A 'Thank You' to Our Merge Series Host Anthony Sassano (Sassal)

Proposals Events
1

Abstract

This is a proposal to discuss gifting Anthony Sassano, a.k.a Sassal (Twitter) SSV tokens and merch as a ‘thank you’ for hosting 9 episodes of “The Merge” Twitter Space series in the last 2.5 months.

Note: This is not a compensation request by Sassal. In fact, he is not aware of this proposal at all.

Proposal

Sassal has been a strong supporter of SSV and its organic growth initiative: 9-episodes of The Merge Twitter Space series. Anthony has been a passionate host, initiating intelligent discussions and working alongside the team to discuss strategies around the series.

He was key to the success of the Merge series, attracting the most knowledgeable and influential speakers in the space (none of them was ‘paid to play’). The series gives SSV thought leadership in the Ethereum community and beyond, bringing traction and popularity to the project. Anthony’s contribution is invaluable.

Here are all the Merge episodes Anthony hosted/will host:

Episode 1 - Tim Beiko

Episode 2 - Stani Kulechov

Episode 3 - Ben Edgington

Episode 4 - Sandeep Nailwal

Episode 5 - Vitto Rivabella

Episode 6 - Mudit Gupta

Episode 7 - 0xJim (Upcoming)

Episode 8 - Alon Muroch (Upcoming)

Episode 9 - Rocketpool x Lido (Upcoming)

All Merge series details are also documented here in the SSV’s Notion Docs among other growth events. In our initial discussions with Sassal we only planned to have 8 episodes of the Merge series hosted by Sassal, before adding the 9th episode with Rocketpool and Lido due to the series’s popularity.

Though he did not request any sorts of compensation, and no compensation of any means was promised/discussed when he agreed to be the host, the support and cooperation we received from Sassal made us believe that he deserves a big ‘thank you’ from the SSV community. This will show him the gratitude of the SSV community while giving him more incentives to continue supporting SSV in the future.

Appropriate SSV token amount

  • 1000 SSV
  • 2000 SSV

0 voters

For

  • It will give Anthony a vested interest in SSV’s success
  • It’s a good gesture from the community and makes us look good in the Ethereum community
  • Anthony will have more incentives to continue supporting SSV in the future
  • It will attract future contributors knowing that they will be rewarded

Against

  • Anthony did not ask for compensation, we are just incurring costs upon ourselves
  • There is an opportunity cost not to spend the tokens on other marketing/growth initiatives
  • Yes, support this proposal
  • No, against this proposal
  • Modify the amount

0 voters

2 Likes
2

Absolute support. This is advanced strategy!

3

I think this strategy makes sense at some level, and I like Anthony. But, gifting someone $25k and hoping he shills for us is a losing strategy. Would rather see tokens go towards development teams or actual advertising.

I’d be a supporter at 250 - 500 SSV

As a lawyer, I’d also caution language in these proposals suggesting “future contributors knowing that they will be rewarded”. This proposal is purely altruistic, and nobody should expect future rewards for ambiguous contribution.

1 Like
4

Going to jump in here as I was the one that asked Anthony to join us.

This is a retrospective thank you.

But, gifting someone $25k and hoping he shills for us is a losing strategy.

He has already run 7 episodes for us, out of his own time, garnering some of the biggest names and followings in CT, creating the biggest buzz around SSV since our inception. Aligning us with top names, themes, and the narrative of the Merge overall. This is the best marketing we could ask for.

I would strongly argue that having someone do this entirely for free is a completely winning strategy, not losing. The $ cost to pay influencers to do this type of thing in the wild would be high 6 figures and incredibly difficult. For reference, a 45-second sponsorship shoutout in top podcasts such as Bankless can cost $30k+.

Anthony didn’t ask for a single thing. He did it for the good of Ethereum and to help us on our mission to educate the general public and CT on all things ‘The Merge’.

This proposal is merely a retrospective thank you, that he doesn’t even know about.

Moreover, this proposal does not suggest funding this thank you via a stablecoin, but directly through SSV as a token.

As a lawyer, I’d also caution language in these proposals suggesting “future contributors knowing that they will be rewarded”. This proposal is purely altruistic, and nobody should expect future rewards for ambiguous contribution.

I would also have to disagree with this. A large part of being a DAO, a headless organisation, is working to attract top contributors whom are willing to give their name, time, expertise and skills to better the network and DAO as a whole. They must and should know there are routes to SSV-based compensation at every level (Ambassador, partner, grant partner, dLeaders, retroactive funding, committee working groups etc…) when collaborating with us.

For reference, our entire dLeader team and most working groups have been working for 0 form of remuneration for the last 6 months, the same as Anthony. However as we ramp up the level of output of the DAO, and therefore the accountability of its participants, we have introduced new proposals such as (dLeaders Coordinape Compensation Proposal) in order to make it make sense.

To conclude, currently in the temp check, the winning choice is for 1000 SSV ($11,000 in value at the time of writing). I believe this is a fair thank you that is massively below market rate yet still a way to align Anthony with us in the future. The metrics from this series are ‘insane’ and as an SSV token holder, it will be unlikely that you will ever see such as ROI as this in the future.

4 Likes
5

Hello everyone :slight_smile:

Firstly I just want to say a big thank you for having me on to host all of these Twitter Spaces over the last 2.5 months - it was a lot of fun and I really enjoyed interviewing such interesting people!

I also want to say thank you for voting to gift me these tokens - it is very generous of you all and it means a lot to me! In saying that, I am a big advocate for Ethereum public goods funding (especially core dev funding) so I would like to donate these tokens to the Protocol Guild rather than keep them for myself.

If this is okay with you all, feel free to send the tokens to sassal.eth and then I will donate them to the Protocol Guild.

Cheers!

6 Likes
6

Cheers to a common ideal! :grin:

3 Likes
7

@sassal thank you for all the hard work and amazing episodes!
I’m for your proposal 100%

4 Likes
8

Wow! Just wow! 100% supported! Thanks for being such a great host.

1 Like
9

:vertical_traffic_light: Voting is open, go vote:

A ‘Thank You’ to Our Merge Series Host Anthony Sassano (Sassal)

1 Like
10

Proof of Public Goods :slight_smile:

Thanks again all!

5 Likes