Thanks @AvsA for your continued work on this !
Posting here for public visibility based on some things I bought up in Metagov.
I think that it would be extremely useful for there to be clarity on what kind of applicants the DAO would like to see. I think insight from regular working group call participants as well as those with voting power would be helpful.
This information would also be useful in helping delegates make a decision on budget. If there are many obvious things that ‘ENS’ would like to see developed over the coming years then ‘statements of intent’ from potential applicants in response to a list of ‘things we’d like to see’ would likely aid in making that decision.
@Esk3nder.eth provided some insight from the ENS Labs end that was extremely useful. I will allow him to clarify as I don’t wan’t to misquote him but my understanding was that Labs would like to focus on protocol level engineering, and would like to see service provision in vertically integrated areas (DeFi, AI etc).
Delegate bandwidth
One thing that has become apparent over the past months is that delegates have limited bandwidth to engage in complex technical discussions en-masse from potential applicants.
@brennan_agora mentioned that in the context of the ‘Proposal Bond’ put forward by Agora last year it was often the case that after-the-fact, once delegates fully understood what the proposal constituted, they were supportive. At a high level, we need to find away to help delegates engage with the process. We need to find ways of optimising and respecting delegates time.
The above proposal from @AvsA mentions video applications - I think this is a great starting point.
In addition to this I think there is value in offering ‘office hours’ in which applicants can have 15 minutes to discuss, and answer questions pertaining to their proposal.
Whilst there is obviously truth to the argument that applicants need to be able to succinctly and clearly present their ideas, I do also believe that their is value in the DAO financially supporting some sort of ‘Technical liaison to the DAO’ who can aid non-technical delegates in understanding the value/merits of a proposal. Even if that is a part time role specifically over the Service Provider period.