This Week in Web3: Friday, March 11th, 2022
Sequoia launches a $500M crypto fund, Biden’s Executive Order, DAO’s and the future of media, Apple vs. Meta, FastCo’s Most Innovative list, What Makes Bored Apes so desirable and more!
Hi there!
Tough week, hope everyone is doing ok. Happy Covid19 anniversary? Can’t believe it’s been two-years.
First, thanks to everyone who subscribed to the newsletter over the past week, as I mentioned, 100% of the proceeds will be donated to the UNICEF: Protect Children in Ukraine fund, which, given the atrocities of the past week, is very much in need of our support.
This week’s newsletter is dedicated to International Women’s Day and the incredible female leaders who are pioneering in Web3. Thanks to a number of my female mentors, including the inimitable Cindy Gallop, I’ve been advocating for a more equitable tech-industry for over a decade, and while Web3 is a long way from being gender-balanced, I am encouraged to see so many female leaders entering into the space. Today, I would like to highlight a small number of them and would also like to encourage you to follow them and their work. Here they are:
Lindsey McInerney, Former Global Head of Technology & Innovation at AB InBev (No Co-founder/CEO of something new)
Anu Bhardwaj, Founder & Chief Executive Officer at SHEQONOMI
Orchid Bertelsen, COO, Common Thread Collective, Investor and Advisor
Simone Banna, Partnerships @ Twitch | Prev. NBA | Web3 Consultant
Simone Berry, Entrepreneur | Bringing fashion to the Metaverse
Kathryn Haun, General Partner, Andreessen Horowitz (Founder of something new)
Ok, on with the show; here’s what we’ve been consuming this week in Web3.
Enjoy!
TL;DR
Sequoia Capital is launching a $500-600 million crypto fund to invest in tokens
Biden Signs Executive Order Bullish on Crypto, Digital U.S. Dollar
A Working Hypothalamus, How an exceptional new show made me think about work, DAOs and me by Troy Young
Apple vs. Meta: Who Will Offer the Better Metaverse Experience?
Fast Company’s Most Innovative Companies
SeedClub DAO Podcast: Ep 19: DAO Contributor Series - Patti Hauseman (FWB)
What Makes Bored Ape NFTs So Desirable?
Making the Metaverse the key to a better future instead of a dystopian prison
Startup Upstream Raises $12.5 Million For Its ‘DAO In A Box’ Web3 Tools
News we’re following
Sequoia Capital is launching a $500-600 million crypto fund to invest in tokens
Sequoia Capital will bet on tokens through its new crypto fund worth $500-600 million.
The VC firm will also actively manage tokens, from staking them to providing liquidity to participating in governance.
Biden Signs Executive Order Bullish on Crypto, Digital U.S. Dollar
The Biden administration is taking a whole-of-government approach to the "responsible" development of crypto as well as building a central bank digital currency.
Startup Upstream Raises $12.5 Million For Its ‘DAO In A Box’ Web3 Tools
Entrepreneurs Alex Taub and Michael Schonfeld once built software tools for the social media boom. Now they’re hoping to provide the plumbing for a new one in the Wild West of Web3.
Articles we’re reading
A Working Hypothalamus, How an exceptional new show made me think about work, DAOs and me by Troy Young
“I talk to a lot of media people that are uncertain about what crypto means to their business. Should they try to get in the NFT game, do they build crypto capabilities into ad products and creative studios, should they be publishing to the blockchain. DAOs will represent something more significant, I think. As observed several times in previous note, the highest order achievement for a media brand is as gravitational center of a community. This stands to reason. Content that resonates drives engagement, moves people to action, to identify with the brand and connect with one another. Community is the most resilient distribution mechanism for media and DAOs are the ultimate mechanism for media as community.”
Apple vs. Meta: Who Will Offer the Better Metaverse Experience?
Which major tech player will pave the easier path into the metaverse?
As we edge closer towards Web3, it seems like every company wants a piece of the pie. After rebranding to Meta and laying out its plans to dominate the metaverse, Facebook has made significant waves within the last few months. Other Big Tech giants such as Microsoft, Samsung and Sony have also sunk their teeth into the metaverse space, with offerings such as collaborative software, better connectivity and more immersive user experiences.
Fast Company’s Most Innovative Companies
Innovating on behalf of customers never goes out of fashion. Our definitive annual showcase of the best in business features inspiring stories across a wide range of industries, from advertising to wellness, and every corner of the globe.
Editors note: Only five of the top 50 are driving innovation in Web3 and the Metaverse. It will be interesting to see what the list looks like this time next year.
Fast Company’s Web3 Innovators:
Hybe: For conjuring a musical multiverse
Fanatics: For leading memorabilia into the future
Snap: For augmenting smartphone cameras with a fitting room
Dapper Labs: For introducing normies to Web3
Roblox: For expanding its universe
What Makes Bored Ape NFTs So Desirable?
Purchased by celebrities from Justin Bieber to Gwyneth Paltrow, and exciting cryptocurrency enthusiasts, these digital avatars promise a vaunted place in the metaverse and IP potential.
Non-fungible tokens, or NFTs, have gone in the last year from a relatively obscure blockchain technology to a market valued at around $44 billion. WSJ explores how NFTs are transforming the art market and tells the story of who is behind the buzz.
Making the Metaverse the key to a better future instead of a dystopian prison
The digitization of humanity via AI and the metaverse is already inevitable, but will it lead us to a decentralized, better world or to a dystopian nightmare?
Will the Metaverse(s) change humanity as we know it? Will the Metaverse(s) be the ultimate augmentation of human perception? Will it become an agora for our dreams (and, of course, nightmares), able to transform human perception entirely? Has it already started?
Podcasts we’re listening to
SeedClub DAO Podcast: Ep 19: DAO Contributor Series - Patti Hauseman (FWB)
Welcome to the first episode of the DAO contributor series, where we sit down with the early full-time contributors in the web3 ecosystem to shine a light on some of the pain points and day to day operations of what it is like actively building on the front lines in the future of work on the internet.
In this episode, we sit down with Patti Hauseman, an operations contributor at FWB. We learn about Patti's journey entering the web3 space and how she worked her way through to the full-time operations role at FWB. We go deep into the onboarding process at FWB and how those pathways have evolved. And FWB's experience building web3 healthcare options for their contributors.
Bankless Podcast: Biden’s Crypto Executive Order | Sanctions & Commodities | Coinbase & MetaMask | Bear Watch?!