Episodes
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Jess chats with Nick Grossman, Partner at Union Square Ventures, to explore USV's investment theses. They delve into how USV tackles significant markets undergoing transformative pressures, spanning social networks, vertical networks, crypto, and climate in order to identify opportunities at the peripheries where change is most promising.
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Jess sits down with Brian Flynn, Founder and CEO of Rabbithole (https://rabbithole.gg/) to talk about the rise of points, the challenges they present, and some insights from building in consumer crypto in 2023.
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Missing episodes?
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A look at the people and products in SC06, Seed Club’s Consumer Crypto Accelerator
featuring... Host: Jess Sloss Guests: Patrick Rivera, Steph Alinsug, Sam Spike, Ed Fornieles, Ren Stern, Jessica Van Meir, wijuwiju.eth, plus7, Thomas Chen, Ryan Hamilton, Ryan McMahill, Adi Sideman, Lucas Campbell Collect this episode on Pods: https://pods.media/theeventFOLLOW US
Seed Club: https://twitter.com/seedclubhq
Jess: https://twitter.com/thattallguy
Website: https://www.seedclub.xyz/
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Jess sits down with Benny Giang and Jayden Windle from Future Primitive to talk about ERC-6551, a new token standard that enables every NFT to have its own wallet. In this conversation, they break down how an EIP works, why they chose to identify the Future Primitive brand so heavily with an EIP, and they lay out some interesting use cases for ERC-6551. Tune in for interesting takes on the Metaverse, NPCs, digital fashion, and more.
FOLLOW US
Jess: https://twitter.com/jessewldn
Seed Club: https://twitter.com/seedclubhq
Benny: https://twitter.com/BennyGiang
Jayden: https://twitter.com/jayden_windle
LINKS
https://www.seedclub.xyz/
https://m.twitch.tv/futureprimitivexyz
TIMESTAMPS
0:00 Intro
1:05 What is Future Primitive?
2:35 Launching Future Primitive as an EIP
6:11 What is an EIP?
8:04 ERC-6551
8:59 Future Primitive’s brand strategy
13:12 ERC-6551 use cases
17:42 User experience of ERC-6551
22:28 Benny’s view on the Metaverse
36:23 What makes Future Primitive novel
42:09 Closing thoughts
43:51 Outro
DISCLAIMER: The information in this video is the opinion of the speaker(s) only and is for informational purposes only. You should not construe it as investment advice, tax advice, or legal advice, and it does not represent any entity's opinion but those of the speaker(s). For investment or legal advice, please seek a duly licensed professional.
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On this episode of Building at the Edges we sit down with Deana Burke and Natasha Hoskins, co-founders of Boys Club, a social collective bringing new voices to the internet. We break down the structure of Boys Club, how the DAO fits into the larger brand, how the brand can become profitable, and their choice to focus on building the media business first. We discuss bootstrapping vs. venture funding, community growth vs. audience growth, and we have a really interesting conversation on how the belief in a brand is what makes a brand valuable.
FOLLOW US
Jess: https://twitter.com/jessewldn
Seed Club: https://twitter.com/seedclubhq
Deana: https://twitter.com/medeana
Natasha: https://twitter.com/natashaghoskins
Boys Club: https://twitter.com/boysclubworld
LINKS
https://www.seedclub.xyz/
https://www.boysclub.vip/newsletter
TIMESTAMPS
0:00 Intro
0:41 Boys Club
4:55 Is Boys Club a DAO?
11:27 Turning Boys Club into a business
22:44 Bootstrapping vs. venture funding
31:18 Belief in a brand
37:26 The Boys Club zine
38:55 Community growth vs. audience growth
40:34 DIMES
42:28 Outro
DISCLAIMER: The information in this video is the opinion of the speaker(s) only and is for informational purposes only. You should not construe it as investment advice, tax advice, or legal advice, and it does not represent any entity's opinion but those of the speaker(s). For investment or legal advice, please seek a duly licensed professional.
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On this episode of Building at the Edges we sit down with David Greenstein, co-founder of Sound, to talk about how Sound is creating better incentive alignment in the music industry. David shares why he co-founded Sound, how the project has evolved over time and what we can expect to see in their new mobile app. We discuss David’s choice to build Sound as a protocol and the value that interoperability and permissionless building brings to the larger Sound brand as we talk about the value of curation, how Sound is empowering listeners to be tastemakers, and how curators can build businesses on top of Sound. Tune in to hear discussions on music collection and digital identity, the impact of AI on music, and the redistribution of value in the music industry at large.
FOLLOW US
Jesse: https://twitter.com/jessewldn
Seed Club: https://twitter.com/seedclubhq
David: https://twitter.com/dgreenstein1
Sound: https://twitter.com/soundxyz_
LINKS
https://www.seedclub.xyz/
https://www.sound.xyz/
TIMESTAMPS
0:00 Intro
3:04 Sound.xyz
5:38 What blockchain technology can unlock for musical artists
8:13 The evolution of Sound
12:48 How Sound ships so fast
15:31 The choice to build Sound as a protocol
21:12 Turning listeners into tastemakers
25:22 The value of curation
27:21 Redistributing value in the music industry
29:34 The Sound mobile app
36:29 The role of AI in music
42:43 Closing thoughts
44:22 Follow David
45:59 Outro
DISCLAIMER: The information in this video is the opinion of the speaker(s) only and is for informational purposes only. You should not construe it as investment advice, tax advice, or legal advice, and it does not represent any entity's opinion but those of the speaker(s). For investment or legal advice, please seek a duly licensed professional.
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On this episode of Building at the Edges we sit down with Robin (aka SuperMassive) to discuss the intersection of storytelling and web3 tech. Robin tells us about his experience as a filmmaker over the past 20 years and how the advancement of technology has impacted his career. We talk about the implications and inevitability of the Metaverse - what Robin describes as “the internet built by game developers.” He walks us through everything he’s working on at BasedAF including the groundbreaking way he’s utilizing Unreal Engine to create instant motion capture, and we dive into his takes on co-creation, storytelling, and the web3/crypto industry at large.
FOLLOW US
Jesse: https://twitter.com/jessewldn
Seed Club: https://twitter.com/seedclubhq
SuperMassive: https://twitter.com/IamSuperMassive
LINKS
https://www.seedclub.xyz/
https://linktr.ee/based_af
TIMESTAMPS
0:00 Intro
5:56 The state of the filmmaking industry
12:16 Robin’s thoughts on NFTs
13:55 Thoughts on the Metaverse
18:52 The inevitability of the Metaverse
25:53 What Robin is currently creating
38:31 The business side of BasedAF
43:55 The valuation of IP
47:11 Co-creation
54:58 Storytelling
1:07 Outro
DISCLAIMER: The information in this video is the opinion of the speaker(s) only and is for informational purposes only. You should not construe it as investment advice, tax advice, or legal advice, and it does not represent any entity's opinion but those of the speaker(s). For investment or legal advice, please seek a duly licensed professional.
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On this episode of Building at the Edges we sit down with Matthew Chaim of Songcamp to discuss the intersection of music and web3 tech. Matthew shares how Songcamp has evolved over time, and what his experience has been like leading a decentralized music collective.
We cover topics like tastemaking as an individual vs. tastemaking as a collective, the value and challenge of leadership in DAOs, the concept of a headless band, and the intersection of music and NFTs - a space Matthew believes is still being defined.
FOLLOW US
Jesse: https://twitter.com/jessewldn
Seed Club: https://twitter.com/seedclubhq
Matthew: https://twitter.com/matthewchaim
Songcamp: https://twitter.com/songcamp_
LINKS
https://www.seedclub.xyz/
https://songcamp.mirror.xyz/
TIMESTAMPS
0:00 Intro
2:23 Songcamp
4:39 The success of Camps
9:18 Experimenting at the edges of tech
18:55 Collective tastemaking
22:23 The challenge of collective consistency
25:07 What is a headless band?
27:46 Is Songcamp a music label?
33:22 Music NFTs
36:37 What’s next for Songcamp?
39:41 Outro
DISCLAIMER: The information in this video is the opinion of the speaker(s) only and is for informational purposes only. You should not construe it as investment advice, tax advice, or legal advice, and it does not represent any entity's opinion but those of the speaker(s). For investment or legal advice, please seek a duly licensed professional.
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On this episode of Building at the Edges we sit down with Li Jin and Jesse Walden, Co-founders and General Partners at Variant Fund. Variant Fund is an early stage fund investing in web3 that believes the next generation of the internet will transform users into owners.
We kickoff the episode by diving into that thesis as Li shares her vision for the ownership economy one day leading us to the passion economy. We break down some of the narratives around decentralization and distributed ownership to analyze what is truly driving value in the space - what kind of ownership experiences do users actually want?
Li and Jesse share their bedrock convictions in the ownership economy and Jesse gives his thoughts on token design as well as some frameworks to think about when designing a token. We also discuss tokens as products and token design as a consumer experience.
To close out our conversation, Li and Jesse give us the inside scoop on their recent announcement, the Variant Founder Fellowship, as well as how early stage founders can get involved.
FOLLOW US
Jess: https://twitter.com/thattallguy
Li: https://twitter.com/ljin18
Jesse: https://twitter.com/jessewldn
Seed Club: https://twitter.com/seedclubhq
Variant Fund: https://twitter.com/variantfund
LINKS
https://www.seedclub.xyz/
https://variant.fund/
TIMESTAMPS
0:00 Intro
1:43 Welcome Li and Jesse
3:16 Ownership economy and passion economy
7:33 Turning users into owners with tokens
11:09 Why aren’t more products user-owned?
17:10 Do people actually want ownership?
20:17 The evolving culture of ownership
22:26 Bedrock convictions in the ownership economy
26:53 Tokens are products
32:16 Unpacking Jesse’s recent tweet
36:54 The Variant Founder Fellowship
41:12 Closing thoughts
41:52 Outro
DISCLAIMER: The information in this video is the opinion of the speaker(s) only and is for informational purposes only. You should not construe it as investment advice, tax advice, or legal advice, and it does not represent any entity's opinion but those of the speaker(s). For investment or legal advice, please seek a duly licensed professional.
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On this bonus episode of Building at the Edges, Jess sits down with Alex Zhang and Mike Bodge from Friends with Benefits to get the inside scoop on their new app - a reimagining of social media without the ads, algorithms, or spam bots.
Alex and Mike explain how the app came to be, and how they built it with the FWB community alongside them every step of the way. They share what they feel is lacking in the current social media landscape and how they envision this new app creating a cozy place on the internet that’s optimized for meaningful connection and positive group dynamics.
They wrap up the episode looking to the future as Alex and Mike share how they envision the app evolving over time.
GET IN TOUCH
Seed Club: https://twitter.com/seedclubhq
FWB: https://twitter.com/FWBtweets
Jess: https://twitter.com/thattallguy
Alex: https://twitter.com/alexzhang__
Mike: https://twitter.com/mikebodge
TIMESTAMPS
0:00 Intro
0:49 FWB’s new app
5:39 What does this mean for the future of FWB?
10:37 Building in alignment with your community
18:21 User experience of the app
19:53 Design choices
30:42 Long term goals
39:37 Outro
DISCLAIMER: The information in this video is the opinion of the speaker(s) only and is for informational purposes only. You should not construe it as investment advice, tax advice, or legal advice, and it does not represent any entity's opinion but those of the speaker(s). For investment or legal advice, please seek a duly licensed professional.
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On this episode of Building at the Edges, Jess sits down with Yancey Strickler from Metalabel to discuss the new era of digital records, the egalitarian structure of Metalabel, and the true value of creation. They dive into what Metalabel unlocks for creators and explore how Metalabel utilizes a heterarchical structure to distribute ownership and responsibility.
TIMESTAMPS
0:00 Intro
0:36 Welcome Yancey
1:03 A shift in eras
4:04 The on chain era
8:35 Owning your data and your identity
12:56 The future of digital history
16:42 Metalabel’s unlock for creators
20:54 Distribution and metalabels
26:24 Metalabel’s organization structure
31:47 Ownership of ideas and responsibility
42:52 Exploring governance
45:35 The value of work
47:57 Closing thoughts
50:25 Outro
FOLLOW US
Jess: https://twitter.com/thattallguy
Yancey: https://twitter.com/ystrickler
Seed Club: https://twitter.com/seedclubhq
Metalabel: https://twitter.com/Metalabel_xyz
RESOURCESSeed Club: https://www.seedclub.xyz/
Metalabel: https://collect.metalabel.xyz/
DISCLAIMER
The information in this video is the opinion of the speaker(s) only and is for informational purposes only. You should not construe it as investment advice, tax advice, or legal advice, and it does not represent any entity's opinion but those of the speaker(s). For investment or legal advice, please seek a duly licensed professional.
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Down cycles clarify true product market fit, especially in highly financialized industries like crypto. In this episode of Building At The Edges, Jess sits down with Scott Moore, co-founder of Gitcoin, to discuss insights from building the leading web3 grant funding DAO.
FOLLOW US
Jess: https://twitter.com/thattallguy
Scott: https://twitter.com/notscottmoore
SeedClub: https://twitter.com/seedclubhq
Gitcoin: https://twitter.com/gitcoin
RESOURCES
Seed Club: https://www.seedclub.xyz/
Gitcoin: https://gov.gitcoin.co/
TIMESTAMPS
0:00 Intro
2:19 Market cycles
4:42 Product-market fit
9:07 The evolution of Gitcoin
18:57 Community and DAOs
24:54 Making an impact
31:40 The sustainability of impact DAOs
46:19 Bringing web3 to the real world
52:29 Outro
DISCLAIMER: The information in this video is the opinion of the speaker(s) only and is for informational purposes only. You should not construe it as investment advice, tax advice, or legal advice, and it does not represent any entity's opinion but those of the speaker(s). For investment or legal advice, please seek a duly licensed professional.
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We're taking a brief winter break and will be back soon with new episodes of Building at the Edges. In the meantime, enjoy this episode from the archive.
For our final episode of Season 2, we return to web3 first principles: community tokens create yet-unrealized opportunities within an immeasurable design space at the intersection of culture, ownership, and value creation. The realization of these opportunities is inevitable — but the timeline and cadence remains unknown. Derek Schloss is a partner at Collab+Currency and a regular guest on Proof with Kevin Rose. Derek and Jess explore possible futures for the community token design space, taking both inspiration and cautions from Nouns, Art Blocks, Chromie Squiggles, and $10 pizza with a friend. While internet native communities have leveled up innovation on the side of pooled capital, we have yet to unlock truly novel ways of allocating that capital using shared decision-making. The builders who both perceive the unrealized opportunities and sit in the discomfort of a novel design space will be the ones to watch through the next cycles of innovation.
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We're taking a brief winter break and will be back soon with new episodes of Building at the Edges. In the meantime, enjoy this episode from the archive.
First Club episode! We talk with Aaron Wright, the co-founder of OpenLaw, the team behind the LAO, Flamingo DAO, Neptune DAO, and more. We talk about all things DAOs, and the value of having a sense-making organism. We talk about his excitement for the Metaverse being the next big play in crypto, and of course, we dive into Social Tokens. -
Jess sits down with our very own Peace Node, the anon behind the indelible Seed Club brand. They talk through the unique discipline that is building a DAO’s brand — a project that expands beyond the traditional modality of creating a static style kit. DAOs turn branding from single player to multi-player mode.
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Kevin Owocki is the founder of Gitcoin. Earlier this year, Gitcoin transitioned from the original company structure to a DAO, and Kevin exited from his leadership role to cede full governance over to the token holders. In this episode, Kevin and Jess talk through the road that led him there and the many challenges and opportunities of decentralization that he — and Gitcoin — learned along the way, and how blockchain uniquely enables the transition from centralized company to fully decentralized organization.
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Dan Romero is the co-founder of Farcaster, the decentralized social network that many in crypto are turning to as a Twitter alternative. Jess and Dan explore what it means to be a decentralized social network in 2022, the critical differences between stewarding an open protocol and a client, the transition from users to customers, and how to build for revealed preference vs. stated preference.
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Nouns DAOs are having a moment in the spotlight, with Jacob Horne —founder of Zora — as one of the more prominent evangelists. In this conversation, Jess and Jacob discuss a core question: Why are ERC721 tokens (NFTs) a more compelling form of ownership than ERC20s? They explore the connection between Nouns DAOs and hyperstructures, and a compelling take that forkability is additive to the ecosystem as a whole. Nouns DAOs enable localized nodes of functionality, thereby increasing optionality and infinite possibilities for proliferating a community meme. Communities exist, communities want to do things together, and they need a medium to do that — the Nouns model provides the tools to do exactly that.
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Justin Alanis is the founder of StoryDAO, an IP incubation hub and multi-media storytelling platform with community at the core. Justin argues for a rethinking of our NFT interactions as experiences in the stories themselves. With StoryDAO, he’s hoping to create and incubate fresh stories told by emerging voices, and meaningfully empower creatives within the novel value-generation models of blockchain.
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Are DAOs the logical evolution of a post-lifestyle culture? Toby Shorin is the co-founder of Other Internet, and author of the recent essay Life After Lifestyle. In this conversation, Steph (Media Steward) sits in for Jess while he’s AFK. Toby and Steph explore DAOs as subcultures within a post-lifestyle zeitgeist, the evergreen moral impulse of world building, and the hubris of brands attempting to supplant meaningful community connection. In spaces without clearly defined doctrines, it’s critical that we attune to the things we’re dually instructing and absorbing.
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