Welcome to Issue #11
This week didn't turn out to be a good one for long form writing.
But that doesn’t mean I quit working!
We’ll pick up with The “(Token) Game Theory” series again soon. I promise. But this week, the Alpha is the best I can do.
And let me say ‘Welcome!’ to the one new reader who slipped in under the wire when they subscribed last night (and from Yale.edu to boot!).
Do you know a creator who wants to learn more about Web3? If so, please share this newsletter with them.
Welcome to the Alpha!
This is where I gather up all the things that were on my radar during the past week. If I feel they’re worth passing on, they end up here with a few thoughts of my own.
Usually, you have to follow a link at the bottom of the newsletter to get to this content. But some weeks, it’s the main event.
From The Map is Mostly Water
Simon Sarris shares some thoughts to consider…
On waiting for permission
…it is an error to wait around for inspiration, or to demand some feeling of readiness for an undertaking, or for a teacher or some other golden opportunity… stop waiting for others—for either their permission or instruction—and instead begin on your own, fumbling through, regardless of how ready you are
On courting failure
…there is value in pushing learning and doing as close together as possible… Failure is something you want to tempt... A meaningful first project should have sufficient difficulty that there is some real chance of failure… A chance of failure ensures your hands are firmly touching reality, and not endlessly flipping through the textbook, or forever flirting only with ideas.
On building in public
…if you are creating while learning in public, you may find others who come along and help you… People are much more willing to take an interest and help you along if you have already put in work yourself to show for it. It is annoying to humor someone dancing around the edges of creation, because most people never take any real steps, or worse, simply want you to do the work for them. On the other hand it is inspiring to help someone who has begun… Enthusiasm is contagious.
In last week’s newsletter I mentioned Dune Analytics. Here’s a guide if you want to learn more about the site and how to build your own dashboard.
Async Now Open to Everyone
Full featured - No code NFT launch platform.
Previously open only by invitation
Create generative art pieces from individual elements
Rarity controls
Async takes 10% on the primary sale, 1% of all secondary sales (through their market)
Creator royalties are automatically set at 10%
MailChimp(Intuit) De-platforms Crypto/Web3 Writers
from Decrypt
Many notable and popular crypto and Web3 newsletters got caught up in the sweep.
Messari - Crypto analytics
Edge - Wallet provider
Decrypt - Crypto newsletter
It didn't stop at censorship. They completely locked the writers out of their accounts.
Not only was there zero warning, we can't even access our subscriber lists.
Wow. I’m glad I chose a censorship resistant platform like Paragraph.
Bored Apes are Going Vertical?
MagicEden, a popular NFT marketplace that came up inside the Solana block-chain, has proposed the building of an ApeCoinDAO Marketplace. Trades made inside the marketplace would be charged 0.75%. This is much lower than the 2-2.5% fees charged on OpenSea and LooksRare.
This is an incredible effort to under-cut MagicEden’s biggest competitors, not by simply offering a cheaper rate, but by also creating a more immersive experience for ApeCoinDAO members.
Look for this type of vertical integration to become a standard for larger projects in the near future It’ll be a white label product for everyone else not long after that.
Getting Meta
Subscriber Count: 69
Total Alpha Claims: 20
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