If you’ve been plugging into the world of DAOs lately, you’ve certainly heard of FWB (Friends with Benefits DAO). In many ways, FWB is the cool kid on the block, the connector that taps into all the right scenes. It’s brought creatives, artists, technologists, builders, and anyone who’s in the intersection of culture and web3 together. What differentiates FWB from any other social clubs or scenes, is that like any other DAO, its members have a shared bank account, powered by the blockchain. It makes decisions on how they want to operate, what initiatives they want to pursue, and how they want to spend their money collectively as a community. 

Alex Zhang, who has probably the coolest job title I know, is the Mayor of FWB. With extensive experience as a community builder, particularly for global communities with large budgets and corporate structures, he’s eager to disrupt that existing model and define what a more organic member driven governance structure looks like. He takes inspiration from fields like urban planning, architecture and organizational design to inform what a more robust, organized, and well-run DAO could look like. 

In the episode, we talk about the genesis story of FWB, how it became such a successful social club. We also explore future possibilities for DAOs, including how it can expand more into facilitating irl (in real life) connections, building vertically integrated tools, and growing to become more like cities rather than intimidating Discord channels. 

ABOUT THE GUEST

Alex Zhang is the mayor of FWB DAO, a worldwide group of cultural creators, thinkers, and builders who convene digitally and IRL to collaboratively shape Web3’s future. Previously, he was the president of Summit, an ecosystem that connects and nourishes global creatives, entrepreneurs, innovators and leaders. He aspires to be the Jane Jacobs of DAOs. 

SHOW NOTES

[2:00] What is FWB and its genesis story?

[8:45] What experiences and skills help shape you for this role?

[16:00] Urban planning principles and how it applies to DAOs

[20:30] If DAOs become governed like cities, where does decentralization come into play?

[25:40] How important is the physical/irl presence of DAOs?

[31:30] What social tools are FWB building? Could they ever replace existing social media platforms?

[35:20] How to attract people to a social club? What does it mean to sit in the intersection of culture x tech x people?

[38:30] Highlights of FWB thus far

The number of successful consumer applications in the web 3 space is still few and far between. Against all odds, Audius, an open source and decentralized music discovery and community platform was somehow able to strike a chord and gain mainstream adoption. 

They have racked up 7M monthly listeners and 50,000 artists, including heavy hitters like deadmau5, Nas, Chainsmokers, Steve Aoki and many more. So what exactly is Audius and how were they able to gain so much traction? 

Initially, it looks just like any other web 2 music discovery and streaming product, but that’s just the tip of the iceberg. All data on Audius is open source, which means as a developer you can take the music library and build your own unique music application.

Beyond that, listener data is open as well, which means that artists can have unfettered access to their fan base and use it like a CRM. They can create fan clubs, share exclusive streams, but more critically, if a platform like Spotify or Soundcloud goes down or changes their algorithms, artists will still be able to have a direct channel to their listeners. 

Finally, the governance structure of the Audius community is unique and Robust. Audius the startup is just one small piece of the entire ecosystem. There is also an Audius token, which is managed by the Audius Foundation, and stimulates the economic activities and incentives of the ecosystem. Finally, contribution and decision making is all done by the community in a decentralized manner.

ABOUT THE GUEST

Roneil Rumburg is co-founder and CEO of Audius, a digital streaming service that connects fans directly with artists and exclusive new music. Audius is fully decentralized, owned and run by a vibrant, open-source community of artists, fans, and developers all around the world. Founded in early 2018, Audius serves millions of users every month, making it one of the largest crypto applications ever built.

Prior to Audius, Roneil most recently co-founded Kleiner Perkins' early-stage seed fund, KPCB Edge. At KP, he was responsible for seed investments into Blockchain and AI companies, including Lightning Labs. Roneil attended Stanford University and previously co-founded a Bitcoin peer to peer payment company called Backslash.

SHOW NOTES

[2:45] Audius’ role in disrupting the music industry

[6:45] Components of Audius platform (listeners, artists, network contributor)

[10:35] What does it mean to be the CRM for artists’ fanbase

[15:00] How artists use Audius vs. other platforms

[19:55] Enabling 3P developers to build new listening clients

[23:05] Key drivers of growth

[26:15] Distributed vs. centralized listening experience

[30:25] Governance structure of Audius network

[33:45] Role of CEO for a decentralized network

[37:45] What it means run a ‘startup’ that has no concept of existing or having an IPO

In the last year, play-to-earn (P2E) games have become a promising new frontier for both blockchain enthusiasts who are seeking a deeper purpose in what NFTs and digital ownership can enable, and game developers who are intrigued by this new model of publishing games where it can bypass the walled gardens of the mobile app stores. 

However, given the nascency of this industry, there’s still a ton of skepticism. Common criticisms include P2E games being “not fun to play”, not actually helping people earn money, and not necessarily providing additional value to own game NFTs. 

For Yat Siu who was one of the first investors in Axie Infinity, he believes blockchain gaming is just scratching the surface of what opportunities it can unlock. Beyond immediate value, he is able to see the long term benefits through a philosophical lens.

ABOUT THE GUEST

Yat Siu is the co-founder and executive chairman of Animoca Brands, a global leader in blockchain and gaming with the mission to deliver digital property rights to the world’s gamers and internet users, thereby creating a new asset class, play-to-earn economies, and a more equitable digital framework contributing to building the open metaverse. 

He is a veteran technology entrepreneur and investor based in Hong Kong. He was previously the Founder and CEO of Outblaze, and began his career in Atari Germany. He has been an early advocate for the use of blockchain and NFTs in the gaming industry, which will allow gamers to enjoy true ownership of their own game assets, data and consequently, equity.  

SHOW NOTES

[2:20] How Yat became interested in gaming

[8:45] Gaining conviction for blockchain gaming

[13:40] Permissionless nature of the blockchain

[15:10] Extractive nature of mobile gaming

[19:40] Principles of Play-and-Earn (GameFi)

[25:20] Property rights in the Metaverse

[34:40] Pervasiveness of monopolies online

[36:40] Decentralized property rights as the foundation for innovation

[44:10] Capitalism and inequality

[50:40] Civility, governance and politics in the Metaverse

[59:00] Education as the best defender of democracy

[1:02:45] Future role of government and policies makers in Web 3

[1:06:20] Web 3 and GameFi investing landscape

[1:16:30] Advice to founder and operators wanting to enter into GameFi