☝️
Harmony's Open Development
Demetre Gostas
🚜

Demetre Gostas

Hours
10
Expertise
defi, growth, partnerships
Mentor
Matty McDonald
Timesheet
Timesheet 2022 - Demetre Gostas
Telegram
https://t.me/Demetre307
Social
Day ONE
May 2, 2022
End Date
December 31, 2022
Presence
Active

“Deploying more ideas - steady lads”
“Deploying more ideas - steady lads”

Demetre has been obsessed with holistic solutions and entrepreneurship since high school. He designed a collegiate behavioral nutritional education program that could scale nationwide. He spent his time in graduate school developing a “one-size-fits-all” smoothie system and designing an indoor light that would allow people to synthesize their daily Vitamin D in under 10 minutes.

Demetre shifted his focus to tech after noticing a societal degradation from mainstream social media platforms. He was architecting a data-sensitive memory preservation platform when blockchain caught his attention in 2017. He recognized the technology would enable true data sovereignty and felt the need to join the movement to understand the powerful capabilities.

Demetre mined Helium and co-founded an HNT validator service in early 2021. In the summer/fall of 2021 he caught the headwinds of DeFi 2.0, participating in protocol owned liquidity and isolated lending markets. He became a defi degen putting skin in the game, diving deep into studying the incentives that drive these token economies.

Demetre holds degrees in Physiology and Psychology with a Masters in Human Nutrition, all from the University of Wyoming. Demetre is an avid Blinkist reader when traveling. At home, he truly prefers to spend his entire day on the computer, with a break to refocus his thoughts in a garage gym.

War Proposals

🏘️
Reimbursement proposal: ONEforALL
  • A platform the Harmony community can own and outlet creativity to generate revenue for community initiatives
  • User Acquisition “net” for all NFT related products
🏇
Summer NFT Stampede
  • Grass-roots onboarding
  • Token gating tools
  • Native Harmony minter dApp to transform community engagement into user acquisition

June 2022 Deliverables

Projects

‣

Timesheet and Reimbursements

Timesheet 2022 - Demetre Gostas

DateTaskValue AddNotesHoursPay (Hrs X 75)🧠 BrainbankWhat I’ve Been Reading 📖Attachments
October 14, 2022
0
October 17, 2022
Research/MeetingsPrototyping/Groundwork
5
375
October 21, 2022
Research/MeetingsPrototyping/Groundwork
5
375
October 24, 2022
Research/MeetingsAnalysis/QC
5
375
October 25, 2022
Research/MeetingsAnalysis/QC
5
375
October 28, 2022
0
October 28, 2022
0
October 28, 2022
0
October 28, 2022
0
October 28, 2022
0
October 28, 2022
0

Reimbursements

NameDateAmountReceiptNotesOccasion
September 16, 2022
September 16, 2022
2.08
September 17, 2022
25
September 18, 2022
25
Food for 2 days (1/2)
September 19, 2022
25
Food for 2 days (1/2)
September 20, 2022
18.98
September 21, 2022
68.21
Total per diem food charges that were charged over the course of the August/September stay
September 22, 2022
13.62

Cultural Self Assessment

Cultural
Values
Read More
Self Assessment + Personal Story
Empathy
Communicative
conversation turn taking
7 - I like to meet people where they are, versus where I perceive them to be. I love to brainstorm and see where our tennis game of ideas lead us.
disconfirm own beliefs
9 - Crow is my favorite meal, as it stimulates the most accelerated growth.
self-aware & articulate
6 - This is an area I need to improve. Although in my mind I am articulating well, I am aware I am very much in a bubble and need to seek out those who ask for clarification.
Personal
share a drink
9 - I love the smell and sips and the expectations of a conversational journey that “sharing a drink” entails.
spend 10 hours daily together
9 - I greatly value the subtle camaraderie and chemistry that goes along with extended time together. I miss it when I only get 8 hours with my brother before he leaves me for his girlfriend.
nurture & mentor
8 - I try to mentor by example and nurture through thoughtful questions. Although it’s important to be cognizant of the stages of change - circumstances and timing are often gatekeepers to change.
Collaborative
make everyone shine
8 - I try to find what makes people tick early on and try to fuel their fire. I’ve had amazing practice with my brother who shines on a very specific wave-length in creative design. I’m absolutely smitten when he’s “In-the-zone” so I try to keep him there any way I can.
people over process
9 - The right people will forge though the process. I love specific tech stacks and methodologies but if you find people who see the north star as clearly as you do - you’ll forge the path no matter what wagon you take.
dare to disagree
9 - I find it easy to disagree as I can approach the subject in question from a place of vulnerability. Battling convictions often spawn brilliant compromises.
Passion
Devoted
long-time craftsmanship
8 - I’ve been crafting a specific dream for over 5 years, with every fork in the path bringing a commitment to taking the road less traveled - seeking maximum growth in this short life we live.
obsess over details
9 - Perhaps too much. I’m a perfectionist who knows nothing. I have daily agonies over what defines high yield output vs. sunk cost fallacies.
hungry & foolish
11 - I live a lonely life, as do many trying to innovate. I’m a hungry dog on a 1000 mile walk who reminisces over a past life of warmth and frolic to drift to sleep. When I wake up the crisp air beckons another step into the unknown.
Aligned
share the mission
9 - I’m glad I’ve found people who understand the mission’s destination is a place we’ll never live to see, but it is a place we yearn to build nonetheless.
optimistic about flying off a cliff
10 - Oh I’ve been off the cliff for a while.
your 50-year dream
10- My 50 year dream is to watch my wife and kids capture their dearest moments on an app I helped build that they couldn’t imagine a life without.
Authentic
consistent with own actions
9- I make sure I walk the walk - and when I lead others on to hot coals, my feet better have the deepest burns.
make tough decisions
9 - I’ve sacrificed everything deemed a traditional life for a reality I am unsure is the right timeline. I’m here nonetheless as something is telling me there is no other choice. Tough is relative term to one’s expectations and the perceived expectations of others.
admit mistakes
9 - Crow is honestly one of my favorite meals. Maximum growth occurs when a current conviction has lost its foundation.
Excellence
Technical
top 1% superstar
7 - I try to surround myself with these people, as I have many shortcomings. However, I thrive in work ethic, sacrifice and an unquenchable thirst to learn what I do not know. As long as I have my sleep, nutrition and a workout - I feel unstoppable.
effective tooling
7 - I’m quite organized. I’m an efficiency fanatic. I like making my brain indexable with technology as to try to take more steps forward than steps back. I need to get better at excel (I need to get excel - I try to force everything through LibreOffice).
relevant to our needs
8 - I believe I live in DeFi world very few people have the patience to live in. Hopefully I can be a window into this abstract world. Other than that I love chipping into everyone’s goals and challenges! My soul is a collaborative problem solver.
Potential
10x growth
8 - I wish I were smarter - like I really really wish I knew how to code. I feel like my sponge could have more pores, but every day I just try to soak and stretch and try to soak some more to get better in areas I feel I can contribute.
voracious learner
10 - I’m truly obsessed. There’s not enough words that can hit my eyeballs in a day. I open more tabs on my browser than a bartender on a Friday night. Like how do people have time to read books? Article after article on my phone obliterate my chances every time. Planes maybe? Yeah I need to read more on planes.
contrarian thinker
8 - I relish the moments where I can be contrarian. I think those moments are few and far between as I have so much groundwork to do on any subject before I can truly have contrarian insights. Often when I think I’m being contrarian, I just didn’t do enough homework.
Impact
accomplish important work
8 - I try to deliver most bang for the buck. Important is also a relative term, as it is often a delicate dance between team alignment, personal convictions and overall impact.
activity < productivity
8 - I need to improve on this - as rabbit holes of research often take me away. My best focus is after workout when I’ve gathered my thoughts and hyped after a banger playlist.
thrive in chaos
8 - I’m accustomed to thriving in the unknown; however, after years of experience I make an effort to prioritize physical well-being as I find it the best precursor to mental resiliency under fire. Although I need to work on my cardio.

🧠 Brainbank

NameTagsLinksLeadsdj3n PRD
Summaries/Reports
Drafts
DAO
Summaries/Reports
Summaries/Reports
Ideas
DraftsProposals
Proposals
legacilife.notion.site
Summaries/Reports
Summaries/ReportsDrafts
open.harmony.one
Summaries/Reports
prezi.com
Summaries/Reports
Summaries/Reports
Drafts
Summaries/Reports
Proposals
Proposals
🚜 🎤 🐐
Summaries/Reports
Drafts
Drafts
Summaries/Reports
Tooling
🚜 💻
Drafts
🔫
Summaries/ReportsProduct
🎬 🚜
Drafts
🔫 🚜
Product
🚜🔫 📖
Drafts
Ideas
Drafts
Drafts
Meetings
Tooling
Ideas
🚜
Drafts
Proposals
🚜
UX

What I’ve Been Reading 📖

NameTakeawayCategoryURLProjects ProgressAttachments
Built-in Bribes from the beginning, with Whitelisting and Commissaire for game theory security are excellent out-of-the-gate features. The ve (3,3) tokenmomics seem to lean toward enriching initial investors which I don’t know if it’s necessary.
veToken projects
medium.com
Competitor research, discussion with team analyst
Users stake $AVAX to create their own chain, then use a native token as gas. DFK transactions on an AVAX subnet cost about $.02 in JEWEL. Point still for Harmony being cheaper.
Other Chains
chaindebrief.com
DAOs must find a way to try to diversify native token treasuries into stables or other assets to protect operating capital in market downturns. 2021 treasuries got slaughtered, while 2022 treasuries fared better using bonding mechanisms, holding ETH/BTC and yield farming stabelcoins.
DAO Treasury Management
Researched and adjusted tokenomics to use a hybrid POL and LaaS instead of direct LP incentives. Worked on Roadmap and Due Dilligence doc.
The underlying financial mechanisms in traditional finance will be completely replaced by DeFi tools enabled by blockchain efficiencies. It will be very a long and painful process - but it is inevitable. We cannot forget the gravity of what we are building and must stay persistent though dark periods.
DeFi theory
Pangolin is a feature-rich “UniV2” on AVAX that hopes to go cross-chain soon. Their governance token is owned predominantly by the community.
DEX
Similar project. Rebasing mechanism seems unnecessary. Great details on the bribing mechanisms - will be useful for our PRD.
veToken projects
medium.com
Team meeting, tokenomics adjustment, revenue projections, website UI to PRD sync
It’s critical to be mindful of where the initial tokens are emitted and which actors have voting power. A reckless airdrop can undermine the entire protocol mechanics.
veToken projects
medium.com
A good ELI5 breakdown of tokenomics. Who controls the supply is everything.
Tokenomics
twitter.com
Incentivizing a pool with the same asset in the pool can be detrimental
Tokenomics
blog.ondo.finance
RSK is enabling DeFi on Bitcoin. Exciting potential with our Bitcoin bridge.
Other Chains
blog.rsk.co
OP DeFi protocols may 2022.pdf
There are many Bridges with different purposes. Bonded bridges seem to provide the broadest utility, while trust-less bridges carry the highest security.
Other Chains
medium.com
Solidly took the voToken model and butchered the tokenomics by making the veTokens available to sell, no max cap supply, no fee sahring with LPs that a have a guage, as well as only sharing revenue from pools that one voted for - incentivizing malicious farming.
veToken projects
pontem.network
“Second, social protocols produce significant amounts of data and transactions. Every retweet, post, comment, etc., is a transaction. At a meaningful social network size (10–100 million monthly active users) would produce significant transaction amounts that far exceed current chain throughputs (Polygon currently has roughly 400,000 daily active addresses). This is by far the most significant challenge.” Cross-shard Harmony ftw.
Social
messari.io
UniSwap is in murky waters as to whether the Uni token is a security. They have more marks against them than for.
Legal
dilendorf.com
Hardware wallet, password manager, Proton mail/ aliasing
Security
0xrusowsky.substack.com
Alt-L1s struggling as their competitive advantage shrinks when ETH demand is low. Fee generation across the board down 60-90%. Ultra important to manage treasury wisely during bull runs and taper expectations during down-turns.
DeFi theory
twitter.com
bitpearl.xyz
starloopstudios.com
Music NFTs started to heat up in 2021 and are just getting started
NFT
nftnow.com
Deep dive
Tokenomics
therichardli.com
Deep liquidity and a boatload of incentives were responsible for their success, but Curve has now evolved beyond just another application status - they have become a baseplate.
DeFi theory
theknower.substack.com
Design mechanics are everything
Tokenomics
threadreaderapp.com
Several different types of investors in different markets
DeFi theory
threadreaderapp.com