in one line: fc/base meets builders where builders are whereas traditional vc model, builders met vcs where vcs are.

and the former should’ve been the case for most projects all along. gpt wrappers accelerated this and now, this eco is democratizing it.

factors:

• fc core users being builders (and actively attracting more)

• base very hands on w eco & making products w builders in mind

• builders reinvesting in builders (time, money, etc)

honestly, it feels weird to feel so free to build when markets are tanked and i haven’t cared to raise. but every day, i just cant escape the feeling of “i feel like a kid again”. it’s this simple euphoria that helps me focus/refocus and continue onward to build something great.

h/t farcaster team, jesse/base, proxy, july

perhaps common sense, but easy to forget because people want to belong.

community isn't built on top of the people. it's built on top of an ideal. and it's the embodiment of said ideal that you come to see. so if you're in doubt, just strip your community down to its bone and build back up.

relevant video

why do this? community can turn into tribalism. and when tribalism festers, it takes root on both sides. the leaders are more prone to groupthink and lose their voice. community members drive up their entitlement and lose agency. this is accelerated by the fact that the medium of interaction relies on a faceless, text-based platform.

you don't have to agree with a person to agree with their thoughts. you don't have to agree with their thoughts to agree with the person.

this applies to groups, communities, implicitly held identities.

aim higher, and do what you want.

one day, as i was walking to advisory, a big eighth grader, one i vaguely knew thanks to his popularity, stopped me in my tracks, pulled his eyes back, yelled "chink" in my face, then laughed and ran away. i paused in my steps for several seconds before the warning bell urged me to class, else i be marked tardy. the rest of the school day is a blur. i arrived home. i set down my navy jansport. i went to the bathroom to check my face in the mirror. i practiced some scowls, mugged a bit, and soon after walked away satisfied enough with my newly minted "don't fuck with me" aura - the first mask i consciously created for myself.

this shit goes in cycles. i feel like i've shed a lot of masks i was given to me by others. and the most impactful ones i've had are those i intentionally crafted.

which leads to fc - it's my first time anon. it's been fun building this identity from near scratch. i've found it a great way to experiment, to gauge my taste as well as the community's. i've had interesting thoughts around people coordinating w/o knowing each others' "real" selves. but my most profound experience was recognizing my moments of entitlement. whether it was due to engagement (more like lack thereof), the ecosystem, certain users, i saw myself complaining a lot, out loud or in my head, and felt repulsed by it. i'm an agentic person. it was a nice reflection of the visceral reaction i often see in others, within me when i let my mask slip.

"mfers do what they want", "go higher", "left curve", "stop overthinking", "based" - this gets repetitive on my timeline, but i'm better for it. it shapes a big part of this mask i have on and i'm appreciative to be in this space.

whether it's because i've extracted max value out of this identity or want to utilize it to propel more value or maybe i just feel like it, i'm sure i'll dox myself eventually (i'm not even a big deal kek). but until then, i'll keep just doing things with this mask on.