Meeting Minutes 03/07/2025

Attendees:

Name	Attendance	Role	Voting Seat (Y/N)
Simon F.	Yes	Interim Chair	Y
Terence ‘Tex’ McCutcheon	Yes	Interim Secretary	N
Jack Briggs	Yes	Secretary	N
Laura M.	No	Member - Cardano Foundation	Y
Nathan A.	No	Member - EMURGO	Y
Wes P.	Yes	Member - Rare Network	Y
Martin M.	Yes	Member	Y
Vaibhav (Gintama)	Yes	Member	Y
Mubarak O.	Yes	Member	Y
Tim H.	Yes	Member	Y
Rand M.	Yes	SME - Rare Network	N
Natalia	Yes	SME	N
John G.	Yes	SME	N
Juan S.	No	SME	N
Jose I.	Yes	SME - ADA Solar	N

Other Guests:

• Lawrence Clark

Intros/COI

Simon: TBD Laura: Laura Mattiucci, Director Marketing and Comms at CF Nate: Nate Acton, VP of Global Marketing at EMURGO Wes: TBD Martin: TBD Vaibhav: Voting member of bootstrap growth and marketing committee. Voluntary Part of Various Working groups in intersect. Mubarak: AKA Kit Willow: Voting member of the Growth and Marketing Committee. Community member Tim: Tim Harrison, EVP Community & Ecosystem, Input | Output Rand: TBD Natalia: ADALINK, Interim GMC Non-Voting Member, CEO of AdaLink John: TBD Juan: TBD Jose: TBD Jack: TBD Tex: Open Source Program Manager (Intersect), OSC Secretary, Committee Liaison

Agenda 3.07.25

• Budget Discussion

• Open Forum

Decisions/Actions

• Decision: Events Budget

  • Wes Parkinson, Laura, and Nate will work on revising the events budget to extend beyond the six-month timeframe and adjust funding accordingly.

  • They will present their revised events budget on Wednesday.

  • The events team will "stand up and say look you know as as events leads of the ecosystem this is what we need and pretty much go from there."

• Decision: Budget Publication:

  • The committee agreed to post the budget, with recommended spending amounts, on Wednesday of the following week.

  • The committee will post the budget with the title of recommended amounts of spends on each item.

• Decision: Budget Discussion and Strategy

  • The committee will use the results of the budget poll to prioritize line items and identify areas for potential budget reduction.

  • The committee will seek clarification on the role of the GMC under the new budget process.

  • The committee will continue to discuss and refine their budget strategy in light of the new budget process announced by Intersect.

  • The committee will look into getting accurate numbers for other L1's marketing budgets.

• Decision: Vendor Proposals

  • The committee will provide feedback and commentary on vendor proposals that align with their previous budget buckets.

  • The committee will help ensure that DREPs have the necessary context to make informed decisions.

  • The committee may propose funding of specific projects or program proposals.

• Decision: Research

  • AdaLink will share research on Coinbase and Polkadot marketing budgets in the Discord.

  • Wes Parkinson will share information on Vchain's marketing expenditures in the Discord.

  • JB will check the accuracy of the numbers on the slide that AdaLink shared.

Topic	Discussion	Action Items
Seomon Register Link	Link to Seomon register to be shared in TMC internal chat.	Share the Seomon register link in the TMC internal chat.
Budget Discussion - Events	Discussion on the events budget, including extending the restricted time frame and rearranging funds.	Wes Parkinson, Laura, and Nate to present updated event budget on Wednesday. Rand to attend in Wes's absence.
Events Budget Working Group	Proposal to create a working group for the events budget.	Due to urgency, the team will proceed with back-and-forth discussions and present updates on Wednesday instead of forming a working group.
Form Updates	Update on the form responses, with 10 responses received and 2 still pending. Discussion on providing a space to explain the product roadmap and budget numbers to the community.	Follow up with the remaining two respondents. Provide a space for the committee to explain the product roadmap and budget numbers to the community.
Meeting Clarification	Clarification on the meeting's purpose, focusing on aligning and publishing the budget.	Proceed with discussions on aligning and publishing the budget.
Budget Misconception	Clarification that the published budget and the Scribe suggestion were both 20 million ADA, not 30 million ADA.	Ensure clarity on the budget figures in future discussions and publications.
Budget Reduction Process	Proposal to prioritize line items and reduce the budget from the least priority items, excluding the events line item.	Conduct a poll on budget priorities.
DREP Involvement	Discussion on the desire for more DREP involvement in the budget process and the release of a form for proposals.	Acknowledge that the DREPs will have the final decision on the budget and that proposals from various sources will be considered.
Committee Output and Professional Guidance	Discussion on the importance of the committee providing a budget based on professional guidance and maintaining democratic accountability.	Present the budget with clear professional guidance and rationale.
Intersect Post and Budget Changes	Discussion on the Intersect post regarding budget process changes and the implications for committee accountability.	Address the democratic accountability issues arising from external changes to the committee's budget.
Committee Role and Responsibility	Discussion on the committee's role and responsibility in light of the proposed budget changes.	Clarify the committee's role and responsibilities under the new budget process.
Budget Posting Timeline	Decision to post the recommended budget on Wednesday of the following week.	Prepare and post the recommended budget on Wednesday.
Competitive Marketing Budgets	Discussion on the need for Cardano to be competitive in marketing budgets compared to other projects, including Coinbase and Polkadot.	Research and include competitive marketing budget data from other projects in the presentation. Share research in the discord.
Budget Comparison and Misunderstandings	Discussion on the challenges of comparing Cardano's budget to other projects and the potential for misunderstandings.	Ensure clear explanations and context when comparing budgets to other projects.
Vendor Proposal Feedback	Discussion on the updated role of the committee to provide feedback on vendor proposals.	Provide feedback and commentary on vendor proposals.