---
type: decision
entity_type: decision_market
name: "MetaDAO: Hire Advaith Sekharan as Founding Engineer?"
domain: internet-finance
status: passed
parent_entity: "[[metadao]]"
platform: "futardio"
proposer: "Nallok, Proph3t"
proposal_url: "https://v1.metadao.fi/metadao/trade/B82Dw1W6cfngH7BRukAyKXvXzP4T2cDsxwKYfxCftoC2"
proposal_date: 2024-10-22
resolution_date: 2024-10-26
category: "hiring"
summary: "Hire Advaith Sekharan as founding engineer with $180K salary and 237 META tokens (1% supply) vesting to $5B market cap"
tracked_by: rio
created: 2026-03-11
source_archive: "inbox/archive/2024-10-22-futardio-proposal-hire-advaith-sekharan-as-founding-engineer.md"
---

# MetaDAO: Hire Advaith Sekharan as Founding Engineer?

## Summary
Proposal to hire Advaith Sekharan as MetaDAO's founding engineer with $180,000 annual salary and 237 META tokens (1% of supply excluding DAO holdings). Compensation mirrors co-founder structure with performance-based vesting tied to market cap milestones, 4-year cliff starting November 2028, and 8-month clawback period. Retroactive salary begins October 16, 2024.

## Market Data
- **Outcome:** Passed
- **Proposer:** Nallok, Proph3t
- **Proposal Account:** B82Dw1W6cfngH7BRukAyKXvXzP4T2cDsxwKYfxCftoC2
- **Proposal Number:** 7
- **Completed:** 2024-10-26

## Compensation Structure
- **Cash:** $180,000/year (retroactive to October 16, 2024)
- **Tokens:** 237 META (1% of 23,705.7 supply including co-founder allocations)
- **Vesting Start:** November 2024
- **Unlock Schedule:** Linear from $500M market cap (10% unlock) to $5B market cap (100% unlock)
- **Cliff:** No tokens unlock before November 2028 regardless of milestones
- **Clawback:** DAO can reclaim all tokens until July 2025 (8 months)
- **Market Cap Basis:** $1B = $42,198 per META

## Significance
This hiring decision demonstrates MetaDAO's execution on its San Francisco core team buildout strategy from Fundraise #2. The compensation structure is notable for mirroring co-founder terms rather than standard employee equity, signaling founding-level commitment expectations. The 4-year cliff with market-cap-based unlocks creates extreme long-term alignment but also substantial risk for the hire.

## Relationship to KB
- [[metadao]] — hiring decision for core team
- [[advaith-sekharan]] — hired individual
- [[metadao-fundraise-2]] — strategic context for hiring
- [[performance-unlocked-team-tokens-with-price-multiple-triggers-and-twap-settlement-create-long-term-alignment-without-initial-dilution]] — compensation mechanism example

## Full Proposal Text

*Source: futard.io, tabled 2024-10-22*

**Type**
Operations Direct Action

**Author(s)**
Nallok, Proph3t

**Overview**
As specified in "[MetaDAO Fundraise \#2](https://futarchy.metadao.fi/metadao/proposals/9BMRY1HBe61MJoKEd9AAW5iNQyws2vGK6vuL49oR3AzX)," our goal is to build a core team in San Francisco. At this stage, we've found a highly-engaged candidate for the founding engineer role: Advaith Sekharan. We propose extending an offer to Advaith for $180,000 per year cash compensation and 1% of the token supply subject to the same terms as our [co-founder allocation](https://futarchy.metadao.fi/metadao/proposals/BgHv9GutbnsXZLZQHqPL8BbGWwtcaRDWx82aeRMNmJbG).

**Specifications**
The terms of its release would be the same as Nallok and Proph3t, except that the vest would begin in November 2024\. Specifically:

- **Fixed Token Allocation**: If you exclude DAO holdings, the supply of META is 19,755.7. If you include Nallok and Proph3t's potential allocation, the supply of META is 23,705.7. 1% of that is 237 META. So Advaith's allocation would be 237 META, fixed regardless of future dilution.
- **Linear Unlocks**: 100% would unlock at a \$5B market cap, with linear unlocks depending on price. For example, a \$500M market cap would release 10% of the allocation or 23.7 META.
- **Unlock Criteria**: Decided at a later date, potentially using a simple moving average (SMA) over a month or an option-based system.
- **Start Date**: November 2024 for the purposes of vesting. October 16th for the purposes of retroactive salary.
- **Vesting Period**: No tokens unlock before November 2028, no matter what milestones are hit. This signals long-term commitment to building the business.
- **Illiquid Vest**: The DAO can claw back all tokens until July 2025 (8 months from start). Thereafter, tokens vest into a smart contract / multisig that can't be accessed by Proph3t or Nallok.
- **Market Cap Definition**: \$1B market cap is defined as a price of \$42,198 per META. Payouts are based on the value per META, not total market capitalization.

[Github](https://github.com/advaith101)

[LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/advaith-sekharan-78b52b277/)