Decentralized autonomous organizations or DAOs are a hot topic these days. And with so much reporting and opinion it can be hard not only to understand what a DAO is but also to better understand the significance of this very different form of organization.

Indeed, much of the reporting I see is on answering the question, ‘What is a DAO?’

Here’s a good definition on Wikipedia:

A decentralized autonomous organization (DAO), sometimes called a decentralized autonomous corporation (DAC), is an organization represented by rules encoded as a computer program that is transparent, controlled by the organization members and not influenced by a central government, in other words they are member-owned communities without centralized leadership. A DAO’s financial transaction record and program rules are maintained on a blockchain. The precise legal status of this type of business organization is unclear.

Okay, it’s a start. But do you really understand what a DAO is and, importantly, how it actually works? What makes this type of organization both decentralized and autonomous? Smart contracts on the blockchain are part of the answer, but what does that actually mean?

It’s worth spending ten minutes watching this engaging video from Cointelegraph. It’s the best explainer I’ve yet seen that will add to your understanding of what a DAO is, how it works, and what it could mean for you.

Once you know a bit more about DAOs in general, there’s more to understand in specific areas. Marketing and brands, for instance.

As DAOs grow in popularity, expand the scope of their focus, and become a routine approach to some kinds of business activities, could decentralized branding become more common?

That’s a question Shel and I discussed earlier this month in episode 232 of For Immediate Release, the business podcast we present. This episode is under 15 minutes – you can listen to it here: