Before: restrict usage with copyright. Tension between remixing/sharing and monetization.
Now: give away the base layer via public domain. Let the internet share and remix for maximum virality. Monetize by selling ownership/virtual goods/ NFTs.
The playbook comes from video games. Used to charge for game itself / base layer. Now the most advanced games give the game away free and charge for complements, usually cosmetic virtual goods.
Excited to share that we've co-led the seed round in @manifoldxyz, which equips artists with creative tools that allow them to push the boundaries of NFTs and web3 🧵a16z.com/2021/10/05/inv…
I've written that the early web and early days of web3 have similar limitations: people's interaction were "read-only" and founders started with skeuomorphic copies of older technologies. cdixon.mirror.xyz/0veLm9KKWae4T6…
Manifold is offering compelling ways to move beyond the skeuomorphic phase by letting creators experiment with novel applications that will push NFTs and web3 into entirely new directions.
The Web 3 playbook: using token incentives to bootstrap new networks. 🧵
The killer app of the internet is networks. The web and email are networks. Social apps like Instagram and Twitter are networks. Marketplaces like Uber and Airbnb are networks.
Networks get more valuable with more participants, which is great when they are at scale, but cuts the other way when starting out. This is the bootstrapping problem.
Web 1 (roughly 1990-2005) was about open protocols that were decentralized and community-governed. Most of the value accrued to the edges of the network — users and builders.
Web 2 (roughly 2005-2020) was about siloed, centralized services run by corporations. Most of the value accrued to a handful of companies like Google, Apple, Amazon, and Facebook.