**Listen (21:17 - 42:40)**

Speaker

Mark Lurie

Twitter: @marklurie

Company: Shipyard Software

Highlights

• Humans’ strength is the ability to organize.
• DAOs are a way to organize around our technologies.
• DAO’s definition is ambiguous.
• A DAO is a community where rules are enforced ex ante by transparent code on the blockchain instead of ex post by judicial enforcement of bylaws.
• DAOs exist on a spectrum:
  • A degree of decentralization
  • A degree of autonomy
  • A degree of for-profit and nonprofit
• What is a DAO?
  • It is kind of like a company but the bylaws are on the blockchain instead of in writing.
• How did DAOs start?
  • In 2016, the first DAO was an investment firm.
• What are DAOs used for?
  • Anything a corporation can be used for and more (ex. chess clubs, national governments)
• Why are DAOs used?
  • They are another tool for human organization. Sometimes they are more effective, especially when it comes to compliance.
• Who uses DAOs?
  • 1.6M Members
  • Across 4,000 DAOs
  • With $10B in Assets
• DAOs are a technology that enables a movement for a more grassroots, open, and free society.
• Challenges with DAOs:
  • Tooling
  • Regulations
  • Indecision
  • Exploits
  • Unwise rules

<aside> 🚨 DAOs are the most transformative use case to come out of blockchain.

</aside>

• Two key legal problems:
  • Corporate Personhood - allows a group of people to speak with one voice
  • Limited Liability - protects personal assets of the DAO members (currently, most DAOs are not incorporated)