coolSh*t E2: Forefront & Gogoro + Vivienne Westwood
A social token & DAO hub and the "Tesla of scooters" championing battery swapping
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Welcome to coolSh*t E2
I really do love crypto, so we will try to look at a crypto project each week - this week we will explore what is up at Forefront.
1. Forefront
Twitter: https://twitter.com/forefront__ | Website: https://forefront.market/
The home for social tokens and DAO’s
Social tokens and DAO’s are the genre of crypto that I can see becoming one of crypto’s more useful and tangible use cases if they become mainstream.
It looks like the crypto genre that many think will make the next big run, and Forefront is a community exclusively tracking and reporting its progress.
Social tokens and DAO’s?
Social tokens are digital tokens that represent ownership in communities. These communities can be centered around a public figure, brand, or movement, and could be a Decentralized Autonomous Organization.
Decentralized Autonomous Organizations, or DAO’s, are internet communities using blockchain tools to help them streamline decision-making and resource allocation towards their goals.
Together, they create new ways for communities to coordinate towards shared missions and for communities members to be incentivized to contribute1.
Collective interest tokens
To me, the most exciting thing about this space are the unlimited use cases for social tokens and DAO’s.
While NFT conversation gravitates towards art and De-Fi conversation naturally revolves towards financial assets, conversation for social tokens and DAO’s spans anything people are collectively interested in doing.
This can range from making Internet friends like Friends With Benefits to collecting culture pieces like Pleasr DAO, who bought the mythical Wu Tang album last week. Or even dreaming to collectively buy and own an NBA franchise, like Krause House!
Why should you care about Forefront?
This side of crypto is more raw and undeveloped than NFT’s and De-Fi. Whether social tokens and DAO’s work well in the long run we do not know yet, but their potential should pique your interest2.
Forefront is devoting themselves to be the hub of this crypto wild west with essays, reports, and verified profiles for social tokens and DAO’s - their Social Token Year in Review 2020 is the best read to get you up to date.
They are also publishing one of the top newsletters in crypto right now, covering more in crypto than just social tokens - subscribe here.
2. Gogoro
Twitter: https://twitter.com/WeAreGogoro | Website: https://www.gogoro.com/
A full disclaimer - I currently work at Gogoro. I joined because I am optimistic about our future and love the brand - am writing this on my own accord! 😂
“The Tesla of Scooters”
In most of the world, two-wheelers are still the preferred transportation device. They are cheaper than cars, take up less parking space, and can zip around a small family.
In 2015, Gogoro changed the two-wheeler landscape by unveiling an entirely electric powered model: the Series 1 Smartscooter. The Smartscooter wasn’t revolutionary just because it was electric - it was revolutionary because it utilized a network of batteries that could be swapped in and out for charging in seconds.
Being a pioneer in this space was close to impossible, and Gogoro chose to grow up on the perfect location to run its pilot, Taiwan. A decade after its founding and just a handful of years out of stealth, it now operates over 2,000 battery swapping stations.
Next on its horizon are expansions into China and India, and Gogoro’s plan is again different and revolutionary.
Battery swap solution as a service
China and India are huge juicy markets to tap into, but not easy ones. China consumers have gone electric for years, while the Indian market remains dominated by gas-powered scooters.
To take on these new markets, Gogoro is leveraging huge partnerships with local two-wheeler manufacturers. Gogoro will provide the key battery swapping technology to its partners, including battery connecting components and network management software, and the partners retain their freedom to design their own scooters.
Pictured above are the scooters created by Yadea, one of Gogoro’s new partners in China. This is cool because each partner’s brand gets to shine, and their vehicles benefit by getting directly plugged into the battery swapping network and ecosystem.
Why should you care about Gogoro?
Coming out of Taiwan, Gogoro doesn’t seem to get equal attention as startups founded elsewhere. However, the core technology, design/branding, and innovative business models are as top of the line for a hardware startup.
This is how I see it:
Not everyone in the world needs, or can afford, a car
Many people my generation and on will insist on going electric
Take that as you may - follow Gogoro before the rest of the world catches notice3.
bonus: Vivienne Westwood
Vivienne Westwood has been enjoying a renaissance due to a powerful combo of Tik Tok, anime (Nana), Instagram models, and a climate conscious designer in Ms. Westwood. A couple of months ago, I went into a Vivienne Westwood store for the first time with a friend and absolutely loved the vibe. It felt like I was walking into another world - I am here for this cool shit.
Cool NFT of the Week
Artist Blake Kathryn is famous for these ethereal location pieces. The one featured, Seasons, sold for 11 ETH ($45,693.78) as a 1-1 NFT on SuperRare. Find more of her stunning work on her Twitter.
That’s it for this week!
Next week we will check out crypto social media & 3D tools (unless I change my mind like last week).
Follow me on Twitter @samuelc1231 and message me cool shit 😇
Similar to compensating employees in stock shares, a DAO can create its own social token and hand it out to its members for their work growing the DAO. This is just one way social tokens and DAO’s can be used in tandem, but their synergies are why they are often mentioned together.
One of my bigger questions is how things will work long term if social interactions and communities are tied to monetary incentives - curious about how that will psychologically affects us if there is large scale adoption.
The US might soon, as Gogoro is planning to list on the NASDAQ in 2022.
I’m bullish on in-person social clubs that require social tokens being created in major hubs like NYC and London. Network, party, make friends, do work, etc.