Boys Club

Discussing the phenomenon of friend.tech and its growth mechanics, as well as the pressure for growth and tension of building the TAM versus expanding into new markets. Exploring the financialized experience of FriendTech and concerns about monetization online based on gender. Highlighting the value of focusing on crypto while expanding the audience and the challenges of maintaining their unique perspective and expertise.

Ben Leventhal, famed hospitality-tech entrepreneur, discusses how the hospitality industry is unlocking loyalty using web3. Topics include interoperability, loyalty perks, blockchain apps, and upcoming features of Blackbird. They also engage in a Selena Gomez-themed draft tweets session.

Deana unpacks a news story from this past week for Natasha, and then they share personal feelings about their lives and careers. First, Deana talks about PayPal's new stablecoin, how it's kicking off Stablecoin Summer, what it means for the broader crypto ecosystem, and the takes the internet had. Then, they spill their personal feelings about the Boys Club member survey and how they struggle not to take things personally, while internalizing negative feedback and rejecting positive feedback – a tale as old as time. Boys Club is proudly supported by Kraken. Kraken is a crypto exchange for everyone.  

Natasha and Deana talked with Alex Zhang, Mayor of Friends with Benefits, live from Idyllwild, California on the closing day of FWB FEST. 1,000 people decended on the mountain town of Idyllwild this past weekend for a 3-day celebration of culture, music and the new internet. Natasha and Deana talked about this experience, Alex's hand in designing the festival, and what it means to be building cultural currency. As Alex is ending his tenure as mayor of FWB, they also talked about lessons learned in the past 2 years standing up FWB, building at the edge of what's possible, and what advice he'd give to other communities like Boys Club. Finally, he ends with a description of many-to-many worldbuilding, vs. one-to-many worldbuilding.  Boys Club is proudly supported by Kraken. Kraken is a crypto exchange for everyone. Show notes: Reggie James @ FWB Fest Time Stamps: 00:30 Intro 06:17 Alex Zhang Interview 39:44 Draft Tweets

Natasha and Deana unpack two news stories from this past week, and share their personal feelings about their lives and careers.  First, Deana talks about $BALD, onchain sleuthing and blockchains as storytelling mediums. They talk about consensual doxxing, Bethenny Frankel TJ Maxx drama and #Gaylor passion.  Then, Natasha explains the mechanics of the Gucci NFT physical redemption campaign, she gives a hot take on lore and why the Yuga and Gucci partnership is happening. Finally, they share a feeling about being bad at negotiating.  Boys Club is proudly supported by Kraken. Kraken is a crypto exchange for everyone.  

Natasha and Deana sat down with Rebecca Matsumura from Fenwick to get briefed on the ruling around Ripple and their sales of XRP, from the perspective of a lawyer. Rebecca gives an overview on the Howey test and broad strokes on securities laws for beginners, and also explains the the importance of this individual ruling in the context of the broader industry and regulatory conversation.  Boys Club is proudly supported by Kraken. Kraken is a crypto exchange for everyone. 

Natasha and Deana sat down with David Phelps, co-founder of jokerace, to talk about the benefits of onchain community participation and co-creation, the important and overlooked idea of "recurring revenue" for crypto-native businesses, and David's POV on the Huberman lifestyle. They also talked about jokerace - contests for communities to make, execute, and reward decisions. Disclosure: Boys Club is an angel investor!  Deana and Natasha close out the episode with draft tweets. 00:00  Intro 04:20 David Phelps Interview 33:58 Draft Tweets Boys Club is proudly supported by Kraken. Kraken is a crypto exchange for everyone.

Boys Club is proudly supported by Kraken. Kraken is a crypto exchange for everyone. In the Feelings Check-In episodes, Natasha and Deana unpack two stories from this past week, as well as their feelings about their lives and careers.  First, they look at the Hollywood Strike, and how it intersects with big sticky questions about AI development and ethics.  Then, Deana gives a (non-technical) briefing on EthCC, drawing out a few big themes.  Finally, they talk about Crying At The Crypto Conference™, a canonical event which has been recreated at EthCC 2023. Subsribe to the Boys Club newsletter. 

Boys Club is proudly supported by Kraken. Kraken is a crypto exchange for everyone. Natasha and Deana sat down with Jacquelyn Melinek, to talk about what it's like to cover the crypto industry in 2023. They chat about defining trends of the moment, why mainstream media's coverage of crypto is so negative, and what the next cycle may be defined by. They also play a quick game of decentralized social smash or pass, and chat about Jacquelyn's favorite meme format.  Shout out to Console.xyz for making BOYS DO BARBIE happen.  Subscribe to the Boys Club newsletter. 

Boys Club is proudly supported by Kraken. Kraken is a crypto exchange for everyone. In the Feelings Check-In episodes, Natasha and Deana unpack two news stories from this past week, as well as their feelings about their lives and careers. First, they look at last week's big Threads by Meta launch, specifically looking at how Threads is decentralized but not blockchain-enabled, and what that means for the product experience and web3 social, generally. Then they unpack Dior's B33 sneaker launch, explaining the NFC and NFT components and looking at what onchain 'receipts' unlock for consumers of luxury goods.  Finally, they share personal feelings about entering a new era for Boys Club media, with the announcement of the partnership with Kraken.