It has been a month since I’ve tripped over an NFT rock and fell down the Web3/crypto rabbit hole. My fascination with Web3 is more than merely hopping on the latest (polarizing) trend – I think it might finally provide some tangible clues to some “lifelong” unanswered questions.
I’ve spent the last decade or so really trying to understand this concept of “work” – the compartmentalization of our lives between 5 work days and 2 play days/week, between a career from 20-66 years old and retirement from 66 to death. What our Boomer parents understood it meant to make a living is in stark contrast to what Gen Z and Gen Alpa will understand it to be.
As millennials stuck somewhere in between, we witnessed how the digital age spawned a new era of what “work” could look like for the creative economy – whether we rode that entrepreneurial wave or sat on the corporate sidelines – it happened right under our feet.
When I went down this rabbit hole, I came to the realization that there’s a high possibility that we’re not just living in the middle of a digital disruption, but potentially the beginning of it.
That’s what excites me, that’s what keeps me up all night these days. It was a complete paradigm shift of feeling you’re late to something, but then realizing you might not be after all.
It’s easy to get lost and discouraged amongst all the chaos – critics, non-believers, trolls, scammers… And even the one’s that seem like experts are not even experts – because it’s forward looking, highly speculative and aspirational.
With every belief or non-belief, we discern and validate it through our personal lens of what we want to filter in as truths. Nobody’s right and nobody’s wrong. Most people won’t care until they care and care until they don’t.
With that – take this journey down the Web3 rabbit hole as lightly or seriously as you want – it’s a fun ride and you never know what epiphanies you might have or opportunities you might be presented with.
Below are my top 10 recommendations of podcasts, articles and people to follow for the non-technical newbie .
LISTEN
1. The Tim Ferriss Show: The Wonders of Web3 w/ Chris Dixon and Naval Ravikant
I have been a fan of Tim Ferriss since “The 4-Hour Workweek.” I read his book at some point after graduating college in 2007. His (at the time) unconventional and prescient ideas of “Life Design” and entrepreneurship had quietly infiltrated my mind and would remain a stubborn, sticky thought that would not leave until I could figure out what to do with it. The struggle remains.
He has since evolved and his true genius really shines through in his podcast. Unfortunately, his long-form interviews, full of so much value bombs, can easily get overlooked in a world with such a short attention span.
I highly recommend this episode with Chris Dixon (a partner at VC firm Andreesen Horowitz) and Naval Ravikant (co-founder of AngelList). They really take a sharp, intellectual knife and cut through all the superficial noise out there on this topic.
2. Bankless: The Ownership Economy w/ Li Jin
Li Jin, 31, is known as the It Girl in Silicon Valley. I love her take on how Web3 and the ownership economy might bring in the dawn of the Golden Age for content creators to finally reclaim their financial powers back from the platforms that made a ton money off of them. This is a great episode covering most of what she’s written here.
3. Where It Happens: The Unlimited Potential of Web3 w/ Alexis Ohanian
This was a surprisingly interesting conversation, albeit with tech dudes over tequila – but it’s one worth listening to. I didn’t know anything about Alexis Ohanian, except that he’s married to Serena Williams and the co-founder of Reddit, but he’s someone to follow in this space.
4. Sharon Says So: Your On-Ramp to Cryptocurrency with Brit Morin
I had to include an interview with Brit from Brit + Co on this list. Brit Morin will be one of the major female players to take Web3 mainstream for women with the launch of her BFF crypto community. She takes a very fun, approachable, non-techie POV on crypto. This felt like a light conversation between girlfriends.
Tip: Try listening to these long episodes on a 1.25x-1.5x speed.
READ
5. NYTimes: The Latecomer’s Guide to Crypto
It’s as comprehensive as it gets from an unbiased POV.
“I’ve been writing about crypto for nearly a decade, a period in which my own views have whipsawed between extreme skepticism and cautious optimism… I’ve come to accept that it isn’t all a cynical money-grab, and that there are things of actual substance being built. I’ve also learned, in my career as a tech journalist, that when so much money, energy and talent flows toward a new thing, it’s generally a good idea to pay attention, regardless of your views on the thing itself.” – Kevin Roose
6. Creator Economy: Curious Beginner’s Guide to Crypto
This is another comprehensive guide that’s easy to read for beginners.
“I want to help people make a living doing what they love online. I’m more convinced than ever that the way to make this a reality is through crypto.” -Peter Yang
7. Digital Native: Most People Don’t Know Web3 Exists
Digital Native has some interesting, easy to read articles on Web3.
“But here’s the thing about Web3: most people will never know it exists. The reason for this is that while Web2 was a frontend revolution, Web3 is a backend revolution. In other words, Web2 reinvented the things that people interact with, while Web3 reinvents the plumbing behind the scenes.” -Rex Woodbury
8. Chris Dixon – Collected Web3 Twitter Threads
After his interview with Tim Ferriss, I’m a fan.
FOLLOW
9. Top Twitter Accounts to Follow
I never go on Twitter and actually activated my account for this – because that’s where all these people are. Web3 knowledge will not be found on Instagram – trust me. I love IG but it’s not the place to learn. I recommend following all the above (Chris Dixon, Naval Ravikant, Li Jin, Alexis Ohanian, Brit Morin) and of course Vitalik Buterin, founder of Etereum – where Web3 is being built on.
10. This blog – Nat3.0
Thanks for reading and have a fun ride down the Web3 rabbit hole!