Check your Pulse # 64

Introducing The Modern Billboard, invest in and own digital real estate on promising sites

Hi, I’m Sari Azout and this is the the 64th edition of Check your Pulse, a tech and startups newsletter designed to make you feel human. This issue is sponsored by one of my favorite startup communities: Launch House👌 Launch House members get to live together in cool mansions and get connected to world class builders, investors, and CEOs. Their next one month residency begins on Nov 28th in NYC and LA. They have limited spots so apply today!

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Hello, hello.

I’m deep down the web3 rabbit hole. Like my friend Nathan, I’ve been oscillating between fascination and disgust with web 3. He said it better than I could:

“Some days I feel like the holy trinity of NFTs, DAOs, and DeFi might replace the very foundation that society rests on. Other days it feels like 90% vaporware and Ponzi schemes that collectively emit more CO2 than a medium-sized country. The challenge is to hold both of those ideas at once”

No doubt you’ve read about the NFT craze this year, where jpegs are selling for millions of dollars in some cases. I join you in thinking this is insane.

What’s lost amidst the shock and awe headlines is the use cases beyond collectible penguin jpegs.

In Check your Pulse #62, I brought up tokenized advertising as a promising use case:

What if you could own a small piece of the digital real estate in promising sites/startups you believe in? I think there’s an opportunity for tokenized advertising to allow people to bet early on promising sites, while opening up a new revenue stream for startups to raise funding from their community. By combining the benefits of an ad with the appreciation potential of an NFT, your community has a unique way to align themselves with your mission, promote their projects, and retain significant upside potential, making it possible to bet early on promising sites.

There’s no better way to learn than by doing, and I’m excited to share that, together with a great crew of Internet friends, I built an early version of this.

It’s coming soon, but I’m sharing a sneak preview today with CYP readers only.

Say hello to the modern billboard - the first ever experiment in tokenized advertising, allowing you to invest in and own digital real estate on promising sites. 

Here’s an example of how a modern billboard might look on the New York Times 👇🏾

A modern billboard is broken down into 48 lots, each represented as an NFT that is freely tradable. 

In layman’s terms, this means you can buy and own an ad lot on a billboard that will be permanently hosted on a curated set of sites (not the New York Times… yet). As a lot owner, you can upload an image + link out to a URL of your choice. 

Wanna promote your company or project? Stick your logo in it.
Wanna show off your penguin avatar and link to your twitter profile? Do your thing.
Want to rent the ad space to someone else and make $? Dream big.

The cool thing is, you can buy a lot, hold it for months or years, and sell it in the future - that "digital real estate" should (in theory) get more valuable as the sites grow in value. 

It’s the benefits of advertising, the potential upside of an investment, and the feel good vibes of patronage ;)

They say build a product you wish you had, and we did. I’m committed to exploring alternative ways to fund Startupy that better align our community with our upside. With that said, the first billboards set to release are for Startupy, and my friends at Koodos and Coinvise.

✨ If you want pre-release access to Startupy’s billboard, sign up to be notified when we’re live.

✨ If this resonates, it would mean the world to me if you leave some feedback here.

If you’re still with me, thank you!

I built Startupy, Ghost Knowledge, Modern Billboard, and this newsletter (which now has over 12,000 of you) all in the past year without leaving my home, whilst mothering three kids under six.

Keep shipping on your terms 🚀

Sari

I don’t know who said this, but YES: the grass is always greener on the side that’s fertilized with bullshit 💯

The awesome crew behind Napkin converted thoughts and ideas I’ve shared in this newsletter into a vibey experience. There’s so much value in the archives y’all. Check it out.🧠

Keep an eye on Clay - the best personal CRM tool I’ve seen, optimized to help you be more thoughtful with the people that matter. CYP subscribers get 60 days membership for free here. (sponsored but I would rave about them regardless) ✨

I've fallen deep down the Dee Hock (founder of Visa) rabbit hole. His short essays are a goldmine of wisdom. ✍🏽

This sums up my six year old’s attitude on life. Send help. 🆘👇🏾

This, on writing. Of course, fancy writing doesn't just conceal ideas. It can also conceal the lack of them. That's why some people write that way, to conceal the fact that they have nothing to say. Whereas writing simply keeps you honest. ✍🏽

This is great 💯

This is just a great ad, from Italic. 🕯️

What a read! If you’re on the fence about crypto, I suggest spending 28 minutes reading this. 👁️

This interview with Chris Dixon is worth your time. Who’s more interesting: the person who happens to be sitting next to you in real life or the most interesting person in the world talking about your favorite topic? No wonder everyone is staring at their phone. 💭

Fantastic read on why we need more Omakase creators! People usually don’t know what they want until someone shows them or until theI encounter it in the world for the very first time. That's why the greatest role of an entrepreneur is shaper of desires. 👈🏽

Diana S. Fleischman @sentientist

How can one understand history and not come to the conclusion that we are beyond privileged to exist at this specific point in the human timeline?

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I’ve kept this newsletter free, both to spread my ideas as wide as possible and so I don't feel pressured to write when I have nothing to say. I don’t expect you to pay me anything, but if you’re feeling extra thankful, my venmo is @sari-azout

If you’re wondering who’s behind this newsletter:

My name is Sari Azout. I am the founder of Startupy (coming soon). I spend my days thinking, building, and investing at the intersection of Web 3, curation, knowledge management, and the future of work. My mission is to bring more humanity and creativity to technology and business.

Want more?

Follow me on Twitter, Medium, and Instagram. Or get access to my second brain. 🧠

Thanks for being here!