Web3 has seen an astonishing number of DAO organizations emerge, but only a few can truly go far.

Most DAOs follow a similar development trajectory: initially passionate and enthusiastic, participation rapidly declines, and eventually it evolves into just a few core people holding things together.

People often blame poor governance design or ineffective incentive mechanisms, but upon closer reflection, the root of the problem may not lie there. The deeper issue is actually stuck at the "way of entering the organization."

Currently, most DAOs are established simply by issuing tokens and creating a group chat. The process of joining is straightforward—connect your wallet, claim tokens, join the community, and that's it. But is this really participation? It's hard to say. The result is a sea of people, yet no one knows who has truly taken action. Internal records of experience and contributions are fragmented, and the entire system heavily relies on a few core individuals.

In contrast, traditional organizations mean something different when it comes to entry—attending meetings, taking on roles, bearing responsibilities. In DAOs, the threshold is virtually non-existent—identity exists, but actual participation rarely happens. The organization can't distinguish who is genuinely working, and who is just here for the show. Governance and incentives naturally become mere decorations.

Without sustained participation, long-term governance is impossible. The essence of governance requires the organization to have a deep understanding of its members: who contributes consistently, whose judgment is trustworthy, who truly deserves decision-making power. But the current situation is that participation records are scattered, behaviors cannot be accumulated, and trust must be rebuilt from scratch repeatedly. If this continues, it will inevitably lead to declining voting participation, deteriorating decision quality, and the gradual departure of outstanding members.

The decline of DAOs is not caused by complex governance overwhelming them, but by the gradual hollowing out due to the lack of mechanisms for sustainable participation.

To put it simply, the operation of an organization depends not on how generous the rewards are, but on whether the entry screening mechanism is strict enough. If entering does not require genuine participation, contributions cannot be recorded, and identities cannot be reused and accumulated, then a DAO can only stay at the stage of short-term collaborative projects and will never become a long-term organization.

For DAOs to go far, the key is not designing more sophisticated governance frameworks, but building a true entry mechanism that can support participation. Only when "joining the organization" truly means participation, responsibility, and a commitment to collaboration, can a DAO achieve genuine sustainable operation.