Web3 Infrastructure Company Upstream Launches ‘Learn and Earn’ DAO Course

Web3 infrastructure company Upstream will soon release My First DAO, an online class to teach students what tools they need to build a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO).

The 24-week course will hold workshops about tokenomics, governance structures and compliance concepts that will help crypto-curious individuals in building autonomous online communities.

My First DAO will use a “learn and earn” model, meaning that it will reward students for participating in the program. To enroll, students must mint a “DAOphin,” a dolphin-themed non-fungible token (NFT) by Process Grey, the artist behind the popular Goblintown collection.

At the end of the 24 weeks, students will be able to burn their DAOphin NFT for a generative art equivalent with rarity traits built in. Students can increase their chances of getting an NFT with rarer traits by participating in the classes.

Alex Taub, co-founder of Upstream, told CoinDesk that many Web3 builders don’t have the proper educational materials to learn how to build a successful DAO.

“There are a lot of concepts around starting online communities that people don't understand, such as tokenomics, governance and voting,” said Taub. “That's also one of the reasons why it's harder on adoption … I think putting together an amazing course about how to do it and why to do it will just unlock so many people's brains.”

The DAOphin open-edition mint is open from now until May 29, and each NFT is available for 0.015 ETH, or about $30. The course begins on June 1 and concludes in December with a wrap party at Miami’s Art Basel.

At last year’s Art Basel, Upstream hosted its first DAO-A-THON, a shark-tank-style competition for DAO builders to pitch their early Web3 community ideas and earn funding to execute those visions.

At the end of this year’s program, students will be able to take over the NFT collection’s intellectual property (IP) and its funded DAO treasury, allowing them to put into practice the skills learned in the course.

“As we spend more time online, DAOs don't make sense for a lot of things right now,” added Taub. “But if you want to buy a digital asset with people, a DAO makes a lot of sense.”