Almost a year ago, I launched an NFT project called Black Dave Token. Today, I want to reintroduce it to everyone. Whether you've already gotten a token, a handful, or are deep in the Black Dave Token ecosystem, this is for you.

Artist Funding...but with Audacity

The era of NFTs being enough has long passed. The dream of sustaining oneself with their art through the release of NFTs has ended for almost all of us. In all of my talent and illustriousness, I have also been effected by this. Having lived through a period of time where not only was I financially supported as an artist, but able to support others, it makes sense that I would continue to hunt for similar opportunities. There are still a lot of grant programs out there, artists are still chasing partnerships for their project, and many are traditionally chasing NFT sales. That doesn't feel like a full sentence, but I'm interested in finding newer and more interesting ways to support artists on their journey in a world where the value of music still isn't recognized, or paid into. I think Black Dave Token — 1,000,000 individual NFTs (it's technically 1 NFT) at a stable price — is a possibility in something new or interesting, but also can be seen as a bit audacious, pretentious or even egotistical. I hate moving like that, but web3, NFTs and crypto offer new opportunities, and I would be an idiot to not at least try. Gotta get my feelings out the way.

Anyway, let's talk about the token:

Black Dave Token

Black Dave Token is an NFT designed to support me, Black Dave, in creating and executing on ideas I have. The tagline "Your Money. My Ideas." is designed to convey the simplicity of the NFT in that there are no further expectations than me moving forward on ideas I have.

From a technical standpoint, it's an NFT with 1,000,000 copies that are on sale for 0.00025 ETH a piece. There's no limit to how many you can mint, and it is encouraged that you mint multiple, as a show of depth of belief/support.

What'd You Miss In Year 1?

Knowing that Black Dave Token would be something that would take a while to fully mint through, I knew that dropping everything in order to try to get completely through the mint would be a bad idea. I kept going with creating NFTs. I minted song after song after song after song after song. I created a video series called Yards, where I'm in my yard giving thoughts about different topics. Yards was created to bolster how everyone sees the depth and quality of the things I'm thinking about. I created the Black Dave Token Strategy Guide, a 12-page guide going in depth with all things to do with the token. I dropped a song via NOISEDAO as part of their High Frequency curated release program. A few members of the DAO hold Black Dave Token. I launched a social token called $KURO with the platform P00ls, which several team members are holders of the token. I've begun the process of working in earnest on my first major idea, taking a stab at the coding process with a bit of support from AI. Hopefully that bears fruit soon, so you guys can get an idea of the type of time I'm on with my ideas.

"I heard about the chat. What about the chat?"

I know you're thinking "so you're just gonna talk about yourself this whole time when we all have heard about the chat already?" and what I can say about the community we've managed to build via the Black Dave Token telegram chat is that it's really special and filled with people who are curious and passionate while talking about and building toward better solutions for creatives, especially musicians. It's an interesting mix of creatives, founders, builders, developers and investors who all share thoughts and opinions on the topic(s (there are days 3-4 topics are happening at once)) of the day. People have connected with others to build on ideas, work on projects, bridge connects, and more. People use words like "high signal" and "the only telegram chat I keep up with" or "the most interesting chat I'm in" to describe the telegram chat, but to me it's just an inadvertent community built as a result of the token. Serendipitous.

Why Black Dave Token?

Why Mint?

The thing that aligns the most with why I made the token is that you are a simply believer in what I'm doing and building and want to see it exist in the world. This reason for minting is rooted in not only a sense of patronage but a sense of wanting to see the ecosystem grow. There are a lot of capable people across all spectrums of work who never get a shot because of a lack of resources, and Black Dave Token is an opportunity to resource the under-resourced.

While I'm not super hyper OG to web3 and NFTs, I've been around for a few years, and over those years I've been able to onboard and provide support to hundreds if not thousands of people in that time. Looking at Black Dave Token as a tipping mechanism for that gang of DMs you sent or that phone call for a quick question that turned into an hour of talking about things or whatever is also a very acceptable reason to buy the token. I'll get a call at times like "I just bought some tokens, I have a question" or "I'm gonna buy some tokens right now" after we talk and I accept that, thank you!

Something I haven't been able to fully unlock but think will be a really important moment when it happens in earnest is that an organization, such as a DAO or investment group, buys in on a large chunk of the token. Artists and creators are looking for new methods of funding, and to buy 200,000 Black Dave Tokens (50 ETH) to put some things into a much more serious motion could be the type of thing that changes how we perceive these investments. Black Dave Token obviously doesn't give anything in return but you're trying to support me at that level, we can talk about it. I've been thinking a lot lately about how a lot of your favorite creators, especially streamers are already platform backed, and eventually will be moving into being venture backed, as it becomes more apparent these creators are able to create a larger brand than their primary activity. Black Dave Token has the possibility to be an experiment in that direction.

Learnings?

When it comes to learnings, I may be coming across the first year mark with more questions than answers, so I'll be throwing a bit of both out there for consideration.

The main thing I think I've learned during this process is that everyone has their own motivations for supporting you. I've been really (honestly overly) interested in being a creative who is supported primarily because of their music, but I've been able to come to terms with people wanting to support me for all sorts of reasons. There are people who like me as an individual, there are people who like the way and things I think, there are people who like my music, and there are people who just don't wanna miss the train. Also included are people who minted Black Dave Token to join the chat. They may know that someone they want to talk to is in there, or they may want to participate in the conversations we're having. Sometimes we want people to join the chat so we push them to get in it. Accepting that all of these things are fine and you can only control your own actions has definitely been reinforced in this period.

Another finding, one that I knew but has been reinforced in this period, is that money isn't the only thing of value. Not only is money not the only thing of value, but in many cases its the least valuable resource. While working on the things I've been doing, it's been the conversations I've had with people, Black Dave Token owners who believe in what I'm doing and want to support me, that have done the most for me. A recent example is that I got on a call with a developer who is also a Black Dave Token holder, and they were able to send me on my way with a strong foundation to begin my coding journey on. I haven't gotten to a meaningful point yet on my journey, but it's opened up my mind in ways I couldn't have figured out if I were just sitting with ChatGPT and some ETH resources.

Something else I've learned and come to terms with is that disagreements, discourse, conflict and arguments are all fine. I feel like they're actually important in an ecosystem where people are trying to change and create new systems. With this I think I forget how much things like pride and ego get in the way of progress, but I think even for people who aren't directly participating in these types of conflicts, there's something to be gained there. I've tried not to shut down this type of energy when it shows up in the Black Dave Token communities, and worry that we'll lose a layer of authenticity if I ever begin to.

Something else I'm coming up against (even that phrasing sounds negative) is how to continue to create something people want to continue minting. There are people who mint Black Dave Token who think that I'm more valuable in web3 than outside of it, so they mint to keep that dream alive. There are people who continuously get value from the chat, so they mint more tokens periodically, normally monthly, as a show of appreciation for that. The chat is technically only one token to enter. As I come into the next phase of Black Dave Token, I'm thinking a lot about this and while I'll be shifting some things I want to try to stick as close to the mission as possible and not add too much fluff or confusion.

On the "negative" front as well, I'm terrible at asking for help. I recognize my struggles but don't always recognize where or when I should be seeking out help, whether its counsel or something more direct to what I'm doing in that moment. This is something I know will be invaluable in the future, but as someone who always just wanted to make cool things, I always wanted the work to speak for itself and inspire folks, as opposed to ask for things. Working on/through it.

So...

I get to the end of posts, realized I typed a lot words, and wonder if I said anything. Right now is one of those times. Hopefully everything I've said so far inspires you to:

1. Mint Black Dave Token

2. Think about how to create your own token or other method of fundraising

3. Take these thoughts into your own project

4. Tell someone about Black Dave Token

I feel like web3 creates a world of infinite possibility, so I'm just taking my time and exploring it. Hopefully you feel inspired to do the same. Stay up!