Bennett Collen and Stephanie Howard (Endstate) on building a web3-native fashion brand (EP.346)

Ria and Nic from Castle Island sit down with Stephanie Howard and Bennett Collen, cofounders of Endstate, a web3 footwear and fashion brand. We cover the merits of the redeem-and-retain NFT model and the vision for Endstate.

• Bennett's prior crypto startup and how he decided to unite his passion for sneakers with web3
• How Bennett and Stephanie met and cofounded Endstate
• Stephanie's career in sneaker design to date
• Why creators and athletes are jumping at the opportunity to issue merchandise-linked NFTs
• Why Bennett and Stephanie chose to launch a web3 native brand
• How redeem-and-retain NFTs allow manufacturers to reduce inventory risk
• Why fashion is getting more targeted and niche
• Why Endstate is able to release new iterations of their sneakers so quickly
• Endstate's rationale for manufacturing in the US
• Endstate drops to date
• Endstate's new drop with Eagles wide receiver DeVonta Smith
• How web3 brands should think about which metaverse to build for
• Endstate's thinking around Solana vs Ethereum and the impact of gas fees
• How to link physical products with NFTs – from NFCs to QRs to visual scans
• What should we call physical NFTs?
• Aside from shoes, what merch is amenable to the Endstate model?
• What product sectors will be NFTed?
• How developed are authenticated third party marketplaces for physically linked NFTs?
• Physical-linked NFTs as a trojan horse to onboard mass markets into web3
• The future state of Endstate
• Other web3 drops Bennett and Stephanie enjoyed
• The future of entangled NFTs

Read more:

• Nic Carter on Medium: Redeem and Retain NFTs are the future of Luxury Goods
• Vogue Business: How the crypto bear market is resetting fashion's Web3 strategy

Drops and more at endstate.io

Intro and outro music: Daniel Allan's Collage #344