Please describe your proposed solution

Certain members of the stake pool operator (SPO) community face challenges in sustaining profitable operations due to the evolving nature of the ecosystem and competitive pressures. There is a need to explore and highlight potential new innovative revenue streams to ensure long-term viability and success.

• In-depth interviews will be used to gather qualitative insights from key stakeholders within the SPO community. This will give a deeper understanding of individual experiences, motivations and responses to existing and future challenges.
• Surveys will then be used to quantify trends within the wider SPO community, providing a statistical basis to validate findings from the interviews and further highlight the main issues and opportunities for SPOs.
• Interviews and surveys will enable SPOs to share strategies and good practices. The survey will highlight the community's awareness of existing revenue streams and highlight possible new projects that could come about in the future with the research findings.

Overall, the findings published will have a positive impact on SPOs, ensuring they are aware of present, future practices and trends that will improve their income streams.

Please define the positive impact your project will have on the wider Cardano community

Identifying new income strategies for SPOs will ensure the following -

• SPOs have additional future growth opportunities.
• These new income streams will help retain existing SPOs and attract new entrants into the SPO community and Cardano echosystem.
• A detailed report summarising the research methodology, findings, recommendations, and potential strategies for SPOs will be published.
• Social media platforms such as X(Twitter) and LinkedIn will be used to share the findings. Relevant hashtags will be used to increase visibility within and outside of the Cardano community.
• Once published, it is hopeful the findings will be a driver for new projects or collaborations that stem from insights gained during the research. The knowledge sharing and best practices captured will assist and benefit the whole of the SPO and Cardano community.

What is your capability to deliver your project with high levels of trust and accountability? How do you intend to validate if your approach is feasible?

Delivering a research project of this kind and targeting the Cardano SPO community requires technical knowledge of how an SPO works as well as knowledge and relationships with the wider Cardano echosystem, all of which we have. Jest has previously carried out various technical research projects it gives us a combination of skills that are well suited for this project.

The project would need the co-operation of key stakeholders in the SPO community and Cardano echosystem to give this project the ability to compile and present the research which is something we know we can obtain and deliver.

What are the key milestones you need to achieve in order to complete your project successfully?

Milestone 1: 1) Define project scope, objectives and deliverables.

2) Develop a detailed research methodology, incorporating both qualitative (in-depth interviews) and quantitative (surveys) approaches.

3) Prepare research interview questions and survey questionnaires.

Milestone 2: 1) Identify and engage with key stakeholders including SPOs and Cardano community leaders.

2) Carry out in-depth interviews with key stakeholders.

3) Issue a pilot survey questionnaire to a smaller known group of SPO community members.

4) Identify any issues and make necessary adjustments to the survey questionnaire.

5) Target SPO community members that can be issued with the survey questionnaire.

6) Issue the survey questionnaire to the targeted SPO community members.

7) Monitor survey questionnaire data collection to ensure quality and completeness.

Milestone 3: 1) Compile the information and data received from the interviews and survey questionnaires.

2) Analyse the statistical and relating information and draw out key findings.

3) Compile a draft initial report incorporating analysis and findings with recommendations.

4) Circulate draft report to known group of SPO community members for feedback.

Final Milestone: 1) Finalise the report, incorporating all feedback and additional analysis.

2) Publish and distribute the report through various social media and other channels.

Who is in the project team and what are their roles?

Ami Bening - www.linkedin.com/in/amibening/ will research and compile the project and its deliverables. He has worked as a software developer, product consultant, business analyst and software architect in various global organisations, where he has contributed to the design and development of major software projects and been instrumental in initiatives to improve software development and business processes.

Please provide a cost breakdown of the proposed work and resources

The budget of the project is ₳19,200 which is calculated as follows:

• Cost per hour: $36 (discounted from usual min market researcher rate of $90)
• Total number of days = 30 (8 hour working day)
• ADA/USD conversion rate: 0.45 (as of 9th May 2024)

Break down of cost per milestone -

The project will be carried out over a period of 4 months, this will give enough time between milestones to compile findings before moving to the next milestone.

In summary, the milestones and payments are as follows -

• Milestone 1 : ₳5120 (27%)
• Milestone 2 : ₳5760 (30%)
• Milestone 3 : ₳5120 (27%)
• Final Milestone : ₳3200 (16%)

No

How does the cost of the project represent value for money for the Cardano ecosystem?

The cost of the project offers good value for money as follows -

• A heavily discounted rate has been used for this project
• SPO and potential future project opportunities will be validated and findings shared
• Additional growth opportunities within the SPO community will be highlighted
• Good SPO practices will be shared

Overall the findings in the project will provide valuable information to potential new projects that will add value to the Cardano echosystem and increasing it's profile globally.