Fly the Bitcoin flag and show us your Naka•mojo•
Q3 2023 | Stacks Foundation OKR Report
by Mitchell Cuevas on October 20, 2023
Q3 saw a continued progression in how core developers work together and a further increase in contributors. Thanks to this evolution, the pace toward Nakamoto and sBTC releases is accelerating. Meanwhile, a host of successful developer and community growth initiatives drove early traction for the sBTC testnet and other pre-Nakamoto education.

If you boiled the quarter down to one theme: Nakamoto! Everywhere you look, Working Groups and contributors are aligning with upcoming releases as we work toward unlocking and scaling Bitcoin through a fast, secure, decentralized layer.

As usual, we’ve outlined our performance against our previous quarter (you can read a bit more about the planning and prioritization process for these OKRs here and you can always find our current quarter's OKRs on our website).
Remember, if you're looking for a Stacks Ecosystem update, check out the latest quarterly newsletter, this post specifically focuses on the Objectives and Key Results (OKRs) of the Stacks Foundation.
Q3 2023 Newsletter: Unleashing Layers, London, and more
Choose your adventure:
OKR Performance Summaries
(A) R&D: Steward Critical Network Upgrades & Improvements
✅ Completed. A number of important processes, testing tooling, and more were implemented while SIPs were updated with the latest designs for the upcoming upgrades.
Highlights:
  • Major upgrades to the Core Eng contributor group were implemented, including the installation of key new leaders, expansion of the Working Group model, and adoption of a shared spring structure.
  • Updated SIP drafts for Nakamoto and sBTC were created
  • StackerDB was created and is now being tested
  • Public node infrastructure saw a notable geo-focused upgrade
  • The blockchains CI testing framework was upgraded to allow for faster testing ahead of critical releases
(B) 1120 Stacks Developers (+30% over Q2 ‘23)
⏹ Missed goal of 1120 Stacks developers in favor of other priorities, reaching 943
The top line number was not reached this quarter, landing on 943. Instead, focus was applied to deeper education of developers ahead of key releases including:

  • 200 attendees to Bitcoin building-focused workshops
  • 150 participants in Ready Layer 2
  • Over 160 registered for Bitcoin Primer
  • Establishment of an sBTC-focused builders group to provide produce feedback to core developers
  • Successful initial execution of the sBTC Developer Testnet program, which has seen nearly 200 registrants ahead of the release expected in October.
  • Production of sBTC developer and signer docs, enabling developer education and business development progress for sBTC.
(C) Convert 15% of Community Leaders to contribute to critical ecosystem priorities and create inroads for Bitcoin community members
✅Completed, reaching 21% conversion of Community Leaders to key activities
Highlights:
  • Goal of activating 15% of CLs to critical paths was surpassed
  • Work with the Bitcoin Builders Association has supported almost 900 new members
  • 20+ community members have already been onboarded as de-grants program stewards
  • Community leaders supported key events such as Bitcoin Unleashed and the testnet program
(D) Refine Stacks and sBTC narrative, support greater ecosystem content output
✅ Key deliverables complete, projects on track
Highlights:
  • The Brand Working Group is closing in on updated brand recommendations for Stacks
  • The unique visitors of the sBTC.tech website have QoQ increase by 24%, with owned online media presence mentioning sBTC growing by roughly 50%, and earned online media presence increasing by 42%.
  • Updated governance documentation has been written and will soon be shared via stacks.org.
  • All Lead Like a Gardener series were published and made available on the Stacks Foundation website.
Line-by-Line OKR Report
See each objective broken down line by line with specific numbers, links, and more.
Open Now
Previous Reports
Looking Ahead
The focus on Nakamoto and sBTC remains.

  • Coordination and support of Nakamoto/sBTC: We will continue to focus the majority of our efforts on work related to sBTC and Nakamoto. Meanwhile, we'll also be supporting other contributors that are key to the success of these upgrades including Working Groups focused on business development, builder support, launch communications, data availability, and more.
  • Support of a successful sBTC Developer release: We expect a test version of sBTC to be available in October and will be working with various Working Group leads to ensure quality outcomes and statistically significant participation/feedback.
  • Developer education and experience: These efforts never stop as we head toward test releases of sBTC and soon, Nakamoto. We'll be making sure prospective builders have the opportunity to try the system out, provide feedback, and get a jump start on building exciting and useful apps. Look out for hackathons, pitch competitions, and other developer-focused events and resources.
  • SIP Education and Voting: With the latest drafts now complete, we'll begin surfacing key information, tradeoffs, and research related to the Nakamoto and sBTC upgrades so that the community well-informed and well-equipped for votes on the upgrades.
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