A collection of letters encompassing simple insights and recognition of foundational shifts that any bright minds trapped within the old norms of a VC mindset can use to break free, whether they are just starting their journey or reflecting back on what they wish someone had told them in their early days.
It’s actually quite hard to do, given our experiences over the past two decades, where we’ve become conditioned to assuming a trade off between abstract information we don’t have the slightest clue of how to make use of, in exchange for seemingly free access to tools we can’t imagine living without, has become the norm.
It hasn’t always been quite as bad as this, in the early days the internet wasn’t nearly as controlled and centralised as it is now.
But while true, that fact doesn’t mean much in a practical sense. In those early days there were also very very few people online. As the vast majority of humanity has become hyper connected, there is a stronger truth to the belief that we simply need persistent access to the potent tools which we’ve come to depend on. And, if we can “pay” for that access with something we know instinctively has value but is too complex and far away from us to truly understand, then so be it.
But we also know in a creeping and creepy sense deep down that we’re being lied to, not so much intentionally maybe, but by countless numbers of ordinary people going about their work clocking in at big tech companies lying to themselves about this model being the only way to generate economic value and profit wildly.
There is no disagreement here about part of that.
The problem is, in our data surveillance economy, the vast majority of the externalities and costs associated with them are hidden.
This does untold amounts of damage.
Thankfully, there really is an alternative. And, as web3 proves, it is already here today.
So, what does a realistic start to a breakaway from abusive data manipulating systems and towards software oriented business models rooted in personal property, privacy, and self sovereignty look like?
Interesting to note and ponder about what impact transforming the business model away from subservient ad targeting towards dynamic personal data sovereignty has on VC, as it too transitions away from an ad model addiction.
Any value brought in from sales of NFTs minted through this article will be used for building out the F₃M Realm treasury, which will eventually be governed and coordinated by the DAO, furthering to decentralise the web3 fashion capital stack.