How we evaluate blockchain interoperability and infrastructure for our DAO

Manage a DAO with about $8m in treasury. Part of my role is evaluating grant applications and infrastructure investments that could benefit our ecosystem. Constantly get pitched for funding.

When deciding this is what matters:

Does this solve a real problem? We validate with actual developers and users.

Is the team capable of executing? Check github, previous projects and references, not just technical skills.

What's the total cost? Not just the initial grant but ongoing maintenance, integration costs, potential technical debt.

Recently evaluated a $200k proposal for custom dev tooling and infrastructure. We did deep diligence, talked to 15 developers and reviewed the technical approach. We took a different funding approach. Instead of building everything custom, we partnered with existing solutions like caldera that already solved most of the problem. Cost was a fraction of a custom build and shipped in weeks instead of months. Our developers are happy and we didn't take on maintaining custom infrastructure.

Managing DAO funds means accountability to the community. Can't just yolo into shiny projects. Think sustainability and actual usage. Good solutions already exist.