Q1 2023 | Introducing Stacks Foundation OKRs
by Mitchell Cuevas on January 30, 2023
It's that time again, we’re introducing the Stacks Foundation objectives for Q1 2023. Don't miss Q4's recap while you're at it!
Tl;DR
If you like simple and quick, our work ahead looks something like this:
- Resourcing and alignment on sBTC will be a major focus of this quarter's OKRs, along with L1 speed, core developer onboarding and decentralization of mining.
- Additionally, realigning messaging around Stacks as a Bitcoin Layer is an important step towards setting a strong foundation for sBTC-led breakouts during the second half of 2023.
- Developer education and experience will also be crucial components of upcoming objectives. This includes documentation and other tools allowing new-to-Stacks developers to onboard quickly.
Q1 2023 Objective Overview and Rationale
Read about each high-level OKR below, or skip to the full table of detailed OKRs and projects.
(A) Successful Blockchain Upgrades and Improvements
Work we're taking on in this Q1 OKR all leads back to two themes: Stacks Blockchain Security and Increasing Blockchain Development Velocity/Capacity. With sBTC ahead, we're focused first on overseeing a smooth rollout of 2.1, while others on the team are already leading key architecture decisions and running benchmarks that set the stage for the Nakamoto release.
In parallel, we're continuing our successful efforts to help the ecosystem staff up on the core developer front. We are closing in on a target of 20 core devs across entities and are placing our own security lead as well. We've provided initial funding to Stacks Labs, a core development focused entity that should be able to hire starting in Q2. We're further supporting them on the recruitment trail and will continue to do so throughout this quarter and next.
In parallel, we're continuing our successful efforts to help the ecosystem staff up on the core developer front. We are closing in on a target of 20 core devs across entities and are placing our own security lead as well. We've provided initial funding to Stacks Labs, a core development focused entity that should be able to hire starting in Q2. We're further supporting them on the recruitment trail and will continue to do so throughout this quarter and next.
(B) Increase total Community Leaders to 810 (+30% over Q4 ‘22) and further enable community to meaningfully contribute to critical network needs
Work in this category ultimately ladders into sBTC groundwork on two levels: grassroots community activation designed to grow the places we can distribute sBTC later, and activating the community more efficiently via well-scoped Critical Bounties aimed at systems and tooling that support sBTC and the Nakamoto release. We'll also be flexing our community growth expertise to ramp up new interest and activity on the network, primarily aimed at generating quality feedback on early sBTC tests and getting buy-in for critical SIPs related to Nakamoto.
(C) Enable critical sBTC work by supporting entrepreneurs
We've revised the verbiage of this OKR to more appropriately reflect that with companies and entrepreneurs, our role is a supporting one. We will continue to measure total Stacks companies because it's one of the most important things that needs to be happening on Stacks, but we are following the lead of Stacks Ventures. Our primary efforts in Q1 will be a) helping the GTM Working Group identify teams well-equipped to build premier apps for the launch of sBTC, b) pivoting our NFT creator momentum and muscle to line up launch day sBTC transaction volume, and c) supporting Stacks Ventures with capital and introductions to ensure Stacks teams can continue raising capital.
(D) Reach 640 Stacks Developers (30% over Q4'22)
Perhaps unsurprisingly at this point, efforts here lead back to preparing for a successful launch of sBTC. Work to upgrade docs and tutorials post Stacks 2.1 and as we are receiving more attention thanks to Ordinals, is critical. Every developer we can train and onboard now is one that will potentially create a breakout application using sBTC and we’re in the process of updating and tweaking our successful educational programs to optimize for these types of Bitcoin builder personas.
(N) Publish updated Stacks narrative and supporting community resources
With newly generated clarity on the direction of the Stacks network (Nakamoto, SBTC) as well as a strong wind at our backs thanks to Ordinals, we believe it’s critical to equip the ecosystem with some tools for talking about Stacks clearly and consistently in the highest impact manner. The work within this new (as of this quarter) overarching category of OKRs reflects deliverables both internal and external that are designed to provide a single source of truth in terms of Stacks-narrative guidance. These deliverables can be leveraged by all entities and teams in their communications and should helps us all reflect a more consistent narrative to the general public as we get more aligned on our messaging. This work is happening in partnership with the Comms Working Group within the community.
Additionally, we will be working to grow our community (and capture the broader building on Bitcoin momentum) by engaging with more Bitcoin-forward or Bitcoin-first content, channels, and organizations throughout the next several quarters. This is reflective of the success we’ve had with initial experiments and based on feedback from leadership across the ecosystem. Work from within this category will also include publishing of an updated Stacks roadmap, end-to-end update of copy where needed on stacks.co and other key public properties, and development of a brand and positioning guide for sBTC that fits into the broader Stacks narrative.
Additionally, we will be working to grow our community (and capture the broader building on Bitcoin momentum) by engaging with more Bitcoin-forward or Bitcoin-first content, channels, and organizations throughout the next several quarters. This is reflective of the success we’ve had with initial experiments and based on feedback from leadership across the ecosystem. Work from within this category will also include publishing of an updated Stacks roadmap, end-to-end update of copy where needed on stacks.co and other key public properties, and development of a brand and positioning guide for sBTC that fits into the broader Stacks narrative.
Full OKR Table
See each objective broken down line by line with specific numbers, links, and more.
Get Involved
- Join an event or one of the many Working Groups
- Look through ways to get involved, including full-time positions