12309
J.eth.id π©π§βπΎ @ethxy
@jethid #12309
Builder behind /ethxy and /sexy! https://ethxy.com. MIT 6-3. a16z CSS β23. YC alum.
13338 Follower 641 Following
I've found the closest analog to these early years of crypto were the early years of social media. Discovering extremely powerful emotional responses triggered from a CRUD database was like discovering nuclear power from these tiny pellets of uranium. This echos the powerful incentivization enabled by the discovery of digital scarcity.
Back in 2006-2012 you had thousands of startups of various sizes building all sorts of variations of social media. In my YC batch during this period, half the startups were working on mobile social media apps of some sort. (SoLoMo, MoLoSo, etc.). There were plenty of high concept, big raise startups that were pure narrative and crashed. There were weekend projects that ended up gaining viral traction and raising VC funding within 72 hours of launch. (Remember Yo?).
Back in 2006-2012 you had thousands of startups of various sizes building all sorts of variations of social media. In my YC batch during this period, half the startups were working on mobile social media apps of some sort. (SoLoMo, MoLoSo, etc.). There were plenty of high concept, big raise startups that were pure narrative and crashed. There were weekend projects that ended up gaining viral traction and raising VC funding within 72 hours of launch. (Remember Yo?).
There's been a clear demarcation between founders who complain that all the attention and liquidity flows to products that aren't their narrative and founders who try to figure out how to capture the narrative.
Markets don't promise to give you $X for building Y. Markets aren't rational or noble or give you money for "how things ought to be". You can be stubborn and stick to building your sand castle but you don't get to complain that the market isn't valuing what you've built at "fair" value.
The only way forward is to get a better understanding of what people actually want and try to provide a product that offers that. The good news is if you manage to capture a meaningful % of what people actually want, any valuation you have today will look like a rounding error.
Markets don't promise to give you $X for building Y. Markets aren't rational or noble or give you money for "how things ought to be". You can be stubborn and stick to building your sand castle but you don't get to complain that the market isn't valuing what you've built at "fair" value.
The only way forward is to get a better understanding of what people actually want and try to provide a product that offers that. The good news is if you manage to capture a meaningful % of what people actually want, any valuation you have today will look like a rounding error.
If you're at Devcon, join /ethxy at the Park Hyatt Bangkok 17:00 tomorrow, Thursday 14 Nov.
π₯ Escape to luxury after a long day of hard events.
π We will be making a special surprise product announcement.
πͺ We will be providing a special airdrop for attendees.
πΎ Look forward to an open bar, upscale food, chic atmosphere.
π₯ One of a kind of degentertainment that you'll be able to indulge.
You won't want to miss our premier of the EthXY Degen Reception PrivΓ©e, our very first live event.
https://lu.ma/81idr3at
https://x.com/ethxy/status/1856697080028496366
π₯ Escape to luxury after a long day of hard events.
π We will be making a special surprise product announcement.
πͺ We will be providing a special airdrop for attendees.
πΎ Look forward to an open bar, upscale food, chic atmosphere.
π₯ One of a kind of degentertainment that you'll be able to indulge.
You won't want to miss our premier of the EthXY Degen Reception PrivΓ©e, our very first live event.
https://lu.ma/81idr3at
https://x.com/ethxy/status/1856697080028496366
Keynote #4 is out! Would appreciate everyoneβs help to share! https://ethxy.com
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Keynote #4 is out! Would appreciate everyoneβs help to share! https://ethxy.com
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Keynote #4 is out! Base pixel art MMORPG https://ethxy.com We cover Rock Paper Scissors, the Legendary Frost Armor, Weapon and Mount Set, XP and so much more! https://x.com/ethxy/status/1854358952634441745
The third keynote has landed for https://ethxy.com! Celebrating the arrival of characters, the Armory, the Town Square, Energy, Training Points and so much more. Would really appreciate your help spreading the word: https://x.com/ethxy/status/1852112011083289082
The third keynote has landed for https://ethxy.com! Celebrating the arrival of characters, the Armory, the Town Square, Energy, Training Points and so much more. Would really appreciate your help spreading the word: https://x.com/ethxy/status/1852112011083289082
The third keynote has landed for https://ethxy.com! Celebrating the arrival of characters, the Armory, the Town Square, Energy, Training Points and so much more. Would really appreciate your help spreading the word: https://x.com/ethxy/status/1852112011083289082
At Y Combinator, the 3 month program ends with a "Demo Day" where startups present what they've worked on to investors to raise a round. Founders describe it as one of the most intense periods of work where they want to utilize "the most leveraged days of their lives" to the fullest.
It's a sharp contrast of atmosphere to 6 months after Demo Day where everything seems slow with a cloud of gloom that feels like it fills the room. I was curious if its possible to reawaken the same energy that led up to Demo Day.
Having being through a few "demo days", I think the biggest motivating factor is just not looking bad in public. The pain of social embarrassment spurns a ridiculous dynamo of energy that keeps you up squeezing that last bit of juice.
The prospect of getting instant gratification for each marginal goodness is intoxicating compared to the mundanity that is months of no-man's land startup sloggery.
https://x.com/j_eth_id/status/1851543506252140964
It's a sharp contrast of atmosphere to 6 months after Demo Day where everything seems slow with a cloud of gloom that feels like it fills the room. I was curious if its possible to reawaken the same energy that led up to Demo Day.
Having being through a few "demo days", I think the biggest motivating factor is just not looking bad in public. The pain of social embarrassment spurns a ridiculous dynamo of energy that keeps you up squeezing that last bit of juice.
The prospect of getting instant gratification for each marginal goodness is intoxicating compared to the mundanity that is months of no-man's land startup sloggery.
https://x.com/j_eth_id/status/1851543506252140964
The future of consumer startups is the equivalent of the Food Truck -> Permanent Restaurant -> National Brand pathway. Halal Guys of NYC comes to mind.
π Food Truck Stage
- 1-3 team members with off the charts agency.
- Raised $0-$2M funding. Team has been able to convince some investors that team is special and bankable.
- Seasoned chefs (formerly cooking for large consumer companies) disillusioned with the impersonal, corporatized food they're cooking leave to make their own food truck.
- Utilize Vercel, Supabase, other powerful off-the-shelf services to launch. Off-the-shelf food trucks in 2024 are like state-of-the-art kitchens of 2018.
- Super opinionated dishes of food with unique tastes that can't be imitated. Food truck drives around gathers a cult following.
- Chefs are uninhibited by PM's / "corporate management" / focus groups. They cook only what they want to cook.
https://x.com/j_eth_id/status/1850939313154031861
π Food Truck Stage
- 1-3 team members with off the charts agency.
- Raised $0-$2M funding. Team has been able to convince some investors that team is special and bankable.
- Seasoned chefs (formerly cooking for large consumer companies) disillusioned with the impersonal, corporatized food they're cooking leave to make their own food truck.
- Utilize Vercel, Supabase, other powerful off-the-shelf services to launch. Off-the-shelf food trucks in 2024 are like state-of-the-art kitchens of 2018.
- Super opinionated dishes of food with unique tastes that can't be imitated. Food truck drives around gathers a cult following.
- Chefs are uninhibited by PM's / "corporate management" / focus groups. They cook only what they want to cook.
https://x.com/j_eth_id/status/1850939313154031861
There's something magical with a publicly released launch date. There's an utmost focusing energy where you calculate what's highest priority to ship. The quiet determination of your team working as hard as possible to get things ready.
The natural ambition to squeeze in that last bit of goodness because the anticipated payoff is immediate as soon as the launch happens. It sounds funny but our best features have usually come after we've announced the date.
The secret to a well functioning startup is having a frequent launching cadence. As long as you're shipping genuinely new and innovating things, it's very hard to oversaturate frequency of launch.
People love being early to fresh things and you're delighting them by offering a chance to do just that.
The natural ambition to squeeze in that last bit of goodness because the anticipated payoff is immediate as soon as the launch happens. It sounds funny but our best features have usually come after we've announced the date.
The secret to a well functioning startup is having a frequent launching cadence. As long as you're shipping genuinely new and innovating things, it's very hard to oversaturate frequency of launch.
People love being early to fresh things and you're delighting them by offering a chance to do just that.
We have our biggest launch with /ethxy on @Base upcoming this Thursday Oct 31 at 12:00 UTC! Your help spreading the word would be appreciated! https://ethxy.com
An embarrassing amount of my founder ambition is for never touching a jira ticket again in my life
Weβre launching big today! Would appreciate your help spreading the word: https://x.com/ethxy/status/1848804905295008146
Weβre launching big today! Would appreciate your help spreading the word: https://x.com/ethxy/status/1848804905295008146
We have our big launch today for EthXY! Would appreciate your help spreading the word!
https://x.com/ethxy/status/1848804905295008146
https://x.com/ethxy/status/1848804905295008146
I think as founders we rationally fear launches as it feels like the make or break moment for months of hard work. Hitting "launch" for our latest EthXY product felt very similar to going "all-in" in poker. When you do so, you ironically surrender all your power and you're at the mercy of the markets.
It's perhaps the most risky thing to do to your self-perception and is the reason why so few people do it. Itβs a lot easier to be complacent with constantly building and never launching.
I canβt express how excited we are at the awesome reception weβve gotten. Now that weβve proven that our onboarding mechanism works well, weβre looking to quickly ship the full experience on top of that foundation. This is the thrilling payoff that justifies the risk: the glowing feeling of people using (and loving) what youβve made.
I think the future is bright for EthXY. (https://ethxy.com)
It's perhaps the most risky thing to do to your self-perception and is the reason why so few people do it. Itβs a lot easier to be complacent with constantly building and never launching.
I canβt express how excited we are at the awesome reception weβve gotten. Now that weβve proven that our onboarding mechanism works well, weβre looking to quickly ship the full experience on top of that foundation. This is the thrilling payoff that justifies the risk: the glowing feeling of people using (and loving) what youβve made.
I think the future is bright for EthXY. (https://ethxy.com)
It's finally happening. This Friday (2 days from now), 12:00 UTC presented on
/ethxy. I'll leave you with Stevetoshi Jobamoto to give you a teaser.
Stevetoshi: Every once in a while, a revolutionary product comes along that changes everything. We've prepared a keynote on Friday that will walk you through our new product.
We've been working on onchain consumer products since 2022 and have seen the rise of three key types of onchain experiences: DeFi, memecoins and games.
Our thesis is simple. Make things as easy as possible while delivering the most delightful experiences possible.
It turns out people in crypto want three things.
1. They want to make money.
2. They want to have fun.
3. They want to be respected.
Our engineers have been working hard to come up with an elegant, genre-defining product, and boy, I think they've cracked it.
Come join me on Friday and we'll do a deep dive on the future of $SEXY.
/ethxy. I'll leave you with Stevetoshi Jobamoto to give you a teaser.
Stevetoshi: Every once in a while, a revolutionary product comes along that changes everything. We've prepared a keynote on Friday that will walk you through our new product.
We've been working on onchain consumer products since 2022 and have seen the rise of three key types of onchain experiences: DeFi, memecoins and games.
Our thesis is simple. Make things as easy as possible while delivering the most delightful experiences possible.
It turns out people in crypto want three things.
1. They want to make money.
2. They want to have fun.
3. They want to be respected.
Our engineers have been working hard to come up with an elegant, genre-defining product, and boy, I think they've cracked it.
Come join me on Friday and we'll do a deep dive on the future of $SEXY.
Cleaned up old spam posts in preparation for our next chapter
I don't know if this is a common experience for builders but completing the next era of @ethxy feels more like being the author of a novel rather than a technical project.
I think this is because we've been able to figure out the technical challenges behind telling a story on the onchain medium. Now with core characters and rough plot premise is already set. It's been the matter of figuring out how to tell the story with the rich raw materials available.
Note that by "story" I'm not literally referring to a storyline (although there will be a storyline included!), but rather the gameplay loops and engaging activity our players will be participating.
Our prior efforts felt more like figuring out how to publish a book. It was testing different types of binding, checking different manufacturers, figuring out typesettingβall efforts focused more on the how rather than the why.
I think this is because we've been able to figure out the technical challenges behind telling a story on the onchain medium. Now with core characters and rough plot premise is already set. It's been the matter of figuring out how to tell the story with the rich raw materials available.
Note that by "story" I'm not literally referring to a storyline (although there will be a storyline included!), but rather the gameplay loops and engaging activity our players will be participating.
Our prior efforts felt more like figuring out how to publish a book. It was testing different types of binding, checking different manufacturers, figuring out typesettingβall efforts focused more on the how rather than the why.
