Digital Humans and the Story Behind Lil Miquela
You’ve probably heard of ‘Lil Miquela. The 19 year-old Brazilian-American influencer has millions of followers and has partnered with the likes of Samsung and Prada. But despite capturing the hearts of many, she’s not real.
But you probably haven’t heard her origin story. In this episode we take a trip back to 2016, to a world that looked much different to today, together with two of Miquela’s creators – Trevor McFedries and Isaac Bratzel – cofounder and Chief Design and Innovation Officer of Brud at the time.
We learn what inspired the experiment and what early signs indicated that Miquela was not just a novel idea. In a world where spinning up an influencer, we learn what it took to capture mindshare, the pushback they’ve received, what a “scalable influencer” means, and what they think is to come.
Resources:
‘Lil Miquela on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lilmiquela/
‘Lil Miquela on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWeHb_SrtJbrT8VD-_QQpRA
Find Trevor on Twitter: https://twitter.com/whatdotcd?lang=en
Find Isaac on Twitter: https://twitter.com/izykbenjamin
Find Brud on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brud.fyi
Isaac’s new avatar company: https://www.avataros.com/
Timestamps:
00:00 - Introduction
02:18 - The key insight
04:05 - A new breed of influencers
06:25 - Miquela’s aesthetic
09:30 - Early signs of success
13:01 - Narrative and fan engagement
16:45 - The technology
18:14 - Expanding past Miquela
22:34 - Traction and generative AI
26:45 - A new reality
31:55 - Early pushback
33:38 - Misunderstanding reality
36:23 - Fear of new technologies
37:47 - New technological unlocks
41:13 - Scalable influencers
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Please note that the content here is for informational purposes only; should NOT be taken as legal, business, tax, or investment advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security; and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any a16z fund. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures.
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How NFT DAOs Could Shape the Next Blockbuster, Fund Poetry and Change VC - Ep.315
Dapper Collectives CEO and Friends With Benefits founder Trevor McFedries joins Unchained to discuss social tokens, NFTs, the creator economy, $FWB, VC snacks, DAOs, Cooper Turley, and more. Show highlights:
Trevor’s past, which includes a top 10 album, working at Spotify, founding Brud, creating Lil Miquela, and, of course, falling down the crypto rabbit hole
what Trevor’s vision for Dapper Collectives is
what type of activities DAOs will facilitate in the future
why Trevor is so excited to be working with Dapper Labs and Flow
what Friends With Benefits is and how the $FWB token works
what sort of tokens make up the Friends With Benefits treasury
why venture capitalists who want to be involved with Friends With Benefits need to have a good snack game
why Trevor is not worried about $FWB becoming a security
what plans Friends With Benefits has in store for 2022
Trevor’s response to Friends With Benefits suspending co-founder Cooper Turley regarding 10-year old racist and homophobic tweets
what can be done to onboard a more diverse demographic to crypto
how Trevor defines the passion/creator economy
what Trevor is looking forward to in 2022 regarding NFTs, DAOs, and social tokens
Join the Unchained With Laura Shin discussion group on Facebook!
Laura is launching a paid Facebook discussion group where you and other listeners of the show can discuss recent episodes, ask questions in advance, get access to special AMAs with myself and show guests and more. Those who join now and for the next two weeks will get a special introductory price of $2.99 a month or $29.99 annually. Those who join from February 15 and on will be charged the regular rate of $4.99 a month or $49.99 annually. We will open up the group on the 15th, one week ahead of my book launch. If you’re interested in subscribing, head to https://laurashin.bulletin.com/subscribe.
Check out my new author website!
Keep up to date on all things I'm up to at the newly launched laurashin.com. There, you can find out all the latest on my book, all my writing, and press and speaking appearances. Enjoy!
Thank you to our sponsors!
Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unconfirmedcardearnfeb2021
Beefy Finance: https://beefy.finance
Bosonic: https://bosonic.digital/
Episode Links
Trevor Mcfedries
Twitter: https://twitter.com/whatdotcd
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/trevor-mcfedries-0a5285a8/
Work
CEO - Dapper Collectives
Decrypt write-up: https://decrypt.co/82517/dapper-labs-nfts-daos-collectives-brud
Announcement: https://medium.com/dapperlabs/the-future-of-x-is-decentralized-bb3245faf1b1
Founder → Brud
Twitter: https://twitter.com/makebrud
Website: https://www.brud.fyi/
Lil Miquela: https://www.instagram.com/lilmiquela/
Acquisition by Dapper Labs: https://techcrunch.com/2021/10/04/nft-startup-dapper-labs-acquires-virtual-influencer-startup-brud/
AI Influencers: https://mailchimp.com/courier/article/ai-influencers/
Friends With Benefits
Basics
FWB website: https://www.fwb.help/
Mirror: https://fwb.mirror.xyz/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/fwbtweets
FWB Etherscan: https://etherscan.io/token/0x35bd01fc9d6d5d81ca9e055db88dc49aa2c699a8
CoinMarketCap: https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/friends-with-benefits-pro/
Background Reads
Trevor’s role: https://consensys.net/blog/codefi/friends-with-benefits-a-new-model-for-social-tokens-on-ethereum/
a16z investment: https://a16z.com/2021/10/27/investing-in-friends-with-benefits-a-dao/
FWB deep dive: https://ra.co/features/3914
Intelligencer write up: https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2021/10/whats-a-dao-why-your-group-chat-could-be-worth-millions.html
Coindesk write up: https://www.coindesk.com/business/2021/11/09/the-social-token-network-rally-friends-with-benefits-and-the-future-of-branding/
Cooper Turley removed from DAO
https://www.coindesk.com/business/2022/01/15/crypto-influencer-cooper-turley-removed-from-fwb-over-2013-bigoted-tweets/
Backlash to removal:
https://twitter.com/mewn21/status/1482202603563798530
WHALE treasury tokens
https://snapshot.org/#/friendswithbenefits.eth/proposal/QmWnifY3KD5ECJNtQ23m9GHt2oQ1McA3T4DEEpFarPy9jW
Additional Links
Sound.xyz
https://www.sound.xyz/
Catalog
https://beta.catalog.works/
Daily Ape on DAOs: https://thedailyape.notion.site/DAOs-95332c7ab79c49dc89f9a72c628dfeb8
Social Tokens:
Cooper Turley:
https://coopahtroopa.mirror.xyz/DYSs-mhdJi1uXZTaiyJfwiFZYAF9kRK6yBsAplk6A68
Linda Xie:
https://linda.mirror.xyz/4PDBWBMpFFPVEsP5EGgg5to2AyEpEHEXasq_K0b-yYk
Forefront: https://forefront.market/learn/social-tokens
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Trevor McFedries - Building Web 3.0 - [Founder’s Field Guide, EP. 29]
My guest today is Trevor McFedries, the founder of technology startup Brud and the creator of virtual pop star Miquela, a Gen Z icon with millions of fans worldwide. Trevor’s background is fascinating - he worked as a DJ and producer, toured with Katy Perry, worked at Spotify, and done just about every interesting thing I can imagine. In our conversation, we discuss the music-industrial complex, the creation of Miquela, and what Web 3.0 will mean for creators and builders in the future. I hope you enjoy this conversation with Trevor McFedries.
For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here.
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Founder's Field Guide is a property of Colossus, Inc. For more episodes of Founder's Field Guide, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.
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Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus
Show Notes
[00:02:54] - [First question] - What unites the diversity of his career
[00:03:39] - What inspired him to pivot away from football and step into creative arts
[00:05:50] - Lessons learned from being a touring DJ and producer that apply to the creative tech sector
[00:07:40] - A view of the music industrial complex from the inside
[00:08:57] - How the internet deciding who becomes popular affected already established artists
[00:10:57] - Interesting opportunities in the music landscape in 2021
[00:11:40] - Time spent at Spotify and the spark of insight that led to founding Brud
[00:16:02] - The sequence of creating a digital artist like Lil Miquela
[00:19:02] - What it feels like to be “othered”
[00:20:24] - Embracing one's intersections and applying it to a business model
[00:21:18] - The team behind Lil Miquela and her design process
[00:25:49] - Ingredients required for building a great narrative
[00:28:35] - What social media platforms matter today, and the state of the social landscape
[00:32:21] - Expanding Lil Miquela’s world and digital media monetization
[00:36:32] - Differences between web 2.0 and 3.0 that may directly affect creators
[00:38:27] - Ways innovations like NFTs make spawn new network participants
[00:39:49] - Programmable art and media experiences
[00:41:03] - The most cutting-edge ideas in the digital persona space
[00:43:21] - Technology that wasn’t available that had to be built to enable new experiences
[00:45:49] - One of the hardest decisions he’s had to make in Brud’s history
[00:47:16] - The furthest they’ve ever pushed the envelope
[00:48:06] - What’s the thing that keeps him going every day
[00:50:12] - Finding cultural white space and inventing a character that could speak to investing to inspire new generations
[00:52:01] - Units of media contribution and creative container experimentation
[00:53:27] - What has him the most excited about the future of his industry
[00:54:32] - Missing technological components that could inspire new digital creatives
[00:56:53] - Work ethic through the lens of developing a jump shot
[00:59:00] - One business lesson that he believes in deeply
[01:00:05] - The kindest thing anyone’s ever done for him
"We've Been Creating Value for Instagram and TikTok With Very Little Actually Accruing to Us:" Trevor McFedries
This week’s interview is with Trevor McFedries, who is behind Lil Miquela, a 19-year-old aspiring pop star with almost 3M Instagram followers, striking deals with Clavin Klein and Prada. But what’s more surprising is that she’s not human. She’s a computer-generated, character. The company that Trevor co-founded, called Brud, created her image and life story. It’s only fitting then that Lil Miquela, who lives in a digital world, will start to leverage digital tokens.
[Note: Trevor says in the interview a Miquela drop on SuperRare would happen on Oct. 30 or 31, but they’ve since changed the date to November 17. So you’re still on time to participate.]
How to build authentic connection at scale, w/Trevor McFedries & Lil Miquela
You might not know Trevor McFedries yet, but if you're on Instagram, you've probably met Miquela. She has millions of followers, hit singles and lucrative contracts with brands. But she’s not actually real. Miquela’s the creation of Trevor’s stealthy creative media studio Brud, and the delicate balance they strike between artificial and authentic is a master class for any scaling company. In this first-ever in-depth interview with Trevor, he shares his bold plan to create celebrity at massive, multilingual scale; his advice for entrepreneurs of color as they fundraise; and his guidance for anyone connecting at scale: That once you build that connection with your audience, they don't care HOW you made it. All they care about is how it makes them feel. Cameo: Alison Darcy (Woebot).
Read a transcript of this episode at https://mastersofscale.com
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