Not A Cartel

Zora just launched $ZORA — no offshore entity, no DAO shell games, no KYC. Just a bold new vision for onchain creators and crypto-native monetization.

Jacob from Zora joins Coop, Lucas, and Chevy to unpack the launch, the pivot from NFTs to coins, and how Zora is turning “post to earn” into a reality for everyday internet users.

Key topics:

- The legal and product strategy behind $ZORA

- Why Zora chose coins over NFTs

- The "minimum viable token" approach

- Onboarding normies into onchain ecosystems

- How coins unlock long-term creator monetization

- What creators earn in Zora — and why

- The emerging blueprint for launching tokens in the US

Timestamps:

00:00 – Kicking off with Jacob and the $ZORA launch

01:50 – Behind the timing and strategy of the token drop

03:30 – Why Zora didn’t follow the traditional DAO/foundation model

07:15 – What makes a minimum viable token

13:30 – The shift from NFTs to coins explained

18:20 – Balancing supply and demand in the creator ecosystem

24:30 – The tradeoffs of coins vs. NFTs for creators

35:00 – Working with Doppler and Zora’s token mechanics

39:00 – Routing rewards in $ZORA and what it unlocks

47:00 – Zora’s perspective on the broader coin landscape

50:30 – Onboarding creators without going top-down

53:30 – Final advice to skeptics: just try it

Coop returns from Coachella with fresh perspective on how real people interact (or don’t) with crypto. From QR-coded trinkets to normie skepticism, the crew breaks down the gap between onchain ideals and IRL behavior — and what it means for building better products.

In this episode:

0:10 – Coop’s Coachella recap: sets, vibes, and GA over VIP

1:35 – “This song’s onchain”

2:13 – Should crypto founders be onboarding IRL?

8:50 – Normies don't hate crypto — they just don't care

13:53 – Why "onchain" needs to feel like AIM, not finance

22:01 – Collecting for culture, not profit: what makes people click

30:00 – Why rewards-based systems struggle with real people

34:01 – Gamifying patronage: cashback, spins, and social signals

38:49 – Coop’s USDC shift

46:00 – Zoom out, trust the process

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In this candid conversation, the Not a Cartel crew celebrates Pods hitting 1 million mints while navigating a brutal crypto market downturn. A raw, unfiltered look at crypto founders pushing forward despite challenging conditions.

Key Topics:

🏆 Pods celebrates reaching 1 million mints despite market turbulence

📉 Founders discuss portfolio losses and surviving the market crash

💰 The debate: Should creators be paid in stablecoins instead of volatile ETH?

🚀 Blueprint's cohort results: 173 ETH in primary sales and lessons learned

🔄 Solving collector fatigue and incentive design for on-chain platforms

📱 Leveraging Farcaster/Warpcast for distribution in the bear market

Featuring Lucas, Coop, Adam Levy, and David reflecting on what keeps them building in Web3 through the ups and downs.

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Blockchain Brett joins Not A Cartel to reveal the dual business model that's transforming the creator economy. Fresh off of joining 1Confirmation as a General Partner, Brett breaks down his "collector funnel" theory and explains why successful creators need both traditional fans and crypto collectors.

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[00:40] Brett announces his move to 1Confirmation and working with Nick Tomaino

[05:30] From $50 CryptoArt to billion-dollar markets: How digital collecting evolved

[12:15] "Spotify fans vs. onchain collectors" - Managing two separate business lines

[17:40] Building your collector funnel: From tokens to limited editions

[21:50] "Crypto people don't feel like real fans" - The disconnect creators must overcome

[24:30] Why fans buy concert tickets while collectors demand airdrops

[26:45] The 20% conversion strategy: How to bridge social audiences to on-chain value

Learn how platforms like Pods, Coop Records, Blueprint, and Hume are creating the infrastructure for creators to monetize both fan attention and collector investment.

As Brett says, "We're at the foundation of a big tree" - discover how to position yourself for what's coming next.

In this raw episode of Not A Cartel, founders Adam, Coop, Lucas, and David reveal their playbook for building sustainable businesses when venture capital dries up. From token economics that actually work to finding product-market fit with real users, this is the survival guide every founder needs in 2025.

[00:30] Adam (Chevy) reveals his creator token strategy that's powering Blueprint's success

[10:42] The Death Pixie partnership: How Hume is breaking out of the crypto bubble

[18:15] Why chasing crypto natives isn't enough and how to expand beyond them

[24:36] Inside Privy's $15M funding round and what it means for wallet integration

[31:48] "Surviving is harder than succeeding" - The 5-7 year timeline to build consumer products

[35:26] Kraken's $1.5B acquisition strategy and what it teaches founders

[44:53] The token fundamentals that actually work: "If your protocol isn't the largest buyer of your token, shut up"

[47:38] Cooper's blueprint for automatic token buybacks that create sustainable growth

[51:12] The mobile app strategy that's bringing real users to Web3 products

Join this honest conversation about bootstrapping, building, and breaking through in a post-VC crypto landscape.

No hopium, just hard-earned wisdom from founders who are making it work.

Peter from 1kx drops founder survival knowledge during crypto's market downturn. Forget begging VCs for money—build community, focus on revenue, and reach ramen profitability instead.

Topics Covered:

Why VCs won't invest right now and what to do instead (11:38)

Getting to "default alive" and ramen profitability (15:31)

Capturing market growth when sentiment shifts (20:05)

NFTs, social permeability, and reaching beyond crypto natives (25:05)

Counter-cyclical building: taking risks when others won't (34:19)

Essential listening for founders navigating the bloodbath and positioning for the inevitable market turnaround.

The Not A Cartel crew share their hot takes on EthDenver and the bombshell that has everyone talking: Zora's controversial pivot from NFTs to meme coins.

Coop defends the collectible model despite being a "Japanese soldier" refusing to surrender, while Lucas questions if anyone even cares which chain they're on anymore.

Plus the fellas discuss Alexis Ohanian's onchain TikTok dreams and Trump's crypto reserve announcement, the crew asks the uncomfortable question: have we lost our cultural edge while "just keep clicking" on the same hype cycles?

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In this episode of Not A Cartel, the crew dives into the controversial Libra token collapse and debates whether today's meme coin mania is worse than 2020's DeFi Summer.

As billions get wiped from LIBRA's market cap overnight, the hosts ask tough questions: Why do crypto founders keep launching tokens that immediately crash? Cooper shares surprising success with his latest NFT drop on Sonieum, while the team debates whether stablecoins might be the future for creator payments.

Join Coop, Lucas, Adam, and David as they navigate the ongoing challenges of building in Web3 while everything around them keeps burning down.

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Not A Cartel is back! Join 4 consumer crypto founders - Adam, Cooper, David, and Lucas - as they share hot takes on:

- Unichain launch

- MegaETH NFT mint

- Dave Portnoy all in on memecoins

- Farcaster hiring spree

- Warpcast Wallet teaser

- Tips for going viral onchain

- What it will take for the $ETH comeback

Mint this episode at pods.media/not-a-cartel

Enjoy :)

Dive into an electric discussion of Not A Cartel (NAC) with Cooper, Adam, David, and Lucas as they cover:

- Adam's experience in the SOL trenches at Mtn DAO

- Farcaster acquiring Supercast

- How Coinbase aims to go viral onchain in 2025

- Layer3 shipping at an insane rate

- Adin Ross' livestream

And finally some ETH cope to round out the episode. Enjoy :)