Friends With Benefits

FWB experienced one of its strongest financial periods in Q3, 2023. The success was primarily driven by strategic, community driven partnerships through FWB Fest. In addition to creating a unique and exceptional experience for our community, as covered by Forbes and Document Journal, the team executed 20 partnerships with major leading brands and protocols, as well as a highly integrated NFT drop to kick off Coinbase’s new L2 Base, with Cozimo de Medici and Deekay.

Key Takeaways from Q3

• Q3 marks the first positive cash flow quarter in FWB’s history.

• FWB has generated $849,000 in partnership revenue to-date and anticipates an additional $300K by year-end.

• FWB collaborated with Coinbase to launch Base with an inaugural NFT drop, curated by FWB, with Cozimo de Medici and Deekay, generating ~75,000 mints.

• Recurring compensation and expenses have been cut from $167,000 in April to an estimated $70,000 in July, reflecting approximately a 58% reduction in expenses. This is primarily driven by further decentralization of the team and the recent proposal to launch a separate entity in FWB Labs.

• Operational overhead expenses have been minimized to essential necessities, including external legal and accounting services.
• Here’s a report back on our Q3 actuals.

Q4 Proposed Budget

Considering the above and incorporating community feedback we have received, below is an overview of the resources we’ll need from the FWB treasury to continue progressing in Q4:

Here’s the Q4 budget with additional details, key takeaways, a revenue summary, compensation by team, the partnerships commission model, and Q4 KPIs.

Key Takeaways from Q4

1. 20% budget reduction in November and December after community feedback to v1 of the Q4 '23 budget proposal shared in early October,

2. Expected runway of 21 months beginning Q4, 2023.

3. Partnerships on track to meet annual revenue goal of $1.2M. Total partnerships revenue to date is $849K with a $340K Q4 projection. On average, FWB executes roughly 2x partnerships/month.

4. New Mayor and council to reset and re-establish KPIs across the entire core team in mid-November.

5. Introduction of a Partnerships Commission model using margin-based incentives to tie commission to profitability of a deal, rather than its gross value. (Existing partnership contributors have not received any commissions this year-to-date.)

6. Several contributor roles consolidated or reduced in scope due to future anticipated needs and resourcing.

7. Product rolling off to Labs in successful fundraise scenario (target date: 11/1/23).

8. Introduced a proposal to allocate a percentage of projected revenue generated by FWB to routinely buy $FWB tokens off the open market in order to replenish the treasury with our native token.

KPIs

The evolution of FWB is paramount to its success, and with the imminent inauguration of our new mayor and newly elected community council, we recognize the need for adaptive leadership. To align with this new chapter and ensure efficiency, transparency, and responsiveness to our community’s needs, the core team’s KPIs will undergo a thorough re-evaluation with the new Mayor and council. This will not only optimize our operational effectiveness but also reaffirm our commitment to a dynamic and community-centric DAO.

Partnerships & Events

1. Revenue Generation: $1.2M in partnerships revenue in 2023.

2. Lead Generation: Generate 10 new qualified leads per month.

3. Brand Awareness and Exposure: Increase in brand visibility and recognition through partnership and joint marketing efforts.

4. Events Engagement: See Event Keys v3 and FEST23 proposals.

Operations & Treasury

1. Forecast Accuracy: Minimize variation between forecasted and actual cash balances and budget.

2. Comprehensive Due Diligence: Appropriately source smart contract review, liability or legal assessments, and competitive analysis beneficial to DAO.

3. Optimize Systems Efficiency: Minimize manual labor and overhead expenses associated with operational and treasury management by implementing best practices and tooling (i.e. implement new payroll and accounting systems, automate compliance filings.)

4. Regulatory Compliance: Ensure compliance fillings, taxes, and accounting procedures are completed on time with full adherence to applicable requirements.

Marketing

• From a holistic perspective, marketing KPIs are to be reset with the new mayor and council in mid-November.

Summary

As close out the year and look towards 2024, the team is closely focused on the following activities from a revenue-generating perspective:

1. Continue to develop engaging partnerships with start-ups, institutions, and projects within and outside of the crypto ecosystem.

2. Collaborate with emerging artists on open edition NFT mints and other creative project that drive revenue and more opportunities to the DAO.

3. Successfully launch and capitalize FWB Labs software arm to create more software enabled $FWB use cases.

4. Work closely with the new Mayor and elected community council to strengthen member relations and improve new member leads.