Every crypto project harbors a dream deep inside—to eventually become a true "digital autonomous organization" governed by the community. But reality is harsh: almost every project has to start with a relatively centralized core team. How will KITE navigate the journey from a "centralized cold start" to a "decentralized marathon"? This directly determines whether the project can survive and thrive in the long run.

**Startup Phase: Let the Professionals Take the Lead**

When a project is just getting off the ground, decisions about technology, product direction, and spending are basically made by the foundation and the core development team. There's no other way—speed and execution are what matter most at this stage, and someone has to call the shots to get things from zero to one.

But there's a pitfall here: the team's competence and integrity become the only guarantees, and the community barely has any presence.

So, what's the smart move? Even when the team holds most of the power at this stage, they need to maximize transparency—regularly share development progress, make financial data public, and set up a proper forum where the community can voice their opinions. This lays the groundwork for a smooth transition of power later on.

**Transition Phase: Gradually Hand Over Power to the Community**

Once the mainnet is live and the ecosystem starts to show promise, some less critical decisions can be handed over to community voting. For example: how to allocate ecosystem grants, which new projects to support, and whether to adjust the network’s base Gas fees—this is when $KITE’s governance features truly come into play.

A few key designs:
- **Proposal Mechanism**: There needs to be a clear process and threshold from community discussion to on-chain voting
- **Delegated Voting**: Ordinary token holders can delegate their voting rights to knowledgeable representatives, improving both participation and professionalism
- **Optimistic Governance**: Certain decisions can be executed first and supervised afterward