After this day, one Bored Ape Yacht Club member attended ApeFest 2023 and saw the community’s creativity firsthand. Balou knew that he had to run for the Special Council and put his 12 years of financial experience to good use, helping his fellow community members build a revenue-generating DAO that promotes many initiatives powered by $Ape!
The winter election season of 2023 is underway at the ApeCoin DAO, with 27 contributors officially running to replace BoredApeG, Gerry, and VeraTheApe on the DAO's Special Council in 2024.
Among the candidates vying for a position on the ApeCoin DAO's Special Council is Balou.
“The great thing about the Apecoin DAO is we have so many amazing contributors, I was fortunate enough to meet so many of you in Miami and Hong Kong this year and it has given me the spark to get much more involved in the future of Apecoin,” Balou wrote on his candidate page. “I’m passionate about the role, have relevant background experience and have good connections within the community to enable us to work on the future of Apecoin together!”
To find out more about Balou’s Special Council candidacy, his finance background, and what he'd like to accomplish as a Special Council member, the Bored Ape Gazette reached out to him for an interview. Check it out below:
1. In a sentence or two what is your candidacy all about?
“Since day one I’ve been excited about the future of the Apecoin DAO, this year I ramped up my level of involvement by leading the UK Ape Club delegation and now I feel ready to take the next step!”
2. When and why did you decide to ape into the Special Council race?
“It’s been on my radar since the first election but never felt I had the time capacity with other commitments. I’m now in a place where I can give the role the time it deserves. Having an amazing time with the community in Miami and HK gave me the final push I needed to apply.”
3. What makes you the right $Ape for Special Council? How has your past prepared you for this role?
“My professional career has been in Finance and Accountancy, before jumping feet first into Web3 in 2021 I was Finance Director for the Financial Services division of a large IT services provider in Europe. I led a finance team of 15, worked closely with all aspects of the business and helped drive the strategy and vision. I’m no stranger to working with lawyers on contracts, getting the best out of a project management function or effective treasury management, three aspects of SC work that I’m well suited for. Looking more towards my contributions to Apecoin, I started the UK Ape Club delegation group, which at it’s peak had over 0.5 million $APE in voting power. It wasn’t just about the number of ApeCoin either - we now have people voting in the UK who previously showed no interest in the DAO. I’ve been an active voter myself since inception and have spent time discussing AIP’s with authors to present clear information to the UK delegation. I therefore feel I have a good understanding of the history of the DAO and what voters look for in proposals.”
4. What would you like to accomplish during your term?
“Outside of the day-to-day SC responsibilities, with my experience mentioned above I would like to focus on: Supporting innovative business cases, including revenue sharing, milestone payments and tranche-based AIP’s to drive more innovation. Pushing ‘Powered by Apecoin’, initially using my links within the community and Made by Apes businesses. Increasing voting and participation within the DAO, exploring incentives and continuing to encourage sub-communities and delegations.”
5. Where would you like to see the DAO a year from now?
“I’d hope we can see the DAO become more experimental, AIP’s are often rejected as they are not seen as giving value back or ask for too much $APE without proof-of-concepts. Not everything should be approved, however, I feel I can use my experience to help flesh out more innovative and transparent business cases that will give AIP’s a better shot at gaining community trust.”
6. What are your thoughts and views on an ApeChain?
“Gaming and the Metaverse play a large role in the vision of Apecoin, having an Apechain therefore makes sense to me. We would need the right incentives in place for developers to build on the chain and if its done well then maybe Yuga could also find benefits of utilising an Apechain.”
7. What’s your favorite book, movie, and show?
“Book - I recently enjoyed Bitcoin Billionaires Movie - Moneyball Show – Seinfeld.”
8. Do you have anything else you’d like to add or say?
“Whether I make it onto the council or not I’ll continue to support Apecoin and the DAO, I’m a huge advocate and can’t wait to see where we take it.”
ApeCoin DAO Contributors who would like to find out more about Balou’s campaign can reach out to him via Twitter @BalouBAYC
The window to vote in the first round of the ApeCoin DAO’s Special Council election is currently open and $Ape holders will have until December 13th to cast their coins in support their preferred nominees.
After the first round of voting, the top five nominees with the most votes will proceed to the second round of voting and officially become ApeCoin DAO Special Council candidates. The DAO will then conduct one more election from December 14th through December 20th. During this second vote, the community will officially elect its three new Special Council Members!
Take a look at the full Election season timeline below:
