Orion Parrott is a cofounder of Orange DAO and General Partner of Orange Fund. Orange DAO is a collective of founders of Y Combinator-backed companies dedicated to backing the most promising web3 startups. In this episode, Orion discusses the story behind Orange DAO & Orange Fund, the process of managing a DAO, and how Orange DAO helps Web3 founders.

Episode notes

In this episode, Orion discusses the story behind Orange DAO & Orange Fund, the process of managing a DAO, and how Orange DAO helps Web3 founders.

Learn more about Orion and Orange DAO:

• Orion’s Twitter: @OrionParrott
• Orange DAO’s Twitter: @orangedaoxyz
• Apply for Orange DAO funding
• Orange DAO’s Home Page
• Orange DAO Charter

In this episode, we discuss:

• Orion’s Orange Fund Co-General Partners
  • Ben Huh - “who is like the master of memes.“ Cheezeburger, Inc
  • Don Ho - Managing Director at Quant Stamp
• How Orion transitioned into web3
• How Orange Fund and Orange DAO interact with each other
• How Orange DAO was created to experiment with being a DAO
• Building tools to help scale the network
• The Howey Test
• Choosing a traditional LP/GP structure for Orange Fund to ensure they meet SEC regulations
• Tools OrangeDAO has built:
  • LFG: on-chain reputation tool to track deal sourcing. https://lfg.orangedao.xyz
  • Gem: on-chain identity tool for token-gated communities. https://badge.orangedao.xyz
• What value does OrangeDAO create?
  • Access to a strategic network, founders, and investors
  • Office hours
  • Validation
  • Providing flagship customers and users
  • Access to the VC network
• What type of startups does Orange DAO look for?
  • GameFi, guilds, in-game assets, DeFi protocols, DAO tooling
• When evaluating a company, Orange Fund places a lot of emphasis on the team.
  • Has the team had past successes?
  • Are they ready to build together?
• How has Orange Fund’s investment process and decision making changed?
  • Continuously working on investing in companies even before joining YC.
  • Given the “super angel strategy” and the current state of the market, not too much has changed.
• What Orion’s most excited about the future of OrangeDAO
• How to apply for Orange DAO funding

Lessons and key takeaways:

• If you’re creating a venture firm, here is a high level set of questions to answer and steps to take:
  • What size check are you cutting?
  • How often do you expect to give a check?
  • How much are you looking to raise?
  • How many investors will you likely raise from?
  • Once you’ve answered the questions above, speak with a securities attorney to find the legal entity which bests supports your requirements.
• Alternatively, if you’d like to invest in web3 start ups without setting up a VC, you can use crowd funding platforms such as Republic or Angel List to invest.
• Web3 VC investments are typically completed via SAFE or SAFT contracts
• The innovation of Orange Fund is that the 20% carry normally given to GPs is distributed as funds to the Orange DAO treasury instead.
• Orion’s recommended resources for setting up a DAO:
  • Origami
  • CoinBooks
  • Multis
• Recurring lesson: If you’re interested in web3, just get involved and/or start building.
• If you’re a VC fund looking to stand out to founders, two powerful items to provide are:
  • Access. Access to other respected builders & founders
  • Validation. Respected users using your app and validating it’s utility
• Orange DAO found it difficult to communicate vision and hired someone to run sharing the vision full time.
• Orange DAO organized and runs itself in the following manner
  • 3 governance teams - devs, governance, treasury
  • These teams set visions and scope work for people and sub-committees
  • Sub-groups or committees create proposals to complete work. Or just do the work and create a proposal on how this type of role should be rewarded.
• Orange Fund + DAO’s tech stack
  • Airtable: Forms, data
  • Stacker: No code apps
  • Groove: Customer support CRM
  • Finary: Investment discussions
  • Notion: Content
  • LFG: Sourcing
  • Gem: Identity
  • Discord: Communication
  • Camp Social: Community growth
  • Coordinape: Unofficial snapshots
  • Snapshot: Voting
  • Gnosis: Treasury
  • DexBot: Token Swaps
  • Liquifi: Token vesting and payroll

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