Friends With Benefits

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 Stay Updated:  Find a16z on Twitter: https://twitter.com/a16z Find a16z on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/a16z Subscribe on your favorite podcast app: https://a16z.simplecast.com/ Follow our host: https://twitter.com/stephsmithio 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. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures. Stay Updated: Find a16z on YouTube: YouTube Find a16z on X Find a16z on LinkedIn Listen to the a16z Show on Spotify Listen to the a16z Show on Apple Podcasts Follow our host: https://twitter.com/eriktorenberg 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. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Trevor McFedries

Co-Founder

BrudDCDapper CollectivesFriends With Benefits

Isaac Bratzel

Chief Design and Innovation Officer

Brud

This week’s Defiant Podcast is from a conversation I had with Alex Zhang at the Unfinished Live conference. Alex is the mayor of Friend with Benefits, or FWB, a prominent DAO of creatives. Friends with Benefits started as an experiment when its founder minted and airdropped the FWB token to an early community. FWB holders gained access to private chat groups on Discord. From there, it developed into a community of thousands of members, live events and even proprietary software. Alex explains the evolution and growth of Friends with Benefits. A common criticism of Web3 is that it over-financializes communities and social media. To join Friends with Benefits, a user must hold 75 FWB in their Ethereum wallet. At its peak, membership would have set you back $14,000. At current prices, it costs roughly $600, which can still be considered a prohibitive price for most people. Alex shares his thoughts on this exclusionary feature of Web3. In the past two years, we’ve seen a boom in Web3 communities sprouting from DeFi, DAOs, and NFTs. As we’re still in an experimental phase in this regard, meaning there are no strict rules and practices, we discuss how Alex finds running a DAO in this environment, given the less hierarchical and structureless nature found in Web3 communities. 🙏 Thanking our podcast sponsors: 1inch is a DEX aggregator that finds the best rates across multiple networks. Why use a single DEX when you can use them all? Find your best deal at 1inch. ZenGo is a crypto wallet that uses biometric encryption, 3FA authentication and MPC wallet cryptography instead of private keys. Aleo is enabling developers to build their own private and scalable apps. Currently in their third incentivized testnet phase, you can find more information at https://leo-lang.org/ Oasis.app aims to be the most trusted entry point to the Maker Protocol and to DeFi. You can borrow DAI, multiply your exposure and earn. Try it Now!

Alex Zhang

Mayor

Friends With Benefits

In this episode of Empire, Jason and Santi are joined by Cooper Turley, aka Coopahtroopa, for a master class on music NFTs. We all listen to music every day, yet monetization for 99% of artists is abysmal. Coop explains how artists can leverage Web3 to maximize revenue, fan engagement and creativity. We explore how music NFTs work, why they have value, which artists should participate and how Web3 will revolutionize the music industry. Cooper is an absolute expert, you won't want to miss it! - - Timestamps: (00:00) Intro (02:00) Coop Records & Intro to Music NFTs (06:50) The Evolution of Music Monetization (11:30) How to Value Music NFTs (14:41) Artists as CEOs & the Music NFT Market (22:59) Circle Ad (24:41) Should Every Artist Create Music NFTs? (28:57) Do Music NFTs Need Utility? (37:40) One-of-Ones vs Collections (41:35) AI-Generated Music & Virtual Artists (47:05) Monetization, Fan Data and the Innovator's Dilemma (53:16) Incubating Artists, Creator Equity Tokens & Community (1:00:01) Tokenized Media & Rapid Fire Questions - - Follow Cooper: https://twitter.com/Cooopahtroopa Follow Jason: https://twitter.com/JasonYanowitz Follow Santi: https://twitter.com/santiagoroel Follow Empire: https://twitter.com/theempirepod Subscribe on YouTube: https://tinyurl.com/4fdhhb2j Subscribe on Apple: https://tinyurl.com/mv4frfv7 Subscribe on Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/wbaypprw - - Resources Relics by Monstercat https://relics.xyz/ Hume https://www.wearehume.com/ Coop's Substack https://thisweekinmusicnfts.substack.com/ Coop Records https://www.cooprecords.xyz/ -- Circle’s USDC has quickly become one of the most trusted and widely used stablecoins because of its composability, stability and reserve transparency. As a seamless, trusted digital currency, USDC is a zero-to-one opportunity for the global financial system. Check out their Transparency Hub at circle.com/transparency that outlines everything from links to USDC weekly reserve reports, monthly attestations, and blog posts written by their executive team highlighting how and why USDC was built the way it is. - - Get top market insights and the latest in crypto news. Subscribe to Blockworks Daily Newsletter: https://blockworks.co/newsletter/ - - Disclaimer: Nothing said on Empire is a recommendation to buy or sell securities or tokens. This podcast is for informational purposes only, and any views expressed by anyone on the show are solely our opinions, not financial advice. Santiago, Jason, and our guests may hold positions in the companies, funds, or projects discussed.

Cooper Turley

Creator economy investor & advisor

AudiusVariant FundCoop RecordsFriends With Benefits

What is most important in crypto? What wins out in the end? Today, we find out if user experience is more important than decentralization. As we progress through crypto's cambrian explosion, we often observe the tradeoff between immediate product viability and a 'no cutting corners' approach. Taking the side of UX & a product-first mentality is Cooper Turley, a champion of the creator economy. Kevin Owocki—himself a schelling point for public goods—is defending decentralization and the merits of a values-first approach. While exploring the roots of this tradeoff, we'll learn more about where we are as an ecosystem and where we are inevitably heading. ------ 📣 ZERION | Trade Across 7 Networks and 500+ protocols https://bankless.cc/Zerion  ------ 🚀 SUBSCRIBE TO NEWSLETTER: https://newsletter.banklesshq.com/ 🎙️ SUBSCRIBE TO PODCAST: http://podcast.banklesshq.com/ ------ BANKLESS SPONSOR TOOLS: 👀 POLYGON | LAYER 2 DEFI https://bankless.cc/Polygon  ❎ ACROSS | BRIDGE TO LAYER 2 https://bankless.cc/Across  🦊 METAMASK | THE CRYPTO WALLET https://bankless.cc/metamask  💳 LEDGER | THE CRYPTO LIFE CARD https://bankless.cc/Ledger  🧙‍♂️ ALCHEMIX | SELF REPAYING LOANS https://bankless.cc/Alchemix  🦄 UNISWAP | DECENTRALIZED FUNDING https://bankless.cc/UniGrants  ------ Timestamps: 0:00 Intro 5:45 Decentralization vs. Usability 10:15 Learnings with New Users 19:19 How Will Crypto Change the World? 25:10 Not Compromising on Values 32:25 Do Users Care About Values? 36:00 Where/When to Compromise 39:13 The Importance of DevTooling 41:00 Crypto's Trojan Horse 43:36 What Good UX Looks Like 48:55 Lowest Hanging UX-Fruit 50:39 How This All Comes to Fruition 53:11 2022 Crypto W Wishlist ------ Resources: Cooper on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Cooopahtroopa  Kevin on Twitter: https://twitter.com/owocki  Foundation: https://foundation.app/  Soundxyz: https://www.sound.xyz/  Mirror: https://twitter.com/viamirror  Snapshot: https://snapshot.org/#/  Gnosis Safe: https://gnosis-safe.io/  ----- Not financial or tax advice. This channel is strictly educational and is not investment advice or a solicitation to buy or sell any assets or to make any financial decisions. This video is not tax advice. Talk to your accountant. Do your own research. Disclosure. From time-to-time I may add links in this newsletter to products I use. I may receive commission if you make a purchase through one of these links. Additionally, the Bankless writers hold crypto assets. See our investment disclosures here: https://newsletter.banklesshq.com/p/bankless-disclosures

Kevin Owocki

Founder

GitcoinSupermodular

Cooper Turley

Creator economy investor & advisor

AudiusVariant FundCoop RecordsFriends With Benefits

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

Co-Founder

BrudDCDapper CollectivesFriends With Benefits

Cooper Turley is all in, all the time. He’s been that way since he was a kid. In the crypto space, it truly seems like he’s everywhere at once. He knows everyone and has his hands in nearly every relevant project. However, none of this happened by chance. Cooper is a champion of the grinder mindset, and it echoes through everything he touches. His approach to his career, relationships, and self-improvement buzzes with a productive energy to build and bring value to all that he does. We all have something to learn from Cooper Turley. As crypto continues to mature, it’s clear that big things are lined up for Cooper. We can’t wait to see what he comes up with next. ------ 📣 ONJUNO | Crypto from your Checking Account! https://bankless.cc/OnJuno  ------ 🚀 SUBSCRIBE TO NEWSLETTER: https://newsletter.banklesshq.com/  🎙️ SUBSCRIBE TO PODCAST: http://podcast.banklesshq.com/  ------ BANKLESS SPONSOR TOOLS: ⚖️ ARBITRUM | SCALING ETHEREUM https://bankless.cc/Arbitrum  🍵 MATCHA | SMART ORDER ROUTING https://bankless.cc/Matcha  🚀 SLINGSHOT | LAYER 2 SOCIAL TRADING https://bankless.cc/Slingshot  🏦 GEMINI | TURN FIAT INTO CRYPTO https://bankless.cc/Gemini  🦁 BRAVE | THE BROWSER NATIVE WALLET https://bankless.cc/Brave  🦄 UNISWAP | DECENTRALIZED FUNDING https://bankless.cc/UniGrants  ------ Topics Covered: 0:00 Intro 4:39 Cooper Turley & Runescpe 9:22 Grinding & Sports 13:18 Video Starts 15:19 College & Music 18:36 Mindfulness & Schedule 25:38 Crypto in 2017 33:26 Bear Market Building 40:59 Working on Everything 45:31 🔥_🔥 51:08 Hollywood Cooper IRL 57:48 Bull Market Behavior 1:00:49 Intersecting Crypto & Culture 1:05:14 A Horizontal Approach 1:12:01 On the Road 1:16:21 Closing & Disclaimers ------ Resources: Cooper on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Cooopahtroopa?s=20  ----- Not financial or tax advice. This channel is strictly educational and is not investment advice or a solicitation to buy or sell any assets or to make any financial decisions. This video is not tax advice. Talk to your accountant. Do your own research. Disclosure. From time-to-time I may add links in this newsletter to products I use. I may receive commission if you make a purchase through one of these links. Additionally, the Bankless writers hold crypto assets. See our investment disclosures here: https://newsletter.banklesshq.com/p/bankless-disclosures

Cooper Turley

Creator economy investor & advisor

AudiusVariant FundCoop RecordsFriends With Benefits

In this episode of Empire Jason & Mike are joined by Cooper Turley an operator, advisor & thought leader in the fast evolving DAO ecosystem. Cooper has worked on projects such as Friends with Benefits, Forefront, Seed Club & many more. In this episode, Cooper shares his thoughts on the transition from web 2.0 to web 3.0, four steps to creating a DAO, the creator economy, how to invest in the ecosystem & the outlook for the rest of 2021. -- Avalanche: Thank you to Avalanche for sponsoring Empire. Avalanche is one of the best and fastest growing smart-contract platforms in the industry. Learn more about them at https://www.avax.network/ -- ParaSwap: If you want to make a swap at the best price across the DeFi market, check out paraswap.io. ParaSwap’s state-of-the-art algorithm beats the market price across all major DEXs and brings you the most optimized swaps with the best prices, and lowest slippage. Find out more about them at https://www.paraswap.io/ --- Empire is brought to you by Blockworks, a financial media brand delivering breaking news and premium insights about digital assets to millions of investors. For more content like Empire, visit http://blockworks.co/podcasts Follow me on Twitter @JasonYanowitz and let me know what you thought of the show!

Cooper Turley

Creator economy investor & advisor

AudiusVariant FundCoop RecordsFriends With Benefits

DAOs are heating up. In 2021, the tools and infrastructure surrounding DAOs have taken off at an incredible pace. Digital organizations have the potential to fundamentally change the way we coordinate as a species. We bring on DAO experts Kain Warwick, Cooper Turley, and Tracheopteryx to provide insights into this budding movement. What is different about DAOs? Why are we excited about them? ------ 📣 TracerDAO | Building DeFi Infrastructure. Join the Discord! https://bankless.cc/TracerDAO  ------ 🚀 SUBSCRIBE TO NEWSLETTER: https://newsletter.banklesshq.com/  🎙️ SUBSCRIBE TO PODCAST: http://podcast.banklesshq.com/  🎖 CLAIM YOUR BADGE: https://newsletter.banklesshq.com/p/-guide-2-using-the-bankless-badge  ------ BANKLESS SPONSOR TOOLS: 💰 GEMINI | FIAT & CRYPTO EXCHANGE https://bankless.cc/go-gemini  🔀 BALANCER | EXCHANGE & POOL ASSETS https://bankless.cc/balancer  👻 AAVE | LEND & BORROW ASSETS https://bankless.cc/aave  🦄 UNISWAP | DECENTRALIZED FUNDING http://bankless.cc/uniswap  ------ Topics Covered: 0:00 Intro 4:00 Kain, Cooper, and Trach 6:32 Are DAOs Different? 10:55 Leadership in DAOs 16:32 Keys to a Successful DAO 23:08 Purpose and Values 29:13 Optimal DAO Size 36:20 The Goal of DAOs 41:00 Does Coin Voting Suck? 51:49 The DAO Lifestyle 57:21 Fluidity, Growth, and Community 1:04:07 The A in DAO 1:10:45 Slaying Moloch 1:15:11 How DAOs Change Lives 1:19:32 Closing & Disclaimers ------ Resources: Kain on Twitter https://twitter.com/kaiynne?s=20  Cooper on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Cooopahtroopa?s=20  Tracheopteryx on Twitter: https://twitter.com/tracheopteryx?s=20  ----- Not financial or tax advice. This channel is strictly educational and is not investment advice or a solicitation to buy or sell any assets or to make any financial decisions. This video is not tax advice. Talk to your accountant. Do your own research. Disclosure. From time-to-time I may add links in this newsletter to products I use. I may receive commission if you make a purchase through one of these links. Additionally, the Bankless writers hold crypto assets. See our investment disclosures here: https://newsletter.banklesshq.com/p/bankless-disclosures

Kain Warwick

Founder

SynthetixInfinexBodhi Ventures

Cooper Turley

Creator economy investor & advisor

AudiusVariant FundCoop RecordsFriends With Benefits

Tracheopteryx

Founder

CoordinapeYearn Finance

Join Michael Wong and David Hoffman as they attempt to make a show about comedy and crypto! Subscribe to the Top Signal RSS Feed: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/top-signal/id1574944825   GUESTS @Cooopahtroopa @0x_Lucas @BlockchainJames @gladstonecallum ------ 🚀 SUBSCRIBE TO NEWSLETTER: https://newsletter.banklesshq.com/ 🎙️ SUBSCRIBE TO PODCAST: http://podcast.banklesshq.com/ 🎖 CLAIM YOUR BADGE: https://newsletter.banklesshq.com/p/-guide-2-using-the-bankless-badge ----- Not financial or tax advice. This channel is strictly educational and is not investment advice or a solicitation to buy or sell any assets or to make any financial decisions. This video is not tax advice. Talk to your accountant. Do your own research. Disclosure. From time-to-time I may add links in this newsletter to products I use. I may receive commission if you make a purchase through one of these links. Additionally, the Bankless writers hold crypto assets. See our investment disclosures here: https://newsletter.banklesshq.com/p/bankless-disclosures

Cooper Turley

Creator economy investor & advisor

AudiusVariant FundCoop RecordsFriends With Benefits

Lucas Campbell

Bankless DAO

Callum Gladstone

Bankless DAO

James Waugh

Bankless DAO

Join Michael Wong and David Hoffman as they attempt to make a show about comedy and crypto! Subscribe to the Top Signal RSS feed! https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/top-signal/id1574944825 GUESTS: @Cooopahtroopa @0x_Lucas @BlockchainJames @gladstonecallum ------ 🚀 SUBSCRIBE TO NEWSLETTER: https://newsletter.banklesshq.com/ 🎙️ SUBSCRIBE TO PODCAST: http://podcast.banklesshq.com/ 🎖 CLAIM YOUR BADGE: https://newsletter.banklesshq.com/p/-guide-2-using-the-bankless-badge ----- Not financial or tax advice. This channel is strictly educational and is not investment advice or a solicitation to buy or sell any assets or to make any financial decisions. This video is not tax advice. Talk to your accountant. Do your own research. Disclosure. From time-to-time I may add links in this newsletter to products I use. I may receive commission if you make a purchase through one of these links. Additionally, the Bankless writers hold crypto assets. See our investment disclosures here: https://newsletter.banklesshq.com/p/bankless-disclosures

Cooper Turley

Creator economy investor & advisor

AudiusVariant FundCoop RecordsFriends With Benefits

Lucas Campbell

Bankless DAO

Callum Gladstone

Bankless DAO

James Waugh

Bankless DAO

Join Michael Wong and David Hoffman as they attempt to make a show about comedy and crypto! Subscribe to the Top Signal RSS feed! https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/top-signal/id1574944825 GUESTS @Cooopahtroopa @0x_Lucas @BlockchainJames @gladstonecallum ------ 🚀 SUBSCRIBE TO NEWSLETTER: https://newsletter.banklesshq.com/ 🎙️ SUBSCRIBE TO PODCAST: http://podcast.banklesshq.com/ 🎖 CLAIM YOUR BADGE: https://newsletter.banklesshq.com/p/-guide-2-using-the-bankless-badge ----- Not financial or tax advice. This channel is strictly educational and is not investment advice or a solicitation to buy or sell any assets or to make any financial decisions. This video is not tax advice. Talk to your accountant. Do your own research. Disclosure. From time-to-time I may add links in this newsletter to products I use. I may receive commission if you make a purchase through one of these links. Additionally, the Bankless writers hold crypto assets. See our investment disclosures here: https://newsletter.banklesshq.com/p/bankless-disclosures

Cooper Turley

Creator economy investor & advisor

AudiusVariant FundCoop RecordsFriends With Benefits

Lucas Campbell

Bankless DAO

Callum Gladstone

Bankless DAO

James Waugh

Bankless DAO

Come learn and hear about what the Creator Economy is, and what it has in store for our industry! Li Jin: @ljin18 Jesse Walden @jessewldn Cooper Turley: @Cooopahtroopa ------ 🚀 SUBSCRIBE TO NEWSLETTER: https://newsletter.banklesshq.com/  🎙️ SUBSCRIBE TO PODCAST: http://podcast.banklesshq.com/  🎖 CLAIM YOUR BADGE: https://newsletter.banklesshq.com/p/-guide-2-using-the-bankless-badge  ------ BANKLESS SPONSOR TOOLS: 💰 GEMINI | FIAT & CRYPTO EXCHANGE https://bankless.cc/go-gemini  🔀 BALANCER | EXCHANGE & POOL ASSETS https://bankless.cc/balancer  👻 AAVE | LEND & BORROW ASSETS https://bankless.cc/aave  🦄 UNISWAP | DECENTRALIZED FUNDING http://bankless.cc/uniswap  ------ 📣 Ledger | Securely Exchange with Paraswap https://bankless.cc/LedgerYT2  ------ The Creator Economy Panelists: Cooper Turley, Li Jin, Jesse Walden The Creator Economy naturally erupts with the internet. Specialization allows creatives – artists, content creators, and everything in between – to carve out increasingly specific niches and build curated cultural communities. Art in all forms has an opportunity to blossom with the coordinative capacity of modern technology, and every active participant is inherently a creator. Smartphones and social media make everyone journalists, photographers, actors, and commentators simultaneously. With this budding paradigm, ownership of creations is paramount. The crypto industry lends itself elegantly to this need, blending creation and ownership. Web 2 has witnessed an explosion of distributed content, but centralized platforms determine the nature of how it plays out. Crypto offers a natural evolution to the creator economy, enriching the relationship between creator and community. This conversation takes a wide lens to the intersection of culture and the crypto industry. From MySpace to Instagram to Patreon, the ebbs & flows of internet culture and economy moves at a blistering pace. Our experienced panelists break these things down and discuss where we're going. ------ Resources: Li on Twitter: https://twitter.com/ljin18?s=20  Jesse on Twitter: https://twitter.com/jessewldn?s=20  Cooper on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Cooopahtroopa?s=20  ------ Topics Covered: 0:00 Intro 4:30 Cooper, Li, and Jesse 7:30 What is the Creator Economy? 14:32 Evolving Creator and Community 21:31 Creator First vs. Platforms 28:35 The Internet Dream 36:16 Evolving Platforms 43:00 Sovereign Creation 47:19 DAOs and the Creator Economy 55:30 Creator Economy Platforms 59:27 Get Involved 1:02:08 Closing & Disclaimers ----- Not financial or tax advice. This channel is strictly educational and is not investment advice or a solicitation to buy or sell any assets or to make any financial decisions. This video is not tax advice. Talk to your accountant. Do your own research. Disclosure. From time-to-time I may add links in this newsletter to products I use. I may receive commission if you make a purchase through one of these links. Additionally, the Bankless writers hold crypto assets. See our investment disclosures here: https://newsletter.banklesshq.com/p/bankless-disclosures

Jesse Walden

Co-founder

MEMediachainVariant FundVariant

Li Jin

Founder

Variant FundVariantAtelier Ventures

Cooper Turley

Creator economy investor & advisor

Variant FundAudiusCoop RecordsFriends With Benefits

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. ----- Founder's Field Guide is a property of Colossus, Inc. For more episodes of Founder's Field Guide, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.   Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   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

Trevor McFedries

Co-Founder

BrudDCDapper CollectivesFriends With Benefits

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.]

Trevor McFedries

Co-Founder

BrudDCDapper CollectivesFriends With Benefits

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 Subscribe to the Masters of Scale weekly newsletter at https://mastersofscale.com/subscribe See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Trevor McFedries

Co-Founder

BrudDCDapper CollectivesFriends With Benefits