I discovered Farcaster at the end of 2022.

And it felt… different, but I left. Because it was too early, too dev-focused and extremely obtuse. Even so, it still felt like there’s something there that could grow to have an impact.

But I came back in Feb 2024. 👀

Got to 4k+ followers, got to know the ecosystem in the process. Loved it to the max and spent most of my time there. But I left because I was disappointed by the (lack of) vision of the biggest 2 teams in the eco: Farcaster/Warpcast and Degen.

But I’m thinking about going back.

Anything changed? Nope, those teams and products are still going their way. But I’ve realized the people I met there are the huge win foe me: the misfits, those tired of the spam/bots/drama of CryptoTwitter, those wanting something /better, the good guys (not good fellas 😅).

I don’t see how tech-only teams can survive in a (crypto) world focused on community and discussion.

➡️ Farcaster is NOT decentralized. That’s what “sufficiently” decentralized means. From DCs (direct chats), to auto-follow, to PowerBadges, to control of the main client and onboarding path - it screams centralized as fuck.

➡️ The main path to onboarding and client (Warpcast, developed by the same team) lacks basic features. Which isn’t a problem per se for a new app/network. But the team refuses to implement established features in other apps/networks - it screams bias and lack of vision.
They need to learn to “steal” what works; it’s called common sense and it leads to progress. Or they might be visionaries 👀

➡️ Anyone building products and services on Farcaster takes on a huge platform risk. Much higher than X/Twitter or any other established network. And not because FC is new/developing - because FC wants to reinvent the wheel by cutting “what works” right now. Again: visionary team or biased tech people.

➡️ When the founders are self-sufficient, think they can perform better than specialized people and take on any role + they’re ignoring culture and the results of years of evolution… they’re either geniuses or biased devs. And we know genius is rare (but not impossible😅).

Anyway, I miss connecting with interesting people, I miss the exuberance of a new platform to discover and I am surely missing (some of) my purple🟪 fam. Twitter is still THE sh*t when it comes to blockchain, but FC might be just the next best thing.

My only constant is crypto, I am in this space for the long run, so… looking forward to what’s next (for me and FC)! 💚

Been in the “game” - the crypto game - for 7 years now. On and off, but full time for the last 3 years. Working community, social media, marketing jobs. Leveraging my 15yrs of digital marketing and web dev exp from Web2. Getting into ICOs, IEOs, Defi Summer, NFT mints and airdrops. Hell I even did some boring stuff like grinding WL for NFT mints. 👀

And then, seeing a discussion about “skin in the game or stfu” I wondered: do I really have skin in the crypto game?

I never did an ICO. Or IEO.
Never launched a DeFi protocol. Or a coin/token.
Never launched an NFT collection of mine, free or otherwise. (launched for others tho).
Never did an airdrop, used token-gating or shared POAPs for myself.

I know how they’re all working, I know how to create, use, market and sell them - I just didn’t do it for myself.

Why?
It didn’t even cross my mind 🫢
They all seemed crazy complicated at first. Then they all seemed crazy simple. Just fork it (duplicate code) and launch your own version.
I had an IRL business that went bankrupt and lost me 10yrs of my life; so… for sure there was fear.

But… I’ve decided to catch up on all of these.

I will
☑️ Launch an NFT collection.
☑️ Do one (or multiple) airdrop(s).
☑️ Use token-gating for sharing resources with frens.
☑️ Create and share POAPs for myself.
☑️ Keep an eye open for opportunities to start a crypto business.
❌ I won’t do an ICO - it’s 2024, fam!😅


PS: about that STFU - it’s not OK in my book. Most of the time other ppl’s angles on us or our business are a must. They have an out of the box view we can’t have from the inside. This is why feedback is so important.

I’ll always remember this: feedback is 50 (percent of the business).

This is a long overdue project. The last time I wanted to start it was October 2023. 😅

Why Samo?
Because it’s a shortcut of my gaming nickname. And because I’ve been fortunate to meet early some amazing ppl: artists, collectors and a cool art community. That’s how I’ve found out about Basquiat.

Why GLHF?
Because I found the meaning of life: have some fun, get a little bit lucky. 🤣
If we’re not getting too deep, kinda this is it - right? Some big 🧠 ppl say “life is short, and then you die”.
Plus, I’ve decided to set a digital place for my ramblings. It’s sort of a bet with myself. And I’m losing money every week I don’t post in /firstdraft! 🤪

Why productivity?
Because the key to survive is to evolve, to get /better. Productivity is one of the ways to improve.

Why Web3?
Because I think Web3 will bring the next evolution of the Internet, the trustless, automated one. And ppl are living on the Internet these days even more than IRL.

Why life?
Because my father went to study on a different continent. He met my mother some 40 years ago. Our choices in life HAVE consequences, doesn’t matter if we want it or not. Also, I never got to know my father. But this is a story for another time (let’s get to know each other a bit better 😅)…

Why art?
Because art is culture and culture rullz the world. And because art makes so much more sense in the context of digital. Yes, NFTs, but not only that.

I’ll see you on this side until I’ll see you on the other side! 🖐️