✌️  I'm founder, writer and advisor focused on web3, no-code & AI adventures.
See more at www.timnotjim.com

## Introduction

As a founder you’re always looking for the thing that's going to kill you next - it’s 2022, we’re coming out of the pandemic - while the world seemed to stop there for a couple of years there was one thing that did not, technology. Specifically, artificial intelligence (AI) - it has continued to learn, get better and improve to the point where the tools and applications are now applicable for day to day adoption.

I’m the founder of two agencies, [rehab](https://rehabagency.ai/) which creates brand utility products/ services in the web3 space, and [ACE Workflow](https://aceworkflow.xyz) that builds custom workflows for companies using no-code tools like Airtable.

They are both very human capital intensive, and with good reasons to be - both of the companies are very high touch, providing bespoke consulting services. The business model is all about attracting the right talent, putting them in the right environment, with the right problem to solve to make the best work.

[https://timnotjim.substack.com/embed?display=iframe](https://timnotjim.substack.com/embed?display=iframe)

I’ve been really impressed with the new startups leveraging technology and AI to create creative applications and this is what I wanted to dive into a little more to see if these tools are a threat, or ally.

First of all, what is creativity?

## **What is the creative process?**

The internet has given us the ability to roll out new ideas, campaigns, and thoughts at basically zero cost. Meaning there are an exponentially large (and growing) set of ideas all competing for our attention.

To win your attention the balance is shifting from outstanding creative ideas to ideas that outperform. I’m not saying that creativity isn’t important, but being able to track performance through various platforms allows us to understand what moves people through a funnel or to a destination quicker.

So how do you gain attention?

#### **1- Have genuine breakthrough creative ideas**

Creativity is a non exact science, it requires a highly skilled team and a super smart strategy creating the right brief with well researched insights - married to the right media to get reach.

While this is a fun process, it’s also expensive and time intensive; requiring a lot of things to be right along that process in order to create the type of work that captures breakthrough attention.

#### **2 - Create a set of ideas at scale, track performance and iterate**

Another way is to shift the balance of human resources to digital resources. Augment your creative thinking with the ability to use the right applications to allow for scalable production of ideas, while tracking performance.

To win using this method, brands only need to create communications that are “ok”, it’s not possible or required to create a large volume of ads required that are “perfect”.

This method allows you to win in modern digital marketing by creating lots of ideas, testing those ideas to figure out which ideas work best, then iterate on the successful ones. This can be a much faster, cheaper and more nimble way of working - it’s used by many digital first product brands like Google, LinkedIn, and Amazon.

Again the primary resource is creative talent, with albeit, a slightly different skill set with the addition of more insight, and data specialists.

It’s generally thought that AI tools cannot replace human creativity and innovation, but can we leverage AI tools to create creative output that comes close to the output of a team of skilled professionals?

Let’s find out.

## **How AI works, and an introduction to GPT-3**

I’m not going to attempt to explain Artificial intelligence in this article but at a very high level there are a few fundamentals.

* Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the name given to technology that can mimic human behavior and can be used to solve problems for humans
* AI technology gets better over time by using a process called Machine Learning (ML), which takes previously used inputs and outputs so that they can improve the results
* There are many subfields of AI, including natural language processing which is understanding text language inputs/outputs used for auto-complete in gmail, computer vision which focuses on understanding images so your Tesla can drive by looking at the imagery comp

Yeah, that’s a gross oversimplification, but useful in explaining how AI tools work.

Creating AI applications is super complicated, time consuming, and expensive mainly because you need to have a bunch of smart people, a lot of time, and an unimaginably large set of data to feed the ML processes for it to learn.

Thankfully there are AI platforms that exist that allow developers to leverage the power of AI without having to have completed the majority of that upfront work.

One of the most used AI tool/ platform is called [GPT-3](https://openai.com/api/) (from [OpenAI](https://openai.com/)), and is the market leader.

It’s a natural language processing AI platform that allows developers to send chunks of text via API and will receive a predicted text based best guess of what the answer should be.

#### **Why is it so good?**

1. It’s very simple to access via API, and
2. It’s predicted that GPT-3 has ingested over a third of the viewable internet, meaning it’s learnt from how people write text and information on the internet.

![GPT-3’s dataset compared the largest datasets.](https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F26856724-c768-45b4-a85e-5eb5cdf8d23e_1440x1016.png)

(I’m going to dive more into GPT-3 in the future, including discussing the negative effects around mirroring content, biases, plagiarism, and negative applications of this software, but for now let’s just assume that it’s all totally good and wholesome. 😅)

#### **Ok, what’s my point?**

So I’ve been deep diving into the AI space, to try to understand what additional tools are available, and wow. There are so many. IDK if they all decided to launch at the same time or for the past 2 years the pandemic has consumed my attention 😂

At [ACE Workflow](https://aceworkflow.xyz) we design and build workflow solutions by connecting a bunch of SaaS products together, which got me thinking… Would it be possible to build a creative services agency that leverages only using these ai-based tools?

## Can you create an AI powered creative agency?

Let’s imagine a (fictional) creative agency called *Betterminds* (Spoiler the name was also generated by AI). *Betterminds* leverages AI tools to rapidly concept and develop creative advertising campaigns for clients.

Let’s take a look at the AI tools that it could use in its workflow to deliver client work.

### 1) First you need an Idea

A fun application of GPT-3 that’s been around for a couple of years now - [Ideas AI](https://ideasai.net/). This site automatically generates a new business idea 3-4 times per day. It then automatically tweets and posts it to the website. The quality of the ideas are improved over time by allowing users to upvote good ideas.

Is this inspiration for a new product or service that *Betterminds* could sell to one of its customers?

Let’s assume for moment the agency is working with Nike (if you have a moment check out [Rehab’s work for Nike](https://www.rehabagency.ai/ourwork/nike-coach-workout-plan-training-tips)), here’s an idea generated by ideas AI

> **“A mobile app and site that helps people to find places to jog and run, and then connect with other runners and trainers.”**

![](https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F5a6843c2-3f6d-4747-8163-c0b3475c9f34_1423x989.png)

### **2) Then lets expand on the idea a little more, how might it work, what might it do?**

***Dirty secret***: An AI app that I not only use daily, and to help me write these posts is an app called [Jasper](https://jasper.ai/) (previously Jarvis). Using GPT-3 to create content from text inputs. It’s surprisingly powerful and accurate. (Also according to my proofreaders either I’m getting better and writing or Jasper is…)

It has over 20 different models for specific writing tasks like blog posts, Amazon product listings, Meta tag information and customer reviews.

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SqTMPgrYxng](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SqTMPgrYxng)

Here’s the text output that Jasper created:

> **“This app is for anyone who wants to get fit and stay healthy.**
>
> **Whether you're a beginner or an experienced runner, our app and website will help you find running and jogging routes that are right for you.**
>
> **We also have tips and advice from running experts, so you can improve your running skills and stay safe while you're out on the road. So what are you waiting for? Get out there and start running!”**

### 3) Ok, now we need a website to promote the idea

There are plenty of website builders available, but one that is so promising (I’m also an advisor) is Enzyme. It’s using GPT-3 to interpret text input information to design, build, generate, copy and choose images for a webpage.

Enzyme is not launched yet, thank you to [Teddy](https://twitter.com/_teddy) for allowing me to post this sneak preview and [sign-up to the waitlist here](https://enzyme.so/).

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tcMJ_HxYYlg](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tcMJ_HxYYlg)

> [Click here to view the site](https://run-07c9.withenzyme.com/) that Enzyme generated

### 4) Next we need some imagery

OpenAI are also creating other AI based applications, one that I can’t wait to play with is called [DALL·E](https://openai.com/blog/dall-e/). An AI platform that creates Images from Text. While it’s not publicly released yet you can view the types of outputs that DALL·E is capable of producing.

From a content creation perspective, this is a game changer - the promise of the application is by simply typing in some text DALL·E will design and render genuinely unique images, here’s an example:

![Note: Each of these images is unique drawn by AI, this is not a Google Image search.](https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fbe5bf8f0-1d64-477d-98ff-d3af4d78887c_840x560.gif)

### 5) What about a voice over for a podcast advert?

[Descript](https://www.descript.com/) is an app that leverages AI to create voice overs. Simply paste the copy that you want to be converted into voice over and the app will generate the audio voiceover.

(You can even use this as part of a video production workflow, import your audio recordings from a shoot, that audio will be transcribed.)

Now all you need to do is edit the text in the same way you’d edit in a Google doc and the software will automatically trim and cut the audio files, exporting a premiere file. Super smart.

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HWUafAv1GyA](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HWUafAv1GyA)

But back to this running app idea being created by *Betterminds*. I get it that things are getting a bit weird because I have a Santa voice loaded into Descript at the moment but you get the idea.

Whether or not it’s the best idea doesn’t matter, the point here is that these tools are taking the content of humanity and using it to create new materials at scale.

We could go on but I hope you see the potential and where this can go? After all I just created the following assets myself:

* An idea
* Description of the idea
* A website
* An audio advert / voiceover

It’s exciting, scary, fun and could be the next thing to try and kill us 🤷

## The AI powered tool kit is expanding all the time

While some of the output may be a little elementary, the question is how good does it have to be to work?

Regardless, the quality of the output is going to improve with time, I can see applications for this eventually surpassing human ability at some undefined point in the future - I’m reminded about NASA coining the “[survival of the fittest](https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/st-5/main/04-55AR.html#:\~:text=%22Through%20a%20process%20patterned%20after,the%20initial%20antenna%20design%20process)”, the strongest designs survive and the less capable do not.”

There are a lot of other apps that I didn’t include just because I ran out of time, but here’s a breakdown of some others that I think are interesting

* [Copilot](https://copilot.github.com/) - An application that is essentially a "pair-programer", which provides suggestions for whole lines or entire functions right inside your editor based on code available from the public GitHub repository.
* [Amper music](https://ampermusic.com/) - AI generated audio, simply tell it the length you need, the genre and it will generate unique audio for your project
* [Runway ML](https://runwayml.com/) -  Using AI to instantly Green Screen, In-painting using AI to accelerate post-production workflows

> I’d love to learn more about tools you’re using, perhaps I’ll put together a directory to track AI powered creative tools.

Thanks to Kyle for the ongoing proofreading services :)

[https://timnotjim.substack.com/embed?display=iframe](https://timnotjim.substack.com/embed?display=iframe)



AI-Powered Creative: How Does Your Agency Workflow Compare?

After publishing the last article, I got some amazing messages from people in so many different industries. Now, almost every conversation I have is about web3, and the deeper you go into the rabbit hole the more interesting it becomes.

One of the key pillars for web3 is decentralization, while we're just at the start of this next chapter, some apps start to explore how a decentralized web works.

There are a lot of new concepts to understand when it comes to web3, and one of the best ways that I learn is by doing. So, grab your crypto wallet and explore these apps to get a better understanding of how web3 works.

Important to note this isn't everything in web3, we're not going to talk about the metaverse, avatars, de-fi, etc - check out "[web3, is re-writing everything. An introduction](https://mirror.xyz/timnotjim.eth/xUQBAglu-ENFlo-8JF7d6A1n5y5XBO5mXiRgmpiQJ24)" for more information.

[https://timnotjim.substack.com/embed?display=iframe](https://timnotjim.substack.com/embed?display=iframe)

## Same same, but different.

I think one of the issues is that web3 looks similar to web2 on the surface, however, it's the changes underneath the hood that matter the most.

At the end of the day, most web3 concepts are just better versions of what you know already. A DAO is just a more transparent company/ organization, and, a smart contract is a simpler version of a business contract, etc.

web3 apps (DApps) are completely decentralized (or are becoming, this process can take some time), they are not hosted by a single organization. Instead, they are hosted by node servers all over the world.

Most web3 apps use a hybrid approach today, the user interface and graphics are hosted on a cloud server, but the system downloads the necessary blockchain information from those nodes, so it can function properly.

## We don't need roads where we're going... but we do need a crypto wallet

With web3, we no longer need to rely on centralized services like LinkedIn or TikTok to store our data. Instead, our data is stored on a blockchain, with permissions (keys) controlled by us. It's important to note the information in your wallet is public and viewable by anyone since the Ethereum blockchain is permissionless.

You can use Etherscan to view any Ethereum Address, this is [timnotjim.eth](https://etherscan.io/address/0x7cbc330bf0b9479d320170b21f8ca9e88399fc16). So while the data is not private, it's not being monetized by others.

The main user interface to the blockchain is our crypto wallet which can typically hold cryptocurrency, and assets or tokens (NFTS).

It also serves another purpose by allowing you to login/authenticate with a web3 application by connecting your wallet. This connects your user account to your wallet so that the site can view your wallet.

By gating experiences based on the cryptocurrency, assets, or tokens you own means your crypto wallet is now functioning like a passport

So let's see how this works, I want to show you some of the first set of experiments that are happening in this space, and how web3 is changing the way we interact with the internet.

First up we're going to look at the Blockchain equivalent of domain names, and if you need help setting up a wallet, check the links at the bottom of the article.

### ENS (Ethereum Name Service)

[https://ens.domains/](https://ens.domains/)

ENS is a name service that translates machine-readable Ethereum addresses to human-readable addresses - built on the Ethereum blockchain.

Paving the way for mass adoption, it improves the user experience by replacing the 64 character wallet address with something much easier to share. For example I own timnotjim.eth which resolves to my wallet address is 0x7cbC330Bf0B9479D320170B21F8ca9e88399FC16.

**Why this is important:**

* Because I am the owner of the timnotjim.eth ENS token/NFT (which you can view in my wallet), I own timnotjim.eth - in comparison when you register a .com address you're just renting it.
* If I wanted to sell it, I could just sell the Token to someone or sell it on an NFT platform like OpenSea, all without the need for an intermediary
* In Nov '21 ENS domains converted the company into a DAO and issued tokens 25% of the tokens to people like me who had purchased an ENS name
* Not only does 1 token to represent 1 vote allow anyone who contributed to the project to vote on its future, but those tokens are also currently trading at around 2,000% higher valuation than the domain name purchase.

When I log in to ENS with my wallet it allows the application to see that I have the timnotjim.eth token, which then grants me access to make changes to the domain on their service. No other authentication is needed because there's only 1 timnotjim.eth token and whoever holds it controls the name.

Kinda neat considering that 75% of the .coms owned are controlled by 1 company and I'm able to have full control and custody over my own Ethereum name myself.

Note: With ENS domains you also have to pay an annual fee to contribute to the service upkeep, but other domain services like [Unstoppable Domains](https://unstoppabledomains.com/) offer true "eternal" domain ownership.

A big shout out to [Alex](http://xanderbryan.eth/) who bought, and gifted me timnotjim.x then sent it to my wallet, legend.

### Messaging apps

* [Our Spaces](https://www.ourspaces.xyz/)
* [Inb0x](https://inb0x.life/)
* [Tango NFT](https://tangonft.com/)

There are a few proofs of concept applications around messaging, allowing you to start a text conversation with any other Ethereum address.

These applications are early days but the growth of messaging services and the potential for them to be used as a platform for decentralized communication is huge.

Tango NFT allows users who hold NFTs from the same collection to message themselves privately. Connecting people who don't know each other by a common connection, the NFT.

In a world where we can now message anyone directly with no need for an intermediary, what would that mean for privacy?

**Why this matters**:

* The app is not hosted/owned centrally, which means that no one entity can control the conversations or access the user's data. This provides a high level of security and privacy for the user.
* The ability to easily sign in with your wallet and start a conversation with no username/ password is great

### Cyber

[https://oncyber.io](https://oncyber.io)

I'm not a huge fan of NFT art, I prefer utility but this is a great use-case on how your wallet's contents become part of an experience.

Cyber is like an art museum that displays NFTs held in the user's wallet. Meaning if you own an NFT and you log in to Cyber you're able to design the 3D gallery that you can then publish for other users to explore.

**Why it's important:**

* The contents of the wallet are made available to sites with permission, allowing users to take control of their data
* Because you're connecting with your wallet, it ensures that the user owns the artwork before being published

### Sound

[https://www.sound.xyz](https://www.sound.xyz)

I love Spotify for its algorithm, it's helped me discover so much new music, and their Discovery Weekly feature which updates every Monday makes me very happy.

I'm no expert on this, but from what I understand the financials in the music industry are broken. Artists don't make enough money from album sales, and streaming services like Spotify pay them a fraction of a penny every time one of their songs is streamed, and the artists don't get to own a relationship with the fans, the platforms own that relationship.

Introducing Sound - a web3 company that's fixing this relationship and allowing artists to monetize their work and for fans to have a closer connection with the artists they love.

This is such a great web3 case study because through the blockchain and smart contracts there's now no need for an aggregator to sit between content creators and consumers, engagement, interaction, and allowing monetization to happen in a peer-to-peer relationship.

**Why this is important**:

* Musicians can post new songs and allow their fans to purchase NFTs of those songs to be immortalized into the song forever, allowing them to make a living off their music with 100 true fans, not millions of listeners.
* Fans can also connect to the artists in a closer more authentic way by being a part of Album listening parties
* It promotes artist discovery. On the platform, users can buy a limited number of NFTs with the funds going directly to the artist. So they are incentivized to find the best new music on the platform and stake their claim. Giving them social kudos that they discovered the artist, and all round high fives 🙌

Sound is a startup that is still building out the platform but a few things of [note from their roadmap](https://mirror.xyz/davidgreenstein.eth/jE31-g1kCirNczLj18fow78b_TNz6zXESfx4h1nkrN8) are interesting:

* A model that allows music curators to add value and monetize their ability to discover emerging artists.
* A crowdfunding feature that allows artists to raise funds from their communities for upcoming projects (i.e. albums, music videos).
* A better artist onboarding experience so we can sustainably grow our community from an initial cohort of genesis artists to millions of artists around the world.

### 

## Lots more to explore, and even more to come.

As I mentioned earlier the crypto wallet is your passport into a decentralized world, and to be honest it's kinda intimidating to use. To get to mass adoption a simpler way of interacting with the blockchain is needed. I have no doubt it will come, soon.

If we can work to fix the user experience then the wallet is a great place to start.

I love the thought that there are teams around the world re-building the apps you have on your phone, using web3 technology and approaches to create a better value exchange between users, content creators, and companies.

So much opportunity. Until next time, maybe subscribe?

Who knows, these articles might get better…

[https://timnotjim.substack.com/embed?display=iframe](https://timnotjim.substack.com/embed?display=iframe)

Thanks to [Sam](https://twitter.com/samewen) + [Kyle](https://www.linkedin.com/in/kyle-bergman-80467811/) for the corrections/ notes 😅

## Some guides to help you get setup

I know a lot of people are still figuring out how this works, here's a list of some articles that can guide you through the setup and installation of these services.

* [How to set up your MetaMask](https://metamask.io/faqs)
* [How to purchase an ENS domain](https://medium.com/the-ethereum-name-service/step-by-step-guide-to-registering-a-eth-name-on-the-new-ens-registrar-c07d3ab9d6a6)

And, a list of other services that I didn't have time to write about...

* [FWB](https://www.fwb.help/pulse) is a community that has IRL events that you need to hold a certain amount of their tokens to attend or get access to their content and discord server
* [Snapshot](https://snapshot.org/) allows you to create community proposals for a wide range of DAOs, you can also see which proposals are being voted on
* [Uniswap](https://uniswap.org/) is a platform that helps in trading one cryptocurrency for another. The protocol also works as a managed liquidity pool where the token is exchanged at a price determined by a particular market maker
* [Showtime](https://showtime.io/) is a web3 social network where creators and collectors show off their NFTs

A journey through web3: decentralized sites and applications

### Happy Monday 🚀

Anyone who knows me knows that writing is not one of my best skills - but I'm forcing myself to do it because I want to share how fundamentally different I see the world now that I understand the things in this article - so that maybe you’ll see it too.

> **TLDR :** this has completely changed the way I look at the internet / business / the world.

This all started when I went to the NFT NYC Conference a few weeks ago to deep dive into NFT/Blockchain/web3. I came away with the most crystal clear understanding of the future, the need to build a decentralized web, and how there’s so much work to be done to fulfill its vision.

If we go back and look at the most important events in the history of the web, you'll recall being hesitant to start a .com business in the late '90s or join social networks in 2007 - but you'd realize that it was the correct decision. Today, you and all of us face another critical moment: whether or not to embrace web3.

web3 provides the framework and technology to create an open, shared decentralized internet, where users control their own data, have a democratic voice in how the services they use are governed, and share in the ownership of those services.

Before we get into it please take a moment to subscribe for more deep dives + web3 exploration adventures.

[https://timnotjim.substack.com/embed?display=iframe](https://timnotjim.substack.com/embed?display=iframe)

## Why is that important?

Setting aside the current backlash against big tech, web3 will make it possible to create decentralized organizations, which are radically transparent communities led by the concept of shared ownership, governance, and purpose.

So any organization that doesn't offer this, is at a disadvantage because people will choose to engage with decentralized governance. After all, they own their data and can help shape all levels of the organization.

If we look back at the previous iterations of the web, you may remember being hesitant to purchase a .com in the late '90s, or secure your social accounts in 2007 - this is another one of those pivotal moments, although this one feels much much bigger…

> “Just like brands had to move from one-way media communications (TV, billboards) to two-way communication (FB/IG/TikTok) with the dawn of social - they now need to understand that web3 goes deeper, creating a shared economy and brand. Creating a reason for individuals to come together and dictate what your brand does in the future”

Wait ok, you're probably thinking, meh, IDK, but give me 20 min to read this article and see what you think, comments welcome [@timnotjim](https://twitter.com/timnotjim)

Over the past couple of weeks I've been connecting with people after the conference and have been explaining these concepts, everyone I talk to leaves the call with the same comment…

[https://giphy.com/embed/4070jBBP3quE2qf3S2?display=iframe](https://giphy.com/embed/4070jBBP3quE2qf3S2?display=iframe)

## A deep dive into the main concepts of web3

The point of this article is to provide a primer for all of the fundamentals of web3 beautifully sketched here…

![How the different components sit together (Me)](https://images.mirror-media.xyz/publication-images/f-bCyN5ZtRp9YxWR4iaEP.jpg?height=3024&width=4032&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&size=medium)

This Includes blockchain networks, crypto-wallets, NFTs, and DAOs. Diving into use cases and examples.

I hope this provides context to people who are maybe not familiar with the subject or are trying to understand how these things fit together.

## Blockchain network

### A technology that allows many computers to work together to form a ledger that is virtually impossible to alter.

There are many blockchains but here are 2 popular ones Ethereum & Solana, they are examples of decentralized data networks that exist today;

* **Ethereum** allows new concepts like smart contracts, think a legal contract but written as code and stored on the blockchain for everyone to see. It has a higher transaction rate of around 25 transactions per second. Ethereum has a cost, it is called gas. Gas is incurred when you add data to the Ethereum blockchain. This fee goes to all of the hundreds of computers around the world that validated your transaction using the Ethereum protocol. The majority of NFTs that exist today, use Ethereum to validate their tokens, but other networks are becoming popular.
* **Solana** is one of the newest blockchains released in Summer 2021 (and the fastest yet). It uses a fundamentally new way to verify transactions on the blockchain, giving it a theoretical throughput of over 750k transactions per second (for reference the Visa network has a theoretical throughput of 1.7k transactions per second). Not to get into the technical details but the Solana protocol has been able to implement "the arrow of time in math.” allowing transactions to be verified on the Solana Blockchain without all of the computers in the network needing to process the transaction, meaning transactions happen much faster.

There are many many thousands of additional blockchains which all serve specific purposes, think of blockchain as a catchall term for many different computer programs and global networks creating ledgers. Note: Bitcoin is on the Bitcoin Blockchain, although its main use is to minting/ recording bitcoin allocation.

**Read more**

* [Article on the incredible launch of Solana over the summer of 2021](https://www.notboring.co/p/solana-summer)
* [An overview of the Ethereum vision from the creators](https://ethereum.org/en/)
* [Polkadot is built to connect private, public, and consortium blockchains](https://polkadot.network/)

## web3

### The next major evolution of the internet that is democratic and decentralized.

* **web1** is when the internet was primarily used for email and communications and the read-only web, we were consumers of content. Think Yahoo, Amazon, Netscape.
* **web2** can be defined as the social web since users were creating and responding to content, it became a participatory Internet. Think social media platforms LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter.
* **web3** is a decentralized internet where users control their personal data, identity, and destiny - it allows read, write, and authentication.

We're now in the early stages of the web3 era, the maturity of blockchain technology enables web3 to verify and put data on a decentralized network (Blockchain).

The web3 combination of decentralization, blockchain, and structure is a fundamental change in the structure of organizations, meaning that no one company (See [FAAMG](https://www.investopedia.com/terms/f/faamg-stocks.asp)) stores and controls that data.

With the addition of crypto wallets, users now have control over what organization has access to their data, this fundamentally changes the concept of the internet as we use it today.

And while it may be relatively easy for some blockchain-based companies to transition from web2 to web3, it's not so easy for any non-blockchain company (Aka 99.99% of companies). Financial, legal, business model, and structural issues are too difficult to overcome for many companies who operate in this space.

Or in other words, there is an entire web3 internet to be built...

**Read more**

* [Coinbase is launching an NFT platform, an Instagram competitor](https://blog.coinbase.com/coinbase-nft-is-coming-soon-join-the-waitlist-today-for-early-access-cc7bac29fd72)
* [In-depth deep-dive from web3 foundation](https://web3.foundation/about)
* [An incredible regularly updated resource from A16Z](https://future.a16z.com/why-web3-matters)

## Crypto wallet

### A "virtual wallet" it not only holds your cryptocurrency, but it also contains other tokens or NFTs that you have purchased.

Similar to how you sign into a 3rd party site using Google or Facebook sign-in, a web3 application will allow you to sign in using your wallet, the big difference is that you hold your data, and you control what information gets shared.

Since your web3 data will go with you, to any site you want to go to your entire life goes with you.

> For example, when you log in to Netflix, it knows all the shows you have watched so it can suggest new shows, but you don't only watch shows on Netflix. A web3 version of this scenario would allow you to log in using your wallet and if you wanted to then share your viewing history from any of the platforms you use - providing more data to create a richer experience and better recommendations.

Another way to think about it is a web3 identity card or international passport, allowing you entry into different worlds, allowing the site to see what's in your wallet, which can unlock features or functionality.

Your wallet will usually have an address, which is on the blockchain and is the address where you can send and receive currency and tokens, but also receive tokens or funds.

(Not to go too deep) but wallets also don't have to have their own specific wallet address. In the same way, your debit card in your wallet gives you 'virtual' access to the cash in your account, wallets can also read the contents of other blockchain addresses you own. To check this out install Rainbow below.

**Read more**

* [A popular Ethereum Wallet, Metamask](https://metamask.io/)
* [A popular Solana Wallet, Phantom](https://phantom.app/)
* [View all your Ethereum assets using Rainbow](https://rainbow.me/)

## Metaverse

### Is a shared digital world that we can all share and visit, it uses avatars to represent people.

> Ok, I don't want to get into this too much, because there's a lot to unpack and it deserves its own article. I only mention it here to provide context as you will have no doubt heard about it in similar conversations around web3...

The Metaverse is a collection of persistent virtual worlds, meaning that they constantly live and evolve even if you're not "logged in". Think of the Metaverse as a series of connected digital worlds that you can connect to using your crypto wallet, and the items in your wallet can then interact with things in the Metaverse.

So if you have purchased an NFT jacket, perhaps you can wear that jacket in the Metaverse, or it gives you access to a special area in the Metaverse which is reserved for people who own the jacket, or a similar product from the same collection. If you own an NFT art piece perhaps you can display it in your Metaverse 'home'. Since your wallet is connected you can purchase/sell items directly to other people in the Metaverse.

The vision is that over time you can do everything in the Metaverse that you do in real life, like visiting places, playing games, working, and meeting people.

Right now you could think about playing Fortnite as a Metaverse type world but the vision is that the virtual and physical worlds are intertwined, for that to happen we need the widespread adoption of wearable AR/VR Glasses, being developed by Apple, Facebook, and others.

**Read more**

* [A great point of view about the value chain of the Metaverse](https://www.notboring.co/p/the-value-chain-of-the-open-metaverse)
* [Interesting overview from Time magazine](https://time.com/6116826/what-is-the-metaverse/)
* [Decentraland, a popular Metaverse platform](https://decentraland.org/)
* [The Sandbox, a virtual world where players can build, own, and monetize](https://www.sandbox.game/en/)

## NFT

### (A non-fungible token) is a unique token or record on the blockchain that cannot be exchanged for any other token.

First it's helpful to understand **fungibility**, something that [this guy (who's constantly trying to steal my look) was first telling me about](https://linkedin.com/in/jc-oliver-68201b5) at Cannes Advertising in 2019, but I was too drunk on Rose to pay attention…

Here's a great explanation about fungibility that I've stolen from my colleagues at [rehab](https://rehabagency.ai/).

**Money is fungible 💸**

* A £10 note is replaceable/fungible.
* If we swap notes, we both have the same amount of money and nobody is worse off.
* £10 is replaceable by 2x £5 also.

**The Mona Lisa is non-fungible 🖼**

* You can not swapping the OG for a replica or print is not equivalent
* A lot of Mona Lisa comparisons in the NFT world.

Since every transaction on the blockchain has a unique ID number, NFTs run on the blockchain, meaning each digital item has a unique ID number. Therefore it's non-fungible.

Therefore, we can represent something as one of these unique IDs and mathematically prove who owns it.

If we know the owner of an asset then we can provide that owner with a wide range of utility including access to a physical or digital event to gameplay.

![Crypto punks NFT project (frieze.com)](https://images.mirror-media.xyz/publication-images/5eAYGDz5Fimgk3h-AVHTf.jpg?height=500&width=1680&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&size=medium)

NFTS can range from JPG images of funny animals, user-generated content, exclusive pieces of content, or a virtual representation of a physical item. Future applications allow NFTs to function like mini applications when combined with blockchain smart-contract platforms.

**Read more**

* [A beginner's guide to NFTs](https://linda.mirror.xyz/df649d61efb92c910464a4e74ae213c4cab150b9cbcc4b7fb6090fc77881a95d)
* [An NFT project storing pizzas on the Ethereum network](https://pizzaonchain.com/)

## DAO

### (Decentralized autonomous organization) is a collection of individuals working together to accomplish a goal, all of whom are governed by a common set of regulations imposed via blockchain technology.

What's exciting about a DAO is that it fundamentally changes the way groups of humans come together to serve a common goal, or in other words, it's a completely new way of creating a company, business, organization, or team. One that's completely transparent, has a built-in shared economy for all participants and allows everyone to have a say in the future of the organization.

The transparency of the Dao allows for people who have never met each other to come together under a single shared vision and reduces fraud.

![DAO vs Company. (Aragon)](https://images.mirror-media.xyz/publication-images/CGf0ZpnwNDQ6AVdNuNfGM.png?height=1366&width=1328)

### Let’s explore some DAO's

A few real-life, recent, and most famous DAO's to help you to better understand the concept:

### Constitution DAO

A few days ago this [DAO was unsuccessful in its mission](https://www.constitutiondao.com/) to purchase one of the thirteen remaining copies of the US constitution at a live auction at Sotheby's New York. However, what they accomplished in a week was incredible, and not possible without web3.

Their mission was to buy the US Constitution and allow the people who contributed to the project have a say in its governance, where it was displayed etc. Anyone in the world could join the DAO, contribute Ethereum to the project, the amount contributed by an individual was correlated to a token, called $PEOPLE.

One token = One vote, so the more you contributed, the more $PEOPLE tokens/ votes you owned.

While this DAO didn’t offer fractional ownership of the Constitution (I believe there was a mistake in the initial setup of the DAO due to lack of time they had to research) it is possible for token owners in a DAO to not only have a say in the governance but also own a part of the asset itself.

### ENS Domains

Similar to how URLs and domain names let you navigate the web by typing in an easy-to-remember phrase like [timnotjim.com](http://timnotjim.com) (which is then decoded through name servers to send traffic to the actual server address 99.83.190.102).

[ENS Domains is a service that provides a lookup service for web3 objects](https://ens.domains/), mainly wallet addresses. For example, my Ethereum wallet address is:

`0x7cbC330Bf0B9479D320170B21F8ca9e88399FC16,`

A little hard to work with, so ENS allows me to buy (web2 domain names are rented, but a web3 address is owned and verifiably yours on the blockchain) an Ethereum address, I grabbed **timnotjim.eth**. Anyone any web3 application or person can send things to my wallet using that address. Easy.

On the[ 8th of November, ENS did something incredible](https://ens.mirror.xyz/-eaqMv7XPikvXhvjbjzzPNLS4wzcQ8vdOgi9eNXeUuY), they announced that ENS would be creating a DAO and $ENS cryptocurrency to govern key aspects of the ENS service and that anyone who had purchased a domain name through them would be awarded tokens in the company, a web3 way of thinking, giving back to the early supporters who helped to make the company a success and giving them a say in the future of the service.

![Distribution of tokens from (ENS.Domains)](https://images.mirror-media.xyz/publication-images/YMIeDMy8qsIeGy-DgEcCD.png?height=1462&width=2870&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&size=medium)

This is how they split up the allocation of tokens, reserving 25% of tokens to be Airdropped (think automatically sent to your crypto wallet), through a publicly available calculation based on the length of time you had owned and your future registrations. They also allocated tokens to active discord users, contributors, and translators.

So my simple **timnotjim.eth** domain purchase equated to around 95ENS which I collected, or in other terms, I now own 95 out of 100 million ENS tokens, which I can use to vote on future governance issues, or sell them on a crypto exchange, as I write this[ $ENS is trading for $49.59 USD](https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/ethereum-name-service/) making my \~$200 domain name purchase now worth \~$4k USD.  I'm going to keep them to have a say in the future

A great example of web3 development moving to decentralized ownership.

**Read more**

* [A beginner’s guide to DAOs](https://linda.mirror.xyz/Vh8K4leCGEO06_qSGx-vS5lvgUqhqkCz9ut81WwCP2o)
* [Plug and play DAO platform](https://aragon.org/)
* [Braintrust is a freelance hiring network, their explanation of a DAO is really great](https://academy.usebraintrust.com/)
* [Blockchain-enabled groups, such as Friends With Benefits, invest in their own creative communities using cryptocurrency tokens](https://ra.co/features/3914)


---

[https://timnotjim.substack.com/embed?display=iframe](https://timnotjim.substack.com/embed?display=iframe)

## Thanks + Inspiration

Thanks to[ Packy](https://notboring.co/), [Teddy](https://twitter.com/_teddy), [Robin, Takunda & the Rehab team](https://rehabagency.ai/), [Andreessen Horowitz](https://future.a16z.com/category/crypto-networks-economies/), [Jay](https://www.linkedin.com/in/jayridge/), [Piers](https://www.linkedin.com/in/piersfawkes), Dan, [Greasy Fringe](https://twitter.com/thegreasyfringe) for your help + inspiration.

**Let's build the future 🚀**

AI-Powered Creative: How Does Your Agency Workflow Compare?

Introduction

A journey through web3: decentralized sites and applications

web3 is re-writing everything. An introduction.

Happy Monday 🚀