a16z crypto's twitter account grew from 0 to 60k followers in less than a year

Here’s how @ishverduzco did it🧵

Ish recommends being helpful as it's the most sustainable strategy.

You can do that in 3 ways:

- inform people on a niche topic
- inspire people with what you're learning
- entertain people with what your'e doing, memes, etc

Ask yourself:

1/ what do you want to achieve - grow an audience? e.g. app downloads
2/ why is it important? e.g. we have are raising money soon
3/ when will you complete? e.g. by end of this month

Next identify your target audience and shares 7 questions to ask yourself.

You need to deeply understand who you are targeting and how they think.

How do you measure success?

Broadly, there are two ways: qualitative and quantitative.

Ish's suggestion is to spend more time on the QUALITATIVE. Especially inbound messages.

When tracking quantitative metrics, focus on:

top/bottom posts
engagement
conversions
followers
reach

When deciding what to post, here are 4 questions to ask. You need to write down your answers because you will examine them every week.

It's not good enough to answer these questions on your landing page. Repeat yourself in Spaces, short videos, threads and podcasts.

Four examples of successful content formatting from @bellosights @shield_xyz @formless_xyz and @davidvfurlong

Create content for the platform you're posting on; don't just copy paste across channels.

Use these content themes to generate content ideas each week:

Don't just create content for the sake of posting more content.

Quality is more important than Consistency and Quantity.

Quality can be measured in twitter's analytics page.

Engaging through replies, reposts and likes is very important. Don't miss out on the opportunity. Make it a habit to do it for 15 minutes every day while you have your coffee. This is how you build super fans.

You might wonder how to differentiate between your founder account and your brand account.

Brand account should be macro, consistent and focused on the company.

Founder account should be about your personal perspective and insights.

@yugalabs and @dwr do this well:

Ish shares a simple framework for growth hacks:

Increase engagement, which drives more reach, which increases your followers. Repeat.

Encourage shares and replies; here are some examples from the @a16zcrypto account. Reverse engineer questions that generate value.

Another simple hack: cross platform promotions.

E.g. take an email audience to your podcast.

7 tips for gaming the algorithm:

1/ avoid links
2/ engage regularly
3/ format for the platform
4/ use in-app tools
5/ optimize for engagement
6/ drive engagement early
7/ revive old posts

10 steps to grow on Crypto Twitter w/ an example from @richerd:

In summary, be helpful and focus. Don't try to be active everywhere; you will burn out. Pick your top 2 platforms. Add more value than you take.

Over the long term, you will grow your audience.

How to grow your web3 social presence

I visited the DMCC Crypto Centre last week - the same building where $40B+ worth of diamonds are traded every year

Their vision for crypto in Dubai is ambitious and inspiring

Zaher from @dmcccrypto kindly gave me a tour

We were joined by @superteamDAO members @XohebS and @allinbitcoin_,  co-founders of @FlashTrade_

They were among the first cohort of companies to incorporate and work out of @dmcccrypto

DMCC was originally a metals and commodities hub, with a focus on gold

Then they moved into diamonds, becoming the first Arab country to join the World Diamond Federation

@DMCCAuthority properties include JLT towers, which are a mix of commercial and residential real estate in Dubai

They're currently building the second tallest building in Dubai, where the crypto centre will move later this year

They've been all-in on crypto since 2021

The DMCC crypto centre is a dedicated space for crypto companies to build global businesses

Their vision is to make DMCC the largest crypto hub in the world, an all-in-one 'city within a city', where founders can live, work and play

The advantages of incorporating with DMCC:
- a network of professional services companies that know how solve crypto-specific challenges
- organic relationships with other crypto companies with operations in Dubai
-  clear crypto licensing rules and regulations

You can learn more on their website or join the next @superteamAE meetup

Their website: https://landing.dmcc.ae/cryptocentre

Exploring DMCC Crypto Centre's Ambitious Vision for Crypto in Dubai

I joined the Solana Ecosystem Call today, hosted by the legendary @kashdhanda at @superteamDAO

The @solana community was out in full force; more than 2k ppl registered

📝 sharing my notes

here's a preview of the agenda. the purpose of this call is to overcome the noise in crypto. it's a crazy place. one thing that stands out is the builders on Solana: the people creating real value for real people.

wins of the month (June) are in 3 categories

WIN #1 - @SquadsProtocol crossed $700m in total txn volume
WIN #2 - @phoenixtrade_ crossed $100m cumulative volume
WIN #3 - NFT Transaction had a 100% increase MoM
WIN #4 - @drip_haus launched the biggest pfp collection ever

WIN #5 - @elusivprivacy shipped to mainnet
WIN #6 - @ironforgecloud launched
WIN #7 - subdomains live on @bonfida
WIN #8 - @driftprotocol shipped super stake SOL

WIN #9 - @tensor_hq x @metaplex created a next gen NFT launchpad
WIN #10 - @heliuslabs made big improvements to solana RPCs
WIN #11 - @MonkeDAO pushed solana into #1 for NFT volumes

WIN #12 - solana NFT showdown concluded
WIN #13 - solana's first community-run game jam is on
WIN #14 - @_cubik QF pilot had 700 contributors
WIN #15 - @SuperteamDAO GDP crosses $2m GDP

quick plug: if you want early access to @ironforgecloud, then email technical-preview@ironforge.cloud and mention the ecosystem call!

the State of @Solana:
TVL  is up to 27M
non voting transactions up 3.9% MoM
320k unique stakers - showing the decentralization of the network

now a deep dive into the state of RWA w/ @wleatherman9 from @Parcl
RWA is a categorization of tokens that represent credit, loans, equity and other traditional financial assets
it has the potential to improve global economies - a multi trillion dollar opportunity

@parcl is a decentralized real estate trading platform. you can get investment exposure to entire cities. they collect sales and listings data to produce an index price for a city. it's very efficient and scalable.

they're starting in the US but soon expanding to Paris!

if you want a chance to win the $1000 breakpoint ticket, here's the instructions. tag @sloroftheslugs

next up is @rajgokal, co-founder of @solana. we're also joined by @balajis.  Raj is grateful for @kashdhanda's rizz and energy as host

Raj emphasizes that these difficult markets and moments are when we show our strengths.  Raj thinks we need to double down on
1/ creating content, sharing and challenging each other's ideas on social media

2/ focus on new product launches, get user feedback and iterate. he wants to see product hunt for Solana. and helping builders get to 1k users + their feedback

3/ staking to liquid SOL: MSOL, JITOSOL, SOLBLAZE. it's critical to stake it and secure the network. participating in DeFi is important because it's a foundational layer that benefits the rest of the ecosystem. the big idea

4/ replicate social graph on chain. use @saydialect. if you have a telegram group, convert it into dialect. find the incentives

we were supposed to talk about FUD busting by @0xMert_ from @heliuslabs but we got rugged. he didn't show up.

A request to show some love to @trankhac_vy for his amazing tutorials on @superteamVN

a surprise special guest - @balajis
he published the Network State about a year ago
Seen some traction: Zuzalu by @VitalikButerin for example
we believe that startup communities will be a bit part of this new narrative

now we're joined by Ariel from @Hivemapper for a shipping update
hivemapper is making a decentralized global map of the world that is fresher and better than google maps

you can buy a dashcam and contribute to the map yourself!

next up is @TheOnlyNom and Nano from @SolanaMBS

 gen3 has been in development for 9 months.

you can preview what they'll look like here -https://gen3rator.solanamonkey.business/

next up is Richard from @tensor_hq, the top NFT marketplace on Solana

they're working on an NFT collection: tensorians, which has features that are only possible on Solana (OPOS)

here's a handy summary of upcoming airdrops from
@marginfi, @cypher_protocol, @solblaze_org, @urFeedxyz, @tensor_hq

Work to earn opportunities from @SuperteamEarn

a reminder - if you need work done by the community, post a bounty

Highlights from the Solana Ecosystem Call (6 July 2023)

another episode of @_nightsweekends today

s03e14 -- how to talk about your idea w/ @FarzaTV

sharing my notes 📝

we've got @farzaTV with a GREEN light on today

next stream will be the last live session

this is the last one where he teaches us new stuff

today we're talking about

talking about your idea

it's easy to mess it up

he purposely waits until the end of talk about it

he didn't talk about it day 1 because we understand more in week 6

there's only 500-- 600 people left in @_nightsweekends

out of 4k (?) who started it

it's hard to stick through 6 weeks of updates

you'll get this question a lot - from partners, parents, friends

everyone will ask you

the answer matters a lot

if you answer it poorly you'll ruin the idea in the eyes of the other person

his parents always ask him what he's working on

if they don't get it they will think the idea is sh*t

it matters because it'll influence whether people take you seriously

or not

first, let's talk about demo

it's in 3.9 days

demo day is a time for you to celebrate the end

and meet others who made it this far

in s1 and s2, it was a spectator event

but it won't be like that in s3

demoday will have three components:
1/ live demo to your house via discord stages
2/ everyone records a concise demo video
3/ that video goes into a big newsletter

this newsletter is a big deal

150k people and all kinds of influential people

the problem with s1 and s2 was that people were sad when they only got a few likes

this one will be more fun and fair

everyone will demo live and via demo, no matter what you've got

if you don't do demo day, you're missing a big opportunity

you'll have excuses but you need to get out of your head

you have done enough

worst case you makes some friends

best case, one person sees it and it changes everything

here's an example from how @FarzaTV raised $2M after being discovered by @a16z

put yourself out there!

now more about pitching your idea

that's what you're doing. pitching. like shark tank

but at this stage you're not trying to sound like shark tank

this is not the direction you want to go.

delete whatever you think you know about sales and pitching

pitching, at its most basic, is telling people what you are doing

in plain language, for anyone you meet

and it's insanely valuable for everyone

you might think you don't need to pitch

but you are wrong

life is more fun with others

here's how Farza thinks about it.
3 goals:
1/ clarity on what you are making
2/ understanding how it works
3/ why it's exciting

Farza shares a story from Michael Seibel from @ycombinator

Farza, Alec and Evan were at 24h YC hackathon

the idea was a thing like replit, where people could code online

they stayed up for 24 hours building

they shipped the product and got 150 users via @reddit

they thought they were winning

but then it came time for judging

they met the judges 1:1

Michael was their judge

Farza had practiced the pitch for hours

but he f*cked it up and over complicated it

and Michael interrupted him and told him to just say what he's actually doing

you don't need to convince people that you have a good idea

don't be that guy at the party

the best way to pitch is to NOT PITCH AT ALL

just start a conversation

slide in red to burn your eyes 🔥 👀

start with the highest level idea - e.g. "I'm building a school for people making businesses"

then let the other person pull the information from you

don't brain dump on them. start simple.

here's a framework for how to talk about your ideas

@FarzaTV is pretty good at it. you're here because he can pitch

this is his framework

it works everywhere.
3 pieces to a 90s pitch:
1/ what
2/ demo / example
3/ progress

that is all people care about; no matter what you think90

90 seconds is enough to give the other person a primer

then they will pull info from you

now we're going the example - I'll do it for @themidorico

1 - what are you building?

@theshwetshow and I are working on MIDORI Sleep. We are making the comfiest bedsheets in the Middle East. Luxury comfort without the luxury price tag.

an example - we have a shopify page describing our first product. we're using this to gauge interest from customers. we also share this with suppliers to get samples

https://themidori.co/

for @themidorico: we've got 4 pre orders (vs 100 goal). those were all friends and family. we made our landing page and shared it with everyone we know. we'll deliver these by end of August 2023

you also want a script for the third section. what you tried and how far you've gotten

it's important to explain how you got the results that you have so far

for example, posting on reddit, asking friends, etc

here's an example of a great demo video

from Jeffrey talking about @_buildspace

it's fine if you don't go viral

people want to hear about the journey

HOW did you get the users, revenue, etc

if you're not confident in your speaking abilities,

remember that it's a skill that you can learn

use this demo video as an opportunity to practice

this will go out to 150k people, so you never know what can happen

the rest of the week:

thursday will be Farza reviewing demo day videos

that's the final session

your video is due on thursday

you have only 2 days

that is your registration to demo day

don't post is until the demo day starts

demo day is saturday morning PT; it'll be max 2 hours long

you will receive your ordering before that

the big final show is sunday at 1030am pt

your demo video will improve your chances to be part of that

so make a banger demo video

Talking About Your Idea with FarzaTV

another educational episode of @_buildspace @_nightsweekends

s03e13 -- copywriting 101 w/ @FarzaTV

sharing my notes 📝

we're in a bit of a dip in energy in week 4... it's tough!

farza's sharing a tweet from @kevvrites

we have 10 days until demo day

it's a celebration for everyone who makes it to the end

in previous seasons we've used gathertown

but this season it'll be different

the goal of demo is to get eyeballs on what we're all working on

more details about the $100k prize format:

imagine a game show + live demo. sounds exciting!

there will be audience participation when picking the winner

the 32 finalists for Sunday will be not just be based on leaderboard stats

it's based on momentum on socials, past updates and leaderboard rank

because the leaderboard only optimizes for high growth projects

just because something isn't growing fast doesn't mean it's a waste of time

leaderboard is still a great way to get their attention!

demo day is may 20
top32 is may 21
so keep both dates free

btw the leaderboard will get updated by the end of today

now moving on to today's topic - copywriting

start w/ a basic exercise.

we're updating our numbers for this week

using the same spreadsheet from previous weeks

and we're plugging the week 4 numbers into the figma file

https://www.figma.com/community/file/1232524723270542018

audience has many examples above zero - a good sign

it's amazing that the numbers are growing each week

it's beautiful to see!

it's also a powerful exercise

farza shares a good mental model:

inputs - what did you put in?
outputs - what did you get out?

examine both. if you are not happy, then iterate.

don't beat yourself up about what you did right/wrong.

just look at the inputs and outputs, without getting emotional

what is brand?

brand and copywriting are both very important.

first let's talk about brand

here's farza at 13 years old

with his youtube channel - and his brand

he wore bright colors, a bright beanie. that was his brand

today your brand is YOU

don't try to sound / be like other people

this is the old @_buildspace brand

it was just his personality because he was moving so fast

but from day one, copy was important

at the time, no one on the team was a designer

they didn't hire someone for design until a year ago

you're all starting somewhere

and there's nothing special to what they did

but they did focus on clear, concise communication

it was very easy to understand

and that's a lesson that @FarzaTV wants to pass on to the @_nightsweekends audience

talk to your audience like you would your friends

he was highly opinionated, just like irl

you all have the ability to write good copy

and the ability to go viral

Farza did (and still does) care about every single word

every tweet, email, copy in your product.

it is your brand

be yourself

a clear example of why this matters:

think about everything you decide to use, for example at a grocery store

if you're trying to pick from 20 types of beans and they all are the same price

how do you pick?

probably the one resonates with you. maybe it's got a nice logo

we decide to use or not things with emotions. it's not data driven

it matters to you because people are deciding whether or not to use your product

you're already doing it, so it's worth spending some time thinking about it

 here's a great example from Ray @BowTiedRay

he likes the indie hacker developer vibes

@FarzaTV instantly trusts him

another example - this one isn't as good

it's hard to understand what Rox is doing

too many links

a tool:

whenever farza puts something out, he optimizes for this

try to get people to think internally: "ooh! seems cool!"

you yourself should also be reacting to the stuff you launch

a common mistake - do you ask yourself if you think it's cool?

trust yourself - you are already cool

you just need to be authentic

hard truth: a single bad sentence can turn people off

two phrases:

these were chosen intentionally

because they hate the word bootcamp. instant turn off.

think about how different these two pitches are

despite essentially describing the same thing

Farza thinks bootcamps are not cool. We don't care about the 'brightest minds'. It's not authentic to him

the second one is low ego, and true to his beliefs

the key is to be intentional

and it's the reason you all applied to @_nightsweekends

use less words. it makes the message more impactful.

it's one of Farza's big lessons from the past five years

every word matters.

examples of things you like a lot that aren't big cos

look at the things you love and study them

Farza has four things that heavily inspired @_buildspace
1/ @ycombinator's brand - it's clean and concise
2/ porter robinson's art
3/ philz coffee's casual brand
4/ everything about naruto

do this for yourself - write 4 things you love and study what you like about them

example from the audience: @Cron calendar

your brand is a remix of the things you love

you know what is cool, just examine it

any idea why there's a blue light behind farza??

b/c alterok is winning!!


go to framer.com and make an account
click 'new'
go to sections
and click on this template

a landing page has 3 things:

1/ a headline
2/ subtitle
3/ CTA - call to action

true for all products.

headline should be clear. that's the number one lesson from this lecture.

clarity wins over fancy language.

a bad example for buildspace:

next part of your landing page is your subtitle

an example from Jupiter.

this is a 10/10 for Farza b/c it's so clear

use the subtitle to explain what you're working on

finally it's about your call to action

this is the button that people click

what do you want your user to do?

we're now reviewing examples from the audience

you can watch the reply of that here - https://www.twitch.tv/buildspace

I'm dropping off now 👋

Copywriting 101 with FarzaTV

another epic episode of @_buildspace @_nightsweekends

s03e11 -- finding focus w/ amjad (@amasad) from @Replit

sharing my notes 📝

quick plug.

inspired by the magic of @replit,
I started the 100 days of python challenge this week
you can follow my progress here: https://replit.com/@afscott

we've got amjad in the house

we're now in week 4 and the audience is looking for guidance

amjad's life story:

born in Amman, Jordan

his father bought a computer when he was a kid

his first business was selling software to LAN cafes when he was 14

he made an open source project and moved to the US

they compiled python and ruby into javascript

he got a job offer from codeacademy in NY

went to FB for a while in SF

then left to make replit

In Jordan, he was a trouble maker at school (but still got good grades)

it bothered his teachers

he was getting As while goofing around and not paying attention

one time, he hacked into the school computer system to pass himself

he only thought it was fair because they'd failed him on attendance

that was a huge deal. he got caught

he was also working a the local university

and the programmers hated him because he put their jobs at risk

he was obsessed with car

he play counterstrike GO professionally

he's VERY competitive and has to be the best

internet cafes were popping up in Amman, they'd go play red alert and CS 1.2

there were tournaments where you could make money

the year was 2000 - 2001

he was so obsessed with CS and it was the genesis for his first business idea

the internet cafes were tracking customer time manually

he wrote software to automate it all - user accounts, hours, accounting system

and he started selling it

he was 14 when he got his first customer

and 15 when he started to scale it up

he didn't realize how hard it was at the time

it's still like that today - they just announced the open source code model

he didn't realize how hard it would be when they started

now they know how to train models

it's a constant feeling of jumping in without thinking about how it will fail

it's a good entrepreneurial trait

but can also land you in jail 😂

he has a 3 year old kid now and sees some worrying similarities

amjad has been working on the same topic for his whole life

from Jordan he went to codeacademy then to FB - all working on the same issues

replit comes from the word repl - an iterative programming loop

he thinks that philosophy is really important

and that is part of the ethos of replit

it's also part of his work at FB building React

he was in school and he didn't have a laptop. he got frustrated setting up his dev environment at each new machine

he wanted a google docs-like experience

so he hacked it together over a weekend

and his friends liked it

it was limited, only javascript

and adding the next language was much harder

it's typical in startups. get a quick MVP together then build more complex stuff after

he was working at YAHOO in Jordan, then would do nights and weekends building replit

he did that for about 6 months

then they put it on hacker news, made it open source

and it went viral

the inventory of javascript tweeted about it!

it was pitched as an online playground for code

when they started in 2016, he didn't have a business model

however, they made money from day one

he was selling access to his API and got up to $2k MRR but hit a plateau

at one point replit nearly died

Amjad was inspired by a low budget movie called 'pirates of silicon valley' about the history of Apple and Microsoft

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0168122/

Farza had a similar experience moving from Florida to California

back to Amjad...

starting a business in Jordan was nearly impossible

your parents are unsupportive. no investment opportunities (unless you want to give up 90% of your company)

in the US it's so much better. For example, Amjad is an investor in @_buildspace despite never meeting Farza

anything you wish you did differently with replit?

there were so many complications. he didn't have green card, so couldn't leave his job.

he had debt that limited his risk taking ability. he had to build up from there.

Amjad's advice: keep going, even if it's dark. it gets better

it's important to be realistic but also optimistic

sometimes you have to pivot, even within the same idea

a startup is a living being that adapts to the market

you have to simultaneously have your vision but also adapt to the feedback

when it's tough: choose metrics where you can make progress towards a bigger goal.

for example at replit, they're building new tech that gets users even when the revenue is lagging

he thinks of it like a chess board. you can't change the board. focus on the next move.

analyze it without emotion. you have to keep emotions in check.

score yourself on the progress you are making. not just $$ in the bank.

what advice do you have for a content creator like a musician?

practice. you can make progress on practice. songs that you couldn't cover in the past. you can develop your skill. be honest whether you're making progress or not.

how do you know you're making progress?

you have to reflect. be conscientious. there are also many apps that will score you - for example 100 days of code or learning to play the piano.

you could also get on a zoom call and let them give you feedback

it's hard to put your work out there.

amjad wrote about it - 'what is perfectionism and what is the cure?'

https://amasad.me/perfectionism

he thinks perfection is a disease that protects your ego

you don't do it because you're afraid of attacks to your ego

if you observe that, why would it hurt your ego?

you should just frame it as a way to improve.  ignore the haters.

Farza thinks you are your own barrier to moving forward

Amjad suggests a hack: exposure therapy. it's a way to get over psychological issues. expose yourself to that which you fear.

he had a fear of public speaking. so he took improv classes in NY

he put himself in the worst scenario to be embarrased. he did it so much he became desensitized.

Farza had the same issue with a stutter. he watched the Kings Speech - and was inspired.

so he started making youtube videos when he was 16.

the bigger lesson: everyone is thinking about themselves. they are not even thinking about it.

no one actually cares about you or your idea.

so just keep putting yourself out there

it's a constant battle of mattering enough to be loved or hated

how do you stay focused on this idea for so long?

he prides himself on seeing where the future is headed

he predicted 20 years ago that the web would be the application platform

the idea that you could deliver applications through the web wasn't understood

back in the IE4 / netscape era, it was hard to predict

but he saw it coming. he became an expert in javascript around the time that Chrome came out.

he was very confident in this prediction.

more recently 10 years ago he saw AI and the impact on coding.

in 2020 they started building AI into their product

and wrote about it on their blog

https://blog.replit.com/codingai

he advices against working on trends

try to orientate yourself to a bet on the future

hype can be useful. look at the NASDAQ - it's a classic hype cycle. boom/bust.

the dotcom hype wasn't fulfilled until 15 years later.

hype is a mis match in timing.

people tend to overestimate short term impact, which causes bearish-ness

he thinks this is the case for crypto

he has some criticism about ethereum. he's contrarian bullish on bitcoin lite

currently, auto GPT is over hyped

farza's guidance is to throw yourself into it but form your own opinion.

be aggressively independently minded without being close minded

get inputs from media, market, users - then form your own opinions

how do you do that in practice? how do you iterate?

at replit they are 80 people. one core value is 'seek pain'

for example putting your product out there is painful

seek criticism. it sucks.

the thing that differentiates the best from the rest,

is the constant desire to be better

which is very painful

why are you built like this?

it doesn't have to feel good. that's why it's in their values.

he feels the pain and cringe at failing.

but he knows that is how you grow.

Amjad thinks you can develop this at any time in your life

he feels the same emotions now that he felt when he was younger


focus on what you gain:

improve your skills
what you've learned

sometimes they will launch something without good reception

so they just put it on a back burner

and sometimes things come back to life

it may have just been a timing issue

the key is to not care about the outcome

farza thinks you can solve a lot of problems by putting your phone away and going for a walk

amjad likes to do power lifting. he thinks it's important to have 1 hobby outside your venture: running, music, racing. finding something that you can make progress on.

if you're stuck in your job, you can find satisfaction in your hobby

Farza would add 0.01 miles to his run  so he always had an all time high to celebrate

regardless of what was going on with his startup

anti fragile idea generation:

amjad used to work with john Carmack at facebook

he had a mental framework:

fragile ideas die

anti fragile ideas survive the pressure

replit is anti fragile

they tried to kill it a few times but it doesn't die

it's like buildspace. started multiple times over the years. but he can't get out of it.

how do you make your idea more anti fragile?

in power lifting, they have the idea of progressive overload

which comes from greek mythology. a guy was carrying a lamb that grew every day. keep pushing yourself then stop just before breaking. repeat.

in entrepreneurship, get the first dollar. money is very objective. so is users. pick one. keep loading up.

replit is now worth > $1B. it was a goal at some point - to be a unicorn.

over time as you make progress, your expectations keep evolving