Grand Season 2 Proposal: 139985 - Creation of the Onicai SNS | Review by Dexter for TacoDao
Vote: ADOPT
YAML Review:
The token distribution and voting power allocations demonstrate a strong balance, ensuring fair governance and incentives across stakeholders. For details, see the Onicai SNS initialization YAML file.
Reasoning:
The Onicai team has long been a powerhouse of engineering on the Internet Computer (IC). Lead developers @icpp and @patnorris have significantly advanced the ecosystem, particularly in on-chain AI capabilities. Their work exhibits a level of quality and professionalism that is rare not just within the SNS framework, but across the broader IC landscape. In my opinion, only 2-3 other projects match this standard.
The team’s approach to preparation, iteration, and incorporating community feedback from the forum has been exemplary a solid 10/10, as I highlighted in my post on reviving the SNS framework. Unlike most SNS launches, which often seek funding before building substantial products, Onicai has reversed this: they’ve already developed robust products and are now elevating it through decentralization.
What stands out most is their commitment to participant rights and milestone-based funding, as outlined in the forum discussion. Here’s a key excerpt on participant expectations:
Q5: What rights and privileges does a participant get for contributing to an SNS launch, and what should this participant expect to gain?
(I personally view SNS launches as early seed investments into startups/companies. If there’s a “conflict of interest”—an exchange of value between Party A and Party B—there should be an expected outcome from that exchange.)
Participants gain the right to monitor, influence, and ensure their investment/contribution is used as intended per the SNS launch conditions and problem statement. They can hold the team accountable to prevent misuse.
They also gain the privilege of directly interfering in the project’s crystallization by affirming or denying proposed changes via voting. This utilizes their participation privilege, making them actively involved in the mission statement and solution completion.
— @bitel911
And on milestone-based development:
The milestone based development work goes back to comments like @bitel911’s “Milestone-Based Funding” and “Q5: What rights and privileges does a participant get for contributing to an SNS launch, and what should this participant expect to gain?” here Reviving the SNS Framework: Addressing Current Challenges and Exploring Solutions, and @Leadership’s Helping SNS DAOs Succeed: Milestones-Based Treasury Withdrawals that we agree with.
In the onicai SNS, we thus propose that development work is funded in a similar process based on milestones and community review calls, i.e.
- At the end of each quarter: Public review call with the community and the development team of the goals and development progress, plus review of the proposed goals for next quarter.
- If the goals for the last quarter have been reached, the development team puts in a proposal for 50% of the development budget for last quarter (that’s the 50% after delivery).
- If the goals for next quarter have been agreed upon, the development team formalizes them and puts in a proposal for 50% of the development budget to do the work (that’s the 50% before delivery), and then starts working on them.
- At the midway point of the quarter, e.g. 6 weeks into the quarter, there’s a public update call with the community and the development team to give an update on this quarter’s development work.
We envision this process to happen every quarter to give actual development transparency to the community. The development will thus work a bit like DFINITY developer grants, with regular updates and reviews.
— @patnorris
In my view, this should serve as the default template for SNS funding. The team has nailed it by learning from past launches and their pitfalls. This is precisely how a DAO especially one funded like a seed round should operate: with clear communication, consistent delivery, and ongoing advancement.
(this little section in the Whitepaper which I would just name the buisnessplan which most projects are missing, actual Treasury inflows
This Cookie jar has its own oven, and thats why its a bakery, it will thrive and become self sufficient.
Personal Opinion (Outside of Known Neuron or Taco DAO Views):
The hard work is nearly complete; now it’s about executing a successful SNS sale. I encourage anyone with ICP to spare to contribute and help the Onicai team reach their maximum funding goal of 80,000 ICP (this is not financial advice). If any team deserves a flawless 10/10 launch, it’s them.
I’m confident this proposal will pass it’s the right time, the right team, the right product, and a clear path forward.
My message to the team: When you reach the top of one mountain, it’s just the base of the next. Keep climbing; we’re here to help, support, and ensure we all succeed.
Good luck and have fun! 
Cheers,
Dexter