Telos Foundation History
A Trip Back in Time
Although the genesis of Telos has a rich history, with its developers and architects having deep roots in the industry, the network itself and the foundation representing it are still quite young.
The Telos Blockchain network was launched on December 12th 2018 and activated on December 18th of the same year. Over 130 individuals participated in the Telos Launch Group across 12 teams, six of which acted as the launching entity. Randomization kept these teams anonymous, making it impossible to know which of the 6 ultimately created the network.
The Telos Foundation was founded shortly after the network launch. It was brought into being due to the need for a human element to represent the blockchain on a global scale.
To get an idea of the excitement surrounding this historic occasion, check out this fun video from our friends at Telos UK. In it you’ll find an interview with Jim Hewitt, following his election as the first president of the Telos Foundation!
Initial Mandate and Funding
As noted in the Telos Whitepaper, “The Telos Foundation exists as a promotional and funding body to advance the network and provide support to network functions that are not funded in other ways.”
An early document on Telos Foundation Organization stated that “The Telos Foundation is an apolitical organization with a mission to aid in the promotion and improvement of the Telos Network.”
There were three distinct ways the Telos Foundation set out to meet these expectations:
- Promoting the network through grants and administration.
- Underwriting expenses that increase the functionality of the Telos Network.
- Maintaining a published guidance price for Telos Network RAM.
Upon launch, the foundation was granted an endowment of 6 million TLOS tokens to aid in fulfilling its mission. If the foundation used up the funds granted, it would be able to submit for additional funding from the community, in order to continue its initiative.
Early Structure
According to early documentation, the foundation operated as a DAO with major decisions being determined by Telos Foundation Voting Tokens (TFVT tokens) and day-to-day decisions falling on an executive director.
The executive director was selected by an executive board of 12 members. These members were elected by TFVT holders. Initially TFVT was distributed annually to members of the community who were deemed to be adding value to the network and worthy of being entrusted with voting power.
Over The Years…
Over the years, many community members have come and gone from the Telos Foundation. Each of them had a meaningful impact on the growth of the network.
However, a lack of funding caused by the low price of TLOS and market illiquidity made it difficult to maintain momentum on certain initiatives. A lack in financial incentive meant that much of the traditional structure became a low priority. Volunteers became necessary to take on the roles of departing board members.
At this point, four of the originally voted members make up the board, along with several volunteers who were not voted in, but invited to help the remaining board members carry out their initiatives.
Restructuring of Telos Foundation
Time For a Change!
Thanks to the tireless work of all Telos contributors and dedicated direction from foundation members, the blockchain managed to grow immensely. It did this in a grassroots fashion, with minimal financial firepower.
This growth was a testament to the power that the Telos community possess. It culminated in an extremely successful Q1 of 2021, with the value of TLOS up by over 1000% after the first quarter!
This massive price increase, along with a plethora of technical and economic successes brought exciting opportunities for growth to the Telos blockchain. The Telos Foundation continued to work tirelessly in order to act on every chance it had to expand its horizons.
However, inefficiencies in the current structure made it apparent that operations could be executed in a much more productive fashion. So, members of the foundation and volunteers from the community identified a need to develop a new structure.
This aimed to bring a new level of professionalism in the way the Telos Foundation operates, allowing it to expand its impact exponentially.
Details of New Structure
Changes to structure are an ongoing initiative but we are excited to update the community on our most notable developments in this area. Those interested in reading more than what’s highlighted here should check out the full break down in The Telos Core Team document.
Telos Team
This will be represented by a group of 7 core teams and a group of advisors. Each core team lead will represent a decision-making vote at the Telos Team. Each core team member is individually responsible for dictating and executing the Telos strategy.
Ethos and Overall responsibility
- Professionalism
- Transparency
- Collaboration
Meeting and Communication
Each lead is expected to attend a weekly strategy session, in which each team presents their status update. Individual calls are expected to occur as necessary between teams. It is expected that each team meet at least once per week for planning and status updates.
Budget
Each team is expected to present hiring decisions and budget requests at the weekly strategy session. The lead of each core team will be responsible for presenting and maintaining the budget of their team.
Note: The Telos Foundation is currently funded through an allocation of 700,000 TLOS a month, although this does not represent the monthly budget being spent by the foundation.
Salaried positions
Each salaried position will be based in a monthly USD rate and paid at a 14-day trailing average at the last day of each month. At the close of the month, salaried positions will be paid via multi sig. Salaried positions will only be calculated on a trailing average IF the price of Telos is above 10 cents. If the price of Telos is below 10 cents, the position will be paid at the rate of 10 cents.
Overview of Key Roles
Product Development: EOSIO
The Telos Product Development team is responsible for the development, release and maintenance of the Telos Core Product offerings. This team will include multiple product owners and individual internal and external development teams.
Product Development: EVM
The EVM Product Development team is responsible for the coordination of internal and external resources to successfully roll out the Telos EVM (Ethereum Virtual Machine). The Manager will serve as the decision maker and dictate the direction of the EVM program.
Liquidity Strategy
The liquidity strategy team is responsible for dictating the direction of funds from the bounce sale for liquidity. This team will ensure that the availability and liquidity depth of Telos is ever increasing. It is important that Telos has a key representative in building relationships and partnerships with professional exchanges.
Marketing & Community Growth
The Marketing and Community Growth team will be responsible for how the world receives and sees Telos. All consumer facing material should be reviewed and distributed by the marketing team in order to ensure the correct narrative is being conveyed.
Partnerships and Growth
Strategize on how Telos can create bridges between crypto projects and enterprise businesses. This team will facilitate and execute the outreach and on boarding process for Telos partners.
General
Responsible for administrative work, handling agreements, ensuring TF compliance, finance etc.
Conclusion: Elections are Coming!
Okay, so we’ve looked at the history of the Telos Foundation and gone over some of the recent changes in how it operates.
But why should you care?
Because we’re here to represent you and everyone else in the Telos community! Even more important, Telos Foundation board elections are just around the corner and we hope you are as excited for them as we are!
It’s pretty apparent that the Telos community has come a long way since its humble beginnings and the foundation needs to continue evolving along with it. The only way to do this is by continued involvement of the people who make up the Telos ecosystem.
This election is going to be extra special, with opportunities for everyone to be involved, either by running for a board seat or voting for their favourite candidates. We’re going to have plenty more updates surrounding the details of this election coming out very soon, so stay tuned!
In the meantime, you can join the discussions surrounding elections in the dedicated Telos Foundation telegram right here: https://t.me/telosfoundationpub
Also, be sure to follow us on all of our social channels to stay in the loop on the latest news and developments from within the Telos community.
We would like to thank everyone for this continued support you are giving the Telos Network achieve its ultimate goal - Mass Adoption, Added liquidity and Marketcap surge for the crypto trading triumphs.