Structured, semi-structured, and unstructured data are the three categories of data sources that can be classified. Unstructured data account for approximately 80% of all global data, whereas structured data account for only 20%.

As models have become more sophisticated and pushbutton, AI teams have realized that focusing on data iteration is just as important, if not more so, for developing and deploying high-accuracy models successfully and efficiently. ML models have become increasingly complicated and opaque in recent years, necessitating significantly larger amounts of training data. In addition, data have evolved into a useful interface for working with subject matter experts and transforming their expertise into software. Finally, data-centric AI enables a higher level of model accuracy than was previously feasible using only model centric techniques.

Datasets are dynamic. New files and new versions of existing files enter the datasets at the ingestion stage. Additionally, extractors can evolve over time and generate new versions of raw data. As a result, datasets versioning is a cross-cutting concern across all stages of a datasets. Of course vanilla distributed file systems are not adequate for versioning-related operations. For example, simply storing all versions may be too costly for large datasets, and without a good version manager, just using filenames to track versions can be error-prone. In a datasets, for which there are usually many users, it is even more important to clearly maintain correct versions being used and evolving across different users. Furthermore, as the number of versions increases, efficiently and cost-effectively providing storage and retrieval of versions is going to be an important feature of a successful datasets system.

JZFS was born for the above problems:
A Git-like version control file system for data lineage & data collaboration.
https://github.com/GitDataAI/jzfs

Apply to attend LabWeek Field Building at Edge Esmeralda, a pop-up event city in Healdsburg, CA, from June 10-16. The decentralized conference is co-curated with Foresight Institute and will encourage conversations and collaboration to drive progress on four main tracks:

1. Neurotech, WBE, BCI: Discover the latest developments in brain-computer interfaces (BCI) and whole brain emulation (WBE), specifically the potential critical role for AI safety and human-machine cooperation.
2. Human-AI Cooperation: Examine the near and far future of human-AI cooperation, focusing on creating systems that could potentially overcome global challenges, enhance planetary coherence, and expand our cosmic horizons.
3. Biotech & Longevity: Explore the frontier of biotechnological innovations, specifically aimed at extending the healthy human lifespan.
4. XR (Extended Reality): Immerse yourself in the blooming fields of augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), and the metaverse, focusing on their roles in enhancing and revolutionizing human interactions.

Subscribe to the LabWeek Field Building newsletter for updates: https://labweekfieldbuilding.substack.com/

Office Hours are 15-30 minute meetings that members can schedule with others in the Protocol Labs network.

Use this time to discuss some of the most pressing issues your organization is facing.  Some common topics include: 

1. Decisions around technical architecture
2. Product demos and feedback on roadmap and strategy
3. Advice on finding product-market fit
4. User growth strategies, growth hacking ideas, business development tips, and analytics for growth and retention
5. Fundraising advice and assistance
6. Advice on when to pivot and how to do it successfully
7. Application of new research in computing, web3, AI, cryptoeconomics, and more to your project
8. Company building advice around recruiting, people management, marketing, finance, legal, and business operations 

When used effectively, Office Hours can be an extremely efficient way to get timely advice, expand your network, and uplevel by learning from leaders in the network.

To Schedule Office Hours

1. Find someone with the expertise you need. Use Skills filters to narrow down your search. 
2. • We recommend scheduling Office Hours at most once a week. Please don’t schedule Office Hours with too many members at once on the same topic. Use feedback from 1-2 people to start triangulating what you should do. 
2. Provide some context. Please include a description of what you’d like to discuss and relevant links in the calendar invite when scheduling.
3. • For example, if you’re interested in growing your business and you set up office hours with someone with experience in your target market, tell the person you’re interested in learning about their user experience and obstacles in regards to your service or product space to improve your strategy moving forward.  
   • Feel free to use this template to draft your message: “I am {Your Name, link directory profile} with {Your team, link directory profile}.   We are looking to grow our business in the {X} space.  I would like to use our time to learn about your experience and obstacles you have faced with {your space} so we can improve our strategy.” 
     

To Provide Office Hours

1. Block off time for giving back.  Add a custom block to your calendar (we recommend Cal.com) that only Protocol Labs network can access. 
2. • You can even specify what kind of topics you’d like people to schedule, and allocate different amounts of time to each topic. Learn more here!
2. Report bad behavior. If someone sets up a call with you through the directory and is blatantly shilling, please send an email to spaceport-admin@protocol.ai.  We will review this instance with the member to ensure this doesn’t happen again.
   

Tips for a Successful Office Hour Meeting 

1. Be effective with your time. Remember Office Hours don’t run on forever. Be prepared, and get right to the core issue at hand.
2. DO NOT Shill. Please do not directly attempt to sell or persuade someone to use your product or service unless you have confirmation that they’re interested first. No one wants to feel ambushed on a call with a sales pitch that is irrelevant to them.
3. • Instead, use this time to improve your understanding of the wants and needs of potential customers in this space.
3. Gain feedback and valuable resources.  At the end of your call, ask if they recommend you connect with anyone in particular to further your learnings at the end of your call or for feedback on the questions that you presented to improve your research moving forward.
4. Follow up.  Take notes and follow up with the member after the call regarding any action items or key learnings.  This will help maintain an open line of communication and strengthen your connection.

Learn more:

• How to use customer interviews to attract more customers to your product
• How to collect customer insights through market research interviews
• Mastering the art of market research interviews
• Customer Analysis

How You Can Make Office Hours Better

Please continue to learn how to make Office Hours super effective, and share your learnings in the comments below.

Learn how to navigate the directory and book office hours here!

Building a company can be a simultaneously emotional, difficult and rewarding journey fraught with challenges. Product dev, legal issues, growth hacking and even the most minute administrative tasks at the early stages of company formation and expansion can be fraught with roadblocks. But how can you tell if the challenges you're facing are normal or a sign that you should pivot?

After tracking pivots in web3, we’ve found that there are four recurring indicators that suggest a pivot may be in order, with some signals evident even before a company raises venture capital. 

Indicator 1: The Passion is Gone

Imagine a founder has just won a hackathon, they’re getting flooded with both investor and user interest. The accolades feel amazing and they’re on a high. They decide to raise a round based on this idea. However, before embarking on this journey they should ask themself, are they really passionate about this product? Is it something that they can truly see themself committing the same level of enthusiasm to over the next 10 years?

One of the more surprising reasons that early-stage companies fail is a lack of passion. It’s difficult for anyone to sustain enthusiasm for the length of time that it takes to build and scale a company through its many challenges. However, passion is one of the most important ingredients in a startup’s success. Throughout the company lifecycle, founders have to be the number one hype person for their company. Their passion is: 

1. what will drive investors to commit to subsequent rounds
2. what will galvanize outstanding employees to leave better paying jobs at less risky ventures and join them in building
3. what will convince consumers, engineers and enterprises to integrate and use the product with gusto (before they get a sales team)

A lack of passion for product makes every day an uphill battle, even more so if founders are also operating in a space that they’re not as familiar with and need to combat their own disinterest as they learn the ropes. If through introspection founders realize that they’re no longer passionate about what they’re building, they should pivot. 

Indicator 2: Being Too Niche

Beware the niche trap which can be particularly prevalent in the crypto and blockchain space given how early the market itself is. Let’s say a founder is extremely passionate about the idea they’re going after, but they keep running into the same roadblock in conversations with investors who are concerned about the market. This signal isn’t always cut and dry, as it could simply stem from investor ignorance. However, founders should be able to clarify this easily for investors, using their own research to illustrate that the market is indeed valuable. 

While it’s said that there’s riches in niches, a market that is too small quickly becomes a cage. Founders can avoid falling into this trap by sizing the market themselves before engaging with investors. They should build a TAM and a SOM and validate demand for the product via user interviews/surveys. If their TAM is in the low millions or users don’t show interest in the product, this is a sign that they’re potentially building a solution in search of a problem, and this search will likely be in vain. Trying to service a market that is too small or compressing will limit the company’s ability to reach significant scale as demand will naturally have a low ceiling.This is a sign to consider pivoting. 

Indicator 3: Consistent User Acquisition Woes

Some founders reach the point where they have a functioning product that they’ve maintained consistent enthusiasm for and their market is large and attractive, but they’re having trouble on the user acquisition front. This could present itself in a myriad of ways: 

• Perhaps they’re struggling with attracting users to the platform and growth is stagnant no matter what experiments they run. 
• Perhaps user growth is significant but canceled out by even stronger attrition, leaving them wondering why the product isn’t sticky as CAC burns through their runway. 
• Maybe they have a growing and consistent user base but they’ve discovered that the latter have no desire to pay for the product, no matter what they do to feature-gate or limit access based on usage.
• They keep losing bake-offs to competitors, no matter how much they improve their product or the product pitch. 

Ultimately these scenarios are all signs that user demand isn’t there for the product and indicators that you should consider a pivot. 

Indicator 4: Extreme Disruption

Finally we’ve seen companies pivot because of extreme disruption in their space. For example, many realized that OpenAI’s product releases would devour their entire market. Some who were well-capitalized and earlier in development saw the writing on the wall and decided to pivot immediately. 

This can be the most difficult indicator to recognize, because most startups claim to be in the business of disruption themselves. However, while it’s one thing to try to disrupt a stagnant legacy business, it’s another to take on a new incumbent that is much better capitalized and further ahead both on R&D and company building. In the worst case scenario, founders risk taking on an established and highly innovative market incumbent whose greater capitalization and brand name awareness threatens any chance they have to carve out even a tiny piece of the market. 

It’s important for founders to keep their finger on the pulse of the market. If they’re able to recognize events or trends that could affect their product early-on, this can allow them to be offensive instead of just defensive. 

To sum up

It can be difficult to recognize the signs that a pivot is necessary in the day-to-day tumult of fighting fires at a startup. However, it’s important to regularly evaluate whether or not all the necessary elements for startup success are still in place. Founders should ask themselves the following: 

1. Are they still passionate about what they’re building? 
2. Is the market still attractive? 
3. Is demand there for the product? 
4. Can they still capture a sizable piece of that market? 

If founders struggle to answer any of these questions in the affirmative, it’s an indication that they should potentially consider a pivot. 

One More Thing

Founders of great companies have unique non-obvious insights into their markets which others may not recognize, so it’s still important for founders to pay attention to their own intuition. For instance, if founders are positive on all of these signals that doesn’t mean that they must commit to persevering either. There are a myriad of other factors that could cause founders to leave a company, including health issues, family life, legal challenges, etc. And in all cases when pivoting, if founders are unable to come up with a compelling idea that fulfills the former exigencies, they should consider returning capital to investors rather than creating a rebound company. Persevering through multiple pivots is usually the worst outcome both for capital efficiency and esprit de corps.

Comment your thoughts and questions below. If you’d like to chat further 1:1, you can find my Office Hours here.

Use ProtoSphere to share ideas and discuss in the open.

Protosphere is the front page of the PL network. The name is a portmanteau of “Proto”, representing Protocol Labs, and “Sphere”, as in an object’s sphere of influence of planetary pull in space. 

Protosphere is a place for members of the network to build out their sphere of influence. It is a great tool to share your thoughts directly with the network and get engage with other members via comments and groups (coming soon!)

Most posts and features in Protosphere are private and require you login with the same credentials you use for the PL Directory. 

How to login to ProtoSphere:

1. Go to https://www.plnetwork.io and select “Network Tools”.

2. Select “Forum-ProtoSphere”.

3. You can scroll through and view public-only posts, or choose the Topics icon on the left side of the screen to select the public-only posts you view by topic. **You will not be able to see private posts, create a post, upvote, or view comments prior to logging in to ProtoSphere.

Home view:

Topics view: (second icon on the lower left side bar)

4. To read private posts, create your own, upvote, and view comments, select “Login to ProtoSphere” in the upper right corner.

5. You will be directed to the authentication page to login. Select the account you last used, then click “Continue”. **If this is your first time logging in, follow the detailed instructions here. This is the same login process as for the PL Directory.

6. You can now scroll or filter to select and read posts, read comments by opening to the comment box on the right side of the posts, upvote at the bottom of each post, or choose to create your own post by choosing “+Post”.

How to post in ProtoSphere:

To make it most time-effective for you, it is recommended that you post articles or topics that you’ve already written about elsewhere, whether it’s a blog post or announcement email or Twitter thread. Pick topics that you would like to get direct engagement and feedback from members in the Network. 

Some good examples are below: 

• product launch experiences
• decision making process for a change in your product
• company operations learnings/successes in hiring, payroll, people management 
• Open collaboration or event planning questions you’d like input on

Protosphere Post Settings

1. When drafting your Protosphere post, be sure to select the most appropriate topic, and whether you want the post to be Private to the network or Public for anyone who lands on the ProtoSphere website.  **Posts are Private by default. To make it public, click the icon on the right of the “Private Post” button.

2. Be sure to follow the guidelines for a successful post below. (Click the arrow on the left to uncollapse the guidelines.)

Guidelines for writing a successful Protosphere Post

• Use bold font for keywords or highlight them in other ways. But don’t overuse it because it makes people confused. 
• Use headings and subheadings that relate to the content of the text. Make it easier for people to find stuff, and they will be thankful.
• Bulleted lists work! But don’t go more than 4-5 bullets.
• Front-load (use as the 3 first words) the central message of the sentence/bullet point.

• • People tend to read online in an F-pattern. 

• Use the inverted pyramid style. It means putting the most important info in the beginning (the who, what, when, where, and why). Then follow it up with any details and personal experience, and finally, put the least important stuff (like opinions) at the very end.

• • You could also do a recap of the most essential points.
• End every article with a way for the reader to find you if they want to learn more.
• • Suggestions:
  • “Comment below with your thoughts and questions.”
  • “Find my Office Hours in my Directory Profile (provide a link).”
  • “Reach out to me at [preferred contact method] if you want to chat about this.” 
    

Other ways to connect with the PL Network:

Access PLN Events Calendar to see where the network is going

Find Users, Collaborators, and Advisors using the PL Directory

How to get help

If you have any questions about ProtoSphere, or come across any technical issues, please reach out immediately to spaceport-admin@protocol.ai.

This guide teaches you how to search for and connect immediately with PL network members using Office Hours. It also showcases cool ways other network members are using their Office Hour links.

Think of Office Hours like what your college professor used to host before midterms. Office Hours in the PL Directory give you direct access to scheduling a meeting on someone’s calendar. The link is usually a Calendly or Cal.com URL. Scheduling Office Hours with someone allows you to save time sending cold emails or Telegram messages that never get a reply.

Only members who are open to giving a select chunk of their time to Office Hours for the network have these links on their profile, so you can feel certain to get a response. Please be sure to state clearly the purpose of your meeting, show up on time, and be prepared.

How to find members with Office Hours

You must be logged in to the Directory to see Office Hours. If you don’t know how to login, follow the instructions here.

1. Once you’re logged in, toggle on “Only Show Members with Office Hours” switch on the upper left hand side. This will show you only members with Office Hours provided.

2. Scroll through until you find someone you would like to schedule a meeting with. 

**You can also use the Skills filter on the left-hand side to narrow down your search. 

3. To filter your results further, you can toggle on “Open to Collaborate”. Members with Open to Collaborate on their profile are actively looking to share ideas and discuss opportunities with others in the Network.

4. Click on their profile, then click “Schedule Meeting”.

Cool Ways to Use Office Hours

1. Many leaders in the PL Network allow members to schedule Office Hours to inquire about their company or latest project. Steve, for example, directs you to schedule via Calendly about IPFS Shipyard from his Office Hours.

2. If you’re using a Calendly link, you can segment out different durations or topics network members can schedule a meeting for. Denice, for example, allows you to schedule 5 different kinds of Office Hours when you click Schedule Meeting on her profile.

Check out Office Hours Guidelines and Tips to learn more!

Add your own Office Hours

If you’d also like to provide Office Hours for the network, follow the instructions below to add an Office Hours link to your profile.

1. Click the drop down arrow in the upper right corner, next to your profile picture.

2. Select “Settings”.

3. Select the “Social” tab in your profile, paste in the URL you’d like to use under “Office Hours Link”.

4. If you also want people to proactively reach out to you with new ideas and opportunities, go to the “Skills” tab, then toggle on “Are you open to collaborate?”.

5. Click the “Save Changes” button when you have finished updating your information. Otherwise your changes will not save.
   

Other ways to connect with the PL Network:

Access PLN Events Calendar to see where the network is going

Access ProtoSphere to share ideas and discuss in the open

The PL Directory is the main source of truth for network membership and your best way to stay connected and find other members in the PL network. 

Please follow the instructions below to login to and update your profile. If you have any questions, please email spaceport-admin@protocol.ai.

How to login to your profile for the first time

1. Go to https://directory.plnetwork.io/ and login.

2. You will see a couple different ways to login. “Continue with Email” is the fastest, but many in the network choose to “Connect with Wallet” or “Github” as well!
3. Select “Continue with Email”. 
4. 1. You should have received a notification at the email address you used to create a directory account that your account has been approved. Please use that email when logging in. 

4. Check your email and enter the 6 digit one time passcode sent from no-reply@auth.plnetwork.io. Then click “Verify”.

5. Select “Continue” to access the directory. You’re in!

How to update your profile

Change Your Email

Because your email is very closely tied to your Directory account, updating it requires an additional verification step. If you need to change your email for any reason, please follow the instructions below:

1. Click the drop down arrow in the upper right corner, next to your profile picture.

2. Select “Settings”.

3. Choose “Edit Email”.

4. Enter your new work email, then click “Send Code”. If you don’t have a new work email yet, you can use a personal email too.

5. Verify the code you just received in your email.

Add Professional Skills

Make your profile more searchable by adding your professional skills. This is something that people can filter by when they search for members to connect with. 

To update your skills, login to the Directory and follow these 3 easy steps:

1. Choose “Skills” at the top of your profile.

2. Review the skills listed under “Professional Skills”.  You can remove skills that are no longer correct by clicking the small “x” to the right of each skill.

3. Select the dropdown arrow on the right side of the “Professional Skills” field to view and add additional skills. Then select “Save Changes”.

Add Social and Contact Information

You can increase the ability for folks within the directory to connect with you by updating your additional contact information and social handles. 

1. Select the “Social” tab in your profile.

2. Scroll down the page to add or update your LinkedIn link, Discord handle, Twitter handle, Github handle, Telegram, and Office Hours link. This will allow network members to easily reach out to you.  
3. 1. Click the “Save Changes”button when you have finished updating your information. Otherwise your changes will not save.

Choose Privacy Settings

The privacy settings in the directory will allow you to choose the social and contact information that you share with the network. If you haven’t added any yet, make sure you go to the Social tab under Profile first.

1. You can reconfigure the information that you would like to share with the network by choosing “Privacy” on the left side of the screen.  

2. If you would like, you can hide your email address, Telegram handle, Github handle, etc. Choose “Save Changes” when finished.

Share Contributions and Work History

Share the contributions that you have made to projects with the network to allow members to understand your areas of expertise and help them find you.

1. Select the “Contributions” tab in your profile.

2. Select “+Click to add project contributions”.

3. You can toggle the “Current Project” switch if you are entering information for a project that you are working on at this time.  Leave the switch off if this is a past project.

4. Click in the “Project Name” field to view a list of projects to select.  Add your role in the project, the date you began working, and the day you finished working on the project (if this is a past project).
5. 1. Provide any details about your work that you think will help you attract similar members in the network. 
   2. Select “Save Changes” when you have finished or select “+ Add Contribution” to share your contribution to another project.

Adding a Project

1. If the project that you are working on is not included in the list, select “Add here” to the right of “Project Name”.

2. A new tab will open up. Any field with an * is required. Use the drop down lists where available to choose maintaining teams (main owner of this project) and contributing teams (anyone who helped out).

3. Be sure to fill out the description for your project so others in the network can understand why it’s important. Select “Add Project'' when you are done. Return to the Contributions tab in your browser to continue adding your Contributions towards the project.

How to Add a Team

If you are the lead of your team, and your team hasn’t been added yet, you should do so as soon as possible so your team gets included in network-wide events and communications.

*NOTE: You will need to be logged out of the directory when adding your team. To log out, click the dropdown arrow in the upper right corner, next to your profile picture, then choose “Logout.”

To add a new team,  you need to complete 2 steps: 1) Add a Team to the Directory, and 2) Add it to your profile.

1. Add a Team to the Directory

1. Choose “Join the Network”, then select “As a Team”.

2. Fill out the form with all of your new team’s information. Click “Request to join” to submit your new team. 

Your request will be reviewed by Spaceport, and once it is approved, you will receive an email notification that your team has been successfully added to the directory. This should take about 24 hours.

2. Add a Team to your Profile

1. Once your team is in the directory, add it to your profile by logging back in and clicking the drop down arrow in the upper right corner, next to your profile picture. Select “Settings”.

2. Choose “Skills” at the top of your profile.

3. Choose “+Add Team and Role”.

4. Type the name of your new team in the drop down. Then enter your role, then click “Save Changes”.

Adding Multiple Teams to Your Profile

If you are a member of more than one team, you can click “+ Team and Role”. Then select your new team and enter your role. Don’t forget to click “Save Changes” when you are done.

Other members in your team can now do this as well. Please share the “Add a Team to your Profile” instructions with them. 

If you come across any issues, please reach out to spaceport-admin@protocol.ai.

Other ways to connect with the PL Network:

Access PLN Events Calendar to see where the network is going

Access ProtoSphere to share ideas and discuss in the open

Full video here: bit.ly/PLSummit23

PL Recruiting Resources

The PL Recruiting team is excited to launch as a standalone company in 2024.  The mission has always been to provide exceptional talent and recruiting support to internal Web3 native teams, and is now taking this commitment to a whole new level.  We are excited to keep partnering with the PL Network and friends of PL who can expect top-notch service, with added benefits like pre-hire analysis, optimized recruiting processes, offer delivery consultations, reference checks, and more.  If you would like to learn more or schedule a discovery call to see how our team can help scale your company, check out our website at recruiting.plnetwork.io

For start-ups with an eye on international expansion, having a structured global benefits strategy in place from the outset makes scaling easier. It provides a flexible framework that can adapt to new markets, simplifying the onboarding of international teams and ensuring that expansion strategies are agile and responsive to global market conditions.

Benefits inside the U.S.

• Health Insurance: This is often the most sought-after benefit. Start-ups can offer health insurance through traditional group plans, a health reimbursement arrangement (HRA), or by contributing to individual health insurance premiums. There are also small business health options programs (SHOP) available in some states that make it easier for small businesses to provide health insurance.
  
• Companies with less than 50 U.S. employees (or 100 in some states) can face several challenges while working to establish health insurance plans including higher premium costs and limited bargaining power. To navigate these challenges, small businesses often seek the assistance of insurance brokers, consultants, or consider joining a Professional Employer Organization (PEO) that can help in administering employee benefits programs. 
  

Wellness Programs: These can range from gym memberships to mental health resources. While some wellness benefits may be cost-prohibitive, partnerships with local gyms or offering in-house wellness seminars can be cost-effective ways to enhance employee well-being.

Benefits outside the U.S.
When start-ups have employees working outside of the United States, crafting an appropriate benefits package requires careful consideration. International labor laws, cultural expectations, and the logistics of international business operations introduce complexities. Here are several key factors stat-ups should consider when extending benefits to international employees:

• Healthcare: Unlike the U.S., many countries have universal healthcare systems, impacting the nature and extent of health insurance provided by employers. In such cases, supplementary health insurance or wellness programs could be an attractive benefit and offered to satisfy your global benefits strategy.
  
• Competitive Analysis: Start-ups should understand the standard benefits provided by other employers in the same geographical area and industry. Competitive benefit packages are essential for attracting and retaining talent.
  
• Understanding Local Regulations: Countries have their own legal requirements for employee benefits. It's crucial to understand and comply with these laws to avoid legal complications. Employers often engage local legal counsel or HR specialists for guidance.
  
• Cultural Appropriateness: Benefit offerings should be appealing within the cultural context of the employee's location. For example, in some cultures, educational benefits or family health coverage might be particularly valuable, while in others, transportation or housing allowances are the norm without health coverage offered.
  
• Tax Implications: International employee benefits have tax consequences that vary depending on the country. Start-ups need to understand these implications for both the company and the employee. This understanding is critical to avoid tax penalties and ensure employees don't face unexpected tax burdens.
  

Crafting a comprehensive, compliant, and competitive international benefits package can be complex and usually requires professional guidance. Start-ups often work with international HR consultants to manage international benefits effectively.

Benefits for contractors
While contractors, freelancers, and gig workers typically don't receive the traditional benefits that full-time employees do, companies can still offer various perks or resources to attract and retain this valuable segment of the workforce. Here are some creative ways to provide benefits for contractors:

• Health and Wellness Perks: Consider offering wellness resources or discounts, even if you can't provide health insurance. These could include discounted gym memberships, access to wellness apps, or health and wellness stipends.
  
• Additional % to Rates: Some companies provide an additional % amount to the contractor rate to help off-set the cost of procuring health benefits on their own. 
  

When offering any benefits to contractors, it's crucial to maintain clear contractor-employer boundaries to avoid misclassification issues. The relationship should comply with the legal definitions of a contractor’s status and adhere to the regulations stipulated by their countries regulatory body.

In 2023 the Protocol Labs recruiting team partnered with over 70 network companies to help them structure their talent acquisition processes and scale their teams. 

The team has hired for a number of senior level roles including two at C level. We have worked on and have successfully placed many “Head of” and “Lead” roles as PLN companies focus on building out their leadership teams. We have also seen a trend in companies recruiting their first Marketing & Sales hires as their products / services mature. 

Working in close collaboration with our PLN companies has enabled us to provide tailored support to companies looking to scale whilst also building out their talent acquisition processes.

This detailed technical report features 7 PLN teams sharing their expertise in zero-knowledge proofs at a pivotal moment in time. The primary focus of the research is on the inflection point as the zk proof landscape transitions from research initiatives to serious business. This original analysis is based on first-hand insights gleaned from leading companies within the Protocol Labs Network, including Cryptonet, Gensyn, Ingonyama, Lurk Lab, Polybase, Rarimo, Starkware and Zama, that have made significant contributions to the realm of zk proofs over the years. 

Leading experts assert that zk proofs hold the potential to disrupt a wide array of industries, including finance, healthcare, luxury fashion, and decentralized systems like blockchain, ushering in a new era characterized by enhanced security and confidence. Independent research indicates that zk proof generation is set to grow to a $10 billion market by the year 2030. The forecast for 2030 anticipates a staggering demand for nearly 90 billion zk proofs to power Web3 services, with an industry-wide capability to execute 83,000 transactions per second.

The comprehensive report deep dives into descriptions of different types of zk proofs, why we are at an inflection point moving from research projects to business-led, real world use cases, and challenges and opportunities in the future.

PR agencies recommended by the network
As multiple teams are anticipating a product launch or fundraising in the next 12 months, now is a good time to select a PR agency to support you. We’ve gathered a list of 10 potential partners recommended by the network, including budget range to work with them (here). They already have experience working with multiple PLN teams. We also have a PR agency CEO available for office hours if you are looking for high level advice. Feel free to reach out to the PLN Marketplace team if you need additional support to scope your project (calendly).

Interoperability is a major key to the future of Web3 adoption, and composable data — making it easier for different apps to work together and share information — plays a big part in this development. In the latest episode of "Exploring...," Andrew Hill, co-founder of Tableland, a permissionless relational database for Web3 natives, talks about the current limitations in how data is stored and managed in smart contracts. We need better databases for more complex uses, like changeable NFTs, Hill suggests, emphasizing the importance of organizing data in a way that makes it more useful and powerful, especially in the evolving world of Web3. Watch the full episode here.

Cryptoeconomics is a multidisciplinary field that combines elements of game theory, cryptography, distributed systems, and economics to create new paradigms for digital interaction. In this video, Mike McCoy, the ecosystem lead at Protocol Labs' CryptoEconLab, explores the significance and practical applications of this new nuanced field for developers, founders, foundation members, and anyone interested in the evolution of decentralized networks. Watch the full episode here.