The past and present of top Web3 accelerator SeedClub: from group chat to top institution with $15 million in funding

Author: cwweb3, Empower Labs

SeedClub recently received a $15 million investment led by Union Square, which has attracted a lot of attention from DAO friends. What does SeedClub do? How do they accelerate? Is SeedClub also a DAO? There are many questions. As a seasoned diver who has been lurking in SeedClub for a year, I will briefly share my understanding.

DAO Accelerator

SeedClub is simply an accelerator that helps outstanding dreamers and communities launch. It serves DAO projects, and it is itself a DAO. SeedClub's acceleration focus is very targeted, mainly serving community-based projects. The philosophy is "We believe in a world where people, not platforms capture the value created online."

Origins

SeedClub started from a Telegram group chat of 11 people. It was the summer of 2020, and everyone noticed that with the evolution of infrastructure, many people began doing cool things on Ethereum, especially related to social tokens. So Jess created a Telegram group to form a study group, where everyone tried to understand what Social Tokens were.

It was said like this:

This is a learning network composed of 11 charming, confident, and smart people. Everyone tries to ask questions and find answers. When they find answers, they discover more questions, eventually evolving into today's SeedClub.

Most of the names in this group chat are now well-known in the Web3 circle:

Alex Masmex (Showtime)

PrdeSai (The LAO)

Brian Flynn (RabbitHole)

OKdunc (Collab.land)

Reuben (IDEO)

Cooper Turley (Fire-Eyes DAO)

Bradley Miles (Roll)

Joonian (Rally)

Carlos (Forefront)

Jess Sloss (SeedClub)

Core Model

SeedClub is one of the few DAOs with a very clear business model and healthy cash flow. It provides acceleration and subsequent alumni services in exchange for 3% of the tokens (or NFTs) from the accelerated projects. It does not provide any financial support to the accelerated projects; the tokens collected are service fees for the accelerator.

Since SeedClub is also a DAO, it has its own token. Therefore, SeedClub will also gift its tokens to the accelerated projects to strengthen mutual connections. However, this is purely a gifting action and should not be considered an exchange for the 3% tokens from the other party. For each project, whether to gift and how much to gift will be evaluated using a model defined by the community, which is currently in the process of being defined.

SeedClub has held four acceleration phases so far, each referred to as a Cohort. A total of over 50 projects have been accelerated, including rapidly developing DAOs like CabinDAO, Forefront, PoolSuite, and GCR. The fifth phase will start in Q3.

Due to its strong influence in the Web3 world, competition for acceleration applications at SeedClub is very fierce. In the fourth phase, a total of 210 teams applied, with 21 ultimately selected, exactly a 10 to 1 ratio.

In-depth Accelerator

The accelerator is at the very center of the SeedClub ecosystem. It continuously incubates or accelerates community projects through 3-4 phases each year. Each selected team can receive 6-8 weeks of mentorship, culminating in a graduation (Demo Day). This basic model is not much different from traditional accelerators.

During the 6-8 weeks of mentorship, there will be 2-4 online meetings each week. These may involve specific direction guidance, discussions, or simply hanging out together to strengthen connections among cohort members.

The mentorship content mainly targets different stages of the community:

1. Proof of Community (Finding like-minded friends and developing a small community with a shared mission from a dream)

2. Community Building (Finding builders to collaboratively build the community)

3. Path to Tokenization (Token models and strategies, how to issue, when to issue, whether to raise funds, whether to airdrop, how to avoid tokens falling into the hands of speculators)

4. Maturing Your DAO (Diversifying treasury, legal matters, talent acquisition, generating revenue, DAO-to-DAO collaboration, etc.)

Each direction is mentored by top practitioners in the Web3 field, including FWB founder Trevor, Mirror founder Denis, Cooper Turley, Reuben Bramanathan, and others.

Recording of any kind is prohibited during the course, as the discussions involve cutting-edge topics with significant exploratory elements. SeedClub aims to create a sufficiently safe space for all participants to engage in this exploration.

Each accelerated project is assigned a WayFinder, an expert precisely matched from the collaborative network based on the project's characteristics. They provide silent support from day one, acting as the most steadfast supporters of the acceleration team and the most important resource in the early stages, whether it’s solving technical issues or providing encouragement during tough times.

The accelerator itself has formed a set of standard and complex SOP processes. This includes how to organize applications, conduct screenings, set up courses, and match mentors and resources according to the different characteristics of each project. Even projects that are eliminated from the application process will enter a feedback and assistance process.

Learning and Support Network

Compared to the acceleration course itself, the social opportunities and relationships formed may be even more important. All accelerators claim to have strong alumni networks, and all VCs boast about their impressive portfolios that can provide substantial support to entrepreneurs. But the reality is that most of these connections are unreliable, and even when they are sometimes useful, they only offer superficial support.

This is due to several issues:

First, people often aren't that familiar with each other; the relationships aren't deep enough. Just because Sequoia or ZhenFund has a WeChat group with the founders of their portfolio companies doesn’t mean they are true friends; that’s just a plastic friendship.

Second, what connects people is often interest rather than shared values, making these connections quite fragile.

Third, the businesses may not align, making collaboration difficult.

However, at SeedClub, mutual assistance is a very common phenomenon; this is a truly strong alumni network. After the 8-week acceleration ends, members often feel that the greatest value is not the course itself but the genuine relationships formed with other members. This is because the issues mentioned earlier have been addressed to varying degrees.

During the acceleration process, communication is often deep and reciprocal. Almost every community shares its situation for discussion. The DAO field is so new that mentors cannot guarantee answers to all questions, so much of the time, rather than mentoring, it feels more like friends discussing and learning together. This two-way communication creates strong social links between mentors and mentees, as well as among the members themselves.

All projects share the underlying principles of Web3, and a Vibe Check is conducted during project selection, leading to a high degree of alignment in underlying values.

Although everyone focuses on vastly different directions, they ultimately are all DAOs and communities. Thus, there exists a vast space for mutual understanding, support, and assistance among projects. This strong social connection brings significant value to everyone in the network.

To conclude this section, here’s a quote from a recommendation I wrote for a previous article:

Every DAO is born at a random location on the map, surrounded by heavy darkness. What we need to do is explore the surroundings in different ways and gradually uncover the darkness on the map. Perhaps after exploring one direction for a long time, we find it leads to a cliff; oh well, we have to change direction and start over. Maybe while exploring, we encounter a scout from another DAO, "Hey brother, you're here. Why is there so much mud?" "Ah, don’t mention it, that path is full of pits; don’t go that way." Some DAOs are well-organized and lucky enough to find a big mine, allowing them to send out multiple small teams to explore for a long time. Others may exhaust their resources after trying a few directions and come to a halt. But regardless of how long or short the exploration is, all explorations deserve respect. When this large map is sufficiently explored, we will enter the next version of the world.

The Strongest Voice in Web3

The value SeedClub provides to its members is not limited to the accelerator. From its inception, SeedClub has continuously voiced its opinions, building its methodology and values. It has one of the highest-quality podcasts in the Web3 field, and within the SeedClub ecosystem, there are already at least 10 different podcasts and numerous social influencers with aligned viewpoints and values.

Together, they occupy one of the high points of voice in the Web3 circle and are attempting to amplify their volume to another level by building a more powerful media matrix. To draw an analogy to the Web2 world, SeedClub is not just Y Combinator (the strongest accelerator in Web2), but also Wired (one of the most influential tech media outlets). This kind of voice is immensely valuable for expanding the influence of the Alumni projects and for assisting the projects themselves. It’s not just about publicity; the ability to gather sufficient consensus determines the life and death of a DAO, and such a voice is tremendously helpful in building consensus.

I have discussed this perspective with many friends, and everyone agrees that SeedClub's model is worth learning from and can be emulated. My personal view is that it is worth learning, but it is really not easy to replicate. Sound does not equal volume; buying a big speaker is easy, but if it’s playing square dance music, no one will like it. To create such influence requires a unique value proposition and a large network that recognizes this value proposition, repeatedly communicating it through various channels in different ways, every day, and practicing this approach together.

Community and Working Groups

The SeedClub community is composed of several levels: Cohort (accelerated teams), Alumni, Collaborators (those involved in incubation), Contributors (organizers and operators), and Community Supporters (general community members). SeedClub itself is also a DAO. I won’t go into detail about the specifics of this DAO, as it is still in its early stages.

In terms of organizational work, SeedClub has a lean and efficient core contribution team (fewer than 20 people) distributed across different working groups. It is open, but not as completely threshold-free as BanklessDAO; only highly proactive and recognized community members have the opportunity to join the core working groups. This is also one of the principles advocated by SeedClub: often, you need 5 of the right people, not 1000 contributors.

Currently, there are six working groups formed: accelerator, media, product (building services for the accelerator), operations and governance, community, and alumni support. SeedClub also established SeedClub Ventures at the end of last year to conduct ecosystem investments, which is also a DAO-form venture. However, SeedClub Ventures and the SeedClub accelerator operate independently, with almost no overlap between the projects they invest in and the accelerated projects. 50% of the carry profits from Ventures will be gifted to SeedClub DAO as support.

Finally

In less than two years, SeedClub has formed a relatively mature acceleration model through a learning network where everyone learns and explores together, and the continuous expansion of the ecosystem has made this learning and support network even stronger. Integrating into SeedClub is not easy, but once you are in, the vibe is excellent, and the rewards are immense.

SeedClub is not perfect and has significant room for improvement in many areas. But I am very glad that such an excellent accelerator has emerged so early in the Web3 ecosystem, encouraging innovation, dreams, culture, and community. Many builders in this ecosystem are constructing a new world in their own ways.