.@DeGods have added so much value into my life.
I’ve made more real friends here than I could ever imagine. Every community is one of a kind, and DeGods is my home.
FIWB
Shoutout to @dust_labs@delabsxyz for sponsoring this event 😎
Lately, I’ve noticed that I’ve been matching people’s energy instead of exuding my own.
I am changing this now.
I aspire to have patience & empathy for everyone in our tribe.
I love our community.
I want to share something I’ve been thinking about - that’s relevant to the moment that it feels DeGods & y00ts are in right now.
It’s something that I learned from my first startup.
We went from a hacky side-project at UCLA to a YC-backed startup with millions in revenue in about 1 year.
I learned a lot about myself as a leader during this time.
I was 19 & anxious all the time. Constantly nervous about the smallest things. Every problem felt like life or death.
My biggest mistake was projecting that anxiety onto everyone around me.
I would get upset at others for not being as anxious as me.
“How are you calm right now? Did you not see the support tickets?”
“We’re not going to hit our growth numbers! We’re fucked.”
In reality, deep down this was purely performative. It was a sign of my inexperience. I felt like I had to “prove that I care” by appearing stressed out.
The even worse problem is that you do your worst work when you’re scared.
You make even dumber decisions. You try to polish turds instead of just pivoting to something better. You take the safer route. You lose.
When things are at their worst - you have to be your most confident. Especially as a leader. You have to be the calmest person in the room. You need to be creative. You have to be ready to take even more risks.
I’m sharing this because I have noticed a huge spike in people voicing their anxiety in our communities.
Which is fine. It doesn’t affect me.
I’ve been dedicated to this project every single day for the last 2 years. We’ve had our ups & downs but I am proud of how far we’ve come. I’m proud of our work and I’m proud of our community.
I’m confident we will surprise & delight even our biggest critics. I think you should be too.
And that’s why I wrote this.
It’s just a personal way for me to tell you that this is not the time to be angry or stressed.
If you can’t get over the anxiety… then just step away. I understand. I get it.
If you’re in, then stick around and enjoy the comeback. It’ll be fun.
People just didn’t like what we released & we mismanaged expectations.
It’s not like we tried to milk the community on SIII. We literally just didn’t give people free stuff in a smart enough way & some people didn’t like the new art.
y00ts community feels like they haven’t been prioritized for over a year + $DUST doesn’t have utility beyond art upgrades & mints.
These are all solvable problems and we’ll do this and more. I’m simply not as doom & gloom as many others.
The idea that we’re just going to fade into the distance is not grounded in any reality. We’re on top of it.
This question is silly.
I’m dedicating my life to this.
We’re not going anywhere.
Of course we’re going to come back stronger.
It’s not if – just a matter of when.
WE ARE UPPING THE STAKES. 1 prize, 3 options.
3x Rolex
2x Rolex
1x AP
… You Choose
https://t.co/fV8FHejI1I
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