# Culture C(l)ash: Alpha Groups vs Bera Culture Jani finks @_eileenchen & @bm2c_ are geniuses and brave to buck da trend in this NFT fomo meta. Wot we are witnessing is da emergence of a new standard and alternative to da entitled and demanding and often extractive meta so dominant in nft culture Let jani explain. ## What is success? ### To alfa groups To alfa groups success is getting into a mint which is hard to get into and in many cases fipping for hopefully a quick profit. Many (not all) of these alfa groups have a service which is paid. Their members pay them to find opportunities and in some cases use tools like bots to ensure a mint if the wl is secured. This is the ebay sniper bot model in which ur trying to get that rare drop of sneaker which u hope will moon. This is NFTs (and the underlying cultures / communities) as commodities. Jani has spoken to more den 100 of these groups and not a single one of them runs any onchain data analysis to be able to demonstrate wot happens wen their members get the nfts. And yet they are very quick to tell you 'we will bring your project value'. We've done some intial analysis and it seems to indiciate there is a high degree of this flipping behavior which we assume a non-negligible source is these groups. Success here is simply defined as 'getting our (often paid) members the nft. What happens after? Not my problem. What chain? Doesn't matter. Project plans? Doesn't matter. What matters is fomo and demand around mint time. What matters is getting into something that others can't. What matters is the potential of a quick flip. The cost to the projects culture and community is an externality and not my problem. For the most part this model is extractive. * nuance here is the _some_ beeple using these services DO hodl. Some ARE community members. But IJO this is the minority. ### To bera projects 1. raise funds to build 2. seed a community Jani wood argue that acheiving (1) at da cost of (2) is a poison chalice. Presuming ur planning to build for the long term it is (2) that is setting the atmosphere u build in. Beeple are less likely to wanna hang around a zone which is dead / evacuated or wear beeple are not conviction aligned. Now bera projects have responsibility here. if u way overfill FCFS round or whatever and drive FOMO dynamics and den end up with a bad vibe den ur wl design choices influence dis. Jani's opinion here is that your collection size should be only as big as ur genuine supporters can sustain. IJO Success is raising as much funding as ur true believooors will back u wif. A mint out is not necessarily a success if if comes at da cost of nurturing da kernel of ur culture and community. ## Curating Community > Cash Grab It's ironic that @bm2c_ a project which advertised itself as a 'cash grab' has put on a master class in curated community establishment and forgo the opportunity to overload the mint, drive fomo, mint out etc based on manipulated fomo @_eileenchen & da rest of the team spent 14 hours a day for a month+ to connect wif beeple and see wot their motivations were, why they wanted to get gtd wl, etc. They said no to most beeple. Minting for 16 BERA the FP is now above MP and the supply is sufficient for the early supporters to play around and demonstrate their conviction. It'l be fascinating to watch We now see those who were SO EAGER for gtd wl, having an opp to get in on public mint and instead choosing to 'dance on the grave of a dead project' But as we like to say - that which is dead may never die. ## BONUS To celebrate this new way of doing fings and emergent new meta and standard Jani would like to offer gtd WL to both @oogaboogaberas and @miberamaker333 for each of the holders of @bm2c_ The chain has a bear on it and there is no shortage of ways to curate a better bera vibe which draws on da years of bera vibes which has come before it Sorry for ur loss and enjoy da Rug ------------ (& in before da wotaboutdisproject jani is long @The_HoneyCast who have been building a community for 2.5+ years and also @TheBullas_ who have built a stronk core but yes did overallocate FCFS IJO as they wanted to show token of appreciation to their partner communities etc - but we live and learn)

henlo chaos! we r changing da launch plan. but da master plan is in place. beras are cooking. ooga booga, and furthermore, henlo!