I’ve worked on social products for a long time, and even seen some successes! Here’s why I think the take that Elon is crashing and burning Twitter into the ground is overrated, and Twitter is likely to survive just fine (and potentially thrive!) Users are unlikely to flee the platform. There’s lots of talk from the blue check set about quitting Twitter and going to Mastodon or some other bullshit but in practice it never happens. Most users just don’t care about Twitter company drama.

At @fractalwagmi, our North Star has always been to be the best friend possible to web3 games. To do that, we’ve always said we need to go to wherever games want to be.

Today, we’re announcing we are bringing all our products (Launchpad, Marketplace, Tournaments) to Ethereum. Web3 will be the mechanic through which games create open economies. This is good for studios, who will be able to participate in a new business model; for players, who will own their digital items; & for 3rd parties, who can create apps that interact with these digital items.

Am I an asshole? Can someone use DALL-E to make me a green newborn corgi photo?

Simple case for why web3 could be an important new business model in for games: Open economic platforms that foster an ecosystem of businesses are larger and more durable than closed ones, where value is primarily created and owned by a single party. Think free market countries (USA) vs centrally planned ones (USSR, Cuba).

Get these 3 weekly meetings if you are a founder:

- With a mentor
- With a therapist / coach
- With a personal trainer Your mentor should be 5-10 years ahead of you and did exactly what you are doing right now.

Don’t get a mentor who’s same age or younger than you.

The life of a startup founder is glamorized, but behind the scenes, things can be a complete mess.

The real story is a combination of the two with ups and downs that no one else will tell you about.

This is why I’m super excited to share my latest project - Build: Fractal. When people ask me for advice, they usually ask me about Twitch.

From how we made tough choices, how we raised money, how we got users, and the list goes on and on.

Giving confronting feedback is one of the hardest things founders go through.

Delivery is just as important as the feedback itself.

Here's how to not sound like an asshole: 1. Ask for permission: 'Is this a good time to give feedback?'

Timing and setting is everything. You both need to be fully engaged in the discussion, and in a distraction-free environment.

This is one of the things people often neglect.

NFTs are a better business model for games.

Many gamers seem to be raging hard against game studios selling NFTs.

But NFTs are also better for players.

Here’s why I think blockchain games will be the predominant business model in gaming in ten years. NFTs are a better business model for funding games

Example: recently I invested in a new web3 game @SynCityHq. They are building a mafia metaverse and raised $3M in their initial NFT drop.

NFTs give studios access to a new capital market for raising capital from the crowd.

I spent most of my life primarily driven by FOMO (fear of missing out), even after selling Twitch.

Here’s how I learned to finally break away from that toxic cycle: FOMO is a parasite of the mind, and it is one of the biggest reasons why so many people are unhappy.

It fills you with a starvation that can’t be satiated, and distracts you from moving forward with your life.

I never thought that I would ever be a founder again.

Well...l'm back.

I’ve spent a lot of my career connecting games, creators, and gamers. @Twitch is already a big part of the metaverse.

@fractalwagmi is the next step.

[thread]

fractal.medium.com/introducing-fr… Fractal is a marketplace for gaming NFTs: durable assets that let you do something inside a gaming universe.

Why am I building this?

If I could travel back in time, I'd make these three investments:

(aka my biggest investment misses) 1. @Dropbox

Back in the days of justintv, one of my co-founders introduced me to a pair of founders, @drewhouston and @arashf.

A couple of my friends invested, but I wasn’t even aware that you could invest in startups back then!

These are the biggest startup red flags I look for when getting pitched.

If I see any of these, I am out: 🚩 Using monotonically increasing numbers (cumulative metrics instead of trends).

Sneaky founders will show 'total user' graphs or 'total revenue' instead of demonstrating organic fluctuations.

In honor of turning 38 this year, I sat down to reflect on the most important things I learned about myself in 2021: The first: keeping an open mind and expanding your scope of skills is the key to discovering what you really love to do.

If you don’t experiment, you’ll never get there.

It is easy to feel trapped by your ‘Zone of Competence’: things you are good at doing, but do not love.

I spent 15 years doing that.

To truly find meaning in your work, focus on your ‘Zone of Genius’ instead: This idea was first introduced to me by @mattmochary, one of the most elite CEO coaches in Silicon Valley who helped me through some tough times.

Even CEO’s can find themselves stuck in a position where they feel trapped.

Your first startup will probably be terrible, and that’s ok.

Building a shitty first startup is one of the most important things you will ever do: Whenever I was stuck writing essays, my tenth-grade English teacher used to tell me this:

“Start with a crappy first draft. It doesn’t matter if it sucks - just write something.”

This advice applies to perfectly to startups.

If you are in your twenties listen up

Here’s what I wish I could tell my younger self: Be kind to others and especially yourself.

You will become much happier, fulfilled, and more pleasant to be around.

If you constantly complain that you are not good at XYZ, it means you don’t care enough.

You can get good at anything you want to.

Here’s how I went from being cripplingly shy, to being able to speak in front of ten thousand people: One of my mentors and early investors in justintv, @paultoo (inventor of gmail), told me this:

“It's not about your Y intercept. It's about what your slope is.”

These are the four areas I'm excited to invest in and most bullish on:

- Climate change
- AI and robotics
- Consumer and digital commerce
- Creator economy

Here's why: 1. Climate change.

It is one of the most pressing generational challenges we are facing.

The best entrepreneurs are usually the ones who are interested and attracted to tackling the hardest problems.

@ycombinator is the Harvard of Silicon Valley, and it’s not even close.

As a former partner, this is my step-by-step guide on how to get into the most prestigious startup accelerator in the world: Let’s start with the application process:

The first thing you need to know is that the person reading your YC application is reading a metric shit ton of other applications.

(cont.)

Thinking of quitting your job to go all-in on your startup?

Don't do it.

Well, not until you have at least these four things figured out: (Preface)

Stop glorifying titles like ‘founder’ or ‘CEO’ and letting them lure you into taking big impulsive leaps.

While these steps will not guarantee success, not hitting them at all will almost certainly result in failure.

It’s 2013.

I’m running a failing services company into the ground, binge-drinking daily, and suffering from severe anxiety and depression.

If you have ever felt like you’re drowning, keep reading: Exec was an errand-running service. When that model started failing, we pivoted towards a cleaning service.

(side note: services are a terrible business to scale. Don’t do it unless you have no other options or just love doing that service)