On The Other Side ep 46 - Building in the bear w/ Nicole d'Avis
Primer: What is it like to build in the bear market? In this episode of On The Other Side, host Chase Chapman speaks to Nicole d’Avis of Seed Club. She emphasizes the importance of community and what Crypto Twitter perceives may indeed be very different from what’s happening on the ground level.
Background
Introduced to blockchain in 2015
Was organizing events at the Berklee College of Music
The Open Music Initiative was thinking of moving music to the blockchain
Was teaching the Blockchain and Music class at Berklee and have built a music licensing platform on the blockchain
Joined Austin Robey and went through Seed Club’s accelerator
Currently a co-creator and steward at Seed Club
What Happened Over The Past Few Weeks
Had a number of project launches that coincided with the market crashing
It’s business as usual for them
Their last accelerator ended in March. These projects would be looking at June for their launch date
These projects would not become automatic sellouts
A lot of cleaning out in the bear market. Those who hold NFTs are people that really care about the community they are in
Differences Between Web3 Communities And A Traditional Startup
Main difference is the relationship with the community
If the community existed pre-bear, they will rely on their strong connections and double down on it
If a newer community is building in the bear, people are going to look for connections and engagement with other builders
The projects and communities that were enticing for their speculative benefits are no longer around in the bear
Staying Grounded While Things Are Challenging
In today’s world, we adopt a certain level of “everything’s fine” because we are inundated with news and things to be anxious and worried about each day
“I likened myself a little bit to the dog that sits in the fire that everything's fine meme, and because there are a lot of responsibilities that I juggle in my day-to-day life.”
- Nicole d’Avis
Have 2 kids which challenge her to do deep breathing and staying calm
Have to remind ourselves that we are not our feelings
Leadership In Communities/DAOs
At Berklee, she worked with young people of all ages
Had to be comfortable in chaos and ambiguity
Have not been through market cycles
In 2008, she was working in the non-profit sector
The funding cycle for non-profits takes a long time. The sector didn’t start laying off people until 2010
Has also worked with middle schoolers in under-resourced school districts and disenfranchised communities
Have to understand and put yourself in the place of where somebody else is at and focus on a common goal
Getting Someone To Execute On An Idea
A core value within Seed Club
Easy to have ideas but putting them into practice is the hard part
Seed Club has extremely effective operators and executors
Differences Between Narratives On Crypto Twitter And Practice
Absolutes on community does not ring true for her
Appreciates conversations about humans as multifaceted beings
Started writing updates to the community on a weekly basis
Her main opinion is that there’s a lot of voices that are doing the work that we're not hearing from
Eager to hear from those people and to model the same behaviour as well
Favourite Thing In Her Wallet
A digitized photograph of her headshot that she provided for a conference
Her name was misspelled in two different ways
“The immutability of it is kind of what makes me laugh, because my name is etched into the blockchain in a misspelled way.”
- Nicole d’Avis
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