Weekly Learnings #13

Read time: 4 minutes

Hi fam,

Each weekend I spend a few hours reflecting on things I’ve learned and found fascinating. I’m thankful to have you on the journey with me.

Here are the stories I found fascinating this week.

Spaces I’ve spoken at this week:

Web3

1/ Will NFT projects stand the test of time? Wale shared a great visualization of the rising and falling market cap of blue chips since the wild year of 2021.

2/ We’re building the next Disney. Licensing is the next big thing. If you’re in NFTs, you’ve heard these phrases a thousand times. Mattel’s Barbie is an exceptional example of how to do it right. Mattel spent 18 months creating over 100 licensing deals and partnerships to promote the movie. They no longer rely solely on physical toys but pursue an IP-first strategy that resonates emotionally with their audience. Whiz from Azuki shared some great thoughts in this thread.

3/ Talking of IP, products born from the BAYC/MAYC jpegs can now request a “Made by Apes” license that protects holders from bad actors. The creator of this blockchain solution, SaaSy Labs, suggested more projects are expected to join, potentially leading to the first Amazon of Web3 products.

4/ Millions of people are giving away their irises for a token. Yes, WorldCoin, by OpenAi founder Sam Altman and his buddy Alex Blania, is here. The ChatGPT founder envisions a world where every person is verified through blockchain to combat AI bots and deepfakes and set the foundations for a global universal basic income (UBI). The best article I’ve read to learn more is the one from Vitalik Buterin, where he shows us the options to verify humans (KYC, social-graph-based verification, and biometric verification) and walks us through the pros and cons of WorldCoin. Check it out here.

AI

1/ This guy made a Nike commercial in 45 minutes using only AI tools. The tools he used:

By now, hundreds of AI tools exist for every part of the creative process. My latest strategy changed from the initial experimenting to sticking with only a few tools to do the job and not being distracted by too many options.

Creator Economy

1/ Earlier this week, I wrote about learnings from NFT God on how to find a great niche and grow on Twitter. You can check it here if you want to grow on 𝕏.

2/ Zaimiri wrote a banger on things coming to 𝕏 soon. The key new features are Micropayments, Audio & Video Calls, Dark Mode, Livestreaming, and Followers likely becoming Viewers. Full thread here.

3/ Elon says 𝕏 will become half of the global financial system. Are you bullish on him?

Founders

1/ Zeneca shares his learnings as a first time founder over the last 2 years. Here’s what he would do differently:

• have a co-founder

• stay leaner, longer

• stick to 1 core focus

• not chase shiny things

• spend less money on bad lawyers

• use fewer project management tools

Often less is more 😉 

2/ This is hilarious but also so true. Too many people try to chase the next big thing and go from industry to industry as wind flows. But none of the successful entrepreneurs made it by jumping from thing to thing. Greatness takes time and an absolute focus. If you constantly try to be good at many, you miss the opportunity of being the best at one. Keep building, fam. 💙

Hope you enjoyed this week’s recap!

Much love,

Beast.