ESP: Beyond subsidies | Ethereum Foundation Blog
After switching to Ecosystem Support Program At EF Grants, we talked about how to define ‘support’ more broadly, beyond just grant funding. But what does a more comprehensive definition of support actually mean?
In practice, this means different things for different projects and starts with conversation. ESP is designed to make the wide range of EF resources more accessible to the community, and that starts with making the process accessible to everyone who needs support. We take the time to think critically about everything. inquiry, understand your project and explore how we can help. Of course we can’t fund every project, but we often can. whatThe same goes for recommending additional resources to investigate, such as incubators or other funding sources.
The key to this change in thinking is making processes more flexible and responsive to individual needs. This is a good thing! At the same time, the results of these personalized processes can be difficult to quantify or catalog in the way that traditional grants do. So we thought we’d show rather than tell. We’ve put together some examples of projects (and the amazing people behind them!) that went through ESP’s inquiry process, received different types of support, and made great progress.
archive node
The idea for Archive Node was born as follows. Twitter. The hardware to run an archive node or monthly fees to access archive data via APIs can be prohibitively expensive for small projects with little or no funding. Hunter and Chase, aka DeFi Friends and Mystic Ryujin Each is a long-time Ethereum contributor with a keen understanding of the challenges developers can face in gaining affordable access to the resources they need. So they set out to find a way to provide access to archived node data to developers who need it.
The team needed a place to host their first node, so we provided AWS credits to get them up and running. This will give them a good runway. But as DeFi Dude wrote: Announcement blog post, once the project is more established, the hope is to eventually move towards a more sustainable, decentralized approach of running nodes on hardware rather than a cloud service. Since releasing the project in late June, the team has set up additional nodes with help from community members. and Matthews) founded PieDAO and began accepting access applications, growing a community of developers who could access the data they needed without having to incur significant costs in setting up their own nodes.
Access is currently free, but in the long term the team hopes this will become a community-funded project. Developers who need the service will pay a small fraction of the cost of running the archive node themselves. In the meantime, we’re excited to help provide this valuable resource as the surrounding community grows!
Learn more and apply for access. https://archivenode.io/Or follow Archive Node on Twitter. @archivenode.
Save DAI
SaveDAI Hackathon ProjectBut the team had bigger plans for this. They have continued to build with the long-term goal of making it easy to create self-insured versions of decentralized assets, allowing users to better protect their savings held in decentralized assets. Save DAI Pass DAI through Compound and automatically purchase insurance through the Opyn protocol, creating insured, interest-bearing dollar-pegged ERC20 tokens that can be transferred, bought, sold, and integrated into other protocols. The saveDAI team is building this architecture as a front-end platform, but the contract is open source Anyone can use, adapt, integrate or contribute to the code.
The team’s most pressing concern was ensuring the code was secure and stable to minimize risk to user funds. We were able to connect with technical experts for code reviews, and they used the comprehensive feedback they received to improve their release strategy and continue development with greater confidence. They are preparing for a public alpha release and are looking forward to receiving feedback from early users!
If you want to know more documentationFollow us on Twitter @save_dai Or get involved. Github.
university villa
Joe Wesley is no stranger to Ethereum and technology in general, and is a former NFL player turned motivational speaker. I’m not what people think of as the typical ESP seeker. But the truth is, we love getting to know new people. Joe is exactly the type of builder we want to hear from. He is creative, driven, an avid learner, and inspired by the potential of distributed technologies. He came to us with a plan to build an Ethereum platform that would solve problems he experienced firsthand as a college and professional athlete from a low-income background. Others use it for their benefit. Joe wanted to help athletes build relationships with advertisers that would give them more control over their brands, data, and finances. In Joe’s words, athletes “can monetize their brand and reputation today and tomorrow.”
Joe’s biggest initial hurdle was simply getting to know Ethereum, its community, and its technology. We gave him initial feedback on his idea, and he came back two weeks later with a draft white paper. We knew that his unique perspective, as well as his dedication and passion, could add value to the ecosystem. So we sent him to ETHDenver for a crash course on all things Ethereum. There he lived the Eth life to the fullest: networking, attending lectures, learning the landscape, meeting Bufficorn, and winning the CryptoChicks-sponsored expedition track.
After ETHDenver, Joe not only stayed in touch with the people he contacted at ETHDenver, but also continued to consult with EF members and other experts as he worked to build a prototype that he could share with potential customers and investors. Until now, Joe has been a one-man team, but now he’s looking to scale up Collegiate BILUS (Brand, Image and Likeness US) by hiring a CTO who can help him evolve beyond the testnet.
Contact us or learn more about Collegiate BILUS on Instagram. @collegiatebilus!
Ethereum push notification service
EPNS was just an idea when I first met Harsh Rajat. He saw a need for a push notification feature within Ethereum, both for public service announcements to Ethereum users and for dapp builders looking for new ways to engage their customers. We have seen driven and innovative builders who are deeply committed to the growth and success of Ethereum.
Harsh needed nothing more than encouragement and feedback to flesh out the concept and discuss next steps. He took his idea to HackMoney and Richa Joshi joined his team. Together, they developed the core concepts of EPNS into a multi-layered, ever-evolving architecture through which critical information can be communicated to Ethereum users. dapp builders can target users who want to hear their opinions. Dapp users can choose their level of participation, and can be rewarded for choosing higher levels of participation for their favorite dapps.
Since HackMoney, Richa and Harsh have poured a lot of energy into building EPNS, which they call “the missing piece of web3.” they ReleasedEarly access and alpha dapp; Approved for Gitcoin Kernel Fellowship; And we are currently growing our team and developing a business model that will allow us to build a self-sustaining platform without compromising our commitment to putting the interests of our users first.
Please confirm https://epns.io/ Follow EPNS’ progress on Twitter. @epnsproject.
We love the many builders who are dedicated to finding the best way forward, even if it’s not the simplest or most obvious. Funding is the easiest thing to ask for, but it’s not necessarily the ideal solution. You won’t get the project you need a grant for unless you dig deeper to find the real heart of the project challenge. face.
Just because a project is not funded through an ESP grant does not mean we are not willing and able to provide meaningful, and sometimes material, support. This means we can’t provide as much support as we would like to every team that approaches us! And like grants, those who receive the other types of support we provide can only benefit by taking responsibility for their own success and putting in a lot of hard work.
All of the teams featured in this post are working toward very different goals, but they have one thing in common: With openness and insight, they worked with us to find the best fit between their needs and our capabilities.
We have been fortunate to know all of these outstanding architects and are proud of the hard work they have put in. I can’t wait to see what they do next!
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