Building Blockchain-Based Communities

Happy Sunday y’all 👋 

Over the last week, the general theme for posts was around: dreams, wisdom, space, and blockchain-based communities.

During the week, we also had a full moon in Aquarius:

Whether you’re into Astrology or not doesn’t matter. What does matter is the theme around the “big-picture” and “community healing.”

The Last Four Years (2018-22)

The last four years have been a roller-coaster for sure. From moving to Singapore to starting my company Faiā to traveling the world for work, launching a second company with investment from billionaire Tim Draper, and then finally, the pandemic.

My career choices became one big personal development program. 

But what came out of it all was increased clarity around what I’m meant to do in life. 

I had always wanted to do everything I am doing now, back in my early 20s. Due to “life,” those plans got a bit delayed, but it also made me stronger (and hopefully wiser) for it.

Looking back, I honestly can’t say I’d change much. I can see how everything led to where I am today.

But career-wise, the themes that stayed consistent throughout have been: technology, culture, and community.

Blockchain + Communities

When I started Faiā in late 2018 (our official launch event above was early 2019), the hypothesis was that blockchain tech and community management would become a hot duo. 

Fast-forward to 2021, with the rise of NFTs, DAOs, and more, we can see that hypothesis has certainly proved true. 

Although there are nuances to the word “community” in this space, the desire is certainly there for communities to take a central role. 

What underpins Web3, NFTs, DAOs, etc. is the digital infrastructure: blockchain. 

Fifteen years from when Satoshi first launched the Bitcoin white paper, we still have competing chains and a seeming lack of understanding of the fundamentals. 

However, like any significant innovation, I expect 30 years (so 15 more) before we see mainstream adoption and proper use cases enter the market. 

Right now, people are still experimenting, but I’m in this game for the long haul because I witness a lot behind the scenes that are shaping the future on subtle yet significant levels. 

Meta-Communities

When Zucks announced that he was changing Facebook to Meta late 2021, I found it to be the perfect opportunity to combine my love for blockchain and communities. So I attempted to coin the term “meta-communities” in the context of the metaverse and beyond. 

Two years later, I learned that it’d caused confusion because of the brand power Facebook has garnered for anything related to “meta.” I was using “meta-communities” for communities built for the metaverse and beyond, but others were increasingly thinking of Facebook’s meta instead (sad yet unsurprising).

As a result, I recently conducted a poll across LinkedIn and Twitter to see what would resonate more:

Although Twitter produced “Blockchain Communities” as the preferred term, my LinkedIn network actually produced “Blockchain-Based Communities” as the winning result.

Either way, 'meta-community' did not come out as strong. It reminded me of the importance of testing hypotheses out with your audiences. But also being ok with testing, refining, and/or being wrong. 

New Course: Building Blockchain-Based Communities

Earlier in the year, I validated a course called Meta-Community Micro-Accelerator (MCMA). I did three cohorts with a few colleagues and had a lot of fun, but it was also quite time-consuming. 

The program generated some fantastic testimonials, but I had to put it on the back burner for a bit until an opportunity arose just a few weeks ago: Maven.

Maven.com is a Cohort-Based Course (CBC) platform that was co-founded by one of the ex-co-founders of Udemy. They successfully raised $20m from Andreessen Horowitz in mid-2021.

Cohorts aren’t new, but how they’re being marketed now is. 

I was encouraged to apply by a friend who helped with the original MCMA, so I did. To my surprise, I made it out of 1,000+ applicants.

So over a few weeks, I attended their instructors' accelerator and put together the next iteration of my course content, which I’m proud to share as a sneak preview for you all:

👉 Building Blockchain-Based Communities 

This new CBC will start in October, and incorporates a lot of what I’ve learned over the last decade managing communities, working with blockchain technology, and transforming cultures.

If it’s something you’re interested in, be sure to signup for notifications or hit me up. 

Until next week, remember: it will come.

George 

PS. If you have any feedback or suggestions for future content, feel free to log them on my new feedback page here (testing it out).