Following my thread a couple of days ago ( https://t.co/4MUJJYCZ1Q ), I thought I'd try and analyse some projects for the non-Ponzi value they deliver to their investors.
— Daniel Tenner (swombat.eth) (@swombat) November 4, 2021
First in line is #BAYC . What do they give their investors that's not money from future investors?
🧵/N
This research is based on articles, knowledge of the market, and conversations with BAYC and MAYC owners, and also people who want to buy a MAYC. Credit to:@kieren_eth @yungshilly @GBsTVee @dengitsjoe @BrotherAli10 @quitcrypto @Hellequinnn @CaptNAS44 and others...
— Daniel Tenner (swombat.eth) (@swombat) November 4, 2021
2/N
Disclaimer: I own neither MAYC nor BAYC. Though after doing this research, I do wish I did. Not because "it's going to moon": because of the really tangible value it delivers, which would be useful to me personally as an entrepreneur interested in web3.
— Daniel Tenner (swombat.eth) (@swombat) November 4, 2021
Let's look into it.
3/N
Perhaps very unsurprisingly, one of the simples way to define what BAYC is (I'll skip the MAYC bit for now, as they're largely identical, with some differences covered later), is as a "club".
— Daniel Tenner (swombat.eth) (@swombat) November 4, 2021
It should be unsurprising because it's in the fricken name.
4/N
What benefits do you get from being in this club? Well, different people had different things they got out of it, but there were some recurring and very convincing themes.
— Daniel Tenner (swombat.eth) (@swombat) November 4, 2021
5/N
First is the connections it enables. Many people mentioned how BAYC is filled with a who's who of movers and shakers in the NFT and Crypto space.
— Daniel Tenner (swombat.eth) (@swombat) November 4, 2021
But being in the same Discord is not that useful in itself. So there's more.
6/N
A thing I observed back when I joined the Lions was, what a powerful collaboration technology it was. How it made it easier for strangers to work together.
— Daniel Tenner (swombat.eth) (@swombat) November 4, 2021
That seems to be in full effect in BAYC.
7/N
From multiple reports, owning a MAYC or a BAYC just makes collaboration with other apes easier. So not only you're rubbing shoulders with all these interesting web3 Makers and OGs, but it's also much easier to do stuff with them.
— Daniel Tenner (swombat.eth) (@swombat) November 4, 2021
8/N
Some powerful quotes I collected about this:
— Daniel Tenner (swombat.eth) (@swombat) November 4, 2021
"Apes want to work with apes."
Boom. That's a lot of value.
9/N
"I deal with other projects a lot, and going in with a #MAYC pfp improves their perception of me. It’s a significant psychological advantage."
— Daniel Tenner (swombat.eth) (@swombat) November 4, 2021
"Just because I had my #MAYC picture on, I was able to message projects I had connections with and coordinate some work."
10/N
"There was an immediate sense of being more trusted on Twitter and Discord. People who would have been hard to reach now gave instant responses."
— Daniel Tenner (swombat.eth) (@swombat) November 4, 2021
11/N
So hopefully that clears up one of the major bits of value from holding a MAYC/BAYC. But that's not all! This one actually blends also into a more vague but still valuable benefit: social status.
— Daniel Tenner (swombat.eth) (@swombat) November 4, 2021
12/N
The neatest summary I got of that social value is that BAYC has built a brand that is a bit like Apple. It's highly desirable, it makes a person feel good to be associated with it. It even becomes part of how they see themselves.
— Daniel Tenner (swombat.eth) (@swombat) November 4, 2021
13/N
And if you don't think that's hugely valuable I invite you to have a look at the sales figures of the world's largest fashion brand - Apple.
— Daniel Tenner (swombat.eth) (@swombat) November 4, 2021
Unsurprising, given this, that BAYC is getting into streetwear. One person compared them to Supreme and Kith.
14/N
"BAYC is a statement. It gives me an identity. Someone with MAYC/BAYC is someone pretty chill."
— Daniel Tenner (swombat.eth) (@swombat) November 4, 2021
Whether that's always true or not, it was certainly part of the value this person was deriving from their ape.
15/N
Yet another benefit of BAYC, which I mentioned in the other thread, is alpha. This seems to be a bit more cordoned off from MAYC. Only BAYC OG's have access to MetaLink, which seems to be a chat platform build for that purpose.https://t.co/JR8GbGJT4x
— Daniel Tenner (swombat.eth) (@swombat) November 4, 2021
16/N
One person described MetaLinks as the "most valuable feature of owning a BAYC".
— Daniel Tenner (swombat.eth) (@swombat) November 4, 2021
Ironically, that same person bought their Ape without expecting a ROI, though they thought there would probably be exclusive opportunities (and were right).
17/N
"Alpha" is a nebulous concept. It doesn't have to be coming from cigar-smoke-filled digital chatrooms full of original gangsters. It can also come from the community itself. One person said MAYC was "like ProductHunt, where the community curates everything for you."
— Daniel Tenner (swombat.eth) (@swombat) November 4, 2021
18/N
Either way, it seems both MAYC and BAYC are getting something they call "alpha", though BAYC seems to have more direct access to it somehow.
— Daniel Tenner (swombat.eth) (@swombat) November 4, 2021
19/N
Worth noting that this "alpha" has nothing to do with BAYC-related projects. It's just information that can lead to making profits elsewhere. Thus, it is not "money from later investors". And therefore it is not ponzi-like.
— Daniel Tenner (swombat.eth) (@swombat) November 4, 2021
20/N
Security was another benefit of MAYC/BAYC.
— Daniel Tenner (swombat.eth) (@swombat) November 4, 2021
For a start, pretty much everyone was pretty clear that there was "zero chance of BAYC being a rug pull".
21/N
That security is also more forward looking though. Most people I spoke to also had a lot of trust that "the team is working hard", and they have a proven track record of "delivering stuff that's desirable to everyone in the NFT space".
— Daniel Tenner (swombat.eth) (@swombat) November 4, 2021
22/N
People had mixed feelings about the Roadmap 2.0 - but what was universal was a trust that the BAYC team will make enough of it work to be worthwhile. "Everything they touch turns to GOLD."
— Daniel Tenner (swombat.eth) (@swombat) November 4, 2021
That also creates feelings of security.
23/N
I think if you take what I've listed above and leave it at that, that's already enormous amounts of value, and justifies the high price of #MAYC for sure. #BAYC may be more of a flex at this point, unless you really want to be on MetaLink.
— Daniel Tenner (swombat.eth) (@swombat) November 4, 2021
24/N
Which is not to say that being a "flex", a way to show off how wealthy and cool you are, is not a value. It is. And BAYC ticks that box too. Sports stars and even @garyvee himself apparently pop into the Discord from time to time.
— Daniel Tenner (swombat.eth) (@swombat) November 4, 2021
25/N
But to finish on a high, there was another recurring theme across a number of interviews. And that was around the emotional bond that people form with BAYC.
— Daniel Tenner (swombat.eth) (@swombat) November 4, 2021
People in the NFT space often talk about that, but it was interesting to dive into it.
Here are some quotes.
26/N
"Being part of BAYC/MAYC feels like being part of something greater than myself."
— Daniel Tenner (swombat.eth) (@swombat) November 4, 2021
"They are likely to be a frontrunner for NFTs in the future, forever."
27/N
"If I sold my ape for a good price... I'd buy another. I'm an ape for life, as long as the founders are building."
— Daniel Tenner (swombat.eth) (@swombat) November 4, 2021
"The hardest thing with not being an ape any longer would be: seeing the logo and thinking "I'm not a part of that.""
28/N
"Getting a MAYC gave me the feeling of: Nice job; you've made it."
— Daniel Tenner (swombat.eth) (@swombat) November 4, 2021
"Owning an ape means being able to say you own a part of history."
"Like having an instant digital family."
29/N
Not all those statements came from BAYC/MAYC owners. Some were perceptions of value from the outside.
— Daniel Tenner (swombat.eth) (@swombat) November 4, 2021
So, what to conclude from this? Rush off and create a BAYC clone? NOPE. NGMI.
30/N
BAYC offers one hugely successful example of how to deliver value to investors which isn't just money from later investors. It is most definitely not a ponzi. Most people I spoke to didn't even join it for the financial returns!
— Daniel Tenner (swombat.eth) (@swombat) November 4, 2021
31/N
But there is already a BAYC. In fact, there's already more than one, because everyone has been vigorously copying BAYC for months. And you know what? Some might have come close. But by now that's a mighty crowded niche. Copy BAYC wholesale, and you'll fail.
— Daniel Tenner (swombat.eth) (@swombat) November 4, 2021
32/N
But, looping back to the beginning, it does point to one way that you can deliver value to your investors: be a club.
— Daniel Tenner (swombat.eth) (@swombat) November 4, 2021
If you want to make a club of OG crypto and NFT people. Sorry, you're *not* early at all. You've missed that wave. Think again.
33/N
But there are many offline clubs in the world, serving all sorts of purposes and niches. You'd have to be blind to think the online world won't also have a proliferation of more or less successful clubs with all sorts of different people.
— Daniel Tenner (swombat.eth) (@swombat) November 4, 2021
34/N
Of course, a club for... passionate football fans?... might not make quite as much money as a club for crypto/NFT OGs. Though who knows. Football (Soccer to you yanks) is big business. There's lots of money sloshing about there, if you get it right.
— Daniel Tenner (swombat.eth) (@swombat) November 4, 2021
35/N
If you think ahead to who you actually want in that club, then you can construct it right so that you attract them.
— Daniel Tenner (swombat.eth) (@swombat) November 4, 2021
You probably won't attract football fans with pictures of turtles.
36/N
BAYC didn't just "get lucky" and attract the crowd they wanted. They set about it deliberately. It's in the very thesis of the project.
— Daniel Tenner (swombat.eth) (@swombat) November 4, 2021
37/N
From https://t.co/jypZZPdjdM . This wasn't dumb luck. This was a targeted surgical strike. Aim, shoot, bull's eye. They knew their target market and they aimed perfectly.
— Daniel Tenner (swombat.eth) (@swombat) November 4, 2021
38/N pic.twitter.com/jypWvMRa8e
They also knew what real "utility" was:
— Daniel Tenner (swombat.eth) (@swombat) November 4, 2021
"We’d see these NFT collections that didn’t have any utility,” Goner says. “That didn’t make any sense to me at the time, because you can cryptographically verify who owns these things. Why wouldn’t you offer some sort of utility?”
39/N
TL;DR: Find a niche that doesn't have an online club targeted at it, which you're passionate about, and build *THE* online venue for that niche. You'll do better than by building yet another ponzi NFT project.
— Daniel Tenner (swombat.eth) (@swombat) November 4, 2021
GM & GL
40/40