Hi Friends,

What a truly crazy week in the world of web3. It kicked off with NotBoring laying out the zeitgeist of our time with the blog Sc3nius, then it was Kernel expo week, and, then, of course, Facebook announced a re-brand to Meta as it shifts its focus to the metaverse.

It's the eve of NFT NYC, the largest gathering of passionate holders of non-fungible tokens, and I'm totally here for it. I'm excited to meet with my new Internet friends in person and make many new ones along the way. It feels like this is the Burning Man of the current era. 



Also, I was urged by an expert on charisma to learn Brazilian jiu-jitsu to help me project power and own the room. She said 'Karate just won't do. You have to believe you could actually kill the person across the table'. Yes, ma'am.

I had my first lesson this morning, dedicated to choke holds, escape positions, and techniques to break limbs and joints. Which, I'll must say, did feel empowering. 

At the end, my instructor asked: What'd you think? And I said, "Same time, same place, next week?" :)

If you're in NYC and want to go to some NFT events - let me know. 

Today's Contents:

• Weekly Song: Welcome to an Altered Future
• Movie Review: Dune
• Good Reads

Weekly Song: Welcome to an Altered Future

This song is Chapter 3 of an audio book (that I haven't listened to) called Murder of the Universe. In the story, Han-Tyumi, the cyborg, sets the stage: a black and desolate future in which humanity has been converted into machines, religion has failed, and existence has become completely digital.



You can listen to it here. 

I picked it because to reflect the moment. The future of the Internet is being built, and who decides the future, how economics will be distributed, and who gets to own a piece is all up for grabs. If we simply replicate the all the inequities and imbalances from eras past, it could be dark days indeed. 

Welcome to an Altered Future by King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard
Impertinent and ignorant
Deathless and restless
Cold contrite cowards
Digitized satellite
Augmented entities
Unremembered God
The world fades to black
Digital black
Welcome to an altered future

Movie Review: Dune

Beautiful visual execution. Misses the nuance. 

.     

I loved the book. I quite enjoyed the 1984 film. I recommend the new rendition released last Saturday. It was what I expected it to be: Outstanding execution of visuals and acting. It lacked what is to be expected: a deeper exploration into the central themes in the book. Particularly glossed over is an explanation of what is a mentat, those with computer brains skilled on analytics and math. Their creed: "It is by will alone I set my mind in motion. It is by the juice of Sapho that thoughts acquire speed, the lips acquire stains, the stains become a warning. It is by will alone I set my mind in motion."

Also, I didn't realize until the movie was ending that this was only Part 1 of a series, which was a buzzkill. 

Please read the book. Yes, I'm going to be one of those people.

Sensible Investing: Good Reads

Coordination Headwinds: How organizations are like slim molds. Presentation here.

Coinbase Ventures. Q3 Learnings from across the crypto ecosystem here. 

Recommended web3 reading. Complied by me here.

Mark Zuckerberg's Founders Letter 2021 here and his keynote vision for the Metaverse.

A16Z web3 policy proposal here. 

Humanistic Capitalism, an essay by Brunello Cucinelli here.

The point of no return: Crypto is ready for institutionalization and institutions are ready for crypto here.

All-in podcast. Guilty as charged. I'm admitting to you that this weekly-ish discussion between the besties is my favorite podcast. It's candid, it's smart, and I frankly....agree with a lot of what they say. I thought that the most recent episode on paternity leave, inflation, and big tech was particularly good. Listen here. 



Stonks.com. I'm watching and participating in this company. They are on the path to discovering something powerful with their mission of "Stonks is democratizing wealth creation by opening up access to startup investing. Accredited investors can now invest as little as $1000 alongside top-tier investors, live in seconds." Here is a blog about how they overcome adverse selection. 


Sequoia goes perpetual capital here. Moving forward, our LPs will invest into The Sequoia Fund, an open-ended liquid portfolio made up of public positions in a selection of our enduring companies.

The State of U.S. Early-Stage Venture and Startups: For 3Q21 here. 

20 quotes on Crypto, Web 3, NFTs, and decentralization from Tim Ferriss, Naval Ravikant, and Chris Dixon. here.

A16Z on why they invested in Friends With Benefits, a gated web3 community, here.

Thanks for reading, friends. Please always be in touch

As always,
Katelyn