DAO or Corporation?

What do we really build? DAOs are promising, but they're not a one-size-fits-all panacea for collaboration.

Author: Anne-Grace Kleczewski.

Version: 18.10.2023.

DAOs emerged as a novel set up for collaborative ventures. As explained in Section 1, this novelty is, however, not yet perfect and shall not be prescribed as a collaborative panacea, despite its obvious appeal.

In the world of organisational structures, consider DAOs as analogous to bricks—a metaphor we delve into in Section 2. A house made entirely of bricks represents the ideal of total organisational decentralisation. However, this is largely aspirational at present. Very few have managed to construct brick citadels that effectively shield organisations from the typical challenges of regulation. Current research indicates that numerous projects striving for decentralised utopia fall short, casting doubts on their transparency and the genuine nature of their decentralised foundations.

Alternatively, we here suggest many could artfully blend bricks with other materials, striking a balance between traditional organisations and the innovative take on decentralisation offered by DAOs. Just as bricks aren't the only material in building, DAOs shouldn't be the sole tool in our organisational arsenal.

But how do we assess whether we are an idealist ready to aim at furthering the brick house project, or should settle for a more accessible goal? To help you identify the answer to that fundamental question, we break it down into sub-questions outlined in Section 3.