How to DAO

A four-week, better-than-free live online course on the future of co-operation

Apply here

We are on the edge of a revolution in co-operation.

The world isn't short of problems right now– yet neither is it short of solutions. Increasingly, it's understood that the deeper problem we face is coordination failure: our inability to take the collective course of action of greatest benefit to us all.

DAOs (Decentralised Autonomous Organisations) are one of our current best hopes to solve coordination failure. They've been described as:

• "magic internet communities that allow members to coordinate funds and resources" (DAOhaus)
• "blockchain-based multi-stakeholder co-operatives"
• "internet-native entities with no central management which are regulated by a set of automatically enforceable rules on a public blockchain, and whose goal is to take on a life of its own and incentivize people to achieve a shared common mission" (Aragon)

Funded by UberHaus, a federation of DAOs on the DAOhaus platform, and led by crypto-co-operative educator Stephen Reid, How to DAO is a four-week, better-than-free live online course designed to equip you with the knowledge and skills necessary to start and run a successful DAO.

The course will take place on consecutive Wednesdays, 4pm–6pm UK/London time from 22nd September – 13th October:

• Session 1, 22nd September: Introduction to DAOs
• Session 2, 29th September: Introduction to DAOhaus
• Session 3, 6th October: Deeper into DAOhaus
• Session 4, 13th October: The Future of DAOs

Each session will begin with an overview of the key concepts and ideas on the topic, followed by a Q&A with a guest expert.

Who this course is for

• You already belong to an digital-savvy community and want to better coordinate funds and resources
• You belong to a traditional partnership or co-operative and are interested in the benefits of starting a DAO
• You have an idea that involves working with others and dealing with funds, and are seeking a next-generation platform for co-operation

Benefits of DAOs over traditional partnerships and co-operative structures (that you'll learn more about in the course) include: minimal startup costs; full transparency; censorship resistance; and their 'global by default' nature.

Course expectations

You will be sent prep tasks a few days before each session (allow 1 hour), and homework at the end of each session (allow 1 hour). To get the most out of the course you should also set aside at least 2 hours per session to go back through the notes, read some of the links provided and make sure you've understood everything we've covered. So that's a minimum of 6 hours per session for maximum benefit (1 hour prep, 2 hours live, 2 hours revision, 1 hour homework).

Applications and registration

Applications are now open. Successful applicants pay a registration fee of 2 HAUS (the DAOhaus token, currently ~$20). A number of zero fee scholarship places are also available on request.

Participants completing all assignments receive $100 worth of HAUS (currently ~10 HAUS) at the end of the course. Yep, UberHaus is offering to pay for your edDAOcation!

If you don't currently own any HAUS, no worries, full instructions on how to acquire and transfer HAUS will be provided upon acceptance.

Your lead facilitator

Stephen Reid (@daoist321) is a teacher and technologist who has trained in the fields of complexity science, physics, software development, meditation and psychotherapy. He is currently teacher of the Tools for the Regenerative Renaissance, The Promise of Decentralisation and Introduction to Crypto & DeFi courses, a delegate to the DAOhaus UberHaus DAO and one of the UberHaus UberPaladins, and a member of the not-for-profit worker co-operative Dandelion Collective. Stephen has an MPhys in Physics from the University of Oxford, where he specialised in quantum field theory, and an MRes in Complexity Sciences from the University of Bristol.

Outline syllabus

Session 1: Introduction to DAOs

• Ownership and decision making in the legacy legal system
• Blockchain 101
• What is a DAO?
• What problems do DAOs solve?
• A brief history of DAOs
• An overview of the DAO space

Session 2: Introduction to DAOhaus

• Shares and loot
• Ragequitting
• Basic proposal types
• Stages of a proposal
• Key supporting software
• DAOhaus Apps

Session 3: Deeper into DAOhaus

• Advanced proposal types
• More apps
• Recognising contributions
• Federated DAOs including UberHaus and Panvala
• More supporting software

Session 4: The Future of DAOs

• Upcoming DAOhaus apps
• Upcoming releases
  • Moloch v3
  • Aragon Govern
  • Colony
• The human element
• DAOs as legal entities