After speaking with Jon in the Forum, I think he can be a fit for Head Chef, as he has experience in startups, is a software engineer, etc. He seems like a nice guy, speaks well, and probably works well with others. Some of the team seem to like him, and sounds like some large investors are already sold on his candidacy.
I originally voiced concerns about Jon’s deal earlier on, particularly on the severance approach, but I felt the base salary was quite high for someone with no past track record with the Sushi team, running a DeFi protocol, or being 100% up to speed with the full suite of products that Sushi offers. All of this is fine, however I believe Sushi needs to evaluate what it should be spending dependant on the skills and track record to be acquired.
I feel like most of the team just wants to move on with this and get back to doing Sushi, and rightfully so after the past year we have had. But this decision makes a very big impact. It’s nice to see Jon’s counter with a reduction of severance, but there hasn’t been a lot of movement otherwise.
The discussion around the compensation being that “is this something the DAO can afford” I feel is the wrong approach. If I was to present my candidacy with the same deal for this role, I would hope that the community would shout out that these numbers are not appropriate. Which brings us to Jon, and questioning his proposed compensation. If the DAO is to be making the decisions on what it can afford, that should be up to the DAO to vote on. So much as @pocketsquare and @Boringcrypto pointed out, this should really be 2 votes, one for compensation, and one for candidate.
Sushi has no track record of Sushi related performance to gauge Jon on, and would essentially be signing off on a now ~$1.5M test to see if this is a good fit. It could quite possibly be, but we honestly have no past data to prove that.
Severance as a tool is also something that has never sat well with me this whole time. I personally believe this is a nice way to pitch it to the community as, “the ball is in your court” if you wish to fire me. Severance traditionally is a way to say this didn’t work out, and good luck on your transition to your next destination. I understand Jon is giving up a lot to come here, but I don’t think the DAO should have to shoulder that choice.
The structure of this deal makes me feel like Jon believes he has leverage to ask for whatever he wants.
At this point it’s really about the hopes of the community’s voice getting to Jon in order to negotiate his comp. However as addressed above, there may be no real need for him to do so.
What I would like to see is a better deal drafted up that aligns both the DAO and Jon where there may be more upside rather than upfront, and potentially some sort of probationary term, however Jon did seem to dismiss that.
So one of the remaining options is to have a proposal go up that indicates that the DAO should vote on a comp package for a Head Chef, and then a vote for the candidate. I would also like to personally hear from large investors as to their thoughts on this deal and its structure.
Other option, is that another candidate comes forward, and contends for Head Chef. Let’s see if that is a possibility now that there is a an ask for Head Chef comp.
In conclusion, I feel like the position of Head Chef should be a $400-500K salary to start, and something around 250-300K vested SUSHI. Milestones on product delivery are tricky for me as the current team has been working on those for months, albeit them delayed, but creating a payout of this magnitude in this direction may not be in the best interest of the DAO as these products will get shipped regardless. Is this amount of SUSHI worth it in attempt to expedite the roadmap?
Something I would prefer is after 1 year, the Chef be up for renegotiation. At that time performance can be reviewed, and perhaps the Chef has over delivered, and should be paid more. This is a possibility. I don’t believe Jon is the “killer” that Sushi needs, but think he is suitable for this duty. Again, this is why I am hung up on Sushi shovelling over so much to him in the first place, carte blanche. Personally, I’d like to be impressed and offer more later, than gamble so much up front.
Throughout this process, and I am sure some will disagree, but I don’t think there has been maleficence. What I think this is a case of, is not having the correct people in places where there should have been in the first place. Also, there were not many checks and balances put in place to make sure this was the best way forward. Myself and a few others have been vocal about this deal, but ultimately the deal has got to the place it has, and due to the amount of input from contributors, has formulated in this way.
What my bigger picture concern is, that in 18 months from now Sushi will have very little treasury left, and will need to become revenue positive. If it is not able to do that, what next? Sushi may be in a position where it needs to raise funds, and that could lead to the final nail in the coffin toward the hope of a community lead project that differs itself from the “VC Backed” projects. I do hope that this is not the case, but this is a possibility, and I am not sure I heard a particular path forward to attempt to “decentralize Sushi”. Perhaps all of this is inevitable, and VC backing is the only wei.
So my ask to you @jhoward is this:
Are you willing to re-evaluate your compensation deal after many vocal individuals feel this is not appropriate for the DAO? If not, and the community was to vote against your deal compensation, would you look to come back with another offer, or will you walk from this position?
As of right now, I will be voting No for you as Head Chef with the current terms and structure in place.
