By
MIDAO
January 2, 2025
Want to launch a DAO but feeling overwhelmed by the complexity? You're not alone. Many aspiring builders get stuck thinking they need extensive technical knowledge or legal frameworks before they can start. However, according to experienced DAO builders, the best approach is much simpler: just start experimenting.
In a recent episode of the Just DAO It podcast, Travis and Sam from DAOhaus shared their practical insights on launching DAOs. With years of experience building DAO tools and contributing to projects like Raid Guild, MetaCartel, and Moloch DAO, they emphasize that getting started is easier than most people think.
The traditional approach to launching an organization involves paperwork, legal structures, and formal processes. But DAOs can start much more organically. As Travis, a core contributor to DAOhaus since 2021, explains:
"You can spin up a DAO on Moloch V3 and experiment with the tools. Even if it's just yourself, you can write a proposal, transfer tokens from the treasury to your wallet, see how the mechanics work... It's not rocket science."
The key is understanding that you don't need everything figured out from the start. Unlike traditional organizations that require detailed plans before accepting donations, DAOs can evolve based on community input and treasury size.
Sam, who has been building DAO tooling since 2017, advocates for starting small and learning through experimentation: "Just go do it. Try it. Launch a DAO. It's free. Try launching a Yeeter campaign. Or just experiment with the technology—play around with it, learn it, and get involved."
This approach allows you to:
Before diving into the technical setup, Travis emphasizes the importance of purpose: "Why are we coming together? What are we actually trying to do? What do we believe in?" Having clear answers to these questions will guide all your subsequent decisions and help attract the right community members. Your purpose serves as the foundation for everything that follows, from governance structures to treasury management.
The technical first step is creating or "summoning" your DAO. Using platforms like DAOhaus, this process takes about five minutes. As Travis notes, "All you have to do is hit summon—and start experimenting. More than likely—nobody's even going to see it, so it's no big deal." When summoning your DAO, you'll need to choose your governance framework, such as Moloch V3, set up your initial treasury, configure basic governance parameters, and define membership rules. These parameters can be adjusted later, so don't worry about getting everything perfect from the start.
Proposals are the lifeblood of DAO governance. Begin by experimenting with different types of proposals, from treasury management to membership decisions, project funding, and policy changes. Travis suggests: "Write a proposal. Transfer tokens from the treasury to your wallet. See how the mechanics work... It's not rocket science." Each proposal serves as a learning opportunity to understand how your DAO's governance actually functions in practice.
Understanding token management is fundamental to running your DAO effectively. You'll need to become familiar with creating and distributing governance tokens, establishing voting rights, managing treasury tokens, and potentially implementing vesting schedules. This aspect of DAO management requires careful consideration as it directly impacts member participation and voting power within your organization.
The next crucial step is experimenting with various governance features in your DAO. This includes setting appropriate voting periods and thresholds, establishing quorum requirements, implementing RageQuit mechanisms, and configuring multi-signature requirements where needed. As Sam explains about governance protection: "If you don't agree with what the team is doing—if the team isn't delivering—you can RageQuit. You can take your portion of the treasury back. And that puts the power in the hands of the people." These mechanisms ensure accountability and protect member interests.
Don't worry about making mistakes or starting small. As Travis emphasizes: "We're not going to get it right the first time. So—the more times you experiment with it, the more practice you get with these tools. The more you practice, the better you'll be."
While the technical aspects of launching a DAO are important, both Travis and Sam emphasize that defining your purpose is crucial. Travis explains:
"I believe what's missing is purpose. A lot of organizations are coming together without a guiding vision or core values. And that makes everything else difficult—because you don't have something to refer back to."
When starting a DAO, ask yourself:
Travis shares an interesting analogy: "A homie once told me about this Badger Cheese Club he was in during college. It was super simple—you knew exactly what they were doing: eating cheese, maybe making cheese. It was for people who were into cheese." The clarity of purpose made it easy for people to decide whether to join.
Several tools make it easy to start experimenting with DAOs:
As Sam explains: "Moloch DAO is the baseline for everything. So, we can use that as our data/blockchain layer and then plug in other tooling as needed."
One concern for new DAOs is protecting contributors' interests. DAOhaus and similar platforms build in protection mechanisms like RageQuit. Sam explains how it works:
"If you don't agree with what the team is doing—if the team isn't delivering—you can RageQuit. You can take your portion of the treasury back. And that puts the power in the hands of the people. It forces teams to be accountable, to deliver, and to be transparent about what they're doing."
The podcast guests shared several examples of small, focused DAOs that started with simple experiments:
A channel where beer enthusiasts share their drinks, which evolved into a decentralized brewery called Brood. As Travis explains: "We brew beers for protocols, DAOs, other communities... Each beer has an NFT embedded in the label."
Sam shares another example: "We grow some of the best peaches in the world. So—we built Peach Tycoon—where you can buy and trade NFTs. And—you can exchange those NFTs for a real box of peaches."
Launching a DAO doesn't have to be complicated. As both Travis and Sam emphasize throughout the podcast, the key is to start experimenting and learning by doing. Begin with a clear purpose, use available tools, and don't be afraid to start small. Remember Travis's advice: "Just DAO it. It doesn't have to be some multi-year plan."
The technology and tools are already available. They make it possible to launch a DAO in minutes. The real challenge—and opportunity—lies in defining your purpose and building a community around it. So why wait? Take that first step and start experimenting with DAO governance today.
