We’re building a future where communities capture the value created on the internet. The technological insights of web3 uniquely enable this bright version of our future, which manifests at unprecedented speed.
As we discover novel means of composability, we need agile sensemaking networks and high-insight learning opportunities to inform our builds. We conceived of the Accelerator to serve this critical role.
The Accelerator is the entry point to our unmatched network of alumni, collaborators, and contributors. One part laboratory, one part playground, the Accelerator exposes DAO build teams to the top innovators in web3, introducing them to a community of fellow lifelong learners and builders. This 12-week intensive challenges DAOs to move purposefully toward their next milestone.
While our curriculum design has iterated alongside the web3 ecosystem at large, one thing remains constant: gathering builders to communally problem-solve and collectively level-up in real time has lasting impact.
As we step into SC05, we’ve thought meaningfully about how we’ll design this next adventure together.
Collectively Learning
Each Accelerator cohort is an experiment in how we collectively learn while building in a high-velocity environment. After four successful cohorts with over 55 DAO teams, we can confidently say we’re so early…and yet, we’ve surfaced significant learnings.
From the very beginning, we knew that we didn’t want to design passive iterations for each cohort. Instead, we wanted to create Accelerator experiences that consistently challenge our previous assumptions – ensuring that each cohort is served by the learnings of previous cohorts.
Which is why we’re making significant changes for SC05. The Accelerator is built for builders, so it’s imperative that we hear from them and actively design for their needs. We go into greater detail about the specific changes below, but our principle takeaways are that builders want:
- More interactive workshops with tactical outcomes, not just fireside chats and presentations.
- Robust accountability from Wayfinders and the Seed Club team.
- Intentional space for community cultivation and opportunities for inter-cohort collaboration.
Builders Want More Time
While Demo Day is the end of the Accelerator experience at Seed Club, it also marks an important milestone for DAO teams: the beginning of the real work of launching their community token.
Builders need active, continued support from the Seed Club network during the critical time of preparing for launch. Yet we found that working with builders can become fragmented beyond the Accelerator, as their focus rightfully shifts back to their community. Without the dedicated touchpoints of the Accelerator, our team’s ability to support a DAO’s progress significantly diminishes.
For SC05, we’re extending the Accelerator from eight to 12 weeks. This provides builders with more “playground” time to integrate Accelerator learnings, and creates additional opportunities for builders to leverage the greater Seed Club network of alumni, collaborators, and contributors.
The 12 weeks kick off with an initial six-week learning intensive, after which we provide two dedicated “Build Weeks.” During the Build Weeks, teams have the opportunity to integrate learning into their communities while maintaining a tight feedback loop with the Seed Club network, and in particular their dedicated Wayfinders and Collaborators.
We then run two additional weeks of deep dives on governance, operations-security, and treasury and financial management. We close out the final two weeks with dedicated prep time for Demo Day.
Builders Want to Build
There are endless opportunities for builders to consume web3 related content. While the Accelerator serves as a trusted container for curated insights, builders requested more interactive workshops with tactical outcomes. We’ve revamped our programming to include dedicated workshop containers, and are working with our collaborator network to ensure that workshops provide builders with actionable tools.
It’s also important that builders have time to actually build, and aren’t forced to spend all their time in digital classrooms. We pared down our weekly programming to three weekdays, and updated the modules to include one extended fireside chat and one workshop per topic.
Fireside chats feature conversations with Seed Club alumni, collaborators, and contributors, and set the context on a specific topic. Presenters are leading innovators covering these thematic areas:
- Value Models & Community Market Fit
- Leadership & Vision in web3
- Token Models & Design
- Legal & Fundraising
- Brand & Media
Builders Want Community
A third key learning is that builders want intentional time for community and collaboration. We’ve seen spontaneous collaborations emerge within previous cohorts, and have been delighted to see these relationships persist well beyond the Accelerator. The relationships with fellow cohort participants is one of the most valuable assets builders take from the Accelerator.
For SC05, we’re integrating a dedicated weekly container for community programming. This space is designed for relationships to develop between cohort members and with collaborators. Community programming will include opportunities for co-working, feedback sessions, and more.
Additionally, we’re strategically repositioning how and when we integrate our collaborator network. Collaborators are eager to support the cohort, and we’ve found that builders need more context before feeling ready to fully leverage our network of experienced collaborators. This context typically arrives after builders have had a chance to digest learnings from earlier in the Accelerator.
To that end, the SC05 cohort will engage collaborators later on in the Accelerator. This gives teams ample time to make the most of each collaborator's specific expertise, including granular support on legal and governance.
Interval Training for Enduring Community-Owned Networks
The SC05 schedule varies in cadence to allow DAO teams to learn, reflect and build, and seek feedback as they prepare for launch – all within the container of 12 intense but incredible weeks. We’re calling this cadence interval training.
The interval training cadence replicates patterns that emerged from previous cohorts: upon leaving the eight weeks of the Accelerator, teams would often return with deeper questions as they prepared to launch their community tokens.
We hope that this new structure will allow more DAO teams to successfully launch a token on Demo Day, and have a strong foundation to continue building with their community. Our vision is for DAO teams to remain engaged with the Seed Club network well beyond the Accelerator as they graduate into Cultivation – where the work of building enduring community-owned networks continues on.