization and effectiveness.
