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Collector since February 27, 2024

Favorite Podcasts

"Building for People, Not Wallets" with Privy cofounder Henri Stern | ZEROPOD S2 E16

What if crypto products weren’t built for wallets, but for people? In this episode of ZEROPOD, Privy.io founder Henri Stern joins host Toady Hawk to talk about building user-first infra, why account abstraction matters, and what it’ll take to onboard the next billion. From his Parisian roots to Protocol Labs and now Privy, Henri shares sharp takes on fragmentation, EIP-7702, and why most crypto apps still miss the point. Come for the insights, stay for the travel tips and Italian bread slander. TIMESTAMPS:00:00 - Intro: Meet Henri Stern, founder of Privy01:44 - Henri’s backstory: Growing up in Paris, moving to NYC03:55 - Adjusting to life in New York and early education04:32 - Choosing Stanford over the French education system06:00 - Discovering computer science and why it stuck07:54 - Founding Shout: a peer-to-peer marketplace experiment10:01 - What went wrong with hyperlocal marketplaces12:20 - Filecoin and Protocol Labs: Henri’s next chapter13:49 - What Filecoin taught Henri about zk, consensus, and infra19:00 - Falling in love with crypto, then falling out of it for a bit20:06 - The origin of Privy: starting with privacy, landing on onboarding24:00 - What Privy does today: abstracting onboarding, not just accounts26:10 - The nuance of account abstraction vs. 4337/770228:30 - Privy’s internal values: focus, experimentation, ownership33:00 - Wallet sprawl and the identity fragmentation dilemma36:00 - Wallets as identity tools, not just money holders39:00 - Why crypto infra must be built now, not later41:00 - Notable partnerships: Farcaster, Pump.fun, Hyperliquid & more45:10 - Privy's current roadmap: chains, funding UX, identity UX47:02 - EIP-7702: What it is and why it matters50:00 - Speculation vs stability: the real bifurcation in crypto52:40 - Henri’s vision for 2025 and hiring at Privy54:08 - Rapid-fire round: food, music, tech, travel, and more1:04:28 - Where to find out more about Privy and wrap-up--- Podcast recorded by Toady Hawk, edited by Toady Hawk. Hosted by Toady Hawk. Produced by Zero Rights Media. This content is zero rights reserved (cc0), please remix and reuse it in any way you like! #base #onchain #ethereum #privy #crypto #stripe

"Taming the Wild West" with Serpin Taxt, founder of Ethos | ZEROPOD S2 E14

Welcome back to another episode of ZEROPOD, this one featuring Serpin Taxt, the ambitious young founder of a new protocol called Ethos, which aims to help solve the age-old problem of who to trust (and who not to) in the onchain space. Host Toady Hawk talks about his childhood, his career in web 2, and his goals for Ethos, namely, to tame the wild, wild west of the crypto space… just a bit. So without further ado, let’s go learn about the mythos behind the Ethos. —- Timestamps: 00:00 - The $9B Problem: Scams, Trust, and the Wild West of Crypto 02:25 - Welcome to ZEROPOD: Meet Serpin Taxt, Founder of Ethos 05:00 - Inventor Dreams and Web2 Career 08:00 - Escaping B2B SaaS 11:00 - Discovering Ethereum: Interoperability and Smart Contracts 13:30 - When Crypto Finally Clicked 15:00 - Inspiration from Friend.Tech and the Birth of Ethos 17:00 - Reputation is Everything: Why Trust Signals Matter 19:10 - Realizing a Bigger Vision 21:00 - A Wild West Without Accountability 24:00 - Proof-of-Stake for People: Ethos’s Core Mechanism 26:30 - Avoiding Mob Rule: Risk, Reputation, and Social Slashing 29:00 - Open Moderation and Algorithmic Challenges 31:00 - Reviewing ETH Wallets, Twitter Accounts, and Beyond 33:30 - Identity, Anonymity, and the Risk of Sockpuppets 36:00 - Using Ethos in the Wild: Kaito, Bots, and Reputation vs. Attention 39:00 - Why It's Hard to Call Out Scammers (but Why We Must) 42:00 - The Power of Named Reviews vs. Anonymous Drama 44:00 - NFT Ethics, Gotcha Culture, and the Chaos Incentive 46:00 - Social Slashing 101: How It Works in Ethos 49:00 - Toward Financial Slashing: The Next Big Risk Layer 51:00 - Onboarding: Slow Growth 53:00 - Staying Power: What Keeps Users Coming Back Daily 56:00 - Finding People to Vouch For (and How to Ask for Vouches) 58:30 - Using the Chrome Extension for Discovery and Reviews 1:00:00 - Integrations 1:02:00 - Building Influence Onchain: Ratings for Businesses, Not Just People 1:04:00 - Alpha Drop? Business Leaderboards Are Coming 1:06:30 - Why Ethos Launched on Base 1:12:00 - The Token Question: Contributor XP, Incentives, and Future Possibilities 1:14:25 - Wrap-Up --- Podcast recorded by Toady Hawk, edited by Toady Hawk and Santhosh. Hosted by Toady Hawk. Music by Toady Hawk, SuperTightWoody & Suno AI. Produced by Zero Rights Media. This content is zero rights reserved (cc0), please remix and reuse it in any way you like!

"Credit Where It's Due" with Onboard Founder Yele Bademosi | ZEROPOD S2E10

Welcome back to another episode of ZEROPOD our zero copyright video podcast for people who enjoy Ethereum. This week we were excited to welcome as our guest Yele Bademosi the founder of many things in this space, but most recently Onboard.xyz, which is a digital wallet designed as a full service neobank for onchain creators. In this pod, host Toady Hawk from Zero Rights Media talks with Yele about his upbringing in Nigeria, his schooling in London and his series of interesting start-ups since. They chat about why he was drawn to build on Ethereum, and specifically on Base, why he believes providing under-collateralized credit to the world is the most important future priority for Onboard, one simple thing he never learned to do, and much, much more. We hope you enjoy this conversation as much as we did. Please don’t forget to give this video a Like and a Comment, or if you’re on Spotify or apple podcasts, a 5 star review goes a long way. --- Timestamps: 00:00 - Yele’s Big Idea 01:41 - ZEROPOD Intro 02:51 - Yele’s upbringing 05:00 - Studying to be a doctor 09:00 - A word about our friendly sponsor Clanker.world 09:40 - Sports and hobbies 13:30 - Binance, Bundle and Nestcoin 16:50 - The difficulty of building many companies at once 19:00 - Focusing on fundamental real world problems with Onboard 20:50 - An onchain neobank 30:00 - Finding a niche and going after it 33:57 - Competing against huge take rates 35:00 - Undercollateralized loans as a priority 38:00 - Defi Mullet 50:00 - “I’m a Newgen” 52:00 - Impressed by Base’s bootstrapping without a token 53:00 - The importance of culture 57:00 - More about plans for onchain credit offerings 1:00:00 - “Creating supranational economies.” 1:06:15 - The killer onchain use case 1:10:00 - Where to learn more about Onboard. 1:11:00 - Outro— --- Podcast recorded by Toady Hawk, edited by Toady Hawk, JackWyldes and Santhosh. Hosted by Toady Hawk. Music by Toady Hawk, SuperTightWoody & Suno AI. Ad spot by JackWyldes. Produced by Zero Rights Media. This content is zero rights reserved (cc0), please remix and reuse it in any way you like! #base #onchain #ethereum #crypto #onboard

"Onchain Native" with Native.fun Founder Derek Brown | ZEROPOD S2 E9

On this episode of ZEROPOD, we sit down with Derek Brown, the mad scientist developer and founder behind the upcoming agentic onchain game called Native dot fun, built on top of the Clanker protocol on Base. We had a blast getting to know Derek and hearing his story, from working as a rural midwest minister to coding in the halls of the some of the biggest tech companies in Silicon Valley, and then striking out to build tech startups of his own. His vision for Native is wild and ambitious, and we can’t wait for you to learn all about it! If you enjoy this conversation, please Like, Comment & Subscribe — it really helps us grow our community. — TIMESTAMPS: 0:00 - Introduction: Positive-Sum Environments 1:15 - ZEROPOD Intro & Guest Introduction - Derek Brown 2:00 - Derek’s Fun Fact: Three Daughters, Same Birthday 3:09 - From Dupont Brat to Tech Builder 7:01 - Discovering Programming 7:06 - A word from our sponsor: Clanker.world 9:00 - The Journey to Tech: From Ministry to SV 18:12 - Tough Times & Family Resilience 24:00 - Getting Into Crypto: Bitcoin at $300 and Satoshi’s Whitepaper 31:01 - The Base vs. Solana Debate: Values & Coexistence 36:00 - The Origin of Clanker and Its Influence on Native 44:00 - What is Native? Sim City Meets Onchain Economies 51:00 - Dots Explained: AI Agents in the Digital City 58:00 - Tokenomics Deep Dive: Fees, Buybacks, and Sustainability 1:06:00 - The User Experience: MVP, Maps, and Gameplay 1:11:00 - Passports & Stamps: Proof of Humanity in Native 1:12:46 - Final Thoughts & How to Get Involved  — Podcast recorded by Toady Hawk, edited by Toady Hawk, JackWyldes and Santhosh. Hosted by Toady Hawk. Music by Toady Hawk, SuperTightWoody & Suno AI. Ad spot by JackWyldes. Produced by Zero Rights Media. This content is zero rights reserved (cc0), please remix and reuse it in any way you like! #base #onchain #clanker #ai #ethereum #tokens

"Winning Together" with Clanker Founders Proxy and Dish | ZEROPOD S2 E8

Welcome back to another episode of ZEROPOD. This week, Toady Hawk is joined by JackWyldes and they have a very interesting conversation with Proxy and Dish, the two indomitable founders of the little AI agent token launcher called Clanker which has taken the Base ecosystem by storm over the past couple months. This pod is structured a little differently than most, because we actually sat down with the clankers-in-chief on two separate occasions, a couple weeks apart. In between, the guys hosted a hackathon in Boston called Clankhack, where many builders from their burgeoning ecosystem gathered to build together for a weekend, and our own Jack was fortunate enough to attend and document the whole thing (more on this soon.) In any case, we have edited these 2 conversations into a single podcast for your enjoyment, with hinge in the middle separating the pre-clankhack and post-clank-hack eras. We had a blast digging in to get the raw clanker story for you and we hope you will enjoy this conversation as much as we did. So grab a tall glass of milk and a fresh can of spinach and strap in for the Clankpod! —- TIMESTAMPS: 0:00 - Introduction to Clanker: What is Clanker? Deploying meme coins made simple. 2:04 - ZEROPOD Intro 3:00 - Start of Part 1: Pre-Clankhack. Personal Stories of the Founders 6:00 - The Origin of Clanker 9:04 - Building Clanker in Five Days 12:02 - Launching and Scaling Clanker 15:02 - Clanker’s Value Proposition 18:33 - A message from our sponsors 20:00 - Reminiscing about launch day 22:00 - Create the job(s) you want 24:00 - “Farcaster is an incredible network” 26:00 - Tokens as a novel bootstrapping mechanism 29:00 - Dish got kicked off of Facebook 36:00 - The speculative power of ERC-20s vs NFTs 48:00 - Start of Part 2 (Post Clankhack) 49:00 - What is Clanker, exactly? 51:00 - How does it differ from other models 54:00 - The moat is the network 57:00 - What was Clankhack? 1:00:00 - The space needs more good content 1:03:00 - How can Zero Rights Help creators 1:05:00 - Being bombarded by VC term sheets 1:08:00 - “It shouldn’t be easy to make 16 million dollars” 1:10:00 - The future of Clankhack 1:17:00 - Comparison to UX on Solana 1:19:00 - “No more L2s” 1:21:00 - “If the leader of the free world can do it, so can you.” 1:24:00 - Wen $SNOWDEN on Base? 1:33:00 - Bit of a love fest tbh 1:38:00 - Chugging canned spinach for the plot 1:40:00 - Alpha? 1:42:00 - Outro — Podcast recorded by Toady Hawk and JackWyldes, edited by Toady Hawk, JackWyldes and Santhosh. Hosted by Toady Hawk and JackWyldes. Music by Toady Hawk, SuperTightWoody & Suno AI. Ad spot by JackWyldes. Produced by Zero Rights Media. This content is zero rights reserved (cc0), please remix and reuse it in any way you like! #base #onchain #clanker #ai #ethereum #tokens

"Keep it Gdupi, Stupi" with 'Degenerative Artist' Yon from Peaceful Groupies & GDUPI | ZEROPOD S2 E7

Welcome back to another episode of ZEROPOD, a zero copyright video podcast for people who enjoy Ethereum. Our guest this week on ZEROPOD, is from the artistic side of the onchain world— Yon, the self described “degenerative artist” behind The Peaceful Groupies, the Yon Experience and most recently, one of the first artcoins launched via the clanker AI agent on farcaster: Redacted Gdupi. On this episode, we talk about Yon’s youth in a small Argentinian town, how he moved to Europe and carved his own way as an artist, how he has been a constant early adopter of onchain techs and trends, and what’s next for him and $GDUPI. We hope you enjoy this conversation with an onchain CC0 art legend, and if you do, please remember to like and subscribe! Thank you to our partner sponsors at clanker.world for helping to make this content possible. Clanker is the easiest way to deploy a token on Base. 
 — Timestamps • 0:00 - GDUPI Origins • 1:35 - Welcome to ZEROPOD, introducing Yon. • 2:59 - Yon’s upbringing in Chaco, Argentina • 3:55 - Early love for character design, video games, and art • 4:56 - Childhood gaming • 6:25 - Yon the Baller • 8:50 - The Paris Period • 11:00 - Saving money and finding time for art • 12:50 - Discovering clients through Reddit subreddits • 14:10 - Parental perceptions of an art career • 16:01 - “Every piece is a portrait of what I’m living in that moment.” • 17:03 - Introduction to crypto and saving in Ethereum • 19:00 - Early experiments with CS:GO skins and CryptoKitties • 21:00 -Discovering NFTs • 22:20 - A Word About Our Sponsors Clanker.World • 23:10 - Yon’s first NFT purchase was a Beeple • 25:00 - Minting on Rarible and building early collections • 26:50 - Experimenting with telegram auction houses • 28:00 - Creating Peaceful Groupies and generative art • 31:00 - The challenges of launching a hyped NFT collection • 32:40 - Mentorship from 9999 and learning about contracts • 35:00 - Joining Farcaster and exploring new creative outlets • 39:00 - The Reply Guys channel and community-driven art • 41:50 - The Reply Guys t-shirt and embracing CC0 licensing • 44:00 - Perspectives on piracy, creativity, and open art • 48:00 - Organizing minted collections and planning for the future • 51:00 - Reflections on the Yellow Collective’s first year • 54:00 - GDUPI: origins, meme culture, and experiments with Clanker • 57:40 - Thoughts on memecoins and tokenizing moments • 1:00:30 - The distribution powers of ERC-20 tokens. • 1:02:20 - Moving from Argentina to LA and the creative scene in the US • 1:04:00 - Planning for the future and growing the Yon ecosystem • 1:06:10 - What’s next for GDUPI, NFTs, and personalized 1/1 art • 1:07:00 - Yon turns the tables on Toady • 1:11:10 - Closing thoughts on creativity, 2025 plans, and the onchain journey — Podcast recorded by Toady Hawk, edited by Toady Hawk, JackWyldes and Santhosh. Hosted by Toady Hawk. Music by Toady Hawk, SuperTightWoody & Suno AI. Ad spot by JackWyldes. Produced by Zero Rights Media. Custom NFT thumbnail hand illustrated by Yon himself! This content is zero rights reserved (cc0), please remix and reuse it in any way you like! #base #onchain #groupies #art #clanker #artist

"Believe in Something" with 1confirmation Founder Nick Tomaino | ZEROPOD S2 E6

What do you get when you cross a middleschool sneakerhead, a Bitcoin pizza-esque 30 million dollar engagement ring, and a knack for spotting the next big thing onchain? You get Nick Tomaino, crypto OG and founder of iconic crypto venture fund 1confirmation. On this episode of ZEROPOD, host Toady Hawk digs in with Nick about working at Coinbase in the very early days, the passion for collecting that led him from copping kicks and rare books to NFTs and ERCs, and founding and running one of the most successful early investment funds in the space. Nick also talks candidly about his bull case for Degen, Farcaster and Ethereum (he thinks one of those will even one day flip Bitcoin), why Ethereum doesn’t need a Michael Saylor, and what he thinks is the best advice for new investors in the space: just believe in something. --- Timestamps: 0:00 – Intro: Find Something More to Believe In Nick shares advice for new traders and the importance of conviction beyond money. 1:02 – Welcome to ZEROPOD: Meet Nick Tomaino Introduction to Nick’s background as an early Coinbase employee and founder of 1confirmation. 2:02 – Nick’s Sneaker-Collecting Days How basketball and sneaker culture shaped Nick’s early passion for collecting. 3:39 – The Collector Gene: Rare Books and Americana Nick’s family history of collecting and how it influenced his love for rare books and later NFTs. 6:42 – Crypto vs. Rare Books: Liquidity and the Future of Collectibles Nick compares the illiquidity of traditional collectibles to the fluidity of NFTs. 10:21 – College Days: Economics and a Focus on Making Money Why Nick studied economics and his early ambitions to optimize for financial success. 12:42 – Learning About Venture Capital How Fred Wilson’s blog inspired Nick’s interest in venture capital and crypto. 15:16 – Joining Coinbase: Early Days of Bitcoin Adoption Nick’s journey to Coinbase in 2013, hustling his way into the company, and working on business development. 20:03 – Starting 1confirmation: Supporting Early Crypto Projects Nick explains the genesis of 1confirmation and its focus on being the first check into game-changing projects. 22:00 – Why the Name 1confirmation? The blockchain-inspired reasoning behind the fund’s name. 23:49 – Opensea and CryptoKitties: Early Investments Nick’s experience with CryptoKitties and why he believed in Opensea’s potential. 26:47 – Degen: Why Social Tipping Matters The evolution of tipping mechanisms in crypto and their role in driving adoption. 30:36 – Thoughts on Farcaster and Decentralized Social Media Nick discusses Farcaster as the best decentralized social network and its role in enabling financial opportunities. 36:39 – Farcaster Projects: Clanker, Anoncast, and More Nick evaluates recent Farcaster projects and the importance of experimentation. 40:04 – The Value of In-Feed NFT Minting Nick shares why he believes microtransactions and NFT minting are the next big things for creators. 45:08 – Ethereum’s Strength and Long-Term Potential Why Nick believes Ethereum could flip Bitcoin and the importance of innovation over narratives. 49:12 – The Importance of Skin in the Game How crypto allows more people to have ownership and take risks with real consequences. 52:03 – The Future of Farcaster: Financial Opportunities Nick’s vision for how Farcaster can thrive by giving users more ways to make money. 53:03 – What’s Exciting in 2025? Pro-Crypto Policies and Innovation Nick shares his optimism about potential regulatory changes and new product developments. 56:00 – Advice for Newcomers: Conviction and Curiosity Final advice for those new to crypto: find something to believe in beyond making money. 58:14 – Wrap-Up: Believe in Something More Closing remarks and gratitude for the conversation. -- Podcast recorded by Toady Hawk, edited by Toady Hawk and Santhosh. Hosted by Toady Hawk. Music by Toady Hawk, SuperTightWoody & Suno AI. Produced by Zero Rights Media. This content is zero rights reserved (cc0), please remix and reuse it in any way you like!

"Building a Better Internet on Base" with Aneri Amin (Product Lead at Base) | ZEROPOD S2 E5

Welcome back to another episode of ZEROPOD, our zero copyright video podcast about enjoying Ethereum. In this episode, host Toady Hawk, from the Zero Rights Media Collective sits down with Aneri Amin, the Head of Product in charge of social, creators and onchain summer at Base. Aneri’s career journey spans from the high tech hallways of Apple and Meta to the onchain trenches of Coinbase's leading Ethereum L2 rollup. She has been a force for change, driving innovation in creator tools, decentralized social, and onchain ecosystems. In this episode, we chat about Base’s explosive first full year, its plans for 2025, and how they’re building a future where creators like me can own our content, identity, and audience. Plus, she shares some great insights into her own journey—from a curious kid asking “why” to every question to a crew chief on the construction site for what she calls “the new internet.” This was an inspiring conversation about the power of community, ownership, and innovation—so buckle up, stay based and let’s dive in!  Also, if you enjoy this content and want to see more like it, please Like, leave a comment and Subscribe so you don't miss the next episode. --- TIMESTAMPS: 00:00 The Future of the Creator Economy is Onchain 00:54 Welcome to ZEROPOD 02:00 Childhood Curiosity and Governance Passion 04:00 A Lifelong Love of Reading 06:26 Education 07:00 From Public Sector to Big Tech 09:00 What Exactly Does a Product Manager Do? 11:03 Creator Challenges and Meta Days 15:00 Biggest Learnings From Time at Meta 16:30 Onchain as a New Internet for Creators 20:00  Creator Wellbeing as a New Pillar 22:00 Original Intro to Crypto, and Later Onchain-pilling via Coinbase 27:00 Goals for Onchain Summer 3 29:00 Why Did Base Find So Much Success in 2025? 30:00 Aneri Spills The Tea on What It’s Like Working With Jesse Every Day 34:00 Around the World with Base Lessons and community insights from Base’s global tour across Africa, India, and beyond. 37:00 Different Regional Onchain Needs How cultural differences shape creator priorities in various regions. 40:00 Strategies for Tackling Global Expansion of the Onchain Economy 41:00 Big Plans for 2025 Aneri hints at major Coinbase Wallet updates and what’s next for Base. 44:00 What is Aneri Most Excited About in 2025? 46:00 Aneri’s Advice for Onchain Creators 48:00 Wrapping Up --- Podcast recorded by Toady Hawk, edited by Toady Hawk and Santhosh. Hosted by Toady Hawk. Music by Toady Hawk, SuperTightWoody & Suno AI. Produced and distributed by the Zero Rights Media Collective. This content is zero rights reserved (cc0), please remix and reuse it in any way you like!  #base #onchain #content #creators #ethereum

"Without a Trace" featuring Anoncast founder Kartik Patel aka @slokh | ZEROPOD S2 E4

When Vitalik Buterin buys a memecoin to try your consumer zk social app, you know you’re onto something. Kartik Patel (aka @slokh) joins ZEROPOD to talk about Anoncast— the ZK-powered app that lets you post anonymously and trustlessly to Farcaster and Twitter/X from a web interface at anoncast.org. From hacking RuneScape mods as a kid to pulling endless hours at OpenSea during peak NFT chaos, Kartik shares his journey, the lore behind $ANON, and why he thinks ZK privacy is the future. Along the way: why Farcaster is the Silicon Valley of crypto, how he learned ZK programming from scratch in three weeks, and how "lore-first, product-second" might just be the future of bootstrapping. Join us to learn all about the cracked dev who made it possible to speak your mind on the internet, without a trace. TIMESTAMPS: 00:00 - When Vitalik tries your app 01:09 - ZEROPOD Intro 01:26 - Anon, A-non, Tomato, tomahto.03:13 - Young Kartik 04:00 - Hacking game mods 05:00 - Happy in his space (software developing) 07:13 - From defi protocols to NFTs 07:33 - Joined Opensea 08:13 - Working at Opens during peak NFT bull 09:33 - Working at Manifold and then striking out on his own 10:28 - Solo hacking 11:25 - Why was he attracted to building on Farcaster 12:13 - Better Farcaster branding 13:40 - Similar problems to Ethereum 15:13 - Building Nook farcaster client 18:23 - A Kartik Primer on the ANON Lore 21:51 - Kartik wasn’t even involved in ANON until after the CTO 23:00 - How the anoncast idea came to be 24:49 - New paradigm of products coming downstream of communities 27:13 - Why he wanted to build anoncast 28:16 - Vitalik buying $ANON and trying anoncast 29:40 - How does ZK privacy work? 31:18 - Why is ZK privacy important? 32:55 - How does anoncast work? 36:00 - The future of what curation could look like on anoncast… ZK-anon reddit? 38:00 - Favourite feature shipped on anoncast so far 41:00 - Learning ZK on the go 42:00 - Best use cases for anoncast? (Alpha?) 43:30 - How can people contribute to the project? 44:00 - Best place to learn how to use anoncast? 44:44 - What is he most excited about? 47:00 - Just build, have fun and differentiate 47:30 - What is the sloth backstory 48:00 - Outro Podcast recorded by Toady Hawk, edited by Toady Hawk and Santhosh. Hosted by Toady Hawk. Music by Toady Hawk, SuperTightWoody & Suno AI. This content is zero rights reserved (cc0), please remix and reuse it in any way you like!

Creating an Onchain Luxury Fashion Brand: 9dcc ft. gmoney

gmoney is an influencer, NFT collector, and founder of 9dcc, a pioneering crypto-based luxury brand. Before breaking into the Web 3 space, gmoney was an investor and trader. In today’s episode, we discuss: gmoney's Background (00:00:00) gmoney discusses his background in equities and his entry into the crypto space in 2017. Starting 9DCC (00:04:12) gmoney explains the inspiration behind starting 9DCC, a luxury fashion brand linked with NFTs, and his interest in merging fashion with blockchain technology. Collaboration with Adidas (00:10:26) gmoney talks about his collaboration with Adidas and how it influenced his decision to create 9dcc. Physical Stores and Community Engagement (00:17:13) gmoney shares his thoughts on physical stores and community engagement, including the concept of airdrops and their impact on the community. Global Presence vs. Local Focus (00:20:46) The discussion about the global reach of 9DCC and the comparison to a local approach, referencing the success of the streetwear brand, The Hundreds. Celebrity Influence and Adoption (00:22:31) gmoney shares insights on celebrity involvement in the crypto space and the importance of genuine passion in adoption efforts. State of the Industry (00:26:26) The discussion shifts to the current state of the industry, with a focus on mainstream adoption and the role of experiences and utility in attracting more users. Managing Risks and Financial Literacy (00:29:19) The importance of making crypto onboarding easier and empowering individuals with financial literacy and self-custody options. Banking System Risks (00:30:22) gmoney discusses the risks associated with traditional banking systems and the advantages of self-custody in crypto. Financial Education and Freedom (00:33:19) The discussion highlights the transformative power of crypto in providing financial education and freedom, as well as the broader implications for artists and collectors. Artists: Snowfro, Jack Butcher, die with the most likes. Mentioned: 9dcc, Adidas, Bradley Cooper, Chance the Rapper, FTX, FDIC insurance, Drakula, Farcaster, NFT NYC, Adam’s Bomb, Degen, Art Blocks. Until next time, - Kaloh

artwork for POD OF JAKE
Audio
50:55

#172 - JESSE POLLAK

Jesse is the creator of ⁠Base⁠, an Ethereum Layer 2 incubated by Coinbase, where Jesse has worked since 2017. Less than one year since its mainnet launch in August 2023, Base has quickly become the leading L2 by many metrics as of the time of this episode's release. Prior to Base, Jesse led all of Coinbase’s consumer-facing engineering from 2017 to 2021. Jesse originally joined Coinbase through the acquisition of Clef, a passwordless identity solutions company he started. Follow Jesse @jessepollak on both ⁠X⁠ and on ⁠Warpcast⁠. 0:00 - Jesse’s story and path to Coinbase 7:02 - How a sabbatical led Jesse to build Base 13:30 - How Coinbase's culture enabled the creation of Base 16:48 - Taking iterative shots with a talented team 21:06 - The importance of persistence 26:27 - How Base's builder-focused culture came to be 29:05 - Navigating when to move fast and breaking things versus when to make decisions carefully and deliberately 34:46 - Why Jesse believes many L2s will be successful 43:19 - Coinbase Smart Wallet & Onchain Summer II For more episodes, go to ⁠⁠podofjake.com⁠⁠. Previous guests include ⁠⁠Mark Cuban⁠⁠, ⁠⁠Vitalik Buterin⁠⁠, ⁠⁠Brian Armstrong⁠⁠, ⁠⁠Balaji Srinivasan⁠⁠, ⁠⁠Keith⁠⁠ ⁠⁠Rabois⁠⁠, ⁠⁠Ali Spagnola⁠⁠, ⁠⁠Anthony Pompliano⁠⁠, ⁠⁠Raoul Pal⁠⁠, ⁠⁠Julia Galef⁠⁠, ⁠⁠Jack Butcher⁠⁠, ⁠⁠Tim Draper⁠⁠, and over 100 others alike. Learn from founders and CEOs of companies like ⁠⁠OpenAI⁠⁠, ⁠⁠Coinbase⁠⁠, ⁠⁠Solana⁠⁠, ⁠⁠Polygon⁠⁠, ⁠⁠AngelList⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠Oura⁠⁠⁠, and ⁠⁠Replit⁠⁠, and investors from ⁠⁠Founders⁠⁠ ⁠⁠Fund⁠⁠, ⁠⁠a16z⁠⁠, ⁠⁠Union Square Ventures⁠⁠, and many more. I appreciate your support and hope you enjoy. Thanks to ⁠⁠⁠Chase Devens⁠⁠⁠ for the show notes and ⁠⁠⁠Yiction⁠⁠⁠ for the music. Lastly, I love hearing from fans of the pod. Feel free to email me any time at ⁠⁠jake@blogofjake.com⁠⁠. Thank you!