Disclaimer: not financial advice, please do your own research.
During the bear market, everything was crashing. Crypto was down, tech was down, SF was getting public backlash nonstop. It seemed like the worst time to be hanging out in crypto and San Francisco.
Yet, the founder mode part of me craved deeper involvement in web3; I wanted more skin in the game.
Thatās when Pudgy Penguins caught my attention, though it started with a dose of skepticism. It all started with memes of couple content.
From a fun gimmick to something way more
I'd first heard about Pudgy Penguins in Summer of 2021. A friend introduced me to the Pudgy Penguins NFT collection after using her Pudgy for a hotel advertisement in Malaysia. It seemed fun and gimmicky, but nothing more. A year later, I re-discovered them on TikTok.
My TikTok feed, which is usually full of fashion, lifestyle, food, and music, suddenly started serving me couples content videos using the IP of an NFT project.
Seeing web3 content on my TikTok for you feed page felt slightly unsettling yet exciting at the same time. I felt like web3 wasā¦ spilling over into my personal life, into a TikTok feed that Iād curated to temporarily escape crypto and work.
As I scrolled through their profile, I noticed that their huge engagement numbers resembled those of successful non-web3 brands, which was rather surprising for a project of NFT origins. This intrigued me.
I joined their Twitter space and happened to catch the moment in which their CEO, Luca Netz, was outlining bold plans for Pudgy Penguin's IP expansion and Walmart partnerships. Luca talked about their goal to build a brand via community-led efforts.
In my gut, I felt really drawn to their vision.
Diving in: my first ugly penguin
I did what a degen would've done: aped in while prices were at ~3 ETH and bought the ugliest Pudgy I could find on the floor (sorry to previous owner). At the time, 3 ETH was was ~$7k. My investor brain justified this as a calculated risk. I was purposefully trying to minimize emotional attachment and planned to sell it without hesitation when the time was right (spoiler: yes I became attached eventually š¤£).
When I told my friends, they roasted me endearingly: āYou spent seven thousand dollars on a picture of a penguin?ā I just minded my own business and trusted my gut feeling about Pudgy Penguins being onto something.
Little did I know, the Pudgy community would completely transform my perspective within months.
The magic of Pudgy Penguins unveiled itself when I connected with the community. I joined their members-only Discord group and introduced myself. Almost immediately, one of the most influential community members, @PudgyAmateur, reached out and suggested that we host a meetup at our SF office together. Back then, I didnāt know many crypto people in the bay area. I really wasnāt expecting many people to come. To my surprise, the local Pudgy crowd showed up in force during day 1 of our office opening, with one person bringing a blueberry yogurt cake, and another showing up with fried chicken sandwiches, to help celebrate the beginnings of DeForm at our brand new office.
Prior to meeting the attendees of Pudgy SF #1, I had no idea who was going to come: crazy internet anons? Animal-obsessed online quirks?
They turned out to be some of the coolest people ever. To name a few:
The head of digital assets at JP Morgan.
A former engineering manager at a top crypto company, turned founder of Cozyverse.
Founder of an influencer platform who recently announced his acquisition.
A legendary OG Bitcoin enthusiast who kickstarted Bitcoin farms out of hotel rooms in 2013.
We celebrated DeForm office and the PPSF meetup with a Blueberry Chiffon cake from Paris Baguette.
The agenda was light:
-Intros
-PP update by me.
Theā¦
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The next week, I flew to Korea and Singapore to attend the Korea Blockchain Week and TOKEN2049 crypto conferences. And wow, this trip really deepened my appreciation for the Penguin community. I attended events they hosted, met long-time believers, and even met Luca, the CEO of Igloo Inc. himself! Members of Pudgy Korea and Pudgy Singapore introduced us to regional delicacies, connected us to their friends, and showed us nightlife.
Then it dawned on me: Pudgy holders aren't just investorsāthey are passionate, visionary, fun people who are creating a movement.
A few weeks later, I returned to SF, feeling determined to meaningfully grow and invest our local Pudgy community.
Along with PudgyAmateur, the DeForm team started hosting more meetups in SF, ranging from more exclusive gatherings to open events like happy hours with other companies like Privy. These events became gateways to incredible opportunities. We met customers, connected with future teammates, and met some really rad individuals who are building the future of the internet. People occasionally ask how we're affiliated and if I'm being sponsored directly to help them host events. The answer is no, I do this for fun, and it's been helpful for our company to grow alongside the Pudgy Penguin community!
i felt so much joy from connecting together new & old friends across and within the industry
Our company's relationship with Pudgy Penguins also organically evolved into a business partnership. Months later, we would go on with to work with the Abstract team, which is their EVM L2 blockchain, to run one of our most successful campaigns on our platform. We helped them double their X follower count and generated tens of thousands of transactions. Just last week, Pudgy Penguins used our forms module to verify Discord participation and wallet addresses, which will be incorporated into their airdrop strategy.
Watching their growth firsthand has been incredible tooāfrom the launch of their IP licensing platform (Overpass), to their GIFs surpassing 10 billion views, the acquisition of Frame, the announcement of Abstract, and their bold token launch on their Solana ecosystem. I admire how this team has been able to consistently balance mass appeal with cutting-edge web3 innovation and experiments in IP, marketing, and community.
Why I'm so excited about Pudgy Penguins
Watching their growth firsthand has been incredible tooāfrom the launch of their IP licensing platform (Overpass), to their GIFs surpassing 10 billion views, the acquisition of Frame, the announcement of Abstract, and their bold token launch on their Solana ecosystem. I admire how this team has been able to consistently balance mass appeal with cutting-edge web3 innovation and experiments in IP, marketing, and community.
When people ask why Iām so excited, hereās what I tell them:
Decentralized IP licensing unlocks new financial opportunities for holders: Holders can license their NFTs and earn revenue through products like Walmart plushies and Target merchandise. This paradigm of enabling mutual benefit between company and community would never have been viable with other traditional IP brands.
The global community is strong: The joy of meeting Pudgy holders worldwide is unparalleled. Some of the best web3 crypto founders are a part of this community. (See if you can find me in the Marketing square š)
Pudgy Penguin IP onboards newcomers into crypto: Their social media content resonates with people beyond crypto. I often get other other crypto-curious people reach out and ask about how to get started in this space. I show them Pudgy Penguins and then things click in a new way that shows them they can be part of an online movement that values community, ownership, and good vibes over speculation and gambling.
They're bold when it comes to experimenting with new boundaries: Pudgy Penguins make blockchain invisible to mainstream consumers while pushing financial and creative boundaries for web3-natives via community-led IP licensing & revenue sharing, and airdrops.
Ownership motivates people in powerful ways, and crypto enables creators and fans to benefit financially and creatively by growing the brands they love. Blockchainās interoperability fosters seamless collaboration and shared upside between people and agents. Pudgy Penguinsā recent tokenomics announcement is a living example of this ideaāas the network grows, everyone involved benefits.
Check out our tokenomics and distribution below:
Looking ahead
Weāre about to host our seventh SF community event tonight, and I couldnāt be more excited (dm me for an invite if youāre in town!). Pudgy Penguins exemplify whatās possible when brands embrace onchain principles to empower their communities. This journey has been transformative for me, I'm so proud to have been an early member of Pudgy Penguins. More importantly though, I'm excited for them to establish playbooks for more onchain brands and communities to thrive.
I am my Pudgy and my Pudgy is me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
