10 DAO ideas to build on the new Aragon App
The new Aragon App is the simple, fast way to launch your DAO onchain.
The new Aragon App is the simple, fast way to launch your DAO onchain. While the possibilities of the types of DAOs you can build are limitless, let’s explore 10 ideas for DAOs you can build on the new Aragon App today!
1. Governance of an onchain game
Examples: Aavegotchi, Decentraland
Web3 gaming is an exciting application of blockchain technology. Gamers can own in-game assets and port them to other games, without relying on a centralized party to do so for them. You could use the Aragon App to build governance of an onchain game so token holders can make decisions over the direction of the game, where funding is distributed, when new tokens are minted or addresses are added, and more.
Imagine a game where the most active players get to decide what the next features of the game are. Or, the active players could be allotted a portion of all the game’s earnings, which they can then use for public outreach, development of more game features, event planning, merchandise, NFT drops, or more. When you have an active and engaged community, the possibilities are truly endless!
2. Lens or Mirror community
Example: Folklore
Lens is a social graph for web3. Lens is the underlying protocol, but anyone can build dApps on top for the end user to interact with. Think of it like a social network that you can take with you seamlessly to other apps.
To interact with the protocol you need a Polygon wallet address. So, as a DAO builder, you could retroactively airdrop tokens to all the wallets that follow a certain account, or that have interacted with your account a certain number of times. For example, say you run a Lens account that is focused on covering political news stories in New York City. This would mean that the followers of the account are probably living in New York, interested in politics, or some combination of both. So, you could airdrop a token to these addresses to create a DAO to work on a political issue, like volunteering for a reelection campaign or participating in a march or protest that is meaningful to the DAO members.
You could also take this method for Mirror communities, or people who mint the same Mirror NFT. As long as there is a shared interest and maybe a shared treasury, DAO technology can help Lens and Mirror communities come together to achieve shared goals!
3. Music fan club
Examples: Water and Music
The advent of music NFTs makes it possible for musicians to sell music directly to their fans. It also makes it possible to track the most dedicated fans and reward them with tokens in a DAO!
In a music fan club, DAO members could participate in decisions such as merch and album cover designs, tour locations, and fan meetups. They could manage a shared treasury from selling onchain assets like songs, zines, and images minted as NFTs. They could even use the treasury to create fan meetups and events. Think of a music fan club DAO as a fan group that manages itself!
Rather than the fan club relying on centralized platforms or trying to manage a bank account with hundreds of members, they could simply use a DAO to manage their funds and operations.
4. Sports DAO
Examples: Krause House, LinksDAO, WAGMI United
Similar to music fan club DAOs, sports DAOs are ways for people to come together to organize events, manage and purchase memorabilia, and connect over their shared interest.
A sports DAO built on the Aragon App could come in many iterations. It could be:
- A group that decides to buy a sports venue, like LinksDAO buying a golf course.
- A group that is passionate about a team or sport, like KrauseHouse with basketball.
- A group that wants to run and manage a team, like WAGMI United with football/American soccer.
The sports DAO could use the Aragon App to manage their treasury of resources to achieve shared goals, like buying a golf course. Or, the DAO could operate more like the music fan club described above, with fans using a treasury they earned through selling merch or running events.
5. Investment DAO
Examples: Flamingo, Pleasr DAO, the LAO
One of the simplest forms of a DAO is an investment DAO: one that manages assets with the goal of making a return.
An investment DAO could create a multisig DAO on the Aragon App to manage their investments. When a new action is created, such as to withdraw or purchase an asset, DAO members vote to approve or deny the action.
Being a multisig DAO helps the DAO stay lean and agile, because as soon as the minimum threshold of wallets approves the action, it passes and executes immediately rather than waiting for a time duration to complete.
As your investment DAO grows, you can always add or remove multisig members with a vote. This keeps your investment DAO adaptable and fluid!
6. Protocol governance DAO
Even though the Aragon App is well-suited for a small multisig investment DAO, it’s also a good fit for large token DAOs like protocol governance.
The App could be used for governance of a protocol or product. Mint a token and distribute it to wallets that have interacted with your protocol in some way, like Optimism’s retroactive airdrop, or distribute the tokens more slowly over time through votes.
You can mint more tokens or distribute existing tokens to new wallets with a vote, so DAO members are in the clear on what is going on in your organization!
7. Consulting or service DAO
Examples: IndieDAO, Bankless Consulting
DAOs aren’t necessarily massive organizations with thousands of people. Small, tight-knit DAOs are arguably more effective! A small consulting or service DAO could use the Aragon App to manage a shared treasury of crypto assets. You could use the DAO to pay members for their work and vote on new projects or clients for the DAO to take on.
You could use wallet voting rather than token voting so you can keep decisions simple and fast. Wallet voting also means you can more closely manage your membership, because the DAO needs to vote on adding new wallet addresses.
8. Fundraising DAO for a local project or special interest
Examples: Choice DAO, Constitution DAO
DAOs can be effective at raising funds for a cause at near lightning speed. Whether it’s for social action, climate change, or a local community project, you can use the Aragon App to build a DAO that makes it easy for contributors to add funds.
Your DAO treasury is managed transparently on the App, so members can see where funds are going. This helps build trust and inspire more members to participate! And when it’s time to distribute those funds, you can issue tokens to members so they can vote on where to direct them.
This is much simpler and more transparent than a traditional charity, because everyone has visibility over where funds are being distributed and when.
9. Media or creator collective DAO
Examples: Bankless DAO, The Rug, Rehash
Think of a DAO that runs a newsletter, podcast, or news site and adds its creators to the authorized wallet list. The creators then get to vote regarding where the funds are sent.
Or, for a meritocratic structure, imagine that each creator gets 1 token for each article or podcast they publish. As they publish more, they get more tokens, and their voting power increases. The creator could always opt out by selling the tokens, or they could continue working in the media DAO to build up more token supply and have more say in the direction of the DAO.
You can implement this model in the Aragon App by creating proposals that mint more tokens whenever a cohort of creators needs to receive more. You can put multiple token mints on one proposal, so you wouldn’t need to create a separate proposal for each creator.
10. Social DAO
Examples: Boys Club, Friends with Benefits, BanklessDAO
Social DAOs are often someone’s first experience in DAOs and possibly even in web3. As a new member, confusing UX and opaque messaging is going to deter them from participating. The Aragon App is well-suited for a social DAO because it’s so easy to onboard to! New members can find everything they need in one place on the homepage. They can see the history of proposals and easily find upcoming votes so they know when they need to participate.
With the Aragon App, new members can feel confident when interacting with their DAO and can learn the basics of web3 safely.
Social DAOs don’t need to only be online. They can be in-person, too! Take inspiration from this DAO created on Aragon that is focused on creating a shared space for doing wood and automotive work.
Get started on the Aragon App!
Start working toward your vision today on the Aragon App! You can launch your DAO in less than 5 minutes. Check out a demo of it here!