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  • An Attention Thesis for Today

    How many of us still use Facebook groups, even though we hate Meta? Our friends are there, IRL and URL. Culture makes tech sticky, and tech makes culture accessible. Some of us are still angry about the Zora update of 2024, but that was just the beginning. If one of a kind art can be…

  • Solving the Turnip Puzzle: Part 5

    Culture Capital, Curation and Trust Part 5 of an ongoing series. Part 1 focused on the AI race. Part 2 focused on capital allocation in VC systems. Part 3 reconnected the loops between workers, creators and capital across generations. Part 4 brings it back to Chones, with the hidden track, the well and the bucket.…

  • On Legibility, Part 2

    I like experimenting on myself and my friends, when they consent. (Thank you fellow lab rats in lab coats!) Engagement games, operator error as signal, collective decision making, token velocity, agent workflows, playing cards~ When someone believes in a tool, whether AI, crypto, cloud, or containers, it feels like trying to eat a piece of…

  • On Legibility, Part 1

    I used to like my MDMA in the daytime, walking around the city. Pre-parenting days, my roommate, her girlfriend and I were rolling and walking through the Mission, on our way to Dolores Park. We went into a corner bodega for blunt supplies. Stepping outside, I was literally stopped in my tracks; the sky was…

  • Mad Libs, Part 2

    On March 19, I sent out 184 DM’s, mostly on Telegram, but also on text message and Discord. I only messaged people I already had a direct message thread with. It included this image with a link to the poll below. From those 184 DMs, the poll received 86 votes and the web page received…

  • Solving the Turnip Puzzle: Part 4

    The Hidden Track, the Well and the Bucket Part 4 of an ongoing series. Part 1 focused on the AI race. Part 2 focused on capital allocation in VC systems. Part 3 reconnected the loops between workers, creators and capital across generations. Part 4 brings it back to Chones. There’s an old citrus packaging warehouse…

  • North Star

    What I want for Chones is to be the place you bring your treasure to, because you trust it will be honored, because you have been supported by us. Thank you @Jordanisgreen for our conversation that helped me realize this. Seems like every platform has promised some bullshit to builders and creators. Wattpad has regular…

  • Mad Libs, Part 1

    Remember that part in Ready Player 1 when Wade goes backwards at the start of a race and a path opens up, under the race track? I feel like I’m trying to build that hidden track underneath, away from faster and faster speeds, with all sorts of obstacles. The feed is mostly noise. We’re going…

  • Chones Brand Design

    I wanted it to feel like the bow of a bikini, worn in the ocean.  The bow is sandy, wet, with salt water, and messy. It holds the bikini on someone’s body, until that body wants the bikini removed; then, just pull one end. During our meeting about Chones brand design, Jordanisgreen asked me some…

  • Solving the Turnip Puzzle Part 3

    This next part in the puzzle is bringing bringing us around in loops. For context, I’ve used the term turnip puzzle to ask how we work together, so extraction doesn’t lead us to having nothing left, aka squeezing blood from a turnip. I’ve also been working with Claude. In part 1, the focus was on…

  • Solving the Turnip Puzzle Part 2

    Last night, my teen son and I were discussing the state of the world. I wish he was older before having to grapple with these things!  This morning, I’ve been working out some more of the turnip puzzle with Claude. The turnip puzzle is my name for trying to understand how we keep working together,…

  • Solving the Turnip Puzzle Part 1

    This morning, I dreamt that I was telling a room of startup founders that we’re trying to be out in front of something that has already replaced us, thus our goal is wrong. I got out of bed and started working out some puzzles with Claude, mainly about whether anyone in the AI race is…

  • Chones 2025 Impact

    Let’s just say we all meet up in person. And let’s say that we can produce whatever experience we’d want. Wouldn’t you want to play PacMan at Pizza Hut and trade Garbage Pail Kids?  If I sent you a cold dm with an invitation link, would you trust that it’s a real event, with real…

  • Chones Party with V4N

    On December 4, 2025, I had the privilege of sharing a conversation with V4N during Chones Party! V4N is the founder of Upe! You can follow her on X. She shared about community, finding signal in the noise and fun. Here are some highlights! 03:34 Tap into the fun in our DNA Things can be…

  • Chones Party with Kenny

    On October 23, 2025, I had the privilege of sharing a conversation with Kenny during Chones Party! Kenny is the founder of POIDH and the SEO expert! You can follow him on Farcaster. He shared about SEO, AI and incentives. Here are some highlights! 02:04 The Story of Kenny & SEO Once you start writing…

  • Chones Party with G2

    On October 9, 2025, I had the privilege of sharing a conversation with G2 during Chones Party! G2 is the founder of Creative Platform! You can follow him on X. He shared about music, deep fakes and keeping things simple. Here are some highlights! 01:38 Decades of music Getting that first hand experience was really…

  • Chones Party with E2T

    On October 3, 2025, I had the privilege of sharing a conversation with E2T during Chones Party! Travis is ​​cofounder of Farcastle and Bootleggers! You can follow him on Faraster. He shared about coordination, cypher punk and music as cultural stewarding. Here are some highlights! 02:30 The journey to all Travis’ expertise This was really…

  • Chones Party with Jordanisgreen

    On September 25, 2025, I had the privilege of sharing a conversation with Jordanisgreen during Chones Party! Jordan is ​​founder of Times New, and who we can thank for our amazing Chones brand design! You can follow her on X. She shared about flow, taste and boxing. Here are some highlights! 01:21 Why we hang…

  • Art, Tech and Time

    A fine artist isn’t concerned about AI, because their art is hung on walls. They do use it to write grants, because they admit that their writing skill is poor. A software developer wanted us to consider various open source licensing when reviewing IP and copyright. Art & AI & IP was a gallery reception…

  • Tech, Culture & Relevancy

    LA Tech Week 2025 It rained Tuesday during LA Tech Week. I actually used an umbrella in Los Angeles. Even with a packed calendar, I couldn’t make it to everything. Reminds me of how tech feels in general; we can’t keep up with everything on our own. Most events were in Santa Monica, but Hollywood…

  • christyland thesis v0

    I invite you to a little entertainment, for madmen only, and for one price only, your mind. Are you ready? Herman Hesse, Steppenwolf The original christyland inspiration was to treat the city as playground.  Rules were rewritten. We weren’t hurting anyone, walking along the bay, watching the sunrise, having just consumed one more little pink…

  • Chones Party with Sky

    On September 18, 2025, I had the privilege of sharing a conversation with Sky during Chones Party! Sky is advisor to Chones and a full time DAO contributor. You can follow him on X. He shared about decentralization, digital ownership and ownership economy. Here are some highlights! 00:35  Not giving up on decentralization 01:58 POA…

  • Chones Party with plor

    On September 4, 2025, I had the privilege of sharing a conversation with plor during Chones Party! plor is Chones’ Technical Weaver and an expert in composability, like the Onchain Lego Master Builder. You can follow him on GitHub. He shared about tinkering with distributed systems, new forms of collateral and agile kool-aid. Here are…

  • Chones Party with Boiler

    On  August 29, 2025, I had the privilege of sharing a conversation with Boiler during our second Chones Party! Boiler is a DAO contributor at Public Nouns, Farcastle, and Grant Ships, to name a few, and you can follow him on Farcaster as @Boiler.  He shared about family life, working at a nuclear power plant,…

  • Curation > Reach

    Out of all the billions of people in the world, to me, you are special, important and desirable. I want to create an experience that is just for you, and give you a memento of this experience that is unique and one of a kind, so you can bring it home with you and remember…

  • Chones Party with Addigator

    On  August 21, 2025, I had the privilege of sharing a conversation with Addigator during our first Chones Party! Addigator is cofounder and ecosystem weaver at Chones and you can follow her on X as @addigator71 She shared how she transitioned into crypto from exercise science, what led her to do community work, how blockchain…

  • WTF Ecosystem Weaving

    You know how open source software is programming code that anyone can read and use? People and organizations collaborate on, and contribute to, that code. The code evolves exponentially, because everyone is learning from each other.  Compare that to software code that is closed source, so only a specific group can read and use the…

  • Creation of Chones Guild

    The way that things work is changing.  You can see it happening all around you.   Story and narrative can have huge effects. Think back 12 months.  The narrative around ETH was awful.   Close your eyes and breath in the narrative today.  Quite different, right?  This is the power of story and culture. ________ Many groups…

  • Fireside Chat with SEC Commissioner

    On June 6, 2025 at 11:00 am eastern, I was lucky enough to virtually join a fireside chat with SEC Commissioner Hester Pierce, moderated by Joyce Lai and Thania Charmani, and hosted by Real Mama’s of Crypto. Here’s my notes. Some things the SEC is focusing on: Some things the commissioner is concerned about: Some…

  • Office Hours with Chiali

    On Tuesday, May 13, 2025, we welcomed Chiali for our monthly Office Hours. Chiali is one of the most inspiring and insightful Web3 UX designers. She has a wealth of wisdom about privacy, and when you use the tools she builds, they actually feel good. Really hope you enjoy this conversation, where we covered topics…

  • Recovering from Betrayal

    I’m only really upset about losing a few specific NFTs. That, and kicking myself for not preventing this from happening at all! A few weeks ago, we were all together at our weekly virtual happy hour. This particular week, instead of discussing what everyone was building, we discussed how someone had lost access to their…

  • Office Hours with Scottrepreneur

    On Tuesday, April 8, 2025, we welcomed Scottrepreneur for our monthly Office Hours. Scott is one of the most tapped in technical Web3 OGs we’ve worked with and he shared with us his takes on AI, L2s, Pectra, agent personalities, DAOs, community, vibe coding and more.  Below are some highlights. You can listen to the…

  • Gathering the Moloch Slayers

    see Moloch DAO proposal Last chance, the dice barely moves, rolling in my sweaty hand. Hold my breath. Hand clasped around the die, I bring it to my mouth and rest my lips on my thumb, attempting to kiss for good luck, but only choke. Dirty smoke intoxicates down my esophagus and into my lungs,…

  • My Meme Coin Robot Tweeted

    Homemade creme brulee isn’t necessarily hard to make. The ingredients aren’t even very expensive, just cream, eggs, sugar and vanilla. What makes creme brulee an indulgence is the time and preparation needed for that gentle crack to break open the sugar, revealing a smooth cool custard. Bring the spoon to your lover’s lips; give them…

  • Chones 2024 Impact

    We don’t want to consume; we want to engage. We don’t want to be entertained, like cogs in another manipulative quest down the perpetual funnel; we want to engage, as organic individuals, commune with an ever expanding humanity and world. Thus, Chones creates impact on ecosystems, with the sensibility that curation > reach. Throughout 2024,…

  • Newsletters, web2 & web3

    where to blog in 2024… Mirror is the worst for discoverability, but is the OG for web3 blogging, so some good writers are still using it. Mirror supports NFT mints on Optimism chain. Paragraph, while not great, is improving fast. Discoverability is better than Mirror, but needs improvement. Paragraph supports NFT mints on Base chain.…

  • Networking for Events and Subscriptions, with Privacy

    How I’ve been using Unlock Protocol + Icebreaker to demonstrate ROI for events and subscriptions, without invading attendees’ and members’ privacy. All the crypto bros are big on privacy! Many use pseudonyms. But, if you suggest some kind of marketing initiative, they want ROI metrics. How the fuck do you do that? Well, I’ve been…

  • Offspring and NounsTown

    an entry in the Nouns Kiwi writing contest Willywonka and I sat at Dreamland, beside a wooden platform up on the hillside, like finding shade under a lifeguard tower at the beach. While watching professional skaters defy gravity, and self preservation reflexes, across a mega ramp, with a gap and peak at the midway point,…

  • Hunt, Apply and Campaign for DAO Grants

    First rule of DAO grants is influence, so start social vetting now, but be discerning, because the process takes time. You’re doing your due diligence just as much as the organizations distributing grants. Let’s break down the steps. Deciding which grants to apply for is a two step process. Gotta find the grants first, then…

  • Summer Camp

    How BaseCamp won at ecosystem development. First night of summer camp requires a fire, between a few dozen kids, a little homesick. Remember the song about black socks and how they never get dirty? The longer you wear them, the blacker they get. Remember, singing, with chocolate in your teeth, and clapping, with marshmallows sticky…

  • Tostada

    About voting weight and integrity “But, where’s the beans?” I ask my dinner companions.“A tostada has to have beans?” They ask.“A tostada is a fried flour tortilla, with beans, cabbage, pico de gallo, guacamole, sour cream and shredded cheese. This is very good, but it’s not a tostada.” I was referring to the little round…