ChefSpin

Prepare yourselves as we explore the nuances of community management and the essential skills needed to navigate this challenging role. ChefSpin shares invaluable insights on empathy, patience, and managing expectations, drawing from his rich experience in this field. We'll also journey through the captivating world of collecting—from treasured Pokemon cards to vintage gaming consoles and high-quality watches. Expect engaging anecdotes about sneakers, crave-worthy snacks, and the nostalgic joy of modding a Game Boy Color. Plus, we delve into the appeal of transitioning from physical to digital collecting, highlighting why NFTs have captured our imaginations.

00:00 Friend from YouTube introduced me to web three.
07:27 Web three brings together diverse collectors community.
13:10 Reflecting on COVID led to pursuing change.
19:09 Having pride in collectibles, accessible for all.
22:06 Interest in expanding categories for potential spotlight.
28:13 Startup founder describes challenges in pioneering industry.
35:37 Empathy, understanding, patience are crucial in support roles.
40:23 Simplify NFT shipping and promotion for mass appeal.
46:45 Positive feedback on brand awareness and deployment.
50:26 I have concept for vending machine giveaway.
53:03 Enthusiastic about modding Game Boy colors.
01:01:08 Connected to grandpa's Hamilton watch, exploring quality.
01:04:07 36mm watch, controversy over size preference.
01:10:40 Focus on developing robust sneaker verification system.
01:16:13 Favorite snack: crunchy, tasty sesame sticks.
01:20:23 Leave a comment on favorite Pokemon, subscribe.

Music & Sounds By: Lakey Inspired
___
CastOff/Episode Discussion, here.

Want more content? Subscribe to my newsletter, 0773H Weekly
___

Transcript

0:00

And, yeah, I feel like I had that same. I have that same problem where it's like, I have very limited space in here and I have everything. I've, like, got, like, created, like, video games. I collect way too much stuff. So I think part of, like, part of the appeal to me of Corey daughter is like, I could keep my. Keep stacking up the Pokemon slabs and my wife won't find out, you know? GMGM. Welcome back to another episode of behind the screen with Gramajo, the podcast where we unravel stories, insights, secrets of top tier artists, avid collectors, innovative builders shaping the digital frontier, better known as web three. I'm your host, Gramajo, an avid crypto enthusiast that's been in the space since 2012 and joined the NFT space in 2021, bought some NFTs, never left this week's episode. Really happy to finally had a chance to sit down with chef spin, aka Jake not from State Farm. If you're from Europe or from not the US, look up Jake's State farm commercial, and that would all make sense to you. Pretty hilarious skit, but, yeah. Jake works for Courtyard. Courtyard is trying to, you know, bring digital assets or physical assets into the digital world via Pokemon cards and other collectibles as well. Really happy that I got to sit down with Jake. We spoke about kind of the Pokemon collecting cards, collectibles, really everything under the sun, video games. We have a lot of similar interests. So this is really great episode for me. Had a lot of fun. Thanks again, Jake. Yeah. Hope you like it. It's up to you how much you want to dox yourself, but who is chef, and how'd you get started in web three? Yeah, yeah. So I guess I'll dox myself as much as I'm kind of, like, already doxxed. Yeah, exactly. Chef spin go by Jake, too. Like, my Twitter bio is Jake not from State Farm. So, you know, definitely put that out there. And, yeah, first of all, man, like, thanks for. Thanks for having me on. Like, you've been such a just, like, awesome person that I've been able to connect with in web three. So, yeah, I've seen you doing these interviews, and I'm glad we were able to finally make it happen. But, yeah, like, as far as how I got into web three, I guess kind of goes back to me having a lot of that collector DNA. Always been a collector since. Since childhood. Right. Like, starting with Legos. I was, like, really into collecting legos at one point. Moved on to Pokemon cards when I got a little older, some sports cards like, these are my brothers. And that kind of just been that way my whole life now. Like, sneakers is definitely one of my main jams. Like, I kind of. I love how this screen is capturing me. It's just such a personality picture right here, honestly. Yeah, this is only, like, half of it. There's. There's some other boxes. So always being a collector and. And I guess 2020 and then 2017, I guess, is when I had my first, like, short, like, dabble with crypto, which is when a lot of people came in and, you know, it was just before, like, a really crazy run on, like, bitcoin and ethereum. So I first got. I bought a little bit then so got some exposure to that whole scene, but didn't. Nothing further than that. Like, I wish I could say I stuck around and minted some punks, minted some kitties. That would have been amazing, but kind of just got it and forgot about it until 2020 or early 2021 when I was still, you know, doing my collecting. Still collecting sneakers, Pokemon cards, some other random things. And my friend who I had worked with at YouTube, my friend Nico, he was the one who ended up. He left YouTube and to go found courtyard, and he was really the one who got me into web three because he basically needed someone to run social media, be a community manager. And we sat next to each other at YouTube, and he would always see me on Discord and Twitter because those were just my native apps or, sorry, xnow. But I would like, anytime that I had a break from work, I would, like, minimize my screen check on Discord for, like, you know, for my Pokemon chats, for my sneaker chats, and then Twitter for the same thing. And so he essentially asked me, like, do I want to maybe join what was becoming courtyard? And before I said yes, I obviously had to test the waters and see what web three and the NFT space was about. But I think when you have that collector DNA, you just kind of get hooked because it's such a similar psychological process of this collection comes out, try to get one. They're all sealed. Reveal. Hope you get a good trade. You know, either flex it or, like, you know, trade it or sell it. So I got hooked pretty quickly, and that was, like, my introduction to web three, and then just went, like, very deep down the rabbit hole, down into crypto Twitter, down into, like, you know, clubhouse, when that was a thing. And it's been such an awesome journey. Like, I wouldn't trade it for anything. Like the collectors I've been able to meet. Just builders I've been able to meet. So that's. Yeah, that's really where it got started. Nice, man. No, that's fantastic. The serendipity of the world, right? That the person that sat near you or next to you would go on to start courtyard. Exactly. Yeah. We bonded over collecting. Like, he really likes watches. I got him into sneakers. Like, I had him going crazy, like, you know, chasing, like, you know, the latest, like, Jordan releases and stuff like that. He just has, like, a similar collector bug. So it worked out perfectly. Yeah, it's kind of funny. Like, so I got into crypto and, well, so I've been in crypto since 2012, but I got into collecting, like, NFTs and all that in 2021, so I got to start a little bit later. But it's funny, I found a community on discord and, like, the Venn diagrams of everyone collecting. Like, I'm into japanese venom, like, knives, pokemon, sneakers, watches. Like, so you start, like, putting it all together, and it's like. And then you have nfts, and it's like, all of us were into that. And it's like, you know, like you said, it's like collecting as a whole. Like, you get that bug and it's. Yeah, you'll collect anything. Damn pennies. I'll collect anything at this point. Exactly. And that, I think, is, like, one of the coolest things in web three to me, is, like, yes, it brought together a group of people who are bullish on the potential of all of this technology, but so many of them got interested in it because of some collecting DNA. So just over time, you start to see everyone around you also collects physical stuff, like, everyone around you who was, like, rocking the same PFB as you in the same community had this almost, like, other life that wasn't talked about for a long time because it was all about digital. It's all about, let's just collect digital. But it's crazy to me, like, the number of people who appreciate the other types of physical collecting, too. And I feel like, yeah, yeah, you and I have a lot of, like, overlaps that I've seen just from, like, your posts on, like, on X and Farcaster about, like, things that we find cool, everything from, like, you know, game boys and stuff like that to even, like, yeah, even denim, like, I'm interested in. So, like, yeah, there's a lot of cool overlap there. Yeah, man. It's. At some stage, I just basically decided I can't get into every syllable type of collecting, and there's only so much physical space I can, like, I have as well. So that's where nfts really, I, like, I went just absolutely balls deep because it's like, I don't have to worry about the storage on it. And now I'm coming up on the other side now. And I'm like, I was like, all right, well, I need to go back to collect. There's still things that I'm collecting physically, so I'm more selective of what I collect physically now, which is great. And it's making me more even digitally now as well. You know, I think it just took time to, like, get over that honeymoon phase. And, I mean, a bear market will also do that to you. So now, now I feel like I'm in a better place. Like, you know, I'm like, all right, you know, I like this project or things that I missed before. I'll pick them up regardless of if, you know, if they're popping or not, for sure. And then. Same with, you know, Pokemon cards, too. Like, I. I've been in and out of it. So, like, I started when I was younger, I was collecting Pokemon cards like crazy. And then I think most people had this where, like, in high school, you kind of stepped back a little bit from it, and then I came back into it once I had more disposable income. So it's just been like, you know, it's been a part of my. My life, but, yeah, it's like, a part of your identity, which is. Which is. Yeah, and, yeah, it's crazy. Like, the staying power that, like, pokemon has had in, you know, 20 plus years and, yeah, I feel like I had that same. I have that same problem where it's, like, I have very limited space in here, and I have everything. I've, like, got, like, created, like, video games. I collect way too much stuff. So I think part of, like, part of the appeal to me of corey daughter is like, yeah, I could keep my. Keep stacking up the Pokemon slabs and my wife won't find out, you know? Yeah. Yes. Don't say anything. Let's see. So I want to talk to you about a little bit on. So how big is the courtyard team right now, like, personnel? I think we're about, like, 13 or 15, something like that. Okay. We're at that point where I can't just, like, instantly, like, count everyone in my head. Oh, yeah, no worries. Yeah. So, like, let's just say under 20 or 15. So talk to me a little bit about. So, obviously, YouTube's a. You know, I think even within the behemoth of Alphabet or Google. It's, you know, I think from my, from me talking to my friends that work at YouTube, it's kind of like the place to be. Obviously, Google search engine is kind of like the, you know, the, the big money maker or whatever. But in terms of fun, fun stuff from what I've heard is the YouTube team is treated really well. So what was that thought process behind, you know, you, like, kind of walk me through that thought process of like, okay, I'm at YouTube. You got all the perks. You got it. You know, you got, I don't know what you were doing there, but, like, you know, you're doing something and then, and then it's like, hey, do you want to jump into, you know, a two person, one person, three man shop? Yeah, just talk me through that a little bit, because that must be tough. That's a great question and one that a lot of people would look at. You crazy if you told them how it went down. Yeah. So I spent about seven or eight years total at Google. Started out working in ads originally. So selling Google Ads and helping small to medium sized businesses grow. But what I really wanted to do when I was there was music, because in addition to collecting and everything, big guitar player, loved music, have a long history with music. So music was always something. I thought, like, I want to be in tech, but I love music. So let me figure that out. So that's what led me to YouTube, where I worked on an operations team that worked with artists and music labels. And I really enjoyed doing that. I got to do that for probably, like, you know, five of the years that I was there. So every day, like, you know, getting to listen to cool new releases, and it was great. Like, you know, as your friend said, it was very, like, very laden with perks. It was a very cushy environment. So why, why in the world would you ever leave that, right? And I think what, uh, what did it for me was like, you know, having, uh, really, uh, had the time to, like, you know, experience that world fully. And when Covid happened and kind of think everyone went through a period during COVID where you're just kind of, like, evaluating what path you want to be on. Are you, you satisfied with the work you're doing? And so having that, you know, we were all locked down, so I had a ton of time to reflect and keep in mind, that's where I was starting to get wind. Like, the founder of Courtyard, Nico, who I worked with, had already left by this point, was already planting the seeds of courtyard already whispering stuff about web three in my ear trying to get me interested. So it was kind of this perfect storm run thinking like what's the next thing? And then all of a sudden getting really interested in nfts, in web three. So that's really what it comes down to. I was looking for a change and I saw like opportunity to do something with collectibles, which, you know, again, like I won't even say it because all the info you need is right here. Like I, at my core, I'm someone who just loves to collect physical stuff. So, you know, when I, when I saw that this could be like, could basically change the game for the way that people collect, you know, the stuff that I love, I was really interested. So that's kind of how it happened, thankfully. Like, you know, it's, I think a lot of people on our team who joined right at the start had to have that awkward phone call like, you know, maybe with like a family member or a friend where it's like, hey, you know, I'm leaving YouTube. We're going to go sell like 1000 Pokemon cards Baltimore and like see if this works. And, you know, I'm thankful that everyone who I told was like pretty supportive and I went for it. Yeah, well I'm glad you guys went for it, man. Overall, all of you guys, because I personally really like your product a lot. You know, I think I mentioned this before in the newsletter or I don't even know where, but you know, like I was listening, I think I was listening to a podcast. I forget what it was saying, but it was kind of like the gist is almost saying, you know, a lot of these products, a lot of great products, you know, you don't have to like come up with the next revolutionary product. You don't have to come up with the next like, you know, bitcoin or ethereum. Like it's more like the side product or project for some other main competitor. So in this example I'm thinking like eBay, you know, like Pokemon trading and selling is like just, it's not their main business. I'm sure it contributes to a lot of their business, but you know, they sell a bunch of other stuff and it's like niching it down. So for you guys, it's like you guys are all focused, like hyper focused on like, you know, collectible cards and putting them in brinks and just refining that process. So the user experience and the buying and all that is just like absolutely top notch, which ebay is not going to build the database that you guys are building with all the features and the web three aspect of it, and it's just going to be a better user experience for us. And I think you guys will have success in that space. I mean, it makes sense why you went into that space. I'm happy you guys did do what you guys are doing because I'm a big fan of your guys. Yeah, man, that means a lot. Thank you. Yeah, we definitely. I think we went from feeling like we should just do every collectible under the sun right off the bat to really wanting to understand how to improve, like, one specific category, which in our case was great at cards. And I think slowly, like, you'll start to see some other, other stuff branch out. But we cared a lot about getting to understand what collectors of cards really want. And a lot of that has to do with, obviously, being able to trade super seamlessly, being able to organize their collection in a way they're proud of digitally. EBay, it's great for a certain purpose, but you're not going to send someone yourself, your eBay account, and be like, you know, this is my collection. These are the cars I'm super proud of. And I think there's. We know how passionate collectors are and there's definitely a world where, you know, they deserve, like, a platform that caters to what they really want. And I don't think that's, that's happened yet. And we. I think this web three unlocks something really new that we can bring to the space. The ability to have everything in your collection be fully visible, even if you don't want to list it. We're still at the infancy of what different web three marketplaces will look like. But the ability to list on all of them at once and trade it seamlessly. So I think, like, it's. It's a good time to, for someone to be trying to. To build this kind of, like, new home for collectors. Yeah, no, I'm right there with you on that. I fully, fully agreed on that. You know, like, well, I'm sure you have, like, the little tin thing or the plastic container from target, you know, to store your etbs. Like, I have, you know, the container store. I have, like, their shoe boxes that are clear so the shoes are visible. Like, I'm not even that good. Like, you know, what you see here is the quality of my storage. So that's. That's why I'm. Yeah, yeah, no, but, like, you're right. Like, you guys are bringing a level of, like, you know, a presentation you know, like, we was, you know, a lot of us do care about presentation. It has nothing to do with, like, we're gonna sell it. It's just like, you know, it's just nice to look at. Yeah, it's like the, the classic problem of, like, you know, if you have a Rolex and you're. You're super proud of it, or let's say you have a big watch collection, you're super proud of that collection. But, like, the only people who get to see that are people interact with on a daily basis who come to your house, something like that. That circle gets, I think, even smaller for Pokemon cards because it's not like you're walking around with your Pokemon card on your wrist every day. And there are some, you know, people have a lot of, like, pride when it comes to their collections. They spend time, like, curating it, and, and I don't think there's anything out there yet. Hopefully, that's how people see us in a way. But the ability to basically showcase it in a way that's always discoverable to anyone who's curious, and all the while knowing that you're a button click away from getting that thing back in your hands if should you need that for whatever reason. And that's ultimately, like, where I think we want to take things even more. So just takes time. But the seeds are. Oh, of course. Yeah, yeah, this all takes time. So, yeah, I'm not going to hold you guys to having it done before anytime soon. You know, we're still in a bear market, so it's just great to see you guys kind of build that foundation and then continue and then, you know, the product, the product is going to look so different in, like, you know, three or four years, three to four months. It's crazy. Like, things move so fast, but, yeah. Agreed. Agreed. Yeah. I'm trying to move away from thinking of things in, like, three or four mining increments, but I know the space does move super fast. I know you alluded a little bit to this, so I did want to kind of talk about it. So. And I, of course, you don't have to. Everything you're saying here is not like a binding contractual thing or anything, but one piece has really been taking off. Is that something that you guys are looking at? I know you guys have, let's say, yu gi oh. I've seen some of the yu Gi oh cards in your guys marketplace, but obviously I forget what it's under. It's miscellaneous or other. Are there ideas or conversations around peeling it off to become its own. So it's more robust, essentially. Like the one piece or the yukio. Yeah, we're going through some, like, redesigns of the marketplace now. So in one of the latest iterations, if you go there and you click on marketplace, it's a lot easier to filter by category. So there used to be, like, when you would go, there's something like, probably close to, like, 20,000 cards at this point. Like, maybe more a lot. So when you would go to the marketplace, it would be kind of, you'd have, like, three different categories for one piece because there's already been a few sets. So now it's a lot more streamlined. If someone goes and they go to the marketplace and they filter by category, there's just one. One piece category, they'll see everything, which is really nice. And I think that's a first step to eventually, like, spotlighting it some more. I think right now, the only cards that get, like, a specific tile for their category, like Pokemon, baseball, are the ones that have enough cards in there that it would be like, you know, someone would click on it and feel like they have a good selection. I mean, you asked about one piece. Like, I'm curious about one piece, personally. Like, I enjoyed the live action. Like, I watched some of the anime, but I think there's, like, a thousand episodes, so I doubt I'll ever be able to go through all them. I don't know, you know, if we will do anything right now, but we do already have some other categories that are going to be launching, so I wouldn't be surprised if eventually we get to that. Yeah, we teased already some sports that are going to be coming to. We are obviously already sports cards in the marketplace, but we haven't done anything with sports in terms of, like, a vending machine. We did one football drop, which kind of stands on its own. So I don't feel like we could say we fully got into sports for that one drop. But, yeah, we're definitely getting into, like, some more variation of the different categories we do with jobs and vending machine. That's awesome to hear, man. Yeah, sports is a good one. I'm not really, like, a ton into sports. The only sport that I've, like, doubt thought about kind of, like, dabbling into is, like, Formula one, mostly because I got into, like, back in 2018, 2019, I got into Formula one. There's some nice cards. There's some really nice cards. Yeah. So I've been thinking about getting some Formula one cards, and I'm, like, somewhat familiar with it. But then other cards, you know, like baseball, basketball, like, I know, like, some of the players and stuff, but I don't feel confident enough with, like, you know, what to buy as opposed to with Formula one. I feel like I've done enough research where I feel more comfortable what I need to do. And then with Pokemon, for sure, like, I know I have, like, a list of a thousand cards that I, like, want to acquire at some point and then some, like, filtered even as, like, priority ones or whatever, like, out of those thousand. So I feel definitely more comfortable with. You took your operations mindset and applied card club. Yeah, yeah. It's funny. I've had. I've seen some people have seen it. I could actually show you. It's on notion. So people always, like, are like, what the hell? I really think that, like, figuring out what you want to go after is, like, half the fun of collecting. Like, sure, it's fun to just, like, browse and then see something you think is cool. Buy it. I'm guilty of that, too. Like, I mean, I do that, but, like, when you really, like, sit down and, like, plan out, like, here's my hit list. Here's what, like, my perfect collection would look like. So, yeah, definitely, I want to see this. Yeah. So I got it by the name, the grade that I'm after, the price, the population and ten and the priorities, and then that's. And stuff like that. Yeah, I ended up building, like, a little same with boxes, too. So, like, I have booster boxes, man, so organized resources. Yeah, yeah, I took that operations perspective. It just went at it. That's kind of. Yeah, I tend to do that a lot, but I had so much. I had so many, like, ideas or thoughts of things that I wanted from. From Pokemon specifically that I was like, I need to just start writing this stuff down because it's, you know, I had a massive, like, apple notes thing that it was just getting massive. And, like, I was like, okay, I just need to put this into a relational database because this is getting out of here. I saw. So Sabrina's gengar is at the top. Yeah, yeah, that's actually one I'm after. I'm pretty. I'm pretty. I'm chasing. Is that the band one or. Yeah, yeah, there's a banned one. Yep. Yeah, it's not too bad. I think it's like, what's the price that I last referenced it at? Yeah, four grand. Not too bad. I once had a, I think, like a PSA. Seven or eight in that one. But I traded it for something else. Yeah. That's the great thing about web three. You could trade them. Exactly. Yeah. It did all happen on coy guard. It was, it was a munch. Psyduck. So the munch series. All the cars to look like the screen painting. Yeah, no, definitely. Let's see. I did want to, before I kind of jump into some other stuff as well, was I wanted to ask you. So you're the community manager, right? That's like your. Yeah, yeah. Like, you know, we were talking about before the call, like, definitely a lot of hats. Community manager at the time I joined was like de facto title for anyone touching, like, Discord and Twitter. But these days it's like, yeah, there's a lot of, like, video editing involved, just a lot of stuff on, like, the operations side. But I mean, that's still how I see myself at the core. Like, I'm the first person that anyone in the community, you know, would come to for questions, responsible for keeping everyone updated, getting to know people in the community and understand what they want. So still, I still think it's like a fitting title for what I mostly care about. Yeah, I was going to ask you. So two things that kind of I wanted to get at was like, what's probably, like, the toughest thing that you have to do in this role? You know, obviously, like, community manager is vague or you have a lot of latitude, especially a startup. But like, what, what's, what would you say is probably the most difficult thing that you have to usually work with? Yeah, I mean, I think that the toughest moments are, are, I would, I guess I'll reference, like, so when we were doing jobs, like a lot of jobs, and, you know, some of them are, we're just, you know, super in demand, like some great cards that everyone wanted. And, you know, when you're, when you're a startup and you're, you're pioneering, like, this new, like, drop mechanic who's bound to be, first of all, like, people who, you know, don't get something or, you know, just like the system, it doesn't work exactly the way they expected. Like, bugs are inevitable in most, uh, most tech. Um, so some of the toughest moments that I can remember being like, drop days where a lot of people didn't get what they wanted. Like, something went wrong and you're just, like, feeling the heat of, like, the passion of the community at that moment where, you know, they're generally, like, everyone means well, but like, when, you know, viscerally, like, you feel like something didn't go. Right. I feel like web three is. There's, there's no barrier. It's like if Nike drops a shoe and everyone misses out, like, people are going to complain, but Nike's probably not going to really feel it right where it's, like, the barrier between us and our community is almost non existent. Like, I'm right there in the trenches every day with everyone. So sometimes the tough moments are when I'm hearing that the people that I see in the community are frustrated for one reason or another. I really feel, like, the mood and, like, the attitude and the enthusiasm or whatever, like, the emotions of the community are, like, you know, I take that, like, very, like, personally, like, being someone who's, like, always, always with the community. So, yeah, I don't know if that's a great answer, but that's, like, roughly, like, the toughest part, I would say, of that role. No, that's a fantastic answer, and I appreciate that honesty. I mean, you know, I totally get that 100%. You know, I definitely would have been on, on some of the bugs, you know, but bugs, like you said, it's like, par for the course, I would say, you know, especially with some of the stuff that you guys are doing. So you guys were doing, like, checkout with, you know, apple pay or, you know, credit cards and not just crypto, you know, there's a lot of, a lot of that back end stuff is still being kind of ironed out. So, yeah, you know, it is kind of messed up that they're kind of directing it at you. You are, like, the most front facing person. So it's probably a little bit misplaced, but I think you guys do a great job at, like, you know, like, the randomization. I know some people have come up into the discord saying, like, hey, like, the team, like, I think you've made it very clear, like, the team does not participate on drops, which is great. So people don't feel like it's not like the old school Nike drop and then the foot locker employees got, like, homies in the back and, you know, none of that stuff, which I think is kind of nice. Then I think you guys have also said, like, you guys are using chain link, I believe, like an oracle, and that takes care of kind of the randomization. Um, yeah. So, yeah, you know, I'm sorry. That's like, uh, that you've gone the brunt of that. You know, I think it comes with the, with the territory a little bit. But, you know, I think people, for the most part, like you said, I think most people mean well, and, yeah, you know, it's. It's slightly. It's frustrating, but, I mean, the same thing happens in real life when you open up, you know, a pack. You know, like, I recently had a. Pulled the charizard. Like, a really rare charizard, and then I sent it for grading, and then they sent it back as an eight, and I was fucking pissed, dude. What set was that from? Is it shining fates? Okay. The english one. I know. And I was like, I thought it was, like, a nine. I honestly thought it was, like, a nine, not a ten. You know, I think everybody thinks it's a ten. I was like, I already know there's politics there a little bit, but I thought it was, like, a nine at a minimum, but they sent me an eight, and I was like, you, my little. Are you tempted to crack it and go with someone else or re grade it? Yeah, I'm thinking about that. I'm thinking about I'm gonna probably crack. It open and might end up with someone who had, like, a slightly better morning. You never know. Yeah, right, exactly. So thanks again for sharing kind of that feedback. I was gonna say, in your opinion, how would someone go about getting a job as a community manager? You know, um, obviously, for you, it helped that you were connected with. With the founder through. In real life. But, like, let's say you were starting out, like, you know, from scratch. What do you. What do you think would be some ways to. To get that kind of role? Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I. I look at. Like, I look at people, like, other community managers or people kind of with that role in a space that I respect, like, um, a couple, I guess this is almost outside the space. We're, like, on Rally Road, which is the fractionalized platform. Will Stern. Well, sorry, he's not even there anymore. He's at collect media now. But while he was at rally, he was very much the face of the company on Twitter and their account, and I think and say, like, top shot had, like, a Pac rip ewing for a while. And, like, both of those people I look at, and they're. They're just, like, every day, like, plugged into the community. Like, they're on crypto Twitter, just really, like, living and breathing the culture. And I think that to get into this realm of community management, that is, like, the first and most important style, like, you have to understand the community and be part of the community. And then, of course, the more brass tax part of it have to be able to manage a discord and keep that discord safe because we've had our share of attempted attacks and spammers. That gets stressful. You don't want people to get scammed or for there to be bad links posted. So. So that kind of comes with the territory. But I would say, like, yeah, most important thing is just have to, if you have to be an active, like, contributing member of, like, whatever community it is that you want to get that type of role in. So when it comes to anything in web three, that's like crypto, Twitter, Farcaster a lot, too, right now. You know, if you're applying and, like, you've only ever made, like, one post from your account, you could probably get there. You probably just dive in headfirst and do it. But I think that's the best way to really get your feet wet and have the chops for that kind of role and then more of the soft skills. But I think you need a ton of empathy and understanding and patience to be in that type of role because we talked about you're going to have people coming out who are frustrated for whatever reason or questions, reasonable or unreasonable, and everyone needs to be heard. Everyone needs to be, like, responded to because, like, you know, you're responsible for, like, representing the company, like, making sure that people's voices are heard. So we have a whole, like, you know, process for, like, when we get feedback. Like, you know, I make sure that's, that's surfaced to the team, whether or not, like, we're able to. Like that. I'm going to go on a tangent, but that that's something I think is, like, always kind of funny. Like, you know, a feature request, like, comes in from someone and it's just like, why can't we, like, wave a magic wand and make this happen? Like, you know, so many examples. But, you know, the reality is, like, you're a scrappy startup. You're a small team. Like, you want to do things right. You have a pretty much, if you're, if you're like, you know, ambitious, you have, like, a laundry list of priorities of things that you want to get done, many of which people will probably never even see or realize because it's all happening on the back end. There are all these, like, minor improvements just to make things better and more sustainable. So I always find it funny. It's like, no, that's gonna, I love that idea, but that's gonna take some time, you know, like, it's not gonna be tomorrow. So, yeah, I think, like, that, that's also really part of it. Like, the soft skills, like, and empathy. Empathy. Empathy. Like, if you're a community manager, like, I know he wasn't a community manager, but, like, poopy and doodles. I have a lot of friends who are doodles. Love doodles, but I think he got a lot of heat for saying, floor it and get the fuck out. Yeah. That kind of thing. That's going to turn the community off. The empathy is key to, like, not letting that stuff get to you, but. But different situation. I'm sure. I'm sure. Like, I'm sure poopy has a lot of empathy under normal circumstances. Yeah, yeah, no, I'm right there with you. I. I support systems and I get the craziest enhancement requests and, you know, I got, like, a Jira board I got to manage, and I'm like, oh, man, like this. What you're asking for is, like, essentially a new project. I'm like, it's not even, like, enhancing. Like, you're asking me for a completely different product at this stage, but so I know where you're coming from on that one. So. Yeah, no, I appreciate the comments on that, you know, because in case anyone ever wants to become a community manager or anything like that similar role, then, you know, it's good to hear from someone that's already in it. Yeah. Another thing I wanted to ask you was, so you mentioned it a little bit earlier, which is, like, in courtyard getting its own individual tile. And I know that there's, like, 20,000 cards, but as you know, there's like a million cards out there. Are there, like, any active plans or campaigns to get more cards put into essentially vaulted with you guys? So, like, to get people to send over their yu gi oh cards or their one piece cards or, you know, all these baseball cards or MLS cards or whatever, you know, like, is there. How do you guys go about that, essentially? How do you. How do you go about getting people, instead of sending them to eBay or wherever it is that they're sending them to, all XYz or whatever, you know, how do they think. Okay, let me send it to courtyard and stuff. Yeah, yeah. I mean, in terms of the market share of just pure graded cards out there, we're still majorly tip of the iceberg. I think part of the way you do that is just when someone comes onto the platform for the first time, how do you guide them? What do you draw their attention to? For people who are coming to courtyard for the first time and creating an account, there is an onboarding flow. So it's like, hey, I'm new here, just creating an account. There are a few touch points where it's like we can kind of educate them on what they can do as far as vaulting, and they get some reminders and some gentle nudges about maybe it's time, maybe you want to try sending that card in. Obviously, I think one of the biggest parts that easiest friction is that it's super easy. You don't have to. We provide the prepaid insured shipping label. So literally all they have to do is tell us what they're sending in in the most basic way possible, like how many cards, what's the value, package it up with the label and drop it off at USP's. So I think that's the key part of it, is once we tell someone how it works, there's no other real hoops I have to jump through, nothing else. They have to pay, they can ship. But yeah, I mean, it's all about eyeballs. It's like, who's paying attention? Our home has been crypto Twitter historically, and we've grown a lot, like went from 1000 follower account for a long time to then once we launched our own marketplace instead of just being on Opensea and all of that now, like thirty K and hopefully to the next 6100, whatever it is. But historically, we've just been focused on crypto Twitter. And I think when we were in the honeymoon phase of NFTs, thinking, like, what was the phrase? Like, onboard the masses, right? Like, that was going to happen so soon. Like, everyone was just going to come to us. So all we had to do was stay put, wait for, like, everyone to realize that, like, web three is the future. Get a metamask, get a ledger, and like, just come to us, like, and obviously, like, it was the other way around. Like, we still very much have to go the other direction. Hide all the web three wires, get people to understand the value of using our web three based platforms, even if they're not realizing it's web three. So more recently, a lot of attention on places like Instagram, TikTok, which hopefully it's still around in a month. I don't know what it's doing with the band, but a lot more attention there, a lot more discussions with partners who are more web two players, because I think it's very hard to break through in the world of cards. There's so much in terms of scams. There are mystery box scams. There's just fake card scams. There's the eBay buyers who report a card is scratch all this random B's. And it's just, unfortunately, a space that has made people really wary with who they deal with, save for, like, some major players. So I think it takes time to establish that trust. But once you do break through, I think that's the real game changer, because if you're vetted in a way by the other major players, that creates a really strong five wheel of more and more people coming through. So a lot of the works on that front. But then, of course, I don't think we'll ever, like, lose the roots of what made us, which is, like, the crypto space. That's why more recently, we've dipped into Farcaster, which I've been having a ton of fun on. We just launched our vending machine as a farcaster frame, which was really cool, like, the first iteration of what we can do on Farcaster. And hopefully everyone watching this has used Farcaster, but if not, it's super cool. Um, I would say, like, decentralized x alternative, uh, where everyone is just, like, having the time of their lives right now. So we're. We're checking out. Let's take a quick break. I hope you're enjoying this episode. This episode was made possible to support of my premium subscribers. Seattle dog mag vinyls, ko og lucres, Johan Young weekend. Thanks again for your support on all this. If you'd like to receive exclusive drops, access to token gated item, or just in general, be a kind person that wants to help me out in this endeavor, make sure to subscribe to my hypersub. I'll put his link down below. All right, let's get back to the episode. Yeah, there's still people that are not on forecaster, which is mind boggling to me because I'm having an absolute blast on crypto right now because of it. And the frame is. It's honestly one of my favorite. It's like, one of my favorite frames I have, like, as you saw, I have an operations mine. So I started building, like, a table, another notion table, basically, of my favorite frames and my favorite cast actions as well. And this vending machine is definitely. It's up there, man. It gives me. It actually feels like a vending machine. So I know you guys had the vending machine before on your website, you know, but like, just that, I mean, you know how it is. It's like a little bit of friction, and people are like, nah, I'm good. Like, clicking on this link and going to courtyard the actual website to go participate in the vending machine, it was just, you know, a boundary too far or something. You know, it was just a barrier too far for them. So with this, with it being powered on a frame now is just. I love it. Amazing. It's like the, the best way to think for, if you don't know it, it's like the mint page is, like, right in your feed. It's like scrolling Twitter and being, instead of, like, liking something, like, you just press the mint button right then and there. And, yeah, there's. There's so much cool stuff being built on frames. I think, like, this is definitely, like, version one of the vending machine frame, but super cool to have it out there. Perfect timing. With far con this past week. I know we had, we had a couple people at Farcon who we're definitely, like, telling people about it, so. Really worked out. Yeah, I'll be talking. I don't know if you know, but I'll be talking to Joe sometime soon as well. And I'm going to talk. I'm going to dive deep on, on the frame because I have some other, some other questions on that. It's an awesome deployment, though. Like, I think that my favorite thing, that has been. My favorite thing that's been happening in the last couple weeks. So, for example, like, super rare, yesterday announced, um, you know, you can now tip prayer and. Yeah. And I've just been loving, like, other web three companies finding ways to leverage farcaster in their own kind of unique ways. Um, and I would say you guys, like, I love that you guys did that. You know, I love that you guys kind of saw the frames and the capabilities, and we're like, let's power. Let's power it. Like, let's power up the vending machine inside of a frame. Like, that's just. I think it's awesome. It's, like, one of the best deployments I've seen of you guys embracing what's, what's going on in this space right now, and, you know, making that awareness of your brand, you know, because even if, you know, web three is so big and crypto so big that, you know, you can be in the space and not have no idea who courtyard is as a whole, but the fact that you're like, and you can buy Pokemon cards with Djen, like, you just opened up your potential buyer. I mean, I got a bunch of people that had never heard of you guys. I did a farhouse spaces or room on Wednesday, and, yeah, there were some people in there. They were like, someone asked me, they're like, what's your favorite frame from the past week or two? And I was like, yo, vending machine courtyard. And someone was like, I have no idea what the hell you just said. And I sent them the blank, and then they were like, holy crap. Like, I've just been your cast where you were like, I need to not spend all my djen to buy Pokemon cards. They literally were like, didn't get something they didn't like. They're like, I'm going to do it again. And they just, like, did it for, like, ten minutes. I love it. Yeah, I mean, that's. We, we've all been, like, you know, getting our DJN airdrops. It's like, if you got some extra, like, Pokemon, like, why not? And it's so cool. I love the ability to mint whatever it is, more po app based stuff or art quickly. But I think there's going to be so much more variety. So now to be able to have the power of pressing a button and then instantly owning a physical card, I think is super cool. But you hit on a really great point about web three being obviously a very big space, very fractured. Not everyone is spending time in the same places. And that, I think, was, like, a big motivation behind vending machine. And I guess, like, super quick aside, like, for, for anyone who doesn't know what vending machine is, literally, it's a digital machine, and you could get physical cards from it. So random, randomly gives you a physical created Pokemon card, faulty brinks. And you see, like, the odds. You see, like, the heavy hitters that you could pull. So very similar to experience. If you've ever been to Japan, they have tons of Pokemon vending machines. You go put in the money, you might get the card. They advertise, you might get different one. It could be anything. And then we have the instant buyback. So if someone does, and that's creating a lot of that flywheel, it's like, if someone doesn't like their pool, sell it for 70% fair market value, go again, take the money or whatever they want to do. But vending machines, it's like, I feel like they're kind of becoming cool again. And what I really like, what I think is powerful about vending machines, is that they're everywhere. It's like when you were a kid, it didn't matter. Like, if you went to the movies, like, there's a cool vending machine there for whatever it is. Like toys. They have the little Easter egg things. Supermarket, same deal. So it's like, wherever you go, you're going to, like, it's just there. It's, like, waiting for you. And we kind of have a similar mentality about the vending machine in web three. It's like, it doesn't just have to be on the corridor at homepage. The beauty of web three is that we could build this application in any number of different places. So, Farcaster, great example of the first vending machine expansion, but there are a ton of other places where it could pop up, and that's. That's potentially some alpha, uh. I have ideas on it, man. I would personally, I mean, you don't have to listen to me. You can completely ignore me, but, like, uh, I would personally love to get that vending machine concept and do it for, like, giveaways, you know? So, like, for me, as a creator, I would love to. I have my own Pokemon cards on courtyard as well, and I would love to, like, load up a vending, my own vending machine, like, quote unquotes, and then be like, have at it, you know, like, and here are the odds of, like, you pulling one of my favorite cards or something like that. I love. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I've even thought about buying an in real life vending machine before just to load up my. I have a high school that's, like, near me, and I was like, man, I was like, I could just fill it up with some of these Pokemon packs. I have some pretty rare Pokemon packs, and I'm like, you know, I'll put some evolving skies in there and charge appropriately, you know? You know, passive income. Exactly. Let's see. I do. I am going to jump in a little bit into kind of some of the retro gaming. Oh, yeah. Some of the watches and the shoes as well. But before I kind of get into there, I got two quick hitters. They're not going to be quick, though, knowing us. What Pokemon game did you get started with and which one's your favorite? Which Pokemon, what game? I got started with Pokemon blue. And your favorite one. I mean, I feel like, like, granted, like, I haven't played it since that era. Yeah. So, I mean, I'm about to, like, you know, my, my. When I have time. Like, I. This has been, like, one of my dream, not, like, a huge undertaking, but to mod my game Boy color. So I'm going to get back to, like, actually, like, reliving what that was like. But I would have to say blue just because, like, that's, that's what I remember playing the most. And then, you know, like, I'm. I appreciate, like, all generations of Pokemon, but, like, I'm like a gen one, baby. Like, you know, that's the 151. Like, that's who I know. Yeah. So I'm gonna say. And, like, I always liked the underdog. So, like, I feel like everyone was, like, all, like, crazy about, like, red and, like, charizard, but, like, I was feeling. Feeling blue in blastoise. Yeah, I'm team blue as well. I had red as well, just so I could complete it when I was younger. And I'm actually playing blue right now as well. I think you saw that I finished modding the Game Boy sp that I have. Yeah, we could talk about modding it. It's super fun, man. I even have a person that you could just send it to them and they'll do it for you. Which is also nice, too, because I'm like, as much as I want to, like, mod things all the time, I'm like, ah, you know, I have a kid work and all, you know, a bunch of other house stuff that I'm like, I'll just pay someone $100 to mod it for me the way I. Want, and they'll probably solder everything, right? And, like, some. Yeah, exactly. Exactly. So I'm like, yeah, I have a Game Boy advance that I'm like, I want to do that for. Because I, you know, the. The long Game Boys. That one. Yeah, I love that one. Yeah, blues blue's a jam. I. I have gone and played back, like, platinum, black, xy and a bunch of other ones. Those are all really good, actually, but, yeah, there's something about blue. Yeah, yeah, no, that's the game I grew up with, too. I put, like, I don't even know an obscene amount of time onto that game. So it's just such a shame we didn't grow up with, like, nfts already being mainstream because imagine, like, all of your accomplishments in that game, like, living on chain, like, you know, right now. Like, God forbid something happens to that cartridge, right? Like, yeah, that. That's why I have this right here. This. This little device. You can back up all your saves for all the old games. You got all the bases figured out. This is what Game Boy looks like when you are an adult. Yeah, it's super cheap. But I was like, oh, yeah, man. I was like, I'm going to save all my progress on this thing. But, yeah, I agree. There is a company that does retro achieve. It's called, literally, retro achievements. And that's a solid idea. Retro achievements. But on chain, someone. Someone on base get on that. All right, so which one is your favorite? What's your favorite starter? Any generation starter? Squirtle. Yeah, because. Yeah, squirtle. Just like, I'm a water type fan. Squirtle is, like, the feature of, like, one of my all time favorite cards, which is the fire red leaf green kind of nirvana esque card. Where. But the nevermind Nirvana cover, you know, I collect. I'm not, like, a competitive player, so I collect cards that, like, mean something that I love that, like, the artwork I find really cool. And that's one that I was just, like, blown away when I saw there was a Pokemon card modeled after the Nirvana album cover, which is a band that I love. Yeah, that's awesome, man. I love that they've been doing stuff like that, too. Pokemon knows what they're doing. Yeah, I'm team squirtle as well. I mean, really, you can't go wrong with any of those first three starters. Charizard, Venusaur, Venus are. Yeah, they're all good, man. All those three. We were so insane. We were both blue. Both squirtle. Like, yeah, yeah, no, I'm team squirtle, man. It was. Cause war turtle was the best evolution. Like, the mid. The mid middle evolution was the best one, without a doubt. Total boss. Yeah, total boss. All right, so jumping into some of this other stuff, and I know you gotta hop off soon. So I saw that you recently picked up some retro games, specifically cruising world, which is for sure one of my favorites here. I know, it's so good, dude, you know, what is your favorite retro game? Barring Pokemon, that's definitely one of them. Countless hours playing that game. Me and my brothers have two older brothers, and we just, like, it was trying to remember, like, basically, like, every time you played it, you had, like, the more levels you played. Like, you would unlock, like, new, like, paint jobs for your cars. And we were all, like, we were young, but, like, we all thought cars were super cool. We had, like, our model cars. So having that game and then, like, getting to, like, get to the point where we had, like, these tricked out cars, uh, we all loved, obviously. Um, n 64 is a Mario, another favorite. And then I would say the favorite of, like, the Xbox generation was definitely halo, the original. Been looking for a steel copy of that. That is pricey. Um, unless you get, like, a russian version or something. Uh, but, yeah, it's that look, it's funny. Like, you know, you might think you have, like, unique taste in video games until you see the. The secondary margate of, like, all of your favorite games. It's like, well, clearly, like, everyone else wants that too. So I guess I just liked the popular stuff. Yeah. What about you? What were your favorites? Definitely Pokemon. Put a lot of time into that. Zelda. So, like, ocarina of time, I put. I definitely put a lot of time into that majority's mask. I'm like you, I guess I'm basic metal slug. I really enjoyed that game a lot. I'm actually going to go pick that up at some point pretty soon. Advance warfare. That was on the Game Boy advance. That one was pretty dope. A lot of side scrollers. So, like, Samus. So Mario. Yeah, nothing. Nothing too crazy. There was Smash bros. Just speaking. Yeah, super Smash bros. Yeah. Yeah. I think Halo for sure brings a lot of. I had a lot of good memories on Halo. Definitely remember the chat rooms or, like, the voice rooms. Those were a blast. Even call of duty. Like, modern warfare. Like, that one was pretty good too, for me. Um, I still played a lot of games then around that timeframe. Um, and then it, you know, times it's gotten. It's gotten scarce since, you know, like, it gets tougher the older you get. So I would say modern. Uh, the last game I really, like, went deep into, like, super deep into was, um, destiny. Okay, which is like, you know, like the halo, but it's by bungie or whatever, like, that whole crew, that game. I put a thousand hours into that game easily. I was Sherpa ing people that should not be in those weekly challenges, for sure. So that's the last game I think I went really into. Oh, and then recently, breath of the wild from on the switch. It's great when you find a game, you could just get lost in such a good escape. Such a great feeling, man. It's. It's awesome. All right, so you. I know you've been exploring watches as well. Yeah. What's going on, man? You. You in the market? I'm like, I'm not a huge watch guy. Like, I've always been super interested in, but, like, never pulled the trigger on, like, buying, like, a super serious watch. I've collected, like, random ones. Like, here's, like, a Hamilton that I wear, like, a very super basic, like, entry level. I love Hamilton, man. It's great. I got this one because my grandpa had a Hamilton watch, probably from the thirties or forties. That doesn't work. But I just was like, oh, wow, he had one such a crazy heritage around this brand, and they're still doing great stuff today. So I have that one. I have a couple other micro brands, but, like, recently have been, like, really diving into, like, what does it mean to, like, go to that next level where you're buying, like, a super, like, quality watch? Like, so, yeah, went to, like, had my. Heard so much about, like, what it's like to go to an authorized dealer and the whole, like, process around that making you wait. Kind of, like, feeling you out when you're there. Right? Because these dealers are trying to be like, oh, is this guy going to flip? Like, do I trust him? It's such a personalized game of, like, it's not. It's not. Just, like, I have the money. Give me the watch. It's like this whole, like, we got a date first. Got to make sure we like each other. So interesting. So when, like, tried on a few things which really, like, I know. I think you. You told me about Tudor. Yeah, I have a tutor. Like, amazing, like, stuff they have. Like, I really didn't know about them then, like, heard that, like, the. One of the original founders of Rolex founded Tudor. They also have, like, a crazy heritage and have some, like, beautiful pieces. Like, I saw their, like, 2024 lineup, so I. You know, I'm still having, like, made any decisions. Just been, like, trying out a bunch, trying to learn, trying to, like, talk to people who know about that world. Um, but, yeah, it's. It's super fascinating to me. Like, I'm in a position where I'm going for, like, entry level. Nice watch. But, like, to know, like, what some of the ones that I think are really cool end up going for. Um. It's just wild. Like, you know, we're. We're. We're talking, like, a different league than pokemon cards. Um, but, yeah, but there. It's serious craftsmanship, and people pay premium for that. Yeah, no, I agreed, man. I think people don't realize it's funny because, you know, you'll say entry level, and it's, like, still five grand, seven grand, eight grand, even if entry level. And then it's like, okay, serious entry level. Yeah, yeah. And people are like, what? How much? And I'm like, yeah, but you don't know. I was like, watch games. Nuts, dude. Yeah, yeah. Like, even two doors, I think, you know, people say they're like, you know, mid. Mid entry level tier, depending which one you get. And I don't know, even. Those are, like, six, five, six, seven k, and even the entry level Rolex, you know, like, the Explorer. I really like that one, actually. But it's still like, ten grand, you know, it's not that. That entry level, I'd say. And that's. That's an interesting one because, like, it comes in 36 mm, which is, like, real, like, by today's standards, like, a pretty small watch for men is the only size that came in for, like, a really long time, like, 40 years. And only recently have they made, like, a bigger, like, 40 millimeter version. But, like, I feel like there's some contention. It's, like, the purists will say, like, it shouldn't be a 40 millimeter. So if you're looking at their watch, it's like, damn. Like, I don't want to. Like, I don't want to piss off the purists, you know? Like, but how do you like your tutor? Like, how long have you had it for? A couple years now. I love it. I got the bronze version, so it patinas. Some people don't like the patina. I love it the way no patina will look the same to someone else's patina. Some character. Yeah, it's got some character. It's got beat up a little bit. I wear my stuff personally. I don't baby it. Right now, I'm wearing. This is, like. So, I mean, I have, like, cheaper watches or whatever you want to call, but this is, like, a japanese 5600 g shock, black on black screen. So it's, like, a limited edition. It's super nice. I like it. So I usually travel with this one super because I don't have to charge it. It gets solar powered. It's a good travel watch, and I don't really have to worry about it getting jacked either. So that's, like, another thing I'm like, eh, you know, nice. What micro brands do you have? Like, do you have, like. No, I have. It's called brew beat. B r e w. I don't know too much about them other than, like, it's somehow, like, espresso inspired in the heritage because, like, most of their watches have on the dial, you'll see, like, I think it's, like, a 15 or 32nd kind of, like, highlighted where it's, like, meant to help people time. Like, manual or shots. Yeah, manual pours. Yeah. I love that. That's awesome, actually. I love that. Yeah, they definitely have some really cool stuff. Like, pretty affordable for, like, someone new to the watch world. Heard about them originally, like, from some watch collectors, like, who I met through courtyard. So that's, you know, have that. And then I have a watch that belonged to my dad, which is, like, the most sentimental watch. And it's a Wittenauer, which is like, not a brand most people know. I think it's like owned by Bulova now or Boba. However you say it doesn't even work. I recently, like, reached out to the company to try and get, like, replacement batteries because it's a super specific type of battery. You can't just go like cv's and get. But that, to me, like, you know, with any collectible, like, if it has, like, sentimental value and meaning to you like that, that moves it to the top of the pile. So that's. That's my number one right now. Yeah. Everything has to be, you know, PSA ten, first edition charizard. Like, well, we can, we can, we can have different things, different flavors that we like. I know someone recently was asking like, you know, should I buy only PSA ten s for, like, vintage cards? And I'm like, yeah, if you could afford it. If not, like, you know, like, not everything needs to be that level. Like, you could just get a. I think, like, eight's even a sweet spot. Like, they, they look so pristine at eight. Like, I couldn't even tell you the difference between eight, nine and a ten half the time, depending. Yeah, unless it's something super plainly obvious. But sometimes I've seen some eights that look better than tens and tens that look like they're nines or eights. So buy the card, not the grade. That's exactly it. Just to throw on another cliche. It's like, I'm all for that pristine ten collection where there's no nine in sight. But I also love the well thought out collection where it's a great rainbow of everything you could think of, but just cards that someone really loved and has a lot of meaning to them. So there's no wrong way to collect. Like just about what. Yeah, I have a dark. I have a dark magician that's like a five or six, but it's a dark magician I had that I played with. And, you know, people would be like, well, that's dumb. Why do you have a PSa five? You know, dark magician, first edition Yu Gi. Oh, and I'm like, because it's the. One I play that we can't, like, get, like, you know, have like PSA or CGC add in the label, like, you know, child. Original owner. Original owner. Yeah, exactly. Original owner. The providence on that one is, I'm the original person that played with it. Let's see. So a couple, like, I know we're going to wrap up pretty soon, but I know you recently got the Jumpman Jack trainers. Congrats on getting those jealous. What exactly is going on with sneaks? Oh, sneaks. Yeah. So, so sneaks was like the courtyard equivalent just for sneakers, and not much is going on right now. Like, we, we did that drop kind of like an experiment after cars. Like, see where that went. Didn't get the same, like, reception that I think we saw with cards. I think, like, especially, like, the whole, like, drop format didn't work as well for sneakers. So it's, I believe, like, the people who originally, like, minted, you know, there's some of them that still haven't redeemed it. Those are still at the brinksfall and the sneak site is still there. Allows them to, like, you know, do control like, the NFTs as they want. Would have loved it if sneakers caught on. Like, I was waiting to send all my stuff in, but I think it's something that, like, if we do, like, revisit it will probably be in the future, probably under the courtyard umbrella. There were just a lot of things with that experiment that were working against it. I think that was right around the start of the really brutal bear market coming right off the summer of 2022. I think. So, yeah, we gave it a go, went to some sneaker cons, which was super fun. There are definitely people who are excited about it, but cars is like the, you know, the thing that's working the best right now. Yeah, no, agreed. Yeah. And, you know, obviously spreading yourself thin and all that, you know, definitely focus where the attention is. Yeah, I know you were mentioning a little bit. You know, what do you think part of it played with, like, the fact that, like, we don't really have as a robust of a system, not you guys in general, but, like, just the market as a whole. We don't have, like, a really robust sneaker verification grading system as opposed to with cards. You know, like, you know, we have PSA, we have CGC, we have SGC, we have, like, you know, we have a bunch. There's like, marketplaces, like, everything is more mature as opposed to, like, with the sneaker market. Like, you know, we have Stockx that's about, you know, Stockx and eBay and, like, and going to your farmers market and. Or down the street and, like, opening it up and being like, hey, I got some sneakers. Yeah. Yeah, no, I think that's, that's part of it. Like, there, there's. I think that's part of it. And I think also sneakers, it's like, you're never gonna wear, like, your pokemon card. Like, you have it. It's in your collection, but, like, you don't have to think about it. It's just like, I know that this is air sneakers. It's, like, a little bit different. It's like you start to get more of your, you know, the utility of it comes out. It's like, maybe I want to wear them and, like. And I think, like, it's just more of, like, a. So much more variety out there. So much more like, it. Unique kind of tastes that think to have. Yeah. They just don't trade the same way that Pokemon cards do. They're liquid, but probably not as liquid, I don't think. Yeah, that's true. Not going to stop. I love them. This is, I would say, 90% personal collection that I know. Like, I'm just waiting for the right time to wear 10% pairs that I'm, like, scared to wear that. Like, you know, maybe I'll let go one day just keeping it on ice, but I collect what I have. New balance. I have, like, Solomon a lot. Mostly new balance. A bunch of jordans up there. So. Yeah, SBS, man. I've been on the sp, rather. Yeah, it's crazy. It's still going, like, came back and, like. Yeah. With a. With a vengeance. Yeah. Yeah. Last question, I'd say. Well, I got two more questions, but last one. What is your favorite pair of sneakers that's come out kind of recently? Come out recently how? Like, the last couple years or. Yeah, let's say the last two years. I think it's. I'll go with two. I'll go with one because I can't choose. I'm just like, I don't have that in me. I would say one is when supreme and Nike did the dunk. The dunk high with Rimmel Z, which is, like, crazy artist, and it just has this. I'm gonna make things fall if I try to get it from that stack. But basically has, like, a really cool, like, unique artwork pattern all over the sneaker. Very reminiscent of, like, the Paris dunks, which were, like, one of the first sbs that go for, like, 100k plus now, like, insane, insane sneaker. So I love that. Love that. They kind of remind me of the Paris stones, and then for some reason, I'm not, like, I'm not on the job site, but I love Carhartt, and so new balance, and Carhartt did a pair together, and that's probably, like, my second favorite new balance. I know new balance has been killing it recently, man. Yeah. Carhartt, too. Like the Carhartt work in progress ones. Those are. I was in Japan a few months ago, and I felt like I was making, like, a pilgrimage for the Carhartt, like, work in progress store super quickly. Like, awesome stuff there. So, yeah, I don't know what it is about Carhartt. Just love the Hamilton Brown. Yeah, I feel that. Yeah, I went to the one in Spain and Italy last year, and those are nice stores. Yeah, yeah, I love those stores. All right, and then to wrap up, what is your favorite snack? I love the curveball. Yeah. So just say that's the context, you know? So when I initially got started with. With the newsletter a long time ago, I called it pinchos, which is like, a tapa snack kind of thing. Like bar snack food. Quick kind of thing. Yeah, quick bite. And it was like, that was kind of the. You know, I thought I was being clever. I was like, I like, you know, it's like quick bites of web three. Like, you know, because, like, my whole thing is, like, trying to have the newsletter be no longer the ten minutes long for the weekly stuff. And so I was like, ah, quick bite, web three. And I was like, ah, pintoshos. Realized, you know, nobody knows what the hell that is. You know, I was just being too clever and all that. So I used to ask people when I would interview them, like, what is your favorite snack? So that is the long. The long standing question that I asked. Yeah, I say favorite snack might be. It's kind of a random one, but this, like, I feel like this isn't, like, like I would normally say, like, reese's, but I feel like that's, like, more dessert, but thing that I could just snack on, like, have a bowl of and be, like, really happy. Sesame sticks. Yeah, you could get them, like, you know, like, the bulk food, like, where you just, like, pull down the lever and a bunch of, like, peanuts come out. A lot of supermarkets have them that way, but, yeah, they're just, like, super tasty, um, crunchy things, and I love the flavor. They're great on everything. Like, put them on, like, salads a lot of time. Really, like, gives it some nice texture, but I just thought I could eat, like, a bowl of them and be. Happy, so I never had that. I'm gonna have to go find that. Yeah, give it a shot. You know, every. Everyone has a unique palate, but I love them. They're. They're good. I love sesame, so I could only imagine, like, a crunchy thing of sesame and like you said, I would probably throw it into his palate. Well, I'm looking forward to the post where you give me credit for your new snack. That's awesome, man. Yeah, I think that's all I got on my end. Unless you have any questions. Well, I guess. Let me ask you. What's your favorite snack? I kind of go back and forth, but I'm going to say PB and J's. I don't know if it counts as a snack. Like you said. That's fair. Especially an uncrustable or something. Grab and go. Like, yeah, yeah. I like, like, a really good PB and J. Something about it, man. It's any. I know everyone has, like, different methods for, like, when they put it together. Do you have, like, a secret, like, secret strategy or technique that optimizes, uh, the flavor and the integrity of it? Uh, mostly, uh. You're gonna think it's blasphemous, but I do jelly first because it's easier to clean the knife and then put the knife back into the peanut better. That's. I haven't thought of that, but that's super true. That's a good tip. Yes. It's just easier than, like, peanut butter. Cause if you went peanut butter first, then jelly. Peanut butter is a little harder to kind of clean off. And then the other thing is, I just don't. I go ham. I don't. I hate PB and J's that are, like, light on the. On the jelly and light on the peanut butter. Agree. If it's not. If some messy. Something's wrong. Yeah, no, my. Mine are messy. Like, it's using out the sides and stuff. Like. Yeah, like that. That's kind of my only thing. No secret is just don't. Don't skimp out on the. On the main ingredients. Good life advice. Right? Yeah. Yeah. Well, thanks again for your time, man. I appreciate it. All right, welcome back. Another great episode. Really enjoyed my conversation with Chef. He's definitely someone I get along with and someone I respect in the space. He's been great as a community manager in his role in courtyard and really enjoy kind of what courtyard is doing themselves. So definitely a great episode for me, this week's cast off. And cast off is a segment that I'm trying out where I want to hear from you, the audience. So this week's cast off episode question is, which Pokemon is your favorite starter? And for those not familiar, the starter Pokemons are the first three Pokemon that you're given a choice. The ogs being squirtle, Charmander and Bulbasaur. Obviously any generation is open up here for debate. I'll post this question on my forecaster channel 0773 h so hello, just elite speak. So check it out on Farcaster. Make sure you leave a comment there with which Pokemon is your favorite. And yeah, thanks again for tuning in. You've listened to the entire episode. I want to thank you, kind of from the bottom of my heart for making it this far. If you are listening to this episode on a platform that's not pods medium, make sure that you go there and collect this episode as a collectible. If you are on pods, make sure to subscribe to my podcast on your favorite app so you're notified whenever I drop new episodes. We hope that you've enjoyed this episode. If you have, please leave us a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify or wherever you listen to your podcast. Feel free to share this with anyone that might be interested in this topic or the guest. Also, feel free to reach out and let me know if you'd like any specific people or topics discussed in the future. You can get in touch with me via text. Sms rates apply. If you click on the link below, it will kind of open up your sms messenger and shoot away a message. Or you can reach out to me on social media. See you next time. See you close.