#whitepaper Previous: [[10- Why Blockchain]] Cardano’s Project Catalyst is central to the Cardano vision. It is a global innovation funding machine focusing on funding the community and increasing the number of projects working on Cardano. It funds millions of dollars worth of innovation. > Project Catalyst is a series of experiments which seeks to generate the highest levels of community innovation… It also lets participants deploy funding to proposals which tackle challenges and capitalize on opportunities … [1] Littlefish Foundation was born as a Fund 7 proposal from the Cardano4Climate community [2]. The aim was to create a DAO and build a Kiva like product that would allow the funding of on the ground SDG activities. The proposal wasn’t funded, but we kept working. We held weekly meetings, brought in experts for discussions, and worked hard to understand the domain of problems. Through that we’ve developed the idea further and generalized it to what it is today. Catalyst was the spark that got us started. Today, we use it in full to experiment in organization building.  [1] Cardano Catalyst Community Site - https://cardanocataly.st/ [2] Original Littlefish Proposal - https://cardano.ideascale.com/a/dtd/Littlefish-Foundation-Kiva-like-DAO/384063-48088 ## Proposals, Experiments, and Teams At Littlefish Foundation, experimentation is what we are all about. Each Littlefish Foundation proposal is designed to be one or a series of experiments. Each experiment is run by a team. Teams are purpose built, self-managing units with the goal of realizing the proposal.  Each team has a leader. The leader has primary responsibility for the success of the proposal but is not the boss. The team is a self-managing unit, free to select any method of management to fit its needs. Team members share work and responsibilities to accomplish goals, and each owns the proposal and their role within it. The leader’s wallet address will be used to manage funds. The team is free to decide how to use funds. Team members can share responsibilities in however way they see fit. They are encouraged to ask for advice from team members and others. These can be members from other teams, advisors, contributors, community members, contractors etc. The team can reward/pay these participants in any way they choose. Next: [[12- The Littlefish Way]]