Variant Fund is a venture capital firm that describes itself as “a first-check crypto fund investing in the ownership economy.” Jesse Walden and Li Jin, co-founders and general partners at Variant, join Unchained to discuss the ownership economy, issues with web2 and web3, NFTs, the future of work, and more. Highlights:

where Li and Jesse met and how their backgrounds as investors + founders led them to the crypto space
how Li’s investing niche, which she describes as the passion economy, ended up intersecting with crypto
why Li believes that web3 platforms will be better for creators than the current web2 ecosystem
why Jesse was so inspired by Bitcoin after working in the music industry for so many years
why Jesse believes that NFTs are the “port of entry” for the mainstream adoption of crypto
what other use-cases exist for NFTs outside of the JPEG or PNG meme (and why Jesse is so excited about music NFTs)
why Li believes that web3 tools can help fix the issues inherent to the “gig economy”
Li and Jesse respond to criticisms of web3 coming from Jack Dorsey and Moxie Marlinspike
how Variant Fund thinks about investing in crypto projects
what token allocation Variant Fund targets when investing in crypto projects
why mainstream platforms are experiencing backlash for integrating with NFTs and crypto
what trends in NFTs, DAOs, and the ownership economy Jesse and Li think will pop in 2022

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Episode links

Li Jin

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ljin18
Substack: https://li.substack.com/
Li Jin on the creator economy
- The future of the creator economy
  - https://drive.google.com/file/u/1/d/1C3fBfPgWxf-zqezGlPFr7VXIetlHlnaZ/view
  - https://twitter.com/ljin18/status/1454096370281943041
- What the creator economy is doing wrong
  - https://li.substack.com/p/legitimacy-lost
- How to fix the “gig” style economy for creators
  - https://li.substack.com/p/the-creator-economy-is-in-crisis
- How the creator economy could power universal basic income
  - https://li.substack.com/p/the-case-for-universal-creative-income
- What labor should look like in Web3
  - https://li.substack.com/p/a-labor-movement-for-the-platform
- Building the middle class of the creator economy
  - https://li.substack.com/p/building-the-middle-class-of-the
Other
- Web3 is the “golden age” of content
  - https://every.mirror.xyz/y_WLA-Tk3VF5uPqHi-glDLVVfHxLUbjXakRI7SMISas
- Transitioning to Web3 from a non-tech perspective
  - https://twitter.com/ljin18/status/1479111931977867275

Jesse Walden

Twitter: https://twitter.com/jessewldn
Website (no blogs since 2020): https://jessewalden.com/
Random Tweets
- DAOs
  - https://twitter.com/jessewldn/status/1459014962207244290
  - https://twitter.com/jessewldn/status/1470406564582498315
- NFTs
  - https://twitter.com/jessewldn/status/1473641606951669767
- Music NFTs x Sound XYZ
  - https://twitter.com/jessewldn/status/1471148257892044812
- Commoditizing a compliment
  - https://twitter.com/jessewldn/status/1465713306363117578
Writing
- NFTs make the internet ownable
  - https://variant.mirror.xyz/T8kdtZRIgy_srXB5B06L8vBqFHYlEBcv6ae2zR6Y_eo
- Product vs. Protocol
  - https://variant.fund/writing/balance-product-protocol-web3
- Leadership in the ownership economy
  - https://variant.fund/writing/leadership-in-the-ownership-economyscaling-decision
- How DeFi crosses the chasm
  - https://variant.fund/writing/how-does-defi-cross-the-chasm
- Crypto’s Business Model is Familiar. What Isn’t is Who Benefits
  - https://variant.fund/writing/cryptos-business-model-is-familiar.-what-isnt-is
- Narrative Economics
  - https://variant.fund/writing/narrative-economics
- Progressive decentralization
  - https://variant.fund/writing/progressive-decentralization-a-playbook-for-building
- Layers of blockchain computing
  - https://variant.fund/writing/layers-not-eras-of-blockchain-computing

Variant Fund

Variant Fund Twitter
- https://twitter.com/variantfund
Variant Fund website
- https://variant.fund/
Writing:
- https://variant.fund/writing
Mirror Blog (Feb 2021 article on NFTs)
- https://variant.mirror.xyz/
Variant Fund + Atelier joining forces

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