Q&A The Gazette Asked The Cartan Group's Brian Tang 10 Questions About AIP-183 And His Company

The ApeCoin DAO is currently voting on an Ape Improvement Proposal that will have a lasting impact on the DAO regardless of the outcome.

The $Ape community is voting on AIP-183 titled “Cartan’s Proven Track Record & Continued Commitment to Advancing the ApeCoin Ecosystem” by the Cartan Group’s Brian Tang.

In the proposal, the Cartan Group asks the community to extend the company’s contract with the DAO for 12 months and increase the DAO’s monthly allocation to the Cartan Group from $150,000 to $250,000 +20,000 $Ape.

At the time of this article’s publication, this AIP is underwater with the ApeCoin community with 65.28% of voters casting their $Ape against the proposal.

As the community debates whether to approve AIP-183, the Bored Ape Gazette reached out to Tang to find out more about his proposal, what the Cartan Group does, what happens if AIP-183 is rejected, among other things. Check out the full interview below:

1: How did you and the Cartan Group first get involved with the DAO?

"We started Cartan in 2019 and began seeing the transition to a multi-DAO web3 world through properly structured legal vehicles. We’ve been very active in this industry in an administration and operations roles since then, and connected with the launch contributors to be the first trusted administrator for this new DAO."

2: What has been the best part of your job as the DAO’s administrators?

"The best experience has been connecting with the community and seeing proposals as they transform from high level ideas to accepted AIPs by the community."

3: What has been the most difficult part of your job?

"As with any new innovative structure, new unknown unknowns appear on a regular basis. It has been difficult attempting to balance navigating those complex issues while moving proposals through the AIP process in a timely manner as well as attempting to communicate, to the extent possible, to the community on them while they happen."

4: What’s something that the community should know about the Cartan Group and its role at the DAO? Why Does the DAO need an Administrator?

"It is imperative that our role as administrator remains unbiased and independent. Community members submit AIPs, engage and provide feedback, and vote on Live AIPs. I posted this as a comment on our AIP to the community but I believe it is important to reiterate here:

Cartan does not make recommendations or suggestions whether an AIP is good or bad Cartan does not vote to approve an AIP for vote or return for reconstruction/clarification. Cartan does not participate in voting on Snapshot While over time the DAO is intended to decentralise, it currently needs a trusted and professional administrator to operate the Foundation. This includes paying for bills, such as for Discourse and legal counsel, moving AIPs through the governance process, communicating with the Special Council, executing grant agreements and sending grant payments, all while complying and managing the complex regulatory environment in which we operate."

5: What something you wish you could change or improve at the DAO?

"While I understand there are many things that can be done better or faster, the DAO is only 8 months old. There have been bumps but I personally wouldn’t change where we are. I’ve put forward AIPs to make small incremental changes that to the AIP process, and I believe that is how it should be. Over time, these incremental changes first allows us to pivot if they are not working, but if they are, would continue to compound exponentially to put this DAO even further ahead than all of the other DAOs."

6: What happens if this AIP is passed?

"If this AIP is passed, Cartan would continue performing the expanded operations to administer the DAO, continue suggesting incremental changes to the process for community vote, and add resources to operate the DAO. We started with an initial scope and quickly evolved to the current expanded scope. We understand the operational requirements and risk considerations, and based on our experience and growth path, have insight into the resources we’ll need to add in the next year as well."

7: What happens if this AIP fails?

"Our term ends Dec 31 and we will work with the new Council to ensure a smooth transition of the operational responsibilities to next team."

8: What are your thoughts on the future of the DAO? where do you see the DAO and the Cartan Group in a year from now?

We hope to continue seeing more ideas being proposed by community members, more applications and integrations of ApeCoin (such as recently with FlexHQ https://twitter.com/apecoin/status/1603890022545256448?s=20&t=xKZwxkQaeONJEMaJxdnf0w), and more approved AIPs so the Foundation can fund more community projects and teams.

9: In a sentence or two why should the $Ape community renew the Cartan Group’s contract and enhance its scope?

I’d first like to clarify that the enhanced scope is what we have been performing for the past 8 months and our AIP is making a proposed cost adjustment 8 months later. I’ve attempted to address this in Question 10. We put everything we had in our AIP to outline what was expected of us versus what we have done and accomplished so far. I stand by our AIP and would not change any of it. I can’t boil down the breadth of what we’ve taken on in a sentence or two and would urge those interested to read the full AIP to fully understand our role and responsibilities.

10: Do you have anything else you’d like to add or say?

Our company Cartan Group is a business just like any other business. We have a team of 25 people, have office space, and a proper trade and business license. As we move forward, we have to ensure our team is sustainable and our business is profitable at the same time.

While we were approved for the initial scope and fees, I want to reiterate that the expanded scope of operations that we list in our AIP is what we currently do and have been doing since almost day 1. We have not asked for any cost adjustment for the past 8 months, and agreed to a 3-month extension in AIP-113 to help draft an election framework for the DAO.

The current legal structure of the Foundation as a Cayman Islands foundation company was put in place by the top legal minds in the world to account for regulatory, tax, and limited liability purposes. Our role as administrator, as well as our registered roles for the company, while being in the Cayman Islands has been crucial to strengthen the purposes listed above. Internally at Cartan, we prioritise the onboarding experience of new team members. We want to ensure they have the resources and tools they need to perform their roles as well as understand the roles of other team members so they have a comprehensive view of the company. Our role as the administrator includes onboarding new community members. We put together Office Hours, have had one-on-one conversations with individual community members, and participated in a number of Twitter Spaces. Cartan would also be onboarding the new Council members, including setting up communication channels, ensuring indemnity agreements are in place to protect Council members, summarising the key operational and regulatory elements to date, and being the go-to contact for any questions regarding the Foundation and regulatory environment.

The Bored Ape Gazette sent Tang some follow up questions regarding his next steps if the DAO rejects AIP-183 and is waiting for a response. Further the Gazette is working to bring you continued coverage of AIP-183 and is working to speak with several notable DAO contributors about this proposal. Stay tuned for updates!