How to get paid by DAOs - Astukari Newsletter #81
Hi friends,
Exciting things happening backstage, both creatively and business-wise. Alas this is yet again one of those moments where things are cool and I want to share them but they aren’t quite at the level to be shared yet. So I hope this newsletter suffices for now.
🔨What I’ve Been Making
New writing: We got two new blog posts as always — On Dealing With Chaos and Risk/Return Bets in Entrepreneurship — and a new Ko-fi post coming tomorrow. The topic will probably be on the “goal” of Astukari, but the Ko-fi posts are also done very last minute so don’t hold me to it.
New video/audio: No new videos on the main channel but this whole week has been dedicated to setting up new lectures, so expect this to change soon. Over on the second channel we have the final cut from the Look Back streams with the thumbnail being perhaps the dumbest fucking mug of my face ever, and in the works we have a third (that’s right, third!) channel dedicated to JBR, which doesn’t quite fit with the content on Astukari and so I think belongs separately. The new issues of Indie Game Roundup will be hosted there, alongside “quarterly reports” I’ll be doing for JBR. More on that when it comes. (And don’t forget a new episode of the podcast, too!)
Other projects: JBR, of course. We recently opened up applications for the Productions group, so if you have a project you need assistance with feel free to apply!
📚What I’ve Been Reading
How to get paid by DAOs - Ahh, the cool part of Crypto. With NFTs being fundamentally broken and currency being pretty much a joke, DAOs stand as the one bastion of “Huh, maybe this could actually work”. By decentralizing corporations you create a chance to seamlessly facilitate freelance work, much more than what currently stands. This post details some of the ways it’s already being done.
Elon Musk: Person of the Year - To start out this particularly profile-heavy issue of the recommended reading list, we have Time’s profile on Elon Musk. I’m not a particularly huge fan of Elon, but I am intrigued by what he represents. The popularity of Mr. Musk seems to be an indicator of an overall paradigm shift in who we see as a leader or innovator. Gone are the stuffy, formal suits and in are the media prancing, often psychotic rebels. I’m not saying one is inherently better than the other, but I am saying that there is change brewing.
Keanu Reeves knows the Secrets of the Universe - Perhaps no celebrity has gone in and out of the public conscience as much as Keanu Reeves. As he enters his newest renaissance, we have this great Esquire profile to read. The prose is a bit too far on the “flowery” side, but it’s well-written enough that I’m not too worried about it.
The Pain and Passion that Fuel The Rock - I don’t know too much about Dwayne Johnson, but I feel like this profile really helped paint the picture of him. He definitely seems like that guy who was an officer in the club you were a part of in college, but overall I have a pretty good impression of him now.
How Shein Beat Amazon at its Own Game - Despite what this title seems to imply, this actually leans more towards a hit-piece on Shein. Described as the kings of the bootleg, Shein made a fortune by piecing together the works of other fashion creators and selling them at an astronomically low price. This article details their rise.