This document outlines the first steps to create a DevRel related political body, built from consensus of the participating teams and agents.
Image: King Quest V cover ( Sierra On-Line, 1990 )
Abstract
Polkadot’s technological promise is undeniable, but its technical and political complexity has led to fragmented developer outreach. Many teams operate in a totally disconnected fashion, duplicating efforts and leaving gaps in user journey. A unified strategy and clear information channels across different DevRel and DevEx teams are essential to save resources, improve efficiency and ROI, and ultimately create a smooth user journey for Polkadot developers – both veterans and newcomers. Much work lies ahead: don’t compete - collaborate.
Mission - Unify and accelerate developer growth on Polkadot.
Problem Statement
-
Marketing efforts have often struggled to hit the mark due to an unclear target audience.
-
Developer relations efforts are currently distributed across multiple initiatives.
-
Polkadot’s developer outreach has been handled by various independent teams with little coherence or coordination.
-
The absence of a dedicated in-house DevRel team means Polkadot’s unique tech advantages are not always highlighted, and efforts can remain siloed.
-
The developer experience is also fragmented – documentation is spread across wikis and disparate sites, leaving and newcomers without a clear entry point.
-
There is no cross-functional DevRel entity that can provide coordination, continuity, and deep Polkadot-specific expertise.
Value Proposition
The creation of a cross-functional DevRel entity that will:
- Provide a unified and coordinated DevRel and DevEx strategy.
- Provide a one-stop DevRel platform in Polkadot, consolidating fragmented developer resources, funneling initiatives, events and community support.
- Provide a simplified ecosystem map and developer pathways.
- Consolidate efforts to provide a seamless developer journey within Polkadot.
- Coordinate different projects and teams to attract and engage developer talent.
- Provide a unified and coherent developer content layer across platforms and regions.
- Coordinate and expand current scattered efforts.
- Support the growth of existing DevRel teams in the ecosystem.
- Coordinate with and enhance the efforts of existing Bounties in the Polkadot Ecosystem (UX Bounty, EB, MB and others).
Risks & Mitigation Strategies
The constitution of the DevRel bounty entails risks, both political and operational. Nevertheless, the DevCult team has identified 5 different high-profile risks, and suggests the following mitigations:
- Political Fragmentation of OpenGov and DevRel bounty/DAO itself - The constitution of the bounty by consensus, provides both internal and external alignment.
- Competition & Overlap with Existing Initiatives - The bounty encourages collaboration instead of competition.
- Scalability & Team Capacity limit - One of the first tasks of the bounty is to bring new faces to Polkadot.
- Activities and actions without impact or clear ROI - Measuring Impact & Justifying ROI - establishing a clear set of metrics and goals to evaluate the impact of different actions and tactics.
- Long-term Sustainability & Ecosystem Changes - The body should be flexible and agile enough to adapt and pivot on its structure and mission.
How it could work?
Note: This section is a speculative attempt on imagining the DevRel Bounty. The exact political and operational details of this structure are expected to evolve and be refined by the participating agents.
TL;DR: DevRel agents and teams participate in the DevRel DAO, which supplies community knowledge and coordination to DevRel Bounty Curators; Curators execute and coordinate the work; and the DevRel Bounty defines strategy, budgets and cross-ecosystem coordination while working closely with partners such as Parity, the W3F, Marketing and Events bounties.
The DevRel bounty is an elective executive body consisting of several signatories who represent several DevRel teams across the ecosystem, together with other influential ecosystem actors with weight in the ecosystem (for example, W3F and Parity). Its mandate is to coordinate and align DevRel and DevEx efforts, to draft annual DevRel strategy and budget, and to evaluate the outcomes of DevRel/DevEx initiatives in the space.
What happens next ?
Over the coming weeks, DevCult will take the initiative, together with any interested ecosystem actors, to kick off and assemble the DevRel bounty. The primary actions that DevCult will take are:
- Map the landscape – catalogue existing DevRel actors, their initiatives in different areas and past work across relevant areas.
- Set up regular syncs – create recurring sync calls with the ecosystem DevRel /DevEx teams to gather commitments, requirements and feedback
- Identify gaps – surface coordination gaps that the bounty should address
- Create an information channel - launch a proto DevRel Bounty information channel for updates, discussion and resource sharing
- Draft the OpenGov proposal after alignment with interested actors, prepare a proposal to constitute the DevRel Bounty
- Draft the 2026 strategy, including budget
How can I contribute?
You’re welcome to share your suggestions and comments. If you would like to contribute to this process, please get in touch by filling this form.
DevCult will only be acting as the facilitator and will not own the bounty