Making Bank: TalentDAO, DeSci and more with Saulthorin - Making Bank: A Black Flag DAO Podcast (formerly Bankless DAO) Recap

Podcast: Making Bank: A Black Flag DAO Podcast (formerly Bankless DAO)

Published: 2022-09-27

Duration: 56 min

Guests: Saul Thorne

Summary

Saul Thorne discusses TalentDAO's involvement in decentralized science (DeSci) through Gitcoin's GR15 funding round, highlighting the challenges in traditional science funding and publication. She explores structural adaptation theory in DAOs and the potential of Lens Protocol for decentralized governance.

What Happened

Saul Thorne, also known as BanklessChick.eth, delves into her work with TalentDAO, a project she initiated to tackle human coordination problems in decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) and science. TalentDAO participated in Gitcoin's GR15 funding round, focusing on decentralized science (DeSci), and emerged as the highest project in matching funds within its category, receiving nearly 500 contributions and over $50,000 in funds.

She explains the concept of quadratic funding used by Gitcoin, which amplifies donations based on the number of contributors rather than the size of individual contributions, allowing broader community support for projects. Thorne emphasizes the significance of building grassroots movements in DeSci and how quadratic funding democratizes financial support for scientific initiatives.

The discussion shifts to the issues plaguing traditional science funding, such as slow processes, inefficient grant systems, and lack of ownership over research outcomes. Thorne critiques the current academic publication model's inefficiencies and centralized nature, which hinder the dissemination and preservation of scientific knowledge.

Thorne highlights the potential of decentralized technologies like Lens Protocol to revolutionize peer review and governance within the scientific community. She envisions embedding governance into social networks, allowing for more community-driven decision-making processes.

The conversation touches on TalentDAO's partnership with Orange Protocol to create a community-reviewed newsletter platform. This initiative aims to foster reliable fact-finding and experimentation using Web3 data, leveraging reputation tokens to encourage pro-social research behaviors.

Thorne shares her personal journey transitioning from traditional consulting roles to becoming a solopreneur in the DAO space. She emphasizes the need for purpose-driven work and the flexibility that decentralized organizations offer, which attracts many workers seeking more meaningful and autonomous careers.

The episode concludes with Thorne's vision for future work environments where individuals can build a personal network stack, working across multiple DAOs, and having control over their professional identity and contributions.

Key Insights