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- #22: When You Share It, They See It
#22: When You Share It, They See It
Also: Crypto mogul allegedly paid near $1B for celeb intros
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The Super Connector Who Built Sam Bankman-Fried’s Celebrity World (New York Times)
This story explains how the crypto mogul Sam Bankman-Fried of FTX, now arrested on fraud charges, got connected and endorsed by an array of celebrities. He used the services of Michael Kives, a former Hollywood agent and a super-connector. Turns out, the relationship was mutually beneficial as SBF invested $700M in Kives’s VC firm, plus a $250M fee as part of the deal.
Entertainment giants, talent agencies, and creative networks continue to find new ways to organically weave in web3. “Mainstream adoption will probably look less like a conscious choice and will just happen to be powered by this technology.”
Content creators are having trouble reaching viewers with NFT messaging because it doesn’t land well with the gaming audience in the current market. Some advice: “You're just playing and creating content around games that happen to be Web3, but don't over-web3 it.”; “Stay away from tokens,”'; “Refrain from using jargon and complex crypto and NFT terminology with their content, especially in the opening moments”
In his annual “State of the Creator Economy” memo addressed at his agency’s partner creators, Reed Duchsher shared his market perspective. Notably, he advised creators to be wary about their investments in TikTok, since “constantly changing algorithm” could cause problems for those who are “overly reliant” on it, and the governmental pressures in the US will only increase as the presidential election year approaches.
Patreon is positioning itself against the platforms with algorithmic feeds, which “have made it easier for creators to go viral but nearly impossible to make lasting connections”. The platform wants to win creators with tools for direct relationships with fans (or subscribers), such as email messages, app notifications, and website updates, under the motto “When you share it, they see it.” (No mention of NFTs unfortunately)

Harry Styles Ireland show offered NFT-powered experiences to fans.
Dior is launching sneakers equipped with ‘an encrypted key’.
Hermès won a permanent ban in the case against ‘MetaBirkin” NFTs.
Adidas ‘put on hold’ collaboration with NFT celeb due to accusations.
Warner Music launched a blockchain music accelerator for apps.
Ronaldo is launching his second NFT collection with Binance.
Kendall Jenner, J Balvin will judge NFT competition for AIDS charity.
Sotheby’s dissolved Paris NFTs team, launched generative art program.
Roblox is growing from a virtual playground to a global empire.
VidCon: The 'moment has arrived' for digital creators.

Matchmaking: TikTok’s ‘Creative Challenge’ pairs creators with brands.
A/B tests: YouTube’s new tool helps to choose the perfect thumbnail.
Courses: Hotmart is helping influencers get rich without going viral.
Token-gating: Shopify added tutorials on token-gated storefronts.
Creator stores: Amaze integrated with TikTok Shop to sell direct to fans.
Influencing: Mad Realities kicked off the first season of creator shows where the audience votes to influence the plot.
Writers: Mirror expanded its Writing NFTs feature.
3D: Zora now supports 3D files for NFT creation.
Mergers: Candy Digital has combined with Palm NFT studio.
Product launches: The Lab NFT builder; Ginoa NFT aggregator; Admire high-end NFT marketplace; Pillz wearables for NFTs; Toekenz kid-friendly NFTs; Quivr interest-based ID.

“Today, the “creator economy” represents people only with their own brands and audiences and already is a $250 billion dollar market. Many people predict that this sector continues to grow, especially with new web3 business models emerging. Currently, only 38% of respondents globally believe they are adequately compensated for the value and creativity they add to the Internet. (…)”


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Author Bio
Kuba Szewczyk is an NFT Product Strategy Lead at ConsenSys, helping build NFT tools for creators and brands. He previously worked at Bain & Co. Digital Assets and earned Harvard MBA.
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