Ventures

In this episode of Ventures, my guest Liz Sweigart (https://www.linkedin.com/in/lizsweigart/, PhD in Organizational Leadership) and I discuss the differences between a DAO and a traditional startup in terms of starting, organizing, and leading. We talk about trust vs. relating, identity considerations in DAO communities, positive vs. exploitative transactions of value, and qualitative vs. quantitative measurement of success. If you would like to join us as we explore starting a DAO together, check out https://www.redpilldao.xyz/ and our Discord server (https://discord.gg/PvtMZf6yws).  Visit https://satchel.works/@wclittle/ventures-episode-79 for detailed notes and links to resources (videos, articles, etc…) mentioned. You can watch this episode via video here.   1:38 -  Liz intro and background/motivation for this conversation; general commentary on risk/reward and value creation. 3:56 - Differences between starting and leading a traditionals startup vs. starting a DAO. 9:17 - What advice does Liz have for founders of DAOs, specifically for their first steps? (a question of identity; who are “we”, core values, purpose, qualitative vs. quantitative meaning, etc..)12:47 - Identity and purpose paradigms in DAOs vs. traditional startups. 15:12 - How should founders of DAOs think about establishing trust (“transactional” doesn’t need to be negative; inspired vs. compelled; positive or exploitative; relating vs. trusting).19:57 - How can people follow up w/ Liz?  https://lizsweigart.com/ // https://www.linkedin.com/in/lizsweigart/ // https://www.redpilldao.xyz/For additional podcasts on DAOs on this show (and articles/writing from Will), see: https://satchel.works/@wclittle/web3 

In this episode of Ventures, I (https://www.linkedin.com/in/wclittle/ | wclittle.eth) recorded a monologue about my perspectives on “why” Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) and Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs) matter. I also talk practically about how you can create NFTs on https://opensea.io/ and other NFT marketplaces, and how to participate in DAOs. In fact, I helped launch Red Pill DAO (https://redpilldao.xyz/) over the holiday break with the express purpose to help each other learn Web 3, practice "on-chain" governance, and create/join other DAOs to build a better Internet together. Feel free to join our discord here → https://discord.gg/PvtMZf6yws  Visit https://satchel.works/@wclittle/ventures-episode-78 for detailed notes and links to resources (videos, articles, etc…) mentioned. You can watch this episode via video here.   Additional links/notes: Why Web3 Matters for Human Flourishing: https://satchel.works/@wclittle/why-web3-matters-for-human-flourishing PhD Thesis by Alexandra Sims on DAOs: "Decentralised Autonomous Organisations: Governance, Dispute Resolution and Regulation" https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3971228Crypto Theses for 2022: https://messari.io/pdf/messari-report-crypto-theses-for-2022.pdfhttps://rarible.com/ https://www.larvalabs.com/cryptopunkshttps://nbatopshot.com/ https://satchel.works/@wclittle/web3 https://metamask.io/https://solanart.io/ 

In this episode of Ventures, my guests Natalie Grummer (https://www.linkedin.com/in/nataliegrummer/), Perry Azevedo (https://www.linkedin.com/in/perryazevedo/), and I talk about the launch of https://www.EnneagramNFTs.com // We talk about the background, motivation, vision, and artistic/technical details of the project, including the setup of https://www.EnneagramDAO.com, a new Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO) dedicated to teaching people about the Enneagram - and supporting Enneagram coaches & artists - to promote human flourishing.Visit https://satchel.works/@wclittle/ventures-episode-77 for detailed notes and links to resources (videos, articles, etc…) mentioned. You can watch this episode via video here.   2:17 - Natalie intro2:39 - Perry intro2:54 - Background: what is EnneagramNFTs? What are NFT clubs?6:01 - Natalie reflections on the initial phone call about the project6:47 - Perry reflections on the technical side of spinning up the NFT collection (ht: https://github.com/HashLips/hashlips_art_engine)8:48 - What is Web 3? What are NFTs?  10:40 - What is the Enneagram? See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enneagram_of_Personality and https://www.enneagraminstitute.com/ 11:49 - What are the 9 Enneagram types?14:35 - Associated Enneagram animal types17:15 - The vision of EnneagramDAO and supporting artists + Enneagram coaches.19:44 - What has Natalie been doing the last week to help build EnneagramNFTs?20:50 - Perry shares screen - seeing the outline of the Enneagram background. Brief description of how each type leans toward other numbers in health and stress.22:30 - Perry walking through the layers of the otter (7s)24:16 - One of the visions for the DAO, i.e. additional collections from artists will be used to fuel the DAO and support the artist.26:00 - Look for EnneagramNFTs at https://www.EnneagramNFTs.com, https://twitter.comFind previous episodes and descriptions of Web3 at https://satchel.works/@wclittle/web3Previous episode w/ Natalie: https://satchel.works/@wclittle/ventures-episode-5Previous episode w/ Perry: https://satchel.works/@wclittle/ventures-episode-35 

In this episode of Ventures, I (https://www.linkedin.com/in/wclittle/) recorded a ~10min monologue about my own reflections on recent tweets from Jack Dorsey (https://twitter.com/jack/status/1473139010197508098) and Elon Musk (https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1473165434518224896, which Jack then responded to). The basic criticism is that “Web 3.0” is essentially owned and pumped by venture capitalists (VCs) and that no real noticeable value has yet been created for humanity. I begin my reflections by talking about self-sovereign identity and decentralized finance, and then talk about the promise of DAOs (Decentralized Autonomous Organizations) and NFTs (Non-Fungible Tokens). A future where individuals can own, govern, and have autonomy over their own value-creation, DAOs that promote social causes, and DAOs that fuel a new generation of venture building….this is a future that I can get behind and support. Yes, VCs will make money, but that doesn’t necessarily mean the vision they are helping to create is a bad thing.Visit https://satchel.works/@wclittle/ventures-episode-76 for detailed notes and links to resources (videos, articles, etc…) mentioned. You can watch this episode via video here. Notes from the monologue: * My previous articles/podcasts/newsletters on Web 3: https://satchel.works/@wclittle* Follow the conversation threads from the twitter links above to learn how others in Web 3 are responding to the criticism. * It’s important to understand that Jack himself is supporting Web 3 via https://blueskyweb.org/ // “Our mission is to develop and drive the adoption of technologies for open and decentralized public conversation.” – He, obviously, may not use the term “Web 3”, but the future he is building fits at least my definition of Web 3.* Mega article on NFTs: https://medium.com/coinmonks/nfts-101-why-nfts-are-a-generational-innovation-4626ae803e3b 

In this episode of Ventures, my guest Crystal Berger (https://www.expertbookingsonline.com/) and I talk about how her new company Expert Bookings Online (EBO) is working to create a simple marketplace solution for content producers and a wide diversity of subject-matter experts. In addition to making it fast and efficient for content producers to book experts, EBO will also help surface and train experts from all over the world - who would otherwise be overlooked - to be ready to be guests on shows to share their opinions and perspectives.Visit https://satchel.works/@wclittle/ventures-episode-75 for detailed notes and links to resources (videos, articles, etc…) mentioned. You can watch this episode via video here. 2:14 - Crystal’s introduction, background, and story of starting EBO.3:50 - Was Crystal always an entrepreneur as a kid? Or did she adapt into an entrepreneur later in life?6:41 - Working in a newsroom for a decade, how was Crystal able to use her entrepreneurial skills to add value in her job?10:39 - Getting more personal, why is it so important to Crystal to bring diverse perspectives to media? 13:50 - What is the story of EBO? What is the origin story?16:15 - Love, Safety, and Freedom. 17:00 - What are the nuts and bolts of EBO?19:00 - How is EBO going to maintain quality and trust for the content producers?22:11 - How do booking producers maintain quality right now? How will that change (or not change) with EBO?24:11 - How will search and profile scanning / trust signaling look like in EBO?25:43 - Why it’s so important for EBO to do the PR/publicist training on how to be ready to go onto media.26:39 - From Crystal’s background, where has she seen civil conversation? Does that exist anymore?28:43 - Who is the audience / customer on the B2B side for EBO?31:06 - Where can experts and content producers find crystal / EBO online? https://www.expertbookingsonline.com/ 

In this episode of Ventures, my guest Josh Vitulli (https://www.linkedin.com/in/josh-vitulli-71926415/) and I dive deep into metaverses, specifically the Web 3 metaverse Decentraland (https://decentraland.org/). We talk about how Josh’s design and urban planning background led him into the metaverse space, how he does training courses on Decentraland via his project Metaversal Education, practical considerations for how to get involved, other metaverses, NFTs, avoiding high gas fees on Ethereum, and the future of entrepreneurship in Web 3.Visit https://satchel.works/@wclittle/ventures-episode-74 for more detailed notes and links to resources (videos, articles, etc…) mentioned. You can watch this episode via video here. 1:32 - General tee-up about the conversation and what we’ll be talking about, why it matters, and why it’s fun.1:56 - Josh introduction, background, and journey thus far.5:08 - What is design? How does Josh define it? Why does the question matter or not matter?8:23 - Web 3 is turning the internet upside down (esp re: identity and data control).9:31 - How can Web 3 builders design Web 3 applications to encourage good behavior? Is this possible?14:32 - What is the metaverse? What is Decentraland? What’s up with the Facebook announcement? What is Josh excited about re: metaverses. // OG Metaverse in Snow Crash: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snow_Crash 17:44 - Who are the main players in Web 3 metaverses? Are they interoperable? // (https://decentraland.org/ // https://www.sandbox.game/ // https://somniumspace.com/ // https://www.cryptovoxels.com/ // related: https://enjin.io/ // (all not interoperable -- yet) 19:49 - The story of Josh’s current project on Decentraland // Currency Metaversal Education on Eventbrite → https://www.eventbrite.com/e/metaversal-education-tickets-208829152617?aff=ebdssbonlinesearch24:58 - How does someone get into Decentraland and interact? Go to https://play.decentraland.org and jump in.26:24 - MANA as an ERC-20 (fungible) token. How much does it cost to buy an NFT like shoes in Decentraland? How does it work to convert between Ethereum / Polygon?30:00 - Decentraland community accepting other currency besides MANA as ERC-20 on Ethereum.31:23 - What is Polygon? Why is it cheaper than Ethereum? https://polygon.technology/ // Difference between sidechain vs. rollup. 35:56 - Did Polygon fix the gas fees problem? What can you do with Polygon? 38:50 - Decentralized servers in Decentraland, accessibility and technical details. 39:33 - Voice and UX details when introducing people into Decentraland, and their roadmap into mobile.44:33 - Maybe even urban planners are needed to help organize Decentraland45:23 - What’s the vision / future of Josh’s project? Where are they heading toward?48:37 - For the future Web 3 product managers listening in, besides what we’ve already talked about, what do PMs need to know about Web 3 metaverses and Decentraland in particular?

In this episode of Ventures, a group of members from our Web 3 Product Manager Training DAO (Decentralized Autonomous Organization) asked Spencer Graham (https://twitter.com/spengrah) a series of questions about how and why to form a DAO. We talk about practical decision-making, governance, money transfers from a central treasury to pay for services, management and accountability for DAOs operators and contractors, “on-chain” vs. “off-chain” considerations, and legal/tax/regulatory concerns.Visit https://satchel.works/@wclittle/ventures-episode-73 for detailed notes and links to resources (videos, articles, etc…) mentioned. You can watch this episode via video here. 2:04 - tee-up, definitions, and motivation for this conversation on how/why to start a DAO in general, and this Web3 PM training DAO in particular.4:25 - Spencer’s quick introduction and experience working in the DAO space. (Raid Guild and DAOHaus)5:11 - Setting the stage for where this DAO is at, and where we should go next. Asking ourselves the question: “Is this the appropriate time to form an on-chain DAO?” // Starting with “why” and “what”7:00 - The reason to form a DAO is to take collective action with common resources.9:12 - What’s stopping us from just doing this internally? Vote on discord, etc… What is the warrant to move this on-chain?  11:30 - Will has been a founder in many companies and been the person to lead the charge, open the bank account, etc...  and is interested in doing this training organization a different week.12:14 - What is the currency that would be in our treasury if we formed a DAO w/ DAOHaus?12:32 - We vote on things on-chain, proposals pass, etc… how do funds get transferred? How do we have accountability that passed proposals translate to actual funds?15:08 - Question: in a traditional org there is a power dynamic where the founders control everything….how is this different in a DAO?  What is fundamentally different w/ DAOs and Smart Contracts?18:37 - Off-chain vs. on-chain visual metaphor comparing DAO proposals/voting to writing and pushing code -- i.e. commits vs. pushing those commits to a central repository.21:04 - “If I’m a teacher in the DAO, I’m going to need to trust that my payment is coming to me….am I going to get nervous about it” // There are other ways to setup compensation. What is a best-practice way to pay someone who is contributing value to a DAO?  “Streaming” funds to people (Super Fluid), or setting aside funds to pay someone.  22:56 - Considerations about how to practically keep performance accountability and payment movement...to keep operations moving within a DAO. Limit a smart contract so that funds either go back to DAO or to a specific address via a smart contract. Approve a few 24:39 - Regulatory, legal, & tax concerns…. questions for local government jurisdictions. Talking about employment collectives. E.g. Opolis (https://opolis.co/) ← simplifies tax issues and limits liability.26:30 - Nuts and bolts about the legal and tax issues. (referring back to Opolis)28:00 - Priya introduction and question about practical voting, voting fatigue, etc… what kind of use-case would be applicable for a DAO vs. traditional organization.31:00 - Examples of cases when DAOs are not appropriate.32:24 - Round-table, quick takeaways from this episode / conversation.  Treasury management, regulatory, and storytelling.

In this episode of Ventures, my guest Aryeh Sheinbein (https://www.instagram.com/aryehthebusinessman) and I discuss a unique approach to financial management for entrepreneurs in light of a rapidly changing tech landscape. While we talk often about venture building and investing on this show, we haven’t yet - until this episode - helped guide entrepreneurs about what to do personally once money is being made. There are a ton of wealth managers out there who bombard entrepreneurs with inbound requests to meet - especially once signs of success start happening - so we talk about how to prepare for that event and plan to navigate the attention. Overall, entrepreneurs today have many new avenues for generating income, and my conversation with Aryeh - who approaches wealth management differently as an entrepreneur/investor himself - is a refreshing perspective on how to approach the topic and mindset.Visit https://satchel.works/@wclittle/ventures-episode-72 for detailed notes and links to resources (videos, articles, etc…) mentioned. You can watch this episode via video here. 2:14 - Tee-up for why this episode’s discussion is important and relevant for Ventures.2:41 - Aryeh’s introduction and background (investment banking, VC, entrepreneur, wealth advisor)5:50 - People are finding creative ways in Web3 today. In what kinds of markets did Aryeh see entrepreneurs making money the last couple of decades?8:40 - Now a “decacorn” is the new target ($10B valuation company)9:33 - A bit of Will’s story, learning to code, building web1 and web2 ventures. On the topic of side business, new tricks to generate wealth, etc… what should entrepreneurs think about as their ventures start becoming successful financially?16:20 - Will’s story of his son asking him “Hey Dad, what should I invest in?” // How would Aryeh answer this question for today’s youth? 24:55 - “The thing to do is to just do the thing”25:30 - Discussion about how to think about investing in ourselves as entrepreneurs? “At what point do I quit the day job?”33:47 - Educating the audience on what they are going to hit up with regarding wealth managers talking to seemingly successful entrepreneurs. 40:29 - The pitch for solutionadvisory.com, and finding Aryeh online https://www.instagram.com/aryehthebusinessman 41:30 - Parting words of wisdom :) If you have time on your side, you can make mistakes. You should also understand your big picture. In a perfect world, where would you want to be and what would you want to be doing? You can then develop a plan to get there.

In this episode of Ventures, I (https://www.linkedin.com/in/wclittle/) take about ~10min to talk about my perspective on why Web 3 (i.e. decentralized ownership, blockchains, Metaverse, and the Semantic Web) will dramatically change the landscape for entrepreneurship in the future. Based on feedback from the first year of this podcast, I share a bit about my story; i.e. how building and *owning* my own Web 2.0 ventures in the 2000s is analogous to what many entrepreneurs are doing right now in Web 3 communities. New communities and networks are being created rapidly, and the markets that our children will participate in the future are almost impossible for us to conceive of today.FYI, you can watch this episode via video here. For more background on my writings and podcasts on Web 3, see https://satchel.works/@wclittle/blockchains 

In this episode of Ventures, my guest Spencer Graham (https://twitter.com/spengrah) and I discuss all-things DAOs. We talk about the history of DAOs, specific case studies and types, a compelling no-code platform (https://DAOHaus.club), when and why to use DAOs, and the promising future of these organizations in the overall technology and innovation space. Visit https://satchel.works/@wclittle/ventures-episode-70 for detailed notes and links to resources (videos, articles, etc…) mentioned. You can watch this episode via video here.1:25 - Tee-up for why we are going to be talking about DAOs on this episode2:18 - Spencer's introduction and journey into the DAO space.5:56 - History lesson of DAOs. From “The DAO” to Spencer’s involvement in https://www.raidguild.org/ 12:35 - Is Raid Guild a Moloch DAO? How is this different from an ERC-20-based DAO?15:10 - Where did the name “Moloch DAO” come from? https://slatestarcodex.com/2014/07/30/meditations-on-moloch/ 15:58 - Case Study: What does Raid Guild do? How do they operate as a DAO?18:04 - What happens if there are competing forces in how to operate the DAO?20:43 - Tell us about https://DAOHaus.club, how to get involved, etc... 23:00 - As a product manager thinking about how to build in Web3 paradigms, how and when would someone think about using a DAO and use DAOHaus? 28:33 - If a new founder team is building a HRtech platform, for example, should they organize as a DAO?31:47 - Composability of leveraging DAOs for a vision/mission for a company. How extensible is DAO engineering on DAOHaus? See: https://daohaus.club/docs/users/minion/ 33:03 - What is xDAI? Is DAOHaus on xDAI? // https://www.xdaichain.com/34:40 - What is the difference between a rollup and side chain? Optimistic-rollup or zk-rollup? 36:39 - What is the future of DAOHaus and DAOs in general?39:52 - For a Web 3 PM, when should they start a Moloch DAO vs. a traditional company? 42:41 - Where can people find DAOHaus and Spencer online? https://DAOHaus.club // https://twitter.com/spengrah