Rethinking Governance in Decentralized Systems
Most blockchain projects fail because they treat governance as an afterthought. We spent years studying why consensus breaks down and what actually makes distributed communities sustainable beyond the hype cycle.
Explore Learning PathsThe Problem Nobody Talks About
Here's something I noticed after consulting with twelve blockchain projects in Taiwan: everyone obsesses over token economics while their governance models crumble within eighteen months. The enthusiasm fades. Contributors vanish. Decisions stall.
And it's not just Taiwan. This pattern repeats globally because we're building systems that ignore basic human coordination challenges. Smart contracts can't fix broken incentive structures or unclear decision-making frameworks.
That's why we built this program differently. Instead of teaching you how to deploy yet another DAO, we focus on understanding why people actually cooperate—and where these systems predictably fall apart.
Three Pillars That Actually Work
We tested these frameworks with live communities running real budgets. Some worked. Many didn't. Here's what survived.
Incentive Archaeology
Before you design voting mechanisms, you need to understand what motivates your specific community. We teach systematic methods to map hidden incentive structures that determine whether contributors stay engaged or disappear.
Decision Velocity
Decentralization shouldn't mean paralysis. Learn to identify which decisions need broad consensus versus operational autonomy. Most projects get this backward and wonder why nothing ships.
Exit Design
Controversial opinion: healthy systems need clear exit paths. We cover how to design governance that lets people leave gracefully rather than creating toxic locked-in dynamics that poison entire communities.
What You'll Actually Study
Our autumn 2025 cohort runs for sixteen weeks starting September. No fluff lectures. No token-dropping ceremonies. Just systematic frameworks you can apply immediately.
Governance Mechanics
From quadratic voting to conviction voting, we dissect which mechanisms work in which contexts. More importantly, you'll learn to recognize when complex voting systems are just theater masking simpler problems.
Economic Security Models
How do you prevent whale dominance without sacrificing capital efficiency? We study real attack vectors and defense mechanisms that projects rarely document publicly.
Community Coordination
Technical governance means nothing if your community can't coordinate effectively. Learn practical frameworks for maintaining engagement as systems scale beyond Dunbar's number.
Constitutional Design
Smart contracts enforce rules, but who decides what those rules should be? Explore constitutional frameworks that balance flexibility with predictability in evolving systems.
Failure Mode Analysis
Most learning happens from studying what broke. We maintain a detailed archive of governance failures and walk through forensic analysis of where systems collapsed.
Regional Adaptation
Governance models that work in Western contexts often fail elsewhere. We examine how cultural context shapes viable governance structures, with specific focus on Asian markets.
Oskar Lindqvist
Led governance redesigns for three protocols that collectively manage over $200M in treasury assets. Former systems architect who got tired of watching projects fail predictably.
Petra Kovač
Published researcher specializing in mechanism design and game theory applications. Spent five years studying why DAO participation rates average below 4% and what actually moves that needle.
Who Should Consider This
This isn't an introductory blockchain course. You should already understand basic cryptographic primitives and have some exposure to smart contract development or protocol design.
Most students come from: protocol teams building governance systems, researchers studying coordination problems, experienced developers who realize technical implementation is only half the challenge.
We keep cohorts intentionally small—twenty participants maximum. Applications for autumn 2025 open in June. Selection prioritizes people working on live projects where they can apply these frameworks immediately rather than theoretical interest.
Applications Open June 2025
The autumn cohort begins September 8, 2025 and runs through December. Classes meet Tuesday and Thursday evenings Taiwan time, with additional async work and optional weekend workshops.
We're based in Taichung but most sessions run remotely with occasional in-person gatherings for deeper workshop sessions. International participants welcome.