I’m doubling down on investing in the intersection of culture and crypto by joining Variant as its newest Venture Partner.
Here’s what it means, and how to tap in.
My Web3 Thesis
The Ownership Economy, The Passion Economy, The Creator Economy.
They all share one core thesis - share value with those who create it.
In the context of web3 - we use community ownership to capture it.
Over the past year, social communities have become the core driver of new cultural asset classes represented by NFTs, DAOs and social tokens.
Being able to invest in and own the culture we create is the single most important opportunity for our generation. The ability to tokenize niche value, and distribute it at internet scale, allows anyone in the world to participate in the upside of the emerging internet culture they help create.
To this end - I’ve spent my time building and investing in projects at the intersection of culture and crypto.
This takes the form of investing directly in creators and their surrounding communities, and by backing founders creating products and services to meet their needs.
Why Variant?
Variant is the marquee seed fund investing in web3’s ownership economy.
They’ve been long-term believers in the potential for crypto to impact billions of consumers, and especially creators from the get go. I’m proud to be joining the Variant network as a venture partner, where I’ll advise the team on investment opportunities and often co-invest.
This is a way for me to scale my personal angel investing practice, and connect founders to some of the leading thinkers in the space.
If you don’t know the origins of Variant’s mission, read about their edge on the future of crypto x creator—and why Li Jin decided to merge Atelier Ventures and go all in on crypto and the ownership economy.
Variant is not a typical fund. They’re extremely mission-driven and view success as a world in which all products and services are owned by their users. They’ve chosen to stay relatively small, to make seed investing a dedicated focus—and to live up to their thesis on building networks that grow bigger, faster by being built, operated, and owned by their users.
To that end, Variant always prioritizes community, and has done the same in constructing their own fund—which is owned by over 100 builders in the space.
Variant is a dream team of specialists.
I’ve had early conversations with Jesse Walden since early 2020 - when we first connected over ideation around a personal token called $WHAT. Our shared music roots provide a strong conviction in cultural investment clubs - one that informs many of my time allocations today.
I’ve had the pleasure of watching Spencer Noon build Our Network from the ground up - and would like to thank him for being one of the earliest people in the space to follow me on Twitter when I had just over a thousand followers.
I’ve been lucky to travel the world with Li Jin and share deep discussions on the evolution of web2 to web3. It’s extremely clear that her mental framing is unlike any other investor in the space, and her reputation precedes her as being the premier investor in the Creator Economy today.
Last but not least - both Jon Itzler and Medha Kothari are rising stars you have to keep an eye on.
Both of these individuals continue to impress me with how tapped in and web3-native their logic is. When I think of the people who see the world not for what it is, but for what it will become - I think of Jon and Medha.
With an all-star extended support system of Jake Chervinsky on the legal front and Stani on the DeFi front - the Variant team is nothing short of exceptional.
My Role
I work with projects on token economics, governance and community. The earlier in your DAO journey the better. My favorite conversations are those which take a team from 0 to 1 - launching a DAO and embarking on their path to progressive decentralization.
Some examples are my work with FWB, Audius, SuperRare, Gitcoin and Forefront - due in large part to my colleagues at Fire Eyes DAO and a proven track record of bringing pivotal tokens to life.
Most importantly - I’m always looking to build a strong community.
Whether it’s conversations about first hires or setting up contributions frameworks, you can look to me for guidance on how to energize a community and get them to go from being a passive spectator to an active contributor.
How to Tap In
If you’re a founder building at the intersection of culture and crypto - this is your chance to get involved.
Attached below are 5 free NFTs. Each of these tokens entitle the owner to one 30 minute pitch.
If you’re a crypto-native founder building ways to invest in culture - let’s chat.
To the next wave of web3 social, I look forward to being a part of your early community and shaping the future of culture.
Until then - stay sharp, take a deep breath, and let’s ship!