shazow
@shazow.eth
Farcaster is wrong about gambling and casinos. We treat the aversion to casinos like the aversion to nudity: a cultural virtue that people can acclimate to... but really it's more like the aversion to cigarettes. Some people aren't bothered by cigarettes, and thoroughly enjoy them while being fully aware of the risks. Other people can't handle the stench of cigarettes or actively battle life-long cravings. There is a substantial subset of people who will never "come around to it"--not because they disagree ideologically but simply because they don't want to be around cigarette smoke all day. I don't know if it's a majority, but it could be by association. I bet we'll regret the collateral damage from making cigarettes front-and-center.
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androidsixteen
@androidsixteen.eth
Strongly agree But there’s also the issue that no matter what you build in this space, some external observers will label it a cigarette, purely by association You could be selling a banana — but it’s in the smoke shop, so these customers aren’t coming in no matter what So what are you gonna do? Keep trying to sell bananas to smokers or lean in and sell vapes (convincing yourself that at least it’s not cigarettes)?
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shazow
@shazow.eth
I think that overfitting everything to be cigarettes falls into "virtue" area and people "will come around" eventually. But some things are actually cigarettes. Perhaps another analogy: I believe that ~all drugs should be legalized, but that doesn't mean there should be fentanyl next to the toilet paper at every grocery store. I'm not against casinos existing, but I don't want to live on the Vegas strip where every building has slot machines.
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androidsixteen
@androidsixteen.eth
Still doesn’t answer the question of: how do entrepreneurs (like me) who are building with crypto tools front and center, avoid being labeled as a cigarette peddler? Crypto means grift/scam/corruption in the layperson’s mind — this has only been cemented further in the last year or so. Most companies either die trying to convince otherwise, or like Farcaster, pivot into it as a way to stay alive and hopefully cross the chasm out of nicotine
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Zinger
@zinger
I think one approach here is a “crypto mullet”: don’t make crypto your entire company’s personality, just treat it as a technology that you’re building with
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androidsixteen
@androidsixteen.eth
Who has this worked for (don't say Blackbird lol)
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Zinger
@zinger
How many have tried this approach? Feels like most crypto apps try to market to (a very small audience of) crypto people
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androidsixteen
@androidsixteen.eth
I think there is a trail of dead bodies that have attempted this approach, and our beloved old Farcaster was one of them Some others include Audius, Goldfinch, Stepn... I think the only Crypto Mullet consumer app that worked in a big way was Polymarket -- maybe @yekim knows some others? I think a lot of companies pivot back to high CLTV crypto insiders despite the small TAM because the other option is to die trying to cross the chasm
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Zinger
@zinger
But why does there need to be a chasm at all? Maybe there just aren’t that many good apps, crypto or not?
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