This week’s Defiant Podcast is from a conversation I had with Alex Zhang at the Unfinished Live conference. Alex is the mayor of Friend with Benefits, or FWB, a prominent DAO of creatives.

Friends with Benefits started as an experiment when its founder minted and airdropped the FWB token to an early community.  FWB holders gained access to private chat groups on Discord.  From there, it developed into a community of thousands of members, live events and even proprietary software.  Alex explains the evolution and growth of Friends with Benefits.

A common criticism of Web3 is that it over-financializes communities and social media. To join Friends with Benefits, a user must hold 75 FWB in their Ethereum wallet.   At its peak, membership would have set you back $14,000. At current prices, it costs roughly $600, which can still be considered a prohibitive price for most people. Alex shares his thoughts on this exclusionary feature of Web3.

In the past two years, we’ve seen a boom in Web3 communities sprouting from DeFi, DAOs, and NFTs.   As we’re still in an experimental phase in this regard, meaning there are no strict rules and practices, we discuss how Alex finds running a DAO in this environment, given the less hierarchical and structureless nature found in Web3 communities.

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