Buying my first NFT, The Nametagging Phenomenon, Why Crypto is more Financial Engineering than Software Engineering, Buzzer, and launching The Tax In Box Business Course
Stretch Four Insights Volume 6
I entered the world of NFTs this week and it's not for the faint of heart. Yes, you can do well, but there are an alarming amount of scams, and of course, I experienced one. More on that next week.
This brought up a larger question around crypto, web3, and the like.
Is it all simply a scam and what drives the winners?
Is the technology that much better in a decentralized land like it is currently?
Can the user experience improve for mainstream adoption?
Is it not just another way for rich people to avoid taxes and create more wealth for themselves?
With that said, let's get into it. And if you want to hear more or spread the word, subscribe and tell your friends! I would also love feedback on what specific things from the newsletter you would like to learn more about.
Buying My First NFT
This week, I took the red pill on NFTs and made my first purchase. I was in the airport last week heading back to the West Coast when I saw this tweet from a prominent founder who has been a bull on NFTs and crypto.
I watched the run-up happening in real-time but funding my MetaMask wallet was impossible while in the air so I had to wait until I landed back in San Francisco to do so. I likely overpaid but I secured the NFT.
I am early in my NFT ownership journey and the actual work to drive the value of a community is just beginning, I will document my story as I learn more.
At peak, Chain Runners ran all the way up to number two on OpenSea.
📰 Recommended Readings
(📜,📜), 👁👄👁, & the power of "Nametagging" | Josh Costine
"Nametagging" has taken over the Twittersphere in the last few months. What notoriety do you have if you don't have the right emojis, NFT avatar, or .ETH, .SOL in your name? Costine dives deeper into both what "nametagging" is and how it has become such a useful marketing strategy to build brands, communities, and drive adoption and virality to Web3 movements like ConstitutionalDAO. The phenomenon is happening on a large scale. I, too, recently converted to be that guy on Twitter after purchasing my first NFT last week. Constine provides a great primer on how it all works and why your favorite entertainer most likely has a Bored Ape serving as their social media avatar. Ironically, Adidas signed a partnership with Bored Ape this week. We'll likely see more and more big-ticket brands getting in the mix looking to affiliate their brands.
Key takeaway:
Name yourself something that can easily be conveyed with emoji
Doublecheck that your chosen emoji looks nice and consistent across platforms
Instruct your followers that they’re encouraged to add the emoji to their names
The Token Disconnect | Stephen Diehl
I came across this piece by Diehl this week and began to realize there is an emerging demographic of extremely technical folks who consider blockchain technologies to be teetering between a scam and at best, "a technology that barely works.". Diehl takes a dig at the venture capital industry for creating financial arbitrage around tokenization. His primary argument is that blockchain is not about software engineering but simply financial engineering and the best performing crypto assets are ones that "simply do nothing at all.".
Key takeaway:
Like other historical market manias, this mania is a grassroots populist phenomenon of people driving large amounts of capital into schemes that emotionally resonate with their deeply held beliefs.
Startup Spotlight
Buzzer is a notification-driven mobile platform for live sports personalized for fans.
Betting On Yourself - Bo Han (CEO/Founder - Buzzer)
This week my good friend dropped a podcast with Bo Han, Founder of Buzzer. Buzzer is an app that focuses on bringing marquee sports moments to fans live on a transactional basis. Consider this a highlight reel that allows you to get real-time live feeds of your favorite team's games. This is an interesting concept and as an NBA League Pass and former NFL Ticket subscriber, it makes sense. Buzzer already has partnerships with the NBA, PGA, and NHL and they announced a Series A fundraising round back in June from the likes of Michael Jordan, J. Cole, Drake, and Naomi Osaka.
What's Next?
This month, I launched the Tax in Box Course which kicks off in mid-December. This course is designed for anyone starting, expanding, or growing an online tax business in today's internet-obsessive era.
I am running a daily webinar for folks to learn more about what to expect in the courses ahead of launch later this month. Webinars are complimentary so be sure to choose a date that works best for your schedule.
I also launched my first paid spotlight longer form piece on Column Tax last week. You can check out a condensed version of it on my personal blog for free. I would love your feedback and let me know what companies you would like to learn more about. For now, I will focus on companies in tax, fintech, and a little web3.
Check out last week's Stretch Four Insights Volume #5 and tell a friend to tell a friend.
Lastly, if you found this newsletter interesting and know someone else who would, please forward it to them or tell them to subscribe here. It would make my day if you do!
Back to the trenches.
Best,
Mattaparker.eth