Li Jin Profile picture
18 Jun, 14 tweets, 7 min read
It's my birthday! 🥳

My wish is that we can create more ways for people to earn and build wealth.

To that end, I'm auctioning an NFT, with all proceeds going towards establishing a scholarship for people to start playing & earning in the metaverse.

foundation.app/@li/universal-…
This NFT is based on my recent blog post, Universal Creative Income, co-authored w/ @LilaShroff.

When I thought about taking steps towards basic income, the idea of supporting pathways out of poverty for anyone with an internet connection felt so apt.
li.mirror.xyz/j3WsyvI5LKFKcF…
.@AxieInfinity is a video game in the burgeoning play-to-earn category, where players breed, trade, and battle with cute digital pets called Axies, and earn yield in the form of NFT items & governance tokens.
People are earning $300-500/mo playing Axie Infinity, which is life-changing in many countries where the minimum wage is much lower.

Rural communities in the Philippines turned to the game as a lifeline in the face of COVID unemployment and lockdowns.
This, to me, is what NFTs & crypto should be about: providing opportunity regardless of geography, background, or network.
There's a hurdle to get started, however: players need to buy a team of Axies that can cost upwards of $500.

This NFT auction will lower the barriers to entry by providing Axie teams to new players. @YieldGuild, a decentralized gaming guild, will be managing the program.
.@YieldGuild will recruit scholars in the Philippines, Venezuela, Brazil, Indonesia, and India, and provide training and coaching.

There are no upfront fees for players and revenues generated from the game will be shared between players, their community manager, and YGG.
The most exciting part is that programs like these can help players to take control of their economic lives:

Players often learn about and invest in crypto, buy and breed their own Axies, and launch their own scholarship programs—starting a powerful cycle of entrepreneurship.
One of the biggest knocks against the creator economy is that only a tiny sliver of top creators are attaining financial stability.

But I think by paving the way to earning, then investing and owning, we have a real shot at changing that dynamic.
If more of our lives are to be spent in the metaverse, let's ensure it's more inclusive and equitable.

"Societies and platforms flourish when there is a path for everyone to have upward mobility, achieve financial security, and learn and grow."
li.substack.com/p/building-the…
"Our hypothesis is that funding the long-tail of creators can create more ... impact than funding top creators who can already monetize in myriad ways."

I think this is an amazing cause to support and I hope you do too!
li.mirror.xyz/j3WsyvI5LKFKcF…
So what will the winner of this NFT get?
- Naming rights on this scholarship!
- Regular updates on the lives of the players they're sponsoring

All bidders get my eternal gratitude, listed in my next newsletter, plus group chat w/ me (DM me).
This NFT was a joint collaboration between me and Annie Zhao, a very talented illustrator and lifelong friend. Check out her work! bananie.zone

Our backstory -
And lastly, I wouldn't be here without my first NFT auction. The winner @jamesyoung & bidders @gabusch @notscottmoore @heyohelen @Wagomon @ramannoodlez @coolioxlr were so supportive that I just fell in love with the NFT space. You are awesome 💓

foundation.app/@li/the-creato…

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More from @ljin18

18 Jun
Andddd we're off to the races! Thank you @patrickxrivera!! A true hero
foundation.app/@li/universal-…
ahhhhhhhhh

@Wagomon❣️
This username. This bid. I think I know who this is.... 🤣
Read 4 tweets
21 Apr
In 1935, the US enacted various New Deal cultural programs to provide relief for jobless artists and democratize public access to art.

A century later, it’s time to renew that spirit.

Enter: Universal Creative Income 🪙

New blog by me & @lilashroff
li.mirror.xyz/j3WsyvI5LKFKcF…
Universal Creative Income is basic income for online creators. This may sound really fringe, but bear with me!

There are 2 broad ways that UCI can come to fruition, outlined in the blog post:

1) Platform-funded UCI
2) Crypto UCI, with governance decisions made by the community
The New Deal was essentially a small-scale experiment in UCI, with employment for 10K+ artists who created over 100K works.

Importantly, it shifted the perception of art from a luxury good, funded via private patronage, to a critical part of a democracy.
64parishes.org/entry/federal-…
Read 19 tweets
27 Jan
In the past few weeks, @lilashroff and I have spent *many* hours both watching + making TikToks.

The end result: 14K+ followers in 2 weeks, and learnings about how startups should leverage the platform, which we wrote up in this blog post 👇

li-jin.co/2021/01/27/we-…
It's clear that businesses that figure out how to leverage TikTok will have an advantage in cultivating user trust and efficiently acquiring customers.

As of mid-2020, TikTok had 50M daily actives in the US. Businesses—from solopreneurs to public companies—have seen success.
Excitingly for startups, TikTok is designed with a more level playing field on which newcomers can succeed.

TikTok’s FYP purposefully surfaces videos from even little-known accounts. That means startups can create content that quickly grows.
Read 17 tweets
25 Jan
Announcement ✨

I’m launching a cohort-based course on building for the Creator Economy!

I'll teach live classes with amazing guest speakers, including case studies & frameworks I’ve learned from studying this space & meeting w 100s of companies.

Apply: creatoreconomycourse.com
This course has been a longgg time in the making—it encompasses a ton of original research that I’ve never written or spoken about publicly before. And hear from 🔥 experts like @blakeir and @kevinlin!

Students will be the first people ever to learn from this content.
The course will start on Feb. 22 and take place over 3 weeks.

Learn how creator companies overcame the cold start problem, creator-market fit, monetization strategy, & what metrics to measure.

Graduates will be better equipped to build and evaluate creator-focused products.
Read 7 tweets
17 Dec 20
The new American dream is to make a living from one's creativity. 1/3 of kids want to be YouTube stars.

But the inconvenient truth is few creators are actually attaining financial security today.

My new blog is about building the creator middle class 👇
li.substack.com/p/building-the…
Today's creator platforms resemble economies in which wealth and attention are concentrated at the top.

On Spotify, artists need 3.5M streams/year to achieve a minimum-wage income of $15K. The top 1.4% of artists pull in 90% of royalties.
rollingstone.com/pro/features/s…
On Roblox, the top game accounts for 20-25% of concurrent users, and concentration is growing over time.

On Patreon, only 2% of creators made the federal minimum wage of $1,160 per month in 2017.
Read 14 tweets
1 Oct 20
People often say that IG feels aspirational, polished, and often leads to feelings of inadequacy, while TikTok is authentic, fun, and uplifting.

Why? Creator monetization is a huge, underrated factor (in addition to content format & interest vs. social graph).

Thread👇
Instagram doesn’t pay creators directly; creators monetize by finding sponsors for their content or via affiliate links.

This means the most successful IG creators induce a desire among viewers to buy something--i.e. making them feel that what they already have is insufficient.
In contrast, on TikTok, most creators make money through live streaming & getting viewer donations, or by participating in the Creator Fund, which distributes based on # of views.

This monetization model incentivizes creators to make content that many people watch and enjoy.
Read 8 tweets

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