I am beyond excited to announce that
@a16z
crypto is leading the financing of
@yugalabs
and I'm joining the board. We look forward to helping the team continue to usher the next wave of creators and builders into web3 to define the future of culture and innovation. LFG!
🦍🦍🦍
I’m super fired up to officially announce becoming a General Partner at
@a16z
. This firm is way more than a venture capital fund, it’s my extended family and has been the ecosystem where I’ve shaped my personal and professional career. 💼
gm! I'm very excited to announce that
@a16z
crypto is leading a $50M round in
@veefriends
. We look forward to helping the team fuel expansion plans for its creative, technical and experiential operations that support the growing Web3 community!
Episode_11 of “Punks As Told By CryptoPunks” is out now.
Join
@ChrisLyons
&
@CryptoGarga
as they dive into the intersection of culture and innovation in web3.
Created in partnership with
@cryptopunksnfts
.
WATCH:
8 yrs ago today we were thinking about strategic ways for Ye to release the first Yeezy shoe. Such a special day talking about the future of culture and innovation.
The sketches are from
@virgilabloh
🙏🏾✨
Protect our black owned businesses by any means. Black entrepreneurs work day in and out to pull us out of past conditions, and embody what Black excellence looks like in America. If you destroy their vision for making a better Black America, you destroy our hope for a future 🙏🏾
I'm excited to announce I'm officially joining Verizon Media's Global Advisory Board, led by Chairwoman, athlete, and entrepreneur
@serenawilliams
.
@verizonmedia
is the media and ad tech arm of
@verizon
, and includes iconic brands such as
@yahoo
,
@techcrunch
,
@aol
, and more.
I’m excited to announce our official close of CLF II! With the support of our LPs, portfolio companies, and our extended network, we will continue to develop a growing ecosystem that bridges culture and innovation through
@a16zclf
and
@a16z
🧑🏾💻👨🏾💻.
Today I’m proud to share the group of nonprofits that the Cultural Leadership Fund will be supporting. Please meet the incredible organizations that we’ll be working with, who are helping bring more African Americans into the world of technology.
Here are 12 incredible non-profit orgs backed by the Cultural Leadership Fund
@clfcapital
that are helping advance more young African Americans into tech. You can donate your $ and/or time to continue supporting their mission in developing our next generation of technologists👩🏾💻👨🏾💻
Reed Hastings, Netflix's co-founder, and his wife, Patty Quillin, donated $120 million to the United Negro College Fund, Spelman College and Morehouse College. It was the largest-ever individual gift for scholarships at historically black U.S. colleges.
The
@BoredApeYC
was a turning point for the NFT space, flipping historic power dynamics by providing a full commercial license without a royalty to all holders. This generated a creative explosion of community-directed IP, catapulting the BAYC deep in the cultural zeitgeist.
Community engagement is off the charts, and they’re building a stellar team of designers, engineers, and operators to help bring their grand vision to life—Disney 3.0
@bhorowitz
@eshugerman
@michael_jmoritz
you should be thankful Felicia doesn’t have the time today. But don’t get it twisted, WE DO. Shut the story down and go back to your sad little lives.
Music is one of the most collaborative art forms, but properly crediting artists for their contributions has been a longtime challenge. That’s why we’re excited to lead the seed round in
@arpeggi_labs
to advance music creation and publishing with web3. 🎧
This innovation led to the creation of communities like
@jenkinsthevalet
and entertainment brands like
@KygoMusic
and
@Timbaland
–brand new creative using Yuga Labs original art. Yuga is using web3 to turn “The Industry” upside down and put creatives on top.
The four visionary founders
@CryptoGarga
@GordonGoner
@TomatoBAYC
@SassBAYC
plus
@VStrangeYUGA
captured lightning in a bottle with BAYC ⚡️. We’re thrilled to invest in this brilliant team and their vision and help forge the next frontier of community-owned entertainment.
Yuga gave BAYC + MAYC (and now Punks / Meebit ) holders an unlimited, worldwide license to use, copy + monetize each NFT. IP rights paired with incentivized word-of-mouth distribution has made the BAYC community unstoppable.
Some big news to share today: Yuga has acquired the CryptoPunks and Meebits collections from
@LarvaLabs
, and the first thing we’re doing is giving full commercial rights to the NFT holders. Just like we did for BAYC and MAYC owners.
.
@garyvee
's commitment to supporting his community members’ personal growth has been evident throughout his career. He’s been at the cutting edge of community and entrepreneurship since the early days of social media and has now unlocked the next chapter through
@veefriends
.
Our first newsletter is live! 🎉We’ll amplify the voices of Black Builders, Shapers, and Collaborators from our
@clfcapital
Network and highlight tech & culture news, job listings, + more.
Read + subscribe now:
Something big is happening at the intersection of tech and entertainment - of SF and LA
From LA, you see celebs angel investing, and promoting tech
And SF startups are actively courting creators, both mainstream and digital native, as the anchors in their new social products
BAYC has quickly become a web3 culture, gaming, and entertainment empire. And with the addition of
@larvalabs
Punks and Meebits, a new economy and creative universe is forming within the Yuga Labs ecosystem.
Just know when the culture wins, we all win and I’m just here to keep the door open for the next generation of builders. Let’s keep rocking and thank you for the love & support.
"I DID IT WITHOUT AN ALBUM!" 💎💎💎
Betelhem Dessie is a tech genius taking “Sheba Valley”—Ethiopia’s Silicon Valley—by storm. At only 19-years-old, she is leading programs at iCog Labs, Ethiopia’s first artificial intelligence lab, and has several software programs patents to her name.
Nina Chanel Abney's selection as the inaugural artist in residence for
@cryptopunksnfts
@yugalabs
stands as a pivotal milestone in the ongoing intersection of culture and innovation within the ever-evolving crypto landscape.
@ninachanel
visionary embrace of blockchain technology
We are extremely excited to unite cultural and technology leaders to facilitate a better future for everyone. Special thank you to all of our limited partners involved,
@bhorowitz
@a16z
and everyone inspired to enter the field of technology through this initiative ✊🏾
Not only is
@veefriends
an exciting
#NFT
project, it also provides offline and in-person utility through curated experiences like
@VeeCon
, which brought over 7,000 NFT ticket holders together for a week of informative conversations on web3, live music, and networking.
The basic goals of the CLF are twofold:
1) Connect the greatest cultural leaders in the world to the best new technology companies.
2) Enable more young African Americans to enter the technology industry.
Next, 100% of the management fees and carry associated with the fund will be donated to a select number of non-profit organizations advancing African Americans into the technology industry.
Rasa raises $26M led by A16Z for its open source conversational AI platform – “We decided to bring on the CLF in this round in early May as we always felt strongly that diversity is a key part of our mission to empower all makers to build AI for everyone”
VeeFriends represents the ethos of entrepreneurship, and we’re humbled by the opportunity to support
@garyvee
and the
@veefriends
community on this journey. LFG!
None of the above should be taken as investment advice; please see for more information.
I didn’t come from your traditional tech background (shoutout
@sosodef
), but
@bhorowitz
believed in me 8 years ago and I wouldn’t be here without his ability to see my true potential. Hiz, thank you for being THE inspiration for my VC career and showing me the game of life. 🖤🤞🏾
At the foundation of
@veefriends
IP are meaningful attributes for humanity - such as tolerance, patience, and authenticity—displayed through simple, hand drawn cartoon characters, which have inspired a community of creatives, entrepreneurs, storytellers, and technologists.
My community stands on the shoulders of giants and I’m extremely grateful to continue representing for Black founders, executives, investors, and hustlers who believes technology is the key to unlocking generational freedom for their future family. Hussle and Motivate
#TMC
🏁
ApeFest Lisbon tickets can now be claimed by BAYC holders at with a $169 refundable deposit.
Mutants can begin claiming in 15 minutes.
For additional details regarding tickets and ApeFest, head to the FAQ:
The evolution of historical characters like Mickey Mouse, Hello Kitty, The Getalong Gang, Snorks, and Wuzzles has inspired
@garyvee
to bring the next generation of digital IP onto the blockchain, encouraging audiences of all ages trying to make their online aspirations a reality
The first book dedicated to archiving CryptoPunks is coming Fall 2023 published in partnership with
@zakgroup
. The book unveils untold stories of the collection by tapping the passionate community to contribute to the written record of Punks.
So why did we choose Flow for Doodles 2?
We’re able to create a frictionless on-chain app that lets mainstream fans customize their Doodle without limits.
a thread 🧵
Culture and innovation are moving together to create life changing opportunities for the next generation of creatives, and I’m excited to continue supporting the founders who have the courage to chase that dream through the
@a16zclf
🧑🏾💻👨🏾💻
Shoutout to
@MorganStanley
and
@carlaharris
for your support of my journey into tech and venture capital through
@a16zclf
. Check out our latest podcast discussing "Where Tech Meets Culture"
It was in this day in 1994 23 year old Marc Andreessen
@pmarca
founded a new company called Netscape.
In this rare video He predicted a simpler way to access information using a browser would bring just about everyone to the internet.
He was right...
In the spirit of Black History Month, the Cultural Leadership Fund and
@a16z
wanted to celebrate the first in class entrepreneurs who paved the way for our generation of leaders to believe anything is possible