Gm,
Before we get into this message, I wanted to take a second to outline my intentions. My goal here is to own up to and acknowledge all of the things that I fell short on for this community. I also want to draw a clear line between these shortcomings and all of the things that I delivered on, and the amount of effort, time, and love that I, this entire team, and this community have poured into this project.
I want to shine a light on everything. The good, and the bad. Dippies has become far bigger than myself, with more moving parts than I could have ever imagined. I want to honor that, honor this community, and honor the village it took to get us to the point that we’re at today.
“Our goal when creating the Dippies collection was to commemorate the initial ideas of hippies that we all have, while adding a modern flare. We wanted to create characters that oozed originality and funk, while inspiring you, the community, to stand up and create a world you believe in.”
From the onset of Dippies, we have been building alongside you, the community. When the leadership team has not known which direction to take, the voices of the community have guided us forward. This is an idea akin to hippie culture, one in which the real leadership lies amongst the collective, rather than within a single entity.
What started as a vision outlined in a manifesto, has become a reality. The project that we were dreaming up almost a year ago has fully come to life. Today, Dippies across the world have a great interest in music, virtual festivals, products, P2E gaming, and many other verticals. We have evolved together as a community, online and IRL.
The best way I can think to cover this evolution, and to speak to everything that has gone on with Dippies is by revisiting all of the major moments for the project, and speaking honestly about each one of them:
March, Dippies Mint |
https://opensea.io/collection/dippies
Our discord opened late January 2022. I remember the first thousand people poured in with so much excitement- some of these individuals are still a part of this community. The art. Thats all people could talk about. TaylorMight’s style captured the attention of the entire web3 space with his bright colors and witty traits. So much momentum was built up over time and a ton of work put in by the team only for our server to get hacked in February. That was a horrible experience. I remember not being able to get proper sleep that week. We had no choice but to pick ourselves back up. Our talent show prior to mint was a beautiful experience. I remember being so nervous to co-host this event as I have never done anything like that before with so many eyes watching. I remember being nervous for every AMA at the beginning too. We got to showcase talent from our community and also host some established artists.
Then came mint day. There was an insane amount of attention on us that week, but especially that day, March 3rd 2022. Thankfully there were no smart contract issues and no hacks. I remember people were full of praise for the smoothness of the mint site and how nicely it was designed, something that the team and I took a good deal of time preparing. Around 60 holders mentioned that they were on the WL but couldn’t mint. I was surprised as we used Pre-Mint for the address collection and we made sure to stay below the over-allocation amount. What ended up happening (I figured this out months later) was that a trusted mod from our team added additional addresses of his and his friends. I should have been on top of this and take full accountability. I ended up sweeping Dippies from my personal funds and gave those individuals the chance to pay the original mint price for those Dippies.
March, DippieStash | The DippieStash is meant to operate as the treasury for the project - providing the funding that the project needs to move forward. This includes payroll for community managers, moderators, collab managers etc. Although this was communicated on the website, I could’ve definitely been more transparent with the community about how the treasury money was being spent. Things move pretty quickly in the web3 world, and given that this was the first project I had ever worked on, I was honestly very overwhelmed with the amount of decisions I had to make in such a short time. In this overwhelm, I wasn’t checking in and updating you, the holders, the people who matter the most for the project, on how we were spending our money. I assure you that all of the dippiestash money was being invested in the project in the best way that the team and I knew how (moderator and team payments, garage and game development, etc). But holders should’ve had a much larger say, and deeper insights into how that money was being spent at the time that it was being spent.
The DippieStash is also meant to be a tool to empower community members to vote on proposals put forward by the Dippies team and community members. Again, in our haste, we didn’t take nearly enough proposals to the community. This means that we didn’t put enough of the DippieStash budget in the true hands of holders. This isn’t because we thought we knew better, or because we didn’t value the holders opinions, it was due to the sheer number of decisions that were needing to be made every day. At the time it felt difficult to pull back, and to realize that all of these smaller decisions were going to amount to the overarching direction that the project was taking. Instead, almost all of the power ended up in the leadership team’s hands. The Stash was meant to be a proper tool for the community to utilize their right to vote - however it never became that.
March, Dippies Trip - Snoop + Champ |
A culturally significant moment for Dippies. Right before the Dippies reveal, Snoop + Champ created a song using the honorary that was gifted to Snoop. It was a moment of true serendipity. Purchasing the track allowed access to the music files for other artists to use. To show appreciation, I purchased 100 for the talented artists in the Dippies community.
March, SXSW |
https://twitter.com/DippiesNFT/status/1504850174153220103
Truly a dream come true. To be able to bridge the gap between the digital world and the physical 10 days after launch, and to really bring discord and Twitter to life was epic. Meeting holders IRL is a whole other feeling. We hired local talent, food, art, and music for the public to come and enjoy.
April, NFT LA |
https://twitter.com/DippiesNFT/status/1511433322752356352
Exactly 17 days after our first event in SXSW, we made our presence known in LA. This was time to show the funky side of Dippies and display our potential when it comes to the event/music space. In collaboration with ILYYW in Terminal 21, we hosted a Disco themed party with cannabis brands and merch available on site. Another amazing connection point to meet Dippies holders IRL.
April, 4/20 Merch Drop |
https://drip.dippies.io/products/jacket
Dippies first merch drop happened in true Dippie fashion on 4/20/2022. Holders were able to purchase everything at cost. Dippies partnered with Embroidery Artist and Designer AMR (https://www.instagram.com/weareamr/) to create a special jacket. This was a limited drop and was live for a week. The positive of this was it gave us a chance to collect some data/experiment. Initially we were only accepting crypto payments, but we realized that many people prefer to pay in fiat- so we made that switch.
May, EDC gallery |
https://twitter.com/DippiesNFT/status/1528514279808372736
Participated in the Electric Daisy Carnival (EDC) first NFT gallery alongside notable projects. Percentage of proceeds donated to www.murphslifefoundation.com.
June, Van Companion |
https://opensea.io/collection/vansofficial
Animated companion - Free mint for Dippies holders. This was launched at a difficult time in the market. I personally wanted to delay the launch until markets were looking slightly healthier as it would benefit both the team and the holders if that were the case. The community was very vocal about their eagerness for the launch to happen sooner rather than later.
TaylorMight (artist) and mikididthis (animator) were working an insane amount to get these ready for the holders as soon as they could- I was honestly scared that they were going to burn out from how much pressure they were facing to meet deadlines. They pulled through in spectacular fashion. Their hard work paid off. The art was talked about heavily in the NFT space and Dippies proved yet again that our art is second to none.
The collection sold out in 4 hours and the majority of Dippie holders claimed their free van within the allotted claim period. Although the art was some of the best the NFT space has seen in some time, the market conditions were brutal. TaylorMight and mikididthis leveled up to a completely different universe with the creation of the vans. In different market conditions, this art would have been the talk of the town and making headlines. We are still proud of the outcome- art is art, regardless of anything else.
June, Dippie Garage |
https://twitter.com/DippiesNFT/status/1529829471959797761
The DippieGarage allows you to put Dippies and other projects into the driver’s seat of the Vans. The garage gives each holder the chance to add their Dippie or other notable NFTs into the Van. You are able to switch your NFT to the Van of your preference (the ones you own) and refresh metadata to appear on OpenSea.
This is a product that we genuinely worked day and night on for months. It was a large technological and artistic feat, and I’m incredibly proud of what we were able to accomplish. To take the most incredible artwork from TaylorMight, combine that with the smooth effortless animations from mikididthis, remove the backgrounds of over 6 projects, then motion track the pfp’s themselves to the vans movement, then print every frame merged with the van video, and have it show up on-chain, on OpenSea, is a really big deal.
Unfortunately, we were so heads down and focused on all of the technical aspects of the roll-out that our marketing ended up falling short. The timing of the launch was disjointed, with the garage releasing 2 weeks after the vans mint. There wasn’t enough communication and partnership announcements alongside the launch of the vans either. There was major market volatility caused in part by the Terra Luna crash, but also the macro landscape as a whole.
All in all, the entire vans rollout didn’t get the marketing that it deserved. This was in part because of the macro environment, but it was also due to our execution. The team and I were exhausted. We had bit off a pretty large technical project, and although we got it done, we weren’t able to show up effectively to market what we had created. In hindsight, I would’ve delayed the vans launch until we had more lined up, and until we were at a point where the team and I had more energy in the tank and more planning in place to effectively roll out the launch of the epic Dippie companions.
Thread outlining some additional technical aspects of the DippieGarage:
https://twitter.com/uncle__sal/status/1531618894313451520
July, Dippie Races |
https://twitter.com/DippiesNFT/status/1561995448348549120
I’ve always told the Dippies team that we need not be perfectionists. Let's try new things and not dwell on the idea of failure. The DippieRaces quality, execution and release has been one of my biggest regrets. I had higher aspirations and the community had higher expectations.
DippieRaces was meant to be as a P2E allowlist game that created a sense of excitement and competition within the community- something that provides real utility. The result however did not amount to that.
There is no one to blame here but myself. I should have done a better job at vetting the gaming studio, been more clear about what exactly it is that we want and the standard that we expect. I should have waited to release the game, and not given in to the internal pressure I put on myself to get something released when the community had been waiting so long. I should have also listened more attentively to what the Dippies community wanted to see inside the game.
The only thing I can assure you of is that I was doing the best that I could with the resources and knowledge that I had at the time, and I sincerely set out with the intention of building something epic for this community. My execution fell short here.
—------------------------------------------
Looking back over the entire story of Dippies, there are a few overarching themes of behavior that I would like to take responsibility for.
The first is my communication. This was a weakness for me from the very start. Speaking honestly I don’t think I ever fully owned the role of a leader. I would show up for larger announcements, but I didn’t realize how important my presence was on a micro level. I see now that it is in the moments in between that a true bond is formed between a leader and their community.
I was totally outcome oriented. The team can attest to the fact that I pretty much spent all of my time working to deliver on the roadmap. Ironically, I think the community would’ve been a lot happier if I had spent a little bit less time working and a little more time just being a regular human being, hanging out on vc, hearing suggestions, etc.
I should’ve been more present, and I regret not fully realizing this sooner. I guess it never felt real that so many people were looking to me to have a voice. I didn’t feel like it would make a difference for me to show up on the days where nothing was happening, when in fact those were the days that it was the most important to show up.
Transparency; At times, I made decisions without consulting the community. I found it difficult to find a balance between what news to keep from the community (to add suspense and excitement) versus what to share and be open about. As a leader I felt the need to be decisive, however I realized that having such an active and engaged holder base is a blessing that should be utilized. It can soften the burden and isolation of being a founder. After all, bringing the community in to build together is what being in web3 is all about.
—-----------------------------------------
A note to other founders, and for people who are curious what it is like behind the scenes as a founder- it’s ok to make mistakes. We are all human at the end of the day. For a while, I held on to the mistakes that I made on DippieRaces, or the roll out of the garage. I was beating myself up for them constantly, until I realized that mistakes are apart of growth.
As long as you are doing the best you can, with the resources you have, and you have good intentions, then it’s ok. I really only had the best intentions for Dippies. You’re all here because you felt the amount of love that the team and I really poured into this project. We did a ton of EPIC stuff here, online, and offline. I still see this project and community as such an amazing colorful light, and such a source of good in the space.
After a ton of time, and a lot of pain and reflection, I’ve forgiven myself for my mistakes. I’ve learned a lot from them, and I sincerely hope that you can forgive me too.
To the Dippies community: You’ve been nothing but great from the start. We’ve built something so special together, with real purpose. It has been an honor working alongside you.
—------------------------------------------
After weeks of discussions regarding the next phase of Dippies, the community has decided that the best way moving forward is for me to step down and transfer all ownership to the community. I have poured my heart into Dippies for the past year, and I truly don’t want to leave. However, it’s clear that this is what the community wants. Letting go is difficult, but I’ve created something far larger than myself and my own concerns. As of today I am stepping down from my role as the leader of Dippies, and I will be transitioning ownership of the project to the community.
I will work with the community to ensure that this handoff is as seamless as possible, but I want to state that I am not holding responsibility for where the community takes the project once the handoff is completed. I will own every single mistake that I’ve made so far as a leader, and cherish every win that we’ve had as a community thus far. However as I hand over ownership of Dippies, I am also handing over the entirety of the responsibility for Dippies from this point forward. I have also relinquished all of my future royalties.
Thank you for trusting me and giving the message of freedom, and peace, and togetherness, such an incredible platform. I’m deeply grateful for every single one of you for believing in me, and what we’ve created. Dippies will always be in my heart, and though I will no longer be steering this project, I will always be cheering you on from the sidelines. We left an indelible mark on Web3, and for that I am forever grateful. What an incredible community you all are. Thank you.
—------------------------------------------
As per request of the OG Dippies and holders at large, the multi-sig wallet will have 5 signers with a minimum of 3 signatures required for any transaction to go through. This will ensure that Dippies operates as a true community run project, with the council working for and with the community. Multi-Sig will include:
@DippieDopey (0x264A81995CcDDEeb798f69C04B2D0Eb9f05ba5C0), @LowkeyBuckets (0x01516DbdC4Bd8c596201CA260Fe117B1ad6df407), @Nicki__B (0xb39999B62996324EfA72E19903d5Ea3E0CFC77ab), @PLtokentag (0x4371548361D42873c0bC47c1475894e615Cc6A18),@coinmemenist (0xcCee03Bf20cD6cCb547557Ee170Ec1A30E20cc07).
I will be sending a lump sump amount to the dippiestash from personal funds to cover payroll. { 5300 (payroll amount) * 4 (number of months) = $21,200. }
Ownership of the smart contract (and all authority that goes with it) is being transferred to the official Dippies multi-sig wallet which will be controlled by the council. [dippiestash.eth / 0xC1433f0D731a30F5DCbBDd3Bbb8E72b538FFb9bC].
Ownership of all official Dippies social accounts and website are being transferred to Dopey (who has been delegated by the community). Twitter @DippiesNFT. Instagram @DippiesNFT
The Dippies creator royalty is being changed so that this Dippies multi-sig wallet receives the largest share going forward (95%). The Dippies total creator royalty will remain at 5% and the breakdown of the total creator royalty is as follows:
95% DippieStash.eth;
5% taylormight creator-royalty wallet;
Breakdown as follows for the Vans Collection:
90% DippieStash.eth;
5% taylormight creator-royalty wallet;
5% mikididthis creator-royalty wallet;
—------------------------------------------
As for myself, I will continue to be in the web3 space; listening, learning and building.
This place has become my home.
Take Care, Uncle Sal