This blog describes our learnings from the first batch of 50 Super Studio credits. We’ll share the methods we used to identify the right projects, curate credit requests, deliver targeted support, and measure our impact.
Leading builders often compare the economics of blockchain ecosystems to those of small countries, where success depends on a mix of leadership, incentives, ecosystem, and talent.
As the deployment costs of public blockchains have decreased, thousands of new Blockchains have launched, creating strong competition for the best builders and applications with a moat.
The Optimism Superchain already stands out, as it is not a single economy, but rather a coalition of economically aligned chains that operate as a larger whole, comparable to an economic bloc or a country union. A critical question in this setup is how to identify and support the most promising projects to accelerate their growth across the Superchain.
As a high-context, connected, and experienced builder team, Superchain Eco requested and received an Optimism Season 6 grant to pilot Super Studio, providing subsidized research, design, and development services to accelerate the growth of promising projects across the Superchain.
This blog describes our learnings from the first batch of 50 Super Studio credits. We’ll share the methods we used to identify the right projects, curate credit requests, deliver targeted support, and measure our impact.
Super Studio credits provide critical support to help formalize and grow promising projects in the Superchain without imposing financial costs on them. Services were provided by the Superchain Eco team and included research and strategy support, product feedback and development, and content and design assistance.
Each project could request 5–10 Super Studio Credits, with each credit equaling about 10 hours of work or 700 OP worth of services.
After a team applied for credits or expressed interest, our team met with the applicant to better understand their needs and assess fit. We used the following criteria to evaluate applications, scoring each parameter from 0 (no fit) to 5 (perfect fit). The approval formula was:
Total score ÷ 1.75 > number of credits requested.
Completeness of request: How clear is the ask?
Ability of our team to support: How closely do their needs align with our capacity?Potential acceleration from service: What impact could our services have?
Timeliness of the request: Would the service make a significant difference now, or could it be sourced later?
We found that success hinged on two key elements:
Ultimately, 5 teams received Super Credits across 7 approved requests, with the median request size being 8 credits.
Initially, we planned to distribute Super Studio Credit ERC20 tokens and have projects burn a portion of their tokens after each service delivery. However, feedback revealed this approach was overly complex and created unnecessary overhead.
Instead, we tracked projects internally and, at the close of Batch 1, issued Super Studio Credits as ERC20 tokens from our Super Studio Safe to each supported project. This simplified issuance and improved tracking of both projects and contracts that received credits.
In this first batch, most of the services included non-smart contract development support, which makes it harder to measure impact and attribute growth to our support.
Looking ahead, we plan to leverage tools like Karma GAP and Divvi to track pre- and post-service traction of supported projects. Comparing these benchmarks will provide a more comprehensive understanding of the impact of Super Studio.
The first batch of Super Studio credits demonstrated the outsized impact that well-timed, carefully targeted contributions can have in accelerating ecosystem projects. By lowering barriers and providing tailored support, we helped promising teams focus on execution while strengthening the broader Superchain.
This pilot confirmed the value of a structured support model and set the stage for scaling future batches. As we refine our methods, the Super Studio program has the potential to become a cornerstone of ecosystem growth, helping the most promising projects thrive across the Superchain.
