If youโve been looking for a proxy for what Web3 projects and communities will be the few to breakthrough, it turns out Founder airline miles would probably be #1. Go to pay tribute to the road warrior @LucaNetz@chefgoyardi and @pudgypenguins@LilPudgys@animocabrands
400+ builders and frens gathered at our Portfolio Day here at #Token2049 .
The crowd, the energy, the people ๐ฏ
A special warm welcome to @LucaNetz, @pudgypenguins in the house! ๐ง
One for the books.
Pudgy Penguins are heading back to San Diego Comic-Con 2026 ๐ง
Weโre proud to return for our fourth year to one of the worldโs largest pop culture events and continue our mission of championing Web3 IP.
RSVP below.
This is offensive, Governor Newsom.
The state of California is currently withholding key discovery in the Palisades fire.
The state and city claimed immunity, lost at the trial and appellate level.
Despite this, the state refuses to provide complete discovery with the next court date 5/20.
Moreover, our Mayor deleted her texts from January 2025 and the Governor has provided no responsive texts or emails surrounding the Palisades fire.
There is no roadmap for the rebuild. Not a single power line buried, no additional emergency response hired, emergency vehicles still in disrepair, reservoirs still empty, dry brush still unresolved, $100 million in fire aid not provided to the citizens, and Palisades fire victims of the state and city still must pay $5 BILLION estimated in state and local taxes for the rebuild.
As YOUR fire victim, Iโve seen almost nothing.
So. No. This is absolute gaslighting.
10X?!
People died because of this extraordinary lack of grip on reality.
In the end, the truth will come out. The complicit misdirection, untruths and purposeful misinformation.
Sincerely,
Jeremy Padawer
https://t.co/POrFyAgl7f
@spencerpratt@415FirePhoto@Hotshot_Movie
One thing I've noticed lately is that every big AI smart glasses launch suddenly comes with a fashion brand attached
And honestlyโฆ I don't think that's accidental at all
Google's new AI glasses this week came with frames by @_GentleMonster_ and @WarbyParker
But the part that caught my attention was this:
Google quietly bought a 4% stake in Gentle Monster's parent company last year for $100M
That's not "let's do a collab" money. That's "we think fashion distribution matters as much as the tech itself" money
And it kinda makes sense when you think about it
Most wearable tech doesn't fail because the technology sucks. It fails because people don't wanna look weird wearing it outside ๐ญ
- Google Glass had this problem
- Humane Pin had this problem
Meta avoided it by partnering with Ray-Ban and Oakley early. Now they own around 80% of the AI smart glasses market after selling 7M units last year, triple the year before
And Google seems to be running the same playbook now, just aimed harder at Asia
Gentle Monster isn't just an eyewear brand here
K-pop basically turned it into cultural currency
Jennie's collabs made those sunglasses explode across Seoul, Tokyo, Bangkok, Hong Kong, KLโฆ pretty much everywhere in Asia
So instead of trying to "market" AI glasses from scratch, Google is plugging into a brand people already think is cool
That's the real product shortcut
And honestly I think this same mechanic is showing up everywhere now
Even with our @pudgypenguins x Manchester City collab
Man City has 180M+ followers across socials and millions of fans worldwide
10 Premier League titles, with 4 in a row from 2021 to 2024
Champions League winners in 2023
Most football fans seeing the collab this week probably never heard of Pudgy before but Man City already has the audience, attention and cultural trust built in. Thatโs powerful.
More and more, I feel like the question isnโt just:
โCan you build a great product?โ
Itโs also:
โWhich culture can your product travel through naturally?โ
Because attention is expensive now.
But trust that already exists can carry a brand so much further ๐ง๐