"Higher is a Mindset" with Martin Anquetil, founder of Higher and creator of Aether AI | ZEROPOD SEASON 2 E3
What does it mean to build a brand without a leader, a strategy, or even a plan? In this episode of ZEROPOD, I sit down with Martin Anquetil, one of the founders of $HIGHER, the headless memecoin brand redefining chaos as culture onchain. We dive into everything from AI agents breaking bounty bots on Farcaster to an Ethereum stock split, the memecoin meta and the challenges of building a project based on a number-go-up meme even when number doesn’t always go up. Along the way, Martin shares lessons from his time within Nouns, explores the unique challenges of decentralization, and reveals what it takes to survive a 97% token price crash with your optimism and community intact. We really enjoyed this conversation with Martin, and we hope you do too! — TIMESTAMPS: 00:00 - Figuring out “Can we do this thing?” while doing it 01:00 - ZEROPOD Intro 01:51 - The Martin Origin Story 04:00 - College and Interning at Google 05:00 - Oneshot by Topshot 07:00 - 2021 NFT Season Nostalgia 10:55 - Who the F**k is Buying XRP? 11:50 - Ethereum Stock Split Discussion 15:15 - First Impressions of Nouns 16:15 - Leaving TopShot to Explore Onchain Options 17:50 - Freelancing with Nouns Builder 19:19 - Agora, Explorer Grants, and Other Nouns Initiatives 20:00 - Mogu Mogu Mogu: Nouns Governance Tooling 24:19 - Starting $HIGHER 25:00 - Roots in /bullposting 28:00 - How Would He Launch Higher Today? 32:00 - The Strength of Builders Who Stick Through the Bear 34:00 - “Higher, Not Sideways” 37:30 - Quack Quack ⌐◨-◨: 38:50 - Is $HIGHER a Neo-DAO or Something New? 40:00 - Authenticity vs. Top-Down Control: The Higher Experiment 44:00 - Could $ANON Run a Higher-Like Playbook? 45:00 - Farcaster Users Speed-Running Speculation Lessons 47:00 - $ZEROPOD: Exploring Media and Tokens 49:00 - The Origins of $POINTS on Farcaster 50:50 - “Provenance is Culturally Emergent” 51:00 - Jacob’s Horse Meme and Its Viral Evolution 53:53 - What Is Aether? The AI Agent Shaking Things Up 57:00 - The $LUM Luminous Launch 1:01:00 - Challenges of Community Cohesion in Decentralized Projects 1:02:03 - Questions for Martin from Aether 1:06:00 - What’s Next for Aether? Memory and Autonomy 1:07:00 - Aether on Twitter? Exploring New Platforms 1:08:00 - Balancing Meaningful Building with Market Pressures 1:11:00 - Betting on Yourself and Long-Term Projects 1:14:00 - Martin’s Thoughts on Trading and Staying Grounded 1:16:00 - Coinbase Listings and Meme Coin Dynamics 1:21:00 - What’s Next for Martin and $HIGHER 1:24:00 - Outro: Reflections and the Road Ahead — Podcast recorded by Toady Hawk, edited by Toady Hawk and JackWyldes. Hosted by Toady Hawk. Music by Toady Hawk x Suno AI. This content is zero rights reserved (cc0), please remix and reuse it in any way you like!
Creator Royalties and NFT Marketplace Wars ft. John Crain of SuperRare
Mint Season 7 Episode 16 welcomed John Crain, the Co-Founder of the 1-of-1 digital art marketplace, SuperRare. In this conversation, we explored the early narratives surrounding NFTs and the state of the marketplace wars at the time, including SuperRare’s role and approach to creator royalties. We dove into the evolution of understanding DAOs and how they influenced spending behavior on the platform, as well as unexplored topics in NFTs and the intersection of surfing, Web3, and crypto. I hope you enjoyed our conversation.
FAFO on the Journey to Become a Global Superstar with Losi
FAFO on the Journey to Become a Global Superstar with Losi Chris speaks with Losi, a Colombian Singer/ Songwriter and Entrepreneur about why she left Colombia to pursue her dream of becoming a Global Superstar. Losi and Chris talk about things including minting music NFTs, live performances (including Art Basel in Miami this December- save the date!) and why FAFO might just be the right attitude you need to have. Mint her new song Vida here: https://zora.co/collect/base:0xe917c900d87efaafebc67cc2626bd7a06f613da0/1?referrer=0x10c163364Fe153CadF6532a5B34481eeFB99D96d Connect with Losi: https://hoo.be/isabellalosada https://instagram.com/isabellalosada https://tiktok.com/@iamlosi____ https://twitter.com/iamlosi Lens: @iamlosi Farcaster: @iamlosi Connect with Chris: https://x.com/Christafarious Lens: @chriscomrie Farcaster: @chriscomrie
The Tales of Web3 with Nick White (Episode 012)
GM Kings and Queens! Welcome to THE TALES OF WEB3, where we go behind the scenes with the most epic builders and learn about their mindsets, the decisions they made in the past, and what made them who they are today. For Episode 12, we are excited to welcome Nick, COO of Celestia, the modularity man, to the podcast! Study Nick, study commitment.
Context S3: How To Value Yourself and Your Art w/ Iman Europe
Blake speaks with the brilliant musician Iman Europe. They have an illuminating discussion about the value of art, in particular music and music NFTs. This convo is part of the Lens x FWB FEST coverage where Iman performed (twice!). They speak about the music business, what goes into being an independent artist, and the role crypto tech has played in that process. Iman also recounts her journey into the crypto world and where she stands now with the space. They continue by talking about the more personal side of being an artist and how it often takes faith and courage to continue, especially in the face of rejection. Blake also asks her to name her top 5 favourite albums of all time. This is an incredible discussion for anyone who is an artist, who is interested in music NFTs or if you just want to listen to a super insightful, uplifting convo. Iman’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/ImanEurope Iman's Website: https://www.imaneurope.com/ Lens' Twitter: https://twitter.com/LensProtocol Lens' Website: https://www.lens.xyz/ Blake’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/blakefinucane Boys Club Newsletter: https://boysclub.beehiiv.com/
Creating seamless customer experiences in the new creator economy
In this conversation, Humpty and Pichi interview Samantha, a candlemaker and creator on Farcaster. They discuss Samantha's journey into candle making, the artistry behind their candles, and the intersection of technology and business as well as sharing their tech stack, including Shopify, Notion, and Hypersub. The conversation explores the themes of building in public, learning from mistakes, and the supportive community on Farcaster.
Public Parks and DAOs: The Rise of Digital Cities with Alex Zhang
I'm excited to bring back OG episode. Mint Season 3 episode 7 welcomed Alex Zhang, a Co-Founder of Friends with Benefits and the aspiring Jane Jacobs of DAOs. This was probably the most important conversation I’ve had on Mint so far. He brings so much insight and is really well versed with all things DAOs. We discuss: 0:00 - Intro 4:10 - Growing up a Son to Immigrants 7:34 - Becoming the Jane Jacobs of DAOs 20:55 - Understanding Dynamism in a Digital City 24:02 - The Differences Between Real Cities and Digital Cities 29:34 - FWB Season 4 39:47 - Crypto as an Incentive 46:49 - Photography and Crypto - The Similarities 49:09 - What Eats Web 3.0? 51:30 - Outro ...and so much more. I hope you enjoy our conversation.
Crypto Creator Economy Roundtable With Megan Lightcap Of Slow Ventures
Mint Season 6 episode 5 welcomed a fun conversation between Slow Ventures’ Creator Principal Megan Lightcap and Mint host Adam Levy on the pseudonymous creator economy and why onchain data is the most exciting opportunity for creators, Time Stamps 00:12 – Intro 04:17 – Recapping NFT NYC 08:39 – How Does Web3 Empower Creators? 15:12 – The Divide Between Web2 Creators and Web3 Creators 24:29 – Thoughts Around Social Tokens 29:26 – How Creators Should Use On-chain Data to Serve Their Communities 36:40 – Pseudonymous Creator Economy 40:33 – Advice for Web2 Creators Entering Web3 I hope you enjoy our conversation from way back then! It's an OG episode and I'm excited to bring it onchain.
Navigating Onchain Distribution and Growth Strategies with Peter Vecchiarelli
That’s Peter, the founder of the Ethereum Investment Club (EIC), a magazine publication documenting the very best of Ethereum. We recorded this episode during Onchain Summer, just as the meme of onchain virality was emerging—a movement in which Peter plays a key role. He shares his insights on onchain distribution, and we delve into the unique challenges and strategies of distributing content and mints, highlighting the differences between traditional marketing and onchain marketing. Peter also reveals valuable lessons from running successful campaigns and gives us a glimpse into some innovative onchain growth strategies he's been working on. It's a packed discussion, so I hope you enjoy our conversation!
A brief history of Ethereum hard forks
This episode is a brief history of Ethereum hard forks, from the early days of the Frontier thawing to the more recent Dencun upgrade. Sources: https://ethereum.org/en/history/
Context S3: Your Guide to Digital (and Crypto) Culture w/ Trevor McFedries
Blake chats with the longtime supporter and friend of Boys Club, Trevor McFedries. He’s really done it all, from founding Friends with Benefits (FWB) and creating the first AI generated influencer Lil Miquela, to being an early employee at Spotify, to DJing around the world,and producing top 10 records. He’s one of the most unique and dynamic thinkers in crypto. Blake and him discuss a myriad of topics including art, NFTs, the difference between outworking and outthinking, what streaming was meant to be vs. what is has turned into, and how his sports background continues to inform his work ethic. Blake also asks him about why he started FWB, the inefficiency of influencer culture, who captures the economic value from social capital, and how crypto rails have been and still can be applied to make its upsides more equitable. You’ll come away with some super valuable insights if you care about crypto culture, however you define it. This episode is part of Lens Protocol's FWB FEST coverage, in which Context is excited to be apart of (and Blake had a great time attending!). Trevor’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/whatdotcd Lens' Website: https://www.lens.xyz/ Lens' Twitter: https://twitter.com/LensProtocol Blake’ Twitter: https://twitter.com/blakefinucane Boys Club Newsletter: https://boysclub.beehiiv.com/
Why Social Needs a Layer 2 ft. Ryan Li of Cyber
This episode welcomes Ryan Li, Co-Founder of Cyber, the layer 2 for social. We spend this conversation diving into Cyber’s evolution, The launch of their L2 on Optimism, and their goals for their creator grants program and products they hope to see be built on their network. I’m excited to help Cyber social summer campaign with a jam packed discussion. Enjoy!
Introducing fan tokens for the new creator economy with Moxie
In this episode Humpty and Pichi bring on Jason (betashop.eth) to speak. The conversation revolves around the launch of Moxie, a protocol within the Farcaster ecosystem that enables the buying and selling of fan tokens. The hosts discuss the potential of Moxie to revolutionize the creator economy by allowing creators and their fans to share in the benefits and rewards of popular content. They also explore the concept of channels on Farcaster and how they can evolve from being like hashtags to becoming true communities. The conversation touches on the importance of utility and community in fan tokens, as well as the social capital score algorithm used to reward engagement on the platform.
Context S3: Inside Super Punk World w/ Nina Chanel Abney and Todd Kramer
Blake speaks with the brilliant Nina Chanel Abney, world renowned multidisciplinary artist. Her resume is beyond impressive; her work is in the permanent collections of museums like The MoMa and The Whitney, and she just released her second collaboration with Nike, designing her take on the iconic Jordan 3. Earlier this year, she was the first artist selected for Punk in Residence, an art program by CryptoPunks designed to champion creative experimentation with web 3. She released Super Punk World, her 500 piece NFT collection in May as part of the program. Throughout this episode, you’ll get further context on Nina’s entire body of work, her artistic vision and what she stands for, while Blake and her chat about the WNBA, her Nike collab, art history, how humour translates across mediums and more. The second half of the episode is dedicated to talking about Super Punk World, from its conception to its reception, to what’s next. Accompanying Nina is the innovative gallerist and collector Todd Kramer, who provides illuminating perspectives about the business side of the art industry, what Nina has accomplished in her career thus far and The Gallery of Digital Assets (GODA) which Nina and him co-founded with Pharrell (among others!). The three of them have an inspiring and pertinent discussion that is especially relevant for crypto art and NFT collectors and anyone interested in creativity onchain. Nina’s Twitter: https://x.com/ninachanel Super Punk World: https://hub.cryptopunks.app/gallery/nina Nina’s Nike Collab: https://www.nike.com/ca/launch/t/air-jordan-3-retro-x-nina-chanel-abney-bicoastal-and-malachite Todd’s Twitter: https://x.com/toddkramer1 Blake’s Twitter: https://x.com/blakefinucane Boys Club Newsletter: https://boysclub.beehiiv.com/
Welcome to ETH Daily
Welcome to your daily Ethereum news briefing. Dive into the latest on Ethereum, DAOs, DeFi, Staking, LRTs, and L2 rollups. Subscribe to our newsletter so you never miss a beat: https://ethdaily.io Follow Us X: x.com/ethdaily Lens: hey.xyz/u/ethdaily Farcaster: warpcast.com/ethdaily.eth
vibecheck 7 - @cameron - /seemore /lounge
Timestamps 1:02 - Origins of cameron 1:36 - sneaking into cozy corners 5:00 - the journey from borderlands to MBA Land 9:15 - /lounge - the inside experience 10:40 - understanding why channels are different 12:40 - guiding good content in /lounge 15:00 - twitter vs. fc 18:00 - competing with merkle aka alt clients 23:10 - growth arcs for wc and ecosystem builders 24:50 - incentives of using wc for distribution 26:18 - can’t be everything to everyone 28:10 - selling utopia and believing people on the internet 30:55 - internet in context informing the bot debate 33:19 - unfucking the feed 35:35 - just put down the phone even if it’s hard 36:30 - manifesting the algo 39:22 - dawufi gets seemore pilled 46:15 - living in online fandom - community corners 50:55 - social graphs with context via channels 51:42 - the future of advertising in web3 and alt clients 58:15 - crypto is hyperspeed 59:50 - eternal change in the universe means no sustainable utopias or dystopias
Going Viral Onchain
This episode welcomes Cooper Turley, Founder of Coop Records. Cooper is a recurring guest on the pod, though this time, we focus all of our attention on how to go viral onchain. Consider this a round table discussion where him and I share our insights, lessons learned, and debate our perspectives on the current state of the onchain creator economy. I hope you enjoy our conversation.
Shorts | Julian Holguin: Why Content is The Hook
This short highlights one of my favorite moments from my conversation with Julian Holguiin of Doodles and Jesse Pollak of Base. Content is the hook that will usher in billions of users from web2 into web3. Doodles knows this best, and with Julian's prolific background in media and music, coupled with their acquisition of a major animation studio, they're perfectly positioned to execute on this strategy. Listen to the full episode: https://pods.media/mint-podcast/doodles-moves-to-base-ft-jullian-holguin-and-jesse-pollak