Back of the napkin math says that pDAO revenue, at RPL’s current price of ~$20, is roughly $650k per quarter. Because pDAO funds have been accumulating and not spent, a back-of-the-napkin estimate is that pDAO funds currently total at around $4.5M.
Rocket Pool competitors have been running similar ad campaigns for multiple quarters, suggesting a baseline ROI that is viable for pooled staking protocols. One may reasonably expect campaigns like these to play a more significant role as the merge approaches and is executed, driving interest in staking through increased yields and the need for capital re-allocation.
While there are currently no formal mechanisms, e.g. snapshot voting, to dictate the use of pDAO funds, this proposal suggests considering informal methods that poll Rocket Pool stakeholders, in conjunction with executive decision making by the team, to put pDAO funds to work by funding Bankless sponsorship(s).
I think there’s some research needed first to have conviction about the best way to spend pDAO funds before we start spending big $$ like this. For example, is the ROI higher on LM incentives or more pure-play marketing sponsorships like Bankless? Which is stickier? Thankfully we have some measurable data from the Tetra incentives.
I’d like to see us take a data driven approach and experiment with different forms of marketing on a small scale first, so we have a clear perspective on what drives the most value. Then, when we’re ready to really get rolling on marketing spend we can have a strongly held perspective on how to spend it.
Edit: I’ve changed my POV on this. We need marketing. We have pDAO funds that need to get used. Merge event is a unique time to invest in awareness. Bankless is best-in-class. It’s a no brainer.
i’d like to remind that Bankless is a rocketpool oDAO member
they’ll get over 6000 RPL a year if i recall correctly.
maybe a PAY one Get TWO or some sort of huge discount could be done…
…or Just kick them out and use that fund to sponsor them or do some other things like to integrate in ledger live
Bankless is the PREMIER provider of content for Ethereum information and onboarding new users. Please don’t underestimate their reach or diminish their value. Obviously, all of their content isn’t a perfect fit for every user, but they produce so much quality content that everyone can certainly find benefit.
Bankless openly promotes ad-supported content. This is the model they’ve chosen and I totally support it. Anyone who works 26 hours a day producing this content DESERVES to have their bags filled. It’s true that I don’t agree with all of their advertisers, but I have zero problem with Bankless being an ad supported service.
Bankless IS a member of the ODAO (so am I), the role of the ODAO is to run nodes that execute a reliable service for Rocket Pool. It does pay well and it’s a good way to appreciate those who have worked to hard to support the network and get the beacon chain and Rocket Pool to where it is, but it’s not payment for other services. Imo it’s not acceptable to say to an ODAO member, “As an ODAO member, we also expect you to do X, Y, and Z.” those terms were never offered or agreed to. The role of ODAO members is to be upstanding members of the Ethereum community and ensure that the ODAO nodes are being operated efficiently. If RP wants to enter a separate agreement with Bankless for promotional content, I think it’s a great idea.
tl;dr: Rocket Pool has fallen behind in the marketing game, Bankless is an excellent opportunity to strengthen that weakness, let’s not miss another cycle by throwing this opportunity away.
Agreed, I believe with the current macro-economic conditions, most projects associated with Altcoins would be avoided by the general market, and Bankless represents a good value platform to get in front of an Ethereum-friendly community. Before we went on mainnet, we avoided marketing because we wanted a solid product. Now it’s there, we need to get out there or the staking market will get further monopolised.
We need this ad imo we are about to enter the merge. There will never be another time where marketing has more utility for our protocol ever again. 150k is alot but compared to the accrued pdao funds it is minuscule. Bankless is also growing very rapidly and the eth space is about to explode with buzz in close proximity to the merge and so its important to understand that the ads will stay on the videos for ever and many newer people when bankless gets larger will be looking at videos around this critical time in eths history so the positive effects will continue for a long time.
Bankless is the best in class platform for us. It’s a targeted audience that is competent and willing to act on the information.
Gaining mindshare right around The Merge is perfect timing. Having the ad run right through The Merge will direct people to Rocketpool when they are most interested. The Merge will mobilize people, for example those who waited because “merge risk”. Listener numbers will skyrocket at that time as mainstream media leaks towards Ethereum ecosystem. Bankless will capture a lot of those.
Current Bankless reach for reference: 2.2m aggregate monthly views for YouTube/Podcast episodes. The newsletter seems to be another (distinct?) option and is at over 200k readers.
Agree with those saying the merge timing creates a special opportunity here. Though it would be nice to wait until the pDAO is properly set up (no idea where that’s at), I would support this initiative. Quote from David Hoffman on pricing (not set in stone yet):
"There’s two options for podcast ad slot. Numbers here aren’t final but its either 36k or 72k / mo.
IMO it’s not acceptable for the lack of formal pDAO voting to block any spending if it’s a popular proposal. We need to find a way to work around that and not handicap ourselves. If we’re really blocked by not having Snapshot we can just do a community poll like the one Langers did for rETH buyback.
If i read it correct in discord that bankless would not have ad slots for lido and rp at the same time. That makes it a no brainer for me.
RP is a great protocol but that alone will not guarantee success. With the merge most likely happening in august/september now would be a great time to do a marketing campaign with bankless for the next 4-6 months.
It’s clear that great product does not by default lead to large market share. It’s time to make a push. In favor of ad spending on bankless and elsewhere.
In addition to the expense being worth it, another intangible benefit to doing this is measurability. We have run the experiment on LM incentives and have data to measure the impact, stickiness, etc.
We do not have data on marketing efforts and the impact/ROI of that. How do we compare the ROI for LM vs. marketing? Currently we can’t.
Having this is valuable and will let us make more intelligent spending decisions in the future.
I am in favor of a Bankless sponsorship. There is no better crypto/staking advertising platform and when considering the merge is right around the corner, there is no better opportunity. We have dedicated funds that can be deployed. Let’s use them for both rocket pool and the health of Ethereum.
It’s time to take the gloves off and make a significant marketing push. The protocol has had over 6 months to become “battle-tested” according to the EF and grow it’s TVL to a respectable number.
With the merge coming into clear focus over the next quarter, Lido’s position of dominance is becoming acutely problematic. We owe it to the entire Ethereum community/ecosystem to drive attention to RP to offset the risks posed by a single dominant liquid staking provider.
I am in favour of this proposal. I will also note that the merge will only happen once, and it is very likely that the winners of the winner-take-most market we expect will be decided within a year of the merge. The final exam begins now.
I am not a fan of Bankless since they promoted Polygon PoS (Matic) by putting it on the same level as a rollup and minimizing the risks of centralization of this chain (hidden multisig)
I’m also in favor of this proposal. I would prefer a more strategic approach to marketing (develop a full budget, strategy, overall objectives, target audience, etc) but I don’t see a clear near term path to get there given RP’s current resourcing. This fills an immediate need (awareness) without a lot of additional overhead, and provides data on which to base future marketing decisions.
I strongly support this initiative (although my concerns regarding the quality of the website and other brand materials remain). Rocketpool needs far more community engagement and advertising and securing a Bankless spot is a great step in the right direction.
As Marceau has said, with the incoming NO whales, our constraint will be deposit pool depositors, and this feels like one of the most immediate ways to drive some volume.