Unchained Can Maker’s Rune Christensen Fix the Sad State of DAO Governance? - Ep. 534
Aug 22, 2023
Rune Christensen, cofounder of MakerDAO and a key player in decentralized finance, shares his journey from disillusionment with DAOs to leading innovative reforms. He discusses the ambitious 'Endgame Plan,' which aims to tackle voter apathy through alignment engineering, gamification, and incentives. Christensen also highlights the significance of governance boundaries and the strategic rebranding of MakerDAO with new tokens while maintaining core ones. He believes these changes could revolutionize the industry and create a stable future for DAOs.
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Disillusionment with DAOs
- Rune Christensen felt disillusioned with DAOs and DeFi during the bull run, questioning MakerDAO's survival.
- He saw a lack of collaboration and incentives, with proposals primarily benefiting individuals, not the DAO.
DAOs' Naive Ideal
- Rune Christensen realized DAOs' naive ideal of harmonious decision-making breaks down as they grow, creating coordination problems.
- This manifests as difficulty managing expenses and a disconnect between individual actions and DAO-level impact.
Alignment Engineering for DAOs
- Christensen proposes "alignment engineering" to create constructive participation in DAOs as they scale.
- This involves well-designed tools, gamification, incentives, and governance boundaries to ensure alignment.
