After reading the 18-Month Objectives, I’ve drawn some conclusions. I won’t elaborate on them all, but I want to post a brief reflection on a point mentioned in the document:
Revenue from New Streams: Achieve a certain % of operational budget funded by new monetization streams. For example, if the Executive Branch’s annual operational budget is 100, ensure at least 20 comes from revenue (not from the existing treasury).
I think the search for new revenue channels should be given more weight in the roadmap. Aiming for only 20% of the operating budget is assuming that Decentraland will remain unsustainable, since even if revenue is increased by 20% consecutively every year and a half, the treasury will likely be depleted sooner.
The 20% would make sense if we expect that, starting in 18 months, along with increased user retention, it will allow us to implement new revenue channels again, causing this percentage to increase each time until we no longer have to rely on the vesting contract. However, this hypothetical scenario would be overly optimistic and leaves aside the possibility that the established KPIs may not be met.
This KPI is far from sufficient. For DCL to sustain itself, it must focus on achieving at least 80% of operating expenses over the next 18 months. This would allow it to surpass 100% before the vesting contract ends or the MANA price drops enough to make it unable to cover costs. Otherwise, the platform will be doomed to failure.
I think determining 20% as sufficient is a mistake. I understand that the Council is looking for realistic KPIs, and 80% may seem too ambitious for the platform’s current situation, but I feel the need to tell you that achieving 80% of the operating budget is perfectly possible by looking for alternatives beyond increasing the user base. Even without users, DCL is a recognized platform in the industry and has great potential that has not been exploited.
Thanks for reading and providing feedback on the strategic plan. This is exactly the kind of input we need to refine it and move forward with execution. I’d also love to hear your thoughts on any of the other objectives. Feel free to post on the forum or reach out directly.
I want to make sure this measure of success is clear. Right now, the DAO has only one source of revenue: marketplace activity. That number is currently very low due to the overall level of activity on the platform. One of the goals of this strategic theme is to finally implement a Treasury Management strategy that can generate an additional source of revenue—one not directly tied to platform activity—such as yield on assets held.
This measure of success refers to having at least a percentage of the Executive Arm’s operational budget covered by this new source of revenue. And just to clarify, by “operational budget,” I mean costs related to running operations (excluding anything that is redistributed to the community via rewards, grants, content, or other directly community-benefiting initiatives).
In other words, it’s not about spending 20% of the operational budget to find new revenue sources but rather about ensuring that at least 20% of our operational costs are funded by these new sources. Yield would likely be the fastest way to generate some income, but the long-term goal is also to develop new revenue streams, whether they’re tied to platform activity or forged through strategic partnerships. That will take more time, but these are the kinds of initiatives that can make us more resilient and sustainable over the long term.
Hope this helps clarify things, let me know what you think.