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The Espresso Martini Shot x Zagabond ⛩️
Recorded: Dec. 12, 2023 Duration: 1:22:40Space Recording
Full Transcription
Hello, don't mind the elevator music.
All right. So we're going to do the usual stuff. We're going to go one song and then we're going to get this going. I'm going to go ahead and pin some stuff on the Jumbotron for anyone to just sort of check out any sort of like, you know, recent Izuki news that are pinned up on top. And don't worry, we're not going to talk about it too much. It's just going to be more up there for just passive awareness. Check it out if you want. You don't have to. We still got our Izuki Garden Talk show tomorrow morning. So don't fret if you miss any of that.
But in the meantime, let's go ahead. Bottom right hand corner, repost, comment, bookmark, all that good stuff. We're going to get this going literally in about three minutes. So enjoy the music until then.
Why is it not playing?
Oh, wait. Hold on. My bad. My bad. My bad. My bad. Okay. Here we go. Let's try this again.
I just bought a new grill. Sounding like a new whip. Adam got a new drip. I might never hear that black little cool kid.
Yeah, I stack that, make that, break that, take that. Got a hundred ways, I can flip that. Get back. All up in the money just to get back.
Bitch, back up. Now you probably need a tic-tac. It's that. Bitch, you front on me. Why you want to act like this?
Wally on my wrist, so you want to have kids. Cups on my wrist, so the cops don't trip. I'm too fly to fight.
Can't afford my price. This a white tee. Bitch, bite me.
I'm on the high. They on the low. You killing my vibe. Get out my zone.
Say, I'm on the high. They on the low. You killing my vibe. Get out my zone.
Get out my zone, bitch. I'm the best in the group chat. My niggas want to admit that.
31 hoes in my FaceTime, and I'm no one to hoop that.
Rocking and rolling like Jack Black. Schooling you niggas like Jack Black.
How could you not like Jack Black? I put that on my mama, nigga, no cap.
Look, I handed a Yost. He handed a John.
So they want to fuck for a picture. Bitch, this ain't a Groupon.
This that CLBN. Go ahead, bump it with mom.
Say, she want a spot on my lips. I told her, go pray to your God.
Yeah, I dig that, flip that, make that check back.
When I want to get it back, can't slap this, that.
Young nigga back, no six-pack. Fuck that. I'm too rich for the chit-chat.
Young black, lie to fight. Can't afford my price.
This a white tee. Bitch, bite me.
I'm on the high. They on the low.
You killing my vibe. Get out my zone.
Say, I'm on the high. They on the low.
You killing my vibe. Get out my zone.
Get out my zone. Bitch, get on my zone.
Going insane. I got that drip with the snow or the rain.
Face called good, but they knowin' my name.
I'm smokin' that gas. It's a shoulder to pain.
And a Rover original's blowin' my lane.
Head for the top blood, holdin' my vein.
So a nigga better step back, catch that.
Bitch, you like a stepdad. Coppin' new whip shit jet.
Black, bet that. Stop the bragging.
Fly, I can shock Aladdin. Do a hundred while the cops is passin'
and the driver blastin'. Nigga fuckin' culture lackin'.
Rap niggas be Oscar actin'.
We never worry, them pockets packin'.
I watch and learn in a proper fashion.
Boy, you a sweet, you is not a savage.
Why do you have to be problem-ass?
I'm on the high.
They on the low.
You killing my vibe.
Get out my zone.
Say, I'm on the high.
They on the low.
You killing my vibe.
Get out my zone.
Get out my zone, bitch.
Good evening, Espresso Martini shop.
What is good, everyone?
Welcome to, uh, what is episode number two?
It's episode number two or three, but it's all good.
It is a series that we are trying at night because it seems to be working for a lot of people.
So, as pretty usual, if you've been to the Espresso shot, you know the usual saying that we say at the beginning of every space.
We hope you learn a little bit, you laugh a little bit, maybe even you cry a little bit.
And if you do cry a little bit, it is all good.
Take a picture.
We'll platform you and get you going viral, being able to showcase so many different emotions all at once.
So, that being said—
At least engagement farm.
You know, the fact that you're crying.
Yeah.
It's just so beautiful.
Bottom of my hand corner—you want to know what's even more beautiful, though?
Bottom of my hand corner.
Reposting, commenting, press like.
If you have a heart, you know, that heart-shaped icon, you can just press that.
And if you don't, love to talk to you about your immortality.
That would be great.
And how you live in life.
But that being said, that being said, once again, I'm going to go ahead and fill you guys in a little bit on how this space is going to go.
Just, you know, just so we can kind of temper expectations.
Because I got people in the DMs calling me.
When Tokit?
When Lunch?
When, you know, when Private Island?
When Private Plane?
When, you know, when Izuki, you know, mentioned that we all—that holders can all rent out forever and live happily ever after.
When we bring our families in.
And I'm just like, guys, guys, all these are coming.
You just need to relax a little bit, you know?
They are all absolutely coming.
We're going to get a check your wallet thing on the Private Island thing.
Don't worry.
You might be like, how can you fit an island in the wallet?
Well, leave it to Izuki to figure that out.
That being said, obviously, all that was satire.
Do not take anything seriously.
Nothing in this space is financial advice.
Just in case someone answers a question that implies as such.
Whew.
I think I got all the disclaimers out of the way.
Yeah, yeah.
But anyway, let's check in with our boy, Shotgun.
And we're going to check in with the man of the hour, Shotgun.
What's good?
Oh, Jesus Christ.
What's going on, everybody?
I'm doing great.
You know, like, I just came back from the gym.
And the fun fact is, I'm more pumped at home than I was in there.
Because today, we finally get to talk to Zagabon.
Zagabon.
My bad.
But, dude, it feels like we're so back.
You know, like, ever since I started hosting spaces, I've always wanted to talk to the man.
And today, we finally got the opportunity.
So, man, I'm just, you know, I'm just, I don't even have a word.
You know, like, I'm just feeling great.
I'm feeling immaculate.
If the bull is not back right now, I don't know what it is.
I don't even look at the charts.
You know, I don't even see numbers.
I only see vibes.
And they definitely feel back right now.
So, yeah, man.
Yeah.
I'm in the sky right now.
It was so high.
I mean, despite the whole liquidation last night, everyone's like, we are so back.
We love to lose money.
So, $150 million liquidated in a matter of 45 minutes.
Well, like, yes, we are so back.
And you know what?
We are.
It's considering people are still excited even after all that.
So, usually you would see gloom and doom all over the TL, all on that.
So, just a reminder for everyone that's here in the space, if you're just entering, welcome
to the Espresso Martini Shot.
We got the man, the myth, the legend, Zagabon here.
And just a reminder for everyone on the Jumbotron, I've pinged up a bunch of stuff that I feel
like is kind of being a little, I don't want to say miss or just maybe not thought about
enough in the sense of, you know, Taiwan event.
We got Boobie Kizbook.
We obviously have the Being Gazette, which is criminally underfollow.
So, please check them all out.
Give them a follow.
All that good stuff.
If you haven't already, I'll be pending some more stuff as the space goes on as well.
And just a reminder, this is not just me and Shotgun going back and forth with them.
We probably will be going back and forth with them for some time, but we're not trying to
hog the mic to ourselves.
We want to keep this open to speakers.
We want to give you a chance to ask a question if you need to.
All we ask is for everyone to just say Sybil.
That is it.
That is all.
We just ask for you to show respect.
If you're into Zaga, I'm throwing hands.
You see that bean?
Throwing hands.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I mean, that's all in the new lore update that there can be good or evil beans.
And that bad boy here, I'll tell you right now, that's an evil.
All right.
Well, that being said, let's get to the man over here.
Zagabon, Zagadaddy, Zaga, everything.
There's so many nicknames.
I almost can't keep track.
Zagabon, Zagabon, you know, I don't know.
I see it all over my GC.
My man, how are you tonight?
How's everything going?
I'm just hyped to be here.
It sounds like you guys have a lot of fun here.
So I'm just looking forward to having a good conversation, having a good time, laugh a little, maybe cry.
What else?
Live, laugh, love, right?
Ready to do it all.
Let's get it.
Live, laugh, love.
Let's get it all.
I love that.
We're going to clip that, and I'm going to put it in the sound bite.
But I have to.
I have to do that.
But that being said, just a reminder, Shotgun and I obviously have some questions for him.
I want to be respectful of his time.
You know, we're not trying to keep this man here for two hours for the rest of the night or anything like that.
So we are going to get into questions.
And again, as a reminder to the speakers, don't be shy.
Raise your hand.
Ask a question if you want to.
The whole idea is to make this open forum, but also kind of eventually get into some of the questions that we are going to throw at him and just sort of go back and forth a little bit on.
So once again, don't be shy.
Come on up.
But let's go ahead and get this going.
We've checked in.
You know, we got a bunch of beautiful speakers up here already.
We got Kane, Big King, Ellen, Chris, Photoshop, JBB, Josie, and we got Nick and Tox up here.
So shout out to everyone that's up here on stage.
We love to see you guys.
We appreciate the fuck out of every single one of you.
You might be like, wow, did you just curse?
Yes, it's 8 p.m.
And I just had a Nespresso.
So I'm feeling pretty, you know, pretty excited right now, as you can sense by my voice.
Anyway, that being said, that being said, Zaga, I mean.
Shaka and I were going through a lot.
We went through 50 questions today.
I'm not going to lie to you.
We were like, we don't really want to repeat the same questions over and over again.
We want to kind of like get these.
I'll be honest.
Sosa just doesn't know what to ask for.
He's like, yo, can you come up with some questions?
And then I just, you know, I deliver.
You know, I delivered that man with some questions.
Then he was like, oh, okay.
You know what I'm saying?
Yeah, yeah.
And I was like, hey, let's put a filter on this.
Maybe we bring it down to like, I don't know, 10, maybe seven, maybe five questions.
But yeah.
So I actually want to start with something that, you know, I think it might not be a great
starter question.
But I think it's a good enough start question for everyone that's here in the spaces.
And the question that I get from a lot of non-holders, and then I'll let Shotkin take the next question.
And if anyone else wants to shoot their hand up for their own question, we'll go, we'll
yield to you.
But Zaga, this is something that I think about on the daily.
And this is something I get asked a lot.
Just a reminder again.
What would you say is the biggest differentiator between the Zooki community and what we see
in other communities?
And again, I cannot stress how often we get this question.
I know you know.
Yeah, I got you.
Before we start, though, I just want to say, like, I really admire what you guys are doing,
by the way, being interviewers and hosting a show.
Because, I mean, not many people know this, but I watch a lot of interviews on YouTube.
I just put it on when I'm getting ready for bed in the morning, whenever.
And one of my favorite series is Hot Ones with Sean Evans.
And I always admire a good interviewer.
And Sean Evans, like, he just does not miss a beat, right?
And I feel like that intro, everything you guys are doing, yeah, I can tell you guys do
this.
And it's dope.
And I wish I had those skills.
So, yeah.
Thanks for having me, guys.
I don't usually do a lot of Twitter spaces because I am introverted.
You know, I'm a little bit shy, but I want to spend time with you guys, you know, and
understand what's going on and share what we're working on, things like that.
And so, yeah, I'm excited to be here.
And so, your question was around the biggest differentiator between the Azuki community and
other communities.
I think for me, it's, and I'm actually curious to get your guys' answer on this as well.
So, I'll activate Mirror Force after this and get your guys' take.
But for me, I feel like the Azuki community, we're bonded over a shared set of values.
And I'll go over a couple, which I feel like are pretty strong and ones that I've noticed.
The first one is that we just have an appreciation for anime as an art form.
And I think this all stems from Steam Boy and the awesome, awesome art team that we have at
Azuki and in creating just this art that, you know, people can appreciate.
It's not fully Japanese anime.
It's not fully westernized cartoons.
It's sort of somewhere right in the middle.
And I think it really, for me at least, when I look at it, it kind of shows like where the
world is going, which is like a global sort of, you know, community.
And I think the Azuki anime art form really captures that.
And so, that's number one.
I feel like, you know, we all bond over the art.
And then secondly, I think we have this value of growing together as a community where this
concept of the garden and, you know, Azuki, we're beings in the garden all growing together
and we support each other.
We collaborate with each other.
And I think that's something that's really beautiful.
And over, you know, I've been in the crypto space now for six years or so.
And with ZeroX, you know, we started a community back in 2017 around decentralized exchange.
And our vision back then was to tokenize the world and have all the value flow freely.
And so, we set out to build a exchange protocol that can enable that.
And then with Azuki, we really want to co-create this anime IP with the community.
And we have this shared value of growing together.
And so, what I've realized in my past six years in this space is that people join communities not because of the products.
I think good products can help people get excited about joining a community.
It's a good marketing tool.
But I feel like deep down, we join communities because we have shared values and beliefs with the communities that we join.
And that has power to retain good people over time.
And so, you know, to answer your question, I think what it comes down to for the Azuki community is, you know, we just appreciate anime as an art form.
And we have this shared value of growing together.
And that, to me, really makes for a unique community, especially in the NFT space.
Yeah, now I'm curious about you guys.
I mean, do you resonate with that?
Do you have anything to add?
Yeah, I resonate with everything you just said.
I mean, my personal experience has been that, you know, I mean, again, and I'm speaking as someone who's been in actively, not just buy an NFT and then I just wait for something to happen.
I buy an NFT and I participate in the community.
I participate in group discussions and all that.
And I've been in, you know, I want to say anywhere from 10 to 15.
And it was the Azuki was literally the only one that just immediately stood out almost right away.
And I almost couldn't explain it as it was happening.
Right.
I bought a Zuki participating in a garden caretaker program, looking at that.
There was just a lot.
It was that the anime talk and the bonding is 100 percent on point.
Like I have never when you compare it to other communities, I have never seen this much love over it.
And to the extent where I'm like, oh, shit, I could learn more from these people.
I'm not the one teaching anyone anything.
I'm learning from these people.
So I definitely I definitely do agree with that.
And I also resonate on the side of that.
There are a ton of people who are building to some extent.
Not everyone's doing this.
You know, it's funny when we think of someone's building, we're thinking of this whole grand big thing.
Right.
But the reality is they're just doing what they want to do and they're building it so that it's fun for them and fun for other people to join in.
And then you have people like me, Shotgun, who see that and we're motivated.
We end up collabing.
You know, one of the greatest examples, us collabing with Red Bean Coffee because it makes sense.
Especially Red Bean Coffee.
Yeah.
So it's just and that's just one thing.
That's just it wouldn't be possible without the garden.
So I I I really don't have much to add other than that.
But I do want to throw it over to Shotgun to to answer that and then probably have him do his second question and then we'll throw it to the hands.
No, man, absolutely.
And I feel like for those that kind of listen to the Espresso Shot on a regular basis, they pretty much probably already know where I'm going to get to.
But for me, it was always that feeling.
And let me explain, like, at least when it comes to anime, I've always been a huge fan ever since I was like little, little kid, like Pokemon, like Dragon Ball Z.
Like I was always watching as a kid and the feeling that I got from watching these things is kind of the feeling that I get from seeing not only like the actual art from like Steam Boy and the team.
But like when I look at all the artists and all the creatives within the community and everything that they're doing with the IP and that they're creating, I kind of get that little nostalgia.
And especially for us that we have been on this content like journey for a minute, especially in spaces.
I feel like I needed that group of people that are always setting the bar higher.
And I'll be real.
Every time I check, like, whether that's BBB, like whatever check that is, there are always like really, really dope, like new activations coming.
Whether that's Nick with Bobo Kids books.
Whether that's Alchemist with, you know, the book that he just came out with, Little Bean, Big Heart.
Or, you know, no matter what side you look for, there are new products, there are innovations, there are like new things coming out.
And I feel like that sense of being in a group where everybody is moving towards kind of a greater goal is pretty much what brought me to the garden in this.
What, in my opinion, is like the biggest differentiator between the garden and other communities.
And I'm not saying that all the communities don't have that, but maybe because of the anime side of things.
Maybe because of the way that Azuki deals with things in a more, let's say, limited deal.
Like the way that these drops are always happening, even if it's not on a super large scale.
I feel like all these small details kind of added up to me wanting to be more engaged in the community.
But I hope that answers the question.
And I kind of just wanted to rebuttal here because, again, I really wanted to get to the hands.
But one of the questions that I really wanted to just post, and then if you guys want to comment on it as well, feel more than welcome.
It's pretty much, Zaga, when we look at all, like, all these different projects right now that are doing great in the space, right?
You know, it doesn't really matter if I say any names.
You guys know, like, you guys know, like, the top projects in the space that have been doing amazing things, that have been accomplishing amazing things.
And in my point of view, Azuki has also accomplished a lot by now.
You know, the Golden Skateboards, the recent release with Gus, like, all of those in my book are small successes that in the long run, they add up to something really, really big.
And with that being said, I bet that each and every single achievement of those, they emanate some sort of feeling out of you.
I feel like as a, you know, a founder, as somebody that's been behind the scenes, there are feelings that you get from each and every single milestone that you come out with.
And the question that I wanted to pose is, what is one feeling that despite all the success that you have so far, you feel like you still haven't felt and you really want to feel yet?
Feeling is something that early on in Azuki's life cycle, it's something that we try to tap into.
Before Azuki, I remember seeing an ambush hoodie, actually.
And, you know, I learned about Yoon as a designer and as a creative director.
And I saw the hoodie.
I saw someone wearing it.
And, you know, I think I went home because I think I liked the logo, like how plain it was.
And I like the drawstrings.
I went home and I looked up how much it cost.
And it was like $700.
And I remember thinking, like, how does this make sense?
Right.
It's so expensive for a hoodie.
And I started learning more about just, you know, the psychology behind brand building.
And, you know, what I realized is what's important with these brands is not so much what the product is physically.
It's really how someone feels when they're rocking that brand.
Whether it's, you know, Louis Vuitton, if you're into luxury, right?
You put that on and, you know, it might make you feel, you know, slightly more elevated than your usual self.
Just like, you know, if you work from home but you put on, you know, a pair of pants instead of just sweatshorts every day,
it might make you feel a little bit more like, you know, put together and more energized or motivated, whatever it is.
And so feeling is extremely important.
And with Izuki, that's why we came up with, you know, a shared vision of creating this decentralized brand together on day one.
Because I think in Web3, what's unique is that it's not only up to the core team to decide what this feeling should be, right?
We can create the beginnings of how we want to inspire the community to feel.
And of course, we have to carry the heavy lifting on creating the IP and dropping the dopest products.
But we hope that through the products that we create, we can inspire a feeling for everyone else to feel like they want to co-create alongside us and add to the feeling within the garden.
And so just wanted to set some context there in terms of how we even think about, you know, feeling in general.
And then Shotgun, you asked, what is one feeling that I have yet to feel?
Was that the question?
Yeah, that's correct.
One feeling that I have yet to feel.
I think I'll answer in a slightly different way.
And for me, I'm a very competitive person, right?
I think the feeling of just seeing the community win is something that I can never get enough of.
And I know recently we've taken a lot of L's, to be honest, right?
I think we had hoped that coming out of Elementals, everyone would be taking a huge dove.
We'd invite thousands of more holders to the garden.
But obviously, there were trade-offs with how we launched that product.
And, you know, we've been really listening and thinking about, you know, what are the best next steps forward?
But for me, the feeling that I keep coming back to is I just love seeing the community win.
And so designing experiences, designing products, and creating a brand and IP that can resonate with a lot of people.
And then having the community win, not just, you know, with, you know, seeing good IP on the big screens, but just, yeah, across the board.
That's a feeling that I want more of.
And so, you know, that's what keeps me going.
That's what keeps me up at night sometimes.
But I'm just passionate about creating something that everyone loves and, you know, we can win together as a community.
Sounds pretty cliche as an answer, I know.
But, like, you know, it truly is.
And I feel like if a founder, like, doesn't really get excited about this feeling of everyone winning together,
then it's going to be really tough, I think, to have a sustainable presence in this space.
Because I think you have the highest of highs, you have the lowest of lows.
But I think when everyone wins, that makes everything worth it.
Yeah.
There's no such thing as a cliche answer if it's the truth, my man.
It's that simple.
So I appreciate that.
And you couldn't be more on point at the end.
It really does.
I know a lot of people think that.
It's like, oh, well, obviously.
It's like, yeah, sure, obviously.
Until you go through it and you're like, oh, right.
I really do have to have conviction and faith and some sort of value that I want instilled into this to even keep going.
Because the reality is this.
On your worst day, it is really fucking easy to just straight up be like, nah.
This is not it.
And just walk away when you don't have that feeling that Saga is literally explaining.
So great answer, my man.
Seriously.
However, we have – I can't even count the hands.
One, two, three, four, five, six, seven.
I asked a question and I felt bad when I saw these.
I was like, they can tell us what happened to me or something.
Well, to be fair, when you asked the question, it was three hands up.
And I was like, cool.
They can wait.
You know, they're patient.
And here we are with a lot more than that.
So this is what we're going to do.
I'm going to go in the order that I think I remember and then we'll take it from there.
Just one quick reminder for everyone as speakers, right?
Just all I ask is – I know some of the mixed sentiment out on the TL and all that good stuff.
All I ask is just stay civil.
Let's have some fun.
Ask the question you want to ask and all that good stuff.
That's it.
This isn't a kiss-ass space.
This isn't blowing smoke up anyone's ass.
This is just – we're just chilling.
We're answering good questions and we're getting into it.
Like, looky bad, blah, blah, blah, all that.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
All that good stuff.
That was a good one.
That was a good one.
I got to give shotgun a round of applause or not whatever.
I got to give a round of applause.
Also, I totally skipped over Zaga's compliments on us.
Which, by the way, thank you.
That actually – I'm clipping that.
I'm putting that in a sound clip and I'm framing the fuck out of it.
I'm putting it on my desk so it plays on a loop all day every day.
So the next time I doubt myself, I can tell myself to go fuck myself so that we can keep fucking moving, baby.
Let's go!
Anyway, Kay, let's throw it over to you, my man.
You were one of the first ones to get your hand up.
Let's take it over to you.
What you thinking?
Okay.
I wrote this down like civil questions, right?
So is there any plan to sell figures similar to Gus with PBT technology in retail stores?
Hell yeah.
I think linking digital and physical is one of the dopest things that a Web3 brand can do.
I think with Gus, we really want to make a high-quality collectible in partnership with SK Lamb,
who works on the cause collectibles and some other really dope stuff.
You guys should definitely go look him up, check out his stuff.
And we designed this Gus collectible together.
And we gave it for free for beans holders and beans collectors just to show what's possible.
By linking digital and physical.
And so for those who haven't had a chance to check out the toy, when you scan his brain, you know, you get a PBT with a random rarity associated with it of one of the seven deadly sins.
And so it's a fun way that we think, you know, it's not like when opening a package from Amazon or, you know, from one of your favorite brands, it's a hoodie, whatever.
You have the first unpackaging, right?
And you see what it is.
It's dope.
And then you have almost a second unpackaging experience when you scan the PBT and you don't know what kind of rarity you're going to get.
I think that's really fun for me.
I love, you know, opening up a pack of trading cards.
Recently, Ted Kimo, my partner and I, we've just been really getting into a bunch of trading card games and there's a lot of nostalgia and just opening up a pack of.
We started with Pokemon.
Now we're on Yu-Gi-Oh, getting into Grand Archives a bit as well.
Yeah, it's just fun, you know.
And so I think Artifact, yes, you've got to clone PFP, Cain.
Artifact does a great job of this as well.
I think they call it the WM chip, right, world merging chip.
You know, for us, the PBT solution works a little bit different technically, but it's the same concept.
And, you know, you can create digital experiences for your physical products.
And I think every brand going forward needs to have some sort of digital journey to engage with their audience base because I think it's pretty simple, right?
We spend more time in the digital world than physical now.
So whether you're a brand or IP, it can't be just one or the other.
You have to have both.
And if you have both, why not make the story connected, right?
Take the audience and the journey from digital to physical and vice versa.
So I think it's a new form of storytelling.
A few Web3 brands are doing it really well.
So, yeah, definitely more to come.
Also, I want to, you know, add a little bit of a visual to the Gus unboxing experience.
I did an unboxing video.
I pinned it up to the top.
You might, it's funnier with the sound on.
I'm not, I barely talk.
I whisper one word in the whole video.
If you want to check it out, this is not a plug.
This is just some more add-on to Zagamon's point about the packaging experience.
It was a lot of fun.
I'm not going to lie to you guys.
I, I, it was a lot of fucking fun.
I just got mine today.
I'm FOMO-ing like crazy just to open that thing and skin the brain.
I, if I wish, I just wish I had enough money to collect all of the seven deadly sins of Gus.
It's like, I want them all, you know, like Pokemon.
I want to catch them all.
So, yeah.
But I just want to kind of double check in with Kane here.
Oh, sorry, Zag.
You, you came off mute.
You got something to say?
Yeah, I was just going to say when we, because I just recalled when we originally pitched this idea of the collector's profile to the team internally to build.
I think we had a screenshot of a, not sure if it was like a collector's room full of Supreme stuff.
Like everything was Supreme in there or if it was a Supreme store.
But the way we pitched it was that imagine if Supreme had a accurate on, on demand read on all of their collectors for every single item that they've dropped.
And they're able to create experiences now for the collectors going forward, where it's like people that own this one specific skate deck from, you know, 2012, we're going to do something for them today that relates to that original drop.
It's just a new way of a brand to, you know, fan relationship that, that is new.
And now in the web three world, it's not just physical, it's physical and digital.
So if you go on your collector's profile, you can see your whole list of not just your NFTs, but also your PBTs, which signify that you own that physical item as well.
And so over time, right, we're just going to have this huge collection network of items that are displayed in your profile and a network of collectors as well.
Ideally, you're able to see who else has this, you know, Gus collectible in the future and you can connect with them.
You guys can do something cool together, et cetera.
And so, yeah, I think it's a, it's a pretty cool way to just bring the world closer together.
Absolutely.
I couldn't agree more.
The collector's profile is too much fun.
It's going to make me go broke.
I think I'm going to sell my house just trying to collect all the badges.
Don't tell my wife I said that, please.
Cool disclosure.
He actually will.
Yeah.
Yeah.
All right.
We'll make sure to put a PBT in the house so you can only see it in the profile.
Yes.
That is a move.
That is a move.
They might have the D, but I have the PBT.
Yeah.
That rhymes low key.
But, Kane, I want to, I just want to double check in with you because I know, you know, I just want to make sure you feel satisfied with your answer.
Also, because we do have a full stage and I am going to have to start rotating people off just to make some room for everyone else that's requesting.
But, Kane, you're good.
You want to ask anything else?
No, I'm satisfied with the question.
I personally missed out on Gus because I didn't know it was free.
So I didn't participate, but next time I'm definitely going to because there's definitely FOMO.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And just in case anyone's wondering, you know, you can go into the Zuki Discord and make an offer.
There are people who are selling their guesses.
I think the last offer was .25E and someone took that.
So it's like right around the $500, $600 range for anyone that's interested in, you know, getting that.
But I thought that's pretty dope, you know.
I mean, in my head initially, I was like, oh, that seems a little low.
But then I, you know, I remember in this economy, you know, the market, it's all good.
You know, we understand.
Anyway, that being said, that being said, let's throw it over to Chris who had his hand up before BitKing and then we can throw it over to BitKing.
Chris, my man, what you got?
You know, this is a very, very important question for Zagabon because I know he's done a post recently talking about the value of his team and the value of humans and how this is all, it's all based on people, right?
But Zagabon, what is the better bait to use for your people?
Because I'm trying to get Izuki guys to show up to ramen.
They don't seem to be wanting ramen.
So it's like the Pokemon-like thing that you throw before you try to catch them.
So I tried ramen.
It's not working.
Should I call the Pokemon, Korean barbecue or sushi or ramen?
I don't know.
What do you think, Zagabon?
You're missing a critical fourth category here, Chris, and that's Hot Pot.
Oh, I was going to say Hot Pot, too.
Okay.
So that's the alpha right there.
That's the alpha, everybody.
It's Hot Pot.
To catch in Izuki, got to catch them all.
Use Hot Pot.
Okay.
Yes, sir.
I'm dead.
Yeah.
Yeah.
That is essentially what you have to use to lure them in.
As creepy as that sounds.
But don't worry, Chris.
I'll fly back out to LA.
We'll make that happen again.
We'll try to make it a little bit of a longer lasting effort there.
But real quick, this is the order that I want to go in for the next two speakers, and then
we'll take it back around to me, just because I know some of them are on a time restriction
and they'll be brief.
So, Big King, let's throw it over to you, my man, and then we're going to throw it over
to AJ, and then I'll take it around to some of the other speakers as well.
All right.
So, once again, thank you, Sanza, for the opportunity, once again.
I appreciate you guys.
And, Zagabon, I really want to say I'm a very, very huge fan of, you know, like the
Izuki collection and, you know, like the way the community is actually her strong.
During the time of Ford, especially during the time, you know, like the downtime and stuff
like that, which is actually where my question is actually coming from.
You know, as a founder who has actually gone through so many downtimes, you know, like
with this huge collection in Web3, what made you want to keep going?
Was it the community or was it the team?
Like, what part of it just made you want to, like, keep going and keep pushing that you
still want to be at the top?
You know, I've thought about this a lot because I've had some days where it's certainly not
easy.
And it's not just things that you read online, too, right?
Sometimes there's, like, scary situations in real life.
I think as a founder, you know, you're concerned about your safety at times.
And, you know, on those days, you know, I asked myself, like, what is driving me forward?
And, you know, I think for me, it's not even, like, a choice.
Like, I don't even have the option of stopping or quitting.
I think it's just I want to succeed so badly and I want my community to win so badly that
I will do whatever it takes.
And nothing has even come close yet in terms of stopping me from accomplishing that goal.
It might be the way that I grew up, you know, moving from China to Germany to America, facing
a lot of racism.
I don't know what it is, right?
But for me, it's just a mindset thing.
Like, quitting is just not an option.
And, you know, what helps, though, is certainly going to work and seeing an incredibly talented
and kind-hearted and energizing team who has my back and we're all committed and aligned
on the same vision.
That is extremely helpful.
What's also helpful is this core community of people that may not be even as vocal on Twitter
publicly, but they send me messages supporting me.
And even during times where, you know, I feel like I'm a bit misunderstood, people send
me messages saying, like, look, I get what you're trying to do.
You know, I stand by you.
I have your back.
And that is, that really means the world.
You know, so the team and the community, it just matters so much.
I would say, for me, I don't do a good job of really sharing my frustrations with people
who are close to me.
And something I've learned to get better at over the past couple of years, because you
really can't do this alone as a founder.
Even to my partner, you know, Ted Kimo, like, I have learned to, like, really let her know
what I'm going through.
Because a lot of my ups and downs day-to-day is so tied with how Izuki is doing, right?
It's sort of so intertwined with my personal life.
And, you know, I wouldn't change that.
I actually like that because it is a part of my identity, as I'm sure it is with a lot
of you guys in the audience who's part of the community.
But I have to share that with people so that they can better understand what I'm going
through and so they can better help me.
And so I've tried doing this with my co-founders.
And a lot of us, like, coming from an Asian, you know, childhood and family, you know, like,
we don't really communicate and we don't like confrontation.
We sort of just, like, suck it up and just do it.
And just, you know, you'll get over it by just doing better, right?
But I think as I've gotten older, I've learned how to deal with, you know, challenges in a
more healthy way.
I don't mean to get, you know, too, you know, therapeutic and stuff here.
But, you know, you asked the question, I want to answer it honestly.
As a founder, it's definitely not easy.
So I definitely relate to what you're going through.
Just know that as long as you are authentic to your team and your community, there will
be ones that have your back and you will grow a bigger community over time.
Just stick by your values and better days are ahead.
Yeah, thank you.
Thank you so much.
I've got, like, one more question for you, actually.
And this is it, like, because basically, I think, let's say during the time of Elemental
and Sob, it wasn't safe.
The whole of Web3 was, like, against, you know, like, the ZK team.
Like, it was, like, that was, like, almost the end.
And then, boom, you guys, like, back off, like, right now and, like, at the spotlight again.
And, I mean, you've done this over and over and over again.
As if it's just, like, you know, like, it's just, like, the ZK team is unstoppable.
And I want to, like, ask you this question, like, what was your worst moment as a founder,
you know, like, in Web3?
And how were you able to, like, overcome that situation, you know, and, you know, like,
just come back to the spotlight you are right now?
I've had a couple of those.
Because I think one memorable moment is after the FUD last year in May, where I had Twitter
spaces with Andrew Wang, and people were asking questions about my previous projects.
And after that spaces, I just felt so deeply misunderstood, right?
Like, it felt like people were not listening to what I had to say.
They just wanted to, you know, see me fall.
And they were just out to get me, right?
And I'm not perfect by any means, right?
Like, I could have handed off the projects in a much better way, of course.
And, you know, I said all this publicly, returned all the funds, even though I did everything
I said I was going to do for those projects.
But even despite all that, I think, you know, people have opinions, and a lot of people are
never going to change those opinions.
And people don't like, I think people want to see you succeed until you're successful,
and then they want to tear you down.
And you have to learn to just walk your own path, find a team that can support you along
the way, and just ignore the people who don't really know the true you.
And so, yeah, after the FUD in May last year was a really, really, you know, low point
for me.
It felt like, yeah, no one really understood me.
And it was like, how can I recover from this?
You know, but what I told the team was, look, we are going to come back from this by delivering
the very best for our community that I know we're capable of doing.
We are going to create more innovative products than anyone else is doing in this space.
And then we went on an incredible run.
And, you know, in this space, it's a game of runs, right?
Everyone has their moment.
And when it's your moment, we should celebrate other projects that are doing great things.
And then if, you know, you're preparing for your moment, right, then you should enjoy that
when the time comes.
And so for us, we've been really assessing the situation after Elementals and really
understanding what the expectations of our community are, how can we continue innovating
and really have a big year in 2024.
And so our moment is coming soon, right?
So I've learned to be patient now in my two years of building an NFT space, because when
it's our time and our momentum comes, you know how strong of a community we are and you
know how strong a team we are.
And so it's just a matter of time.
So that's my thoughts on that.
I mean, once again, I'm a very, very huge fan of the Yuzuki collection, not just for
the arts, for me, but I believe like it's the story behind it, you know, like the resilience
of the team, like how strong you guys have stood within the past couple of years.
And so like huge fan.
And I mean, big ups to you and more heights.
Hope you guys like succeed in whatever you're trying to do with your like the community.
So once again, thank you so much for answering those questions.
Yeah.
Yeah.
You know, Bitcoin came in and was like, oh, oh, oh, just one more question.
One more question.
And I was like, okay, okay.
You know, I, I, I'll allow it.
I'll allow it.
And then Zacabon turns out like, all right, that's all the time I got.
I'm like, God damn it, Bitcoin.
This is why we cannot have nice things.
I'm just kidding.
We're, I had to, anyway, real quick, because I just realized how many speakers we let go already.
And I kind of want to balance it out just a little bit more.
So I actually want to throw it over to Shotgun to ask him one more question.
And then we'll throw it over to AJ.
And I'm going to start to invoke a Zuki privilege here.
Sorry, guys.
No, this is not.
We're just, we're just trying to make the holders know that they are loved.
So we're going to, we're going to throw it around them first.
And then I'll, I'll circle back around to the non holders.
No, I'm just kidding.
I'm just kidding.
We're just, we're just having fun tonight.
We're just having fun tonight.
A little light roasting never hurt anyone.
So Shotgun, please take it.
And then we're going to throw it over to AJ and then hold his privilege.
Jesus.
So I'm just going to start a war here.
Anyways, anyways.
No, I mean, just a quick question, because one of the main things that Bitking mentioned
is like, you know, how FUD kind of comes and goes within like the whole like a Zuki history
if anything.
But the question that I was trying to get it is, I feel like from what we observe from
the outside, whether people are funny, whether people are, you know, complaining, I really
get that feeling that the teams have a clear vision of what they want to achieve and they
going to do it regardless.
You know, like people are crying.
So be it.
They're going to get the product.
They're going to get whatever you guys are working on.
So I just wanted to get Zaga from your perspective.
How do you balance innovation with the demands and expectations of the community, aka number
go up?
You know, like I feel like no matter how dope the products that we're putting out, there's
always that one MF-er that's going to be like, oh, what about the floor price?
You know, and I get how frustrating that can be.
So I was just wondering, like from your perspective as a founder, how do you balance both sides of
the coin?
I think the good thing about the Zuki community is that the expectation.
From the community is that we innovate.
It is part of the brand that we've created for ourselves and for the community is that
we are a Web3 brand.
We do innovate on the tech side and we enjoy doing so.
I think the challenge is that different people within the Zuki community joined for different
reasons.
And so they expect us to innovate in different ways.
If you look at what we've done over the past couple of years, we've dropped products across
many various verticals.
For example, we created the Twin Tiger jacket, which is a physical product that we did from
scratch with a lot of heart and love.
And so that's why I think it really symbolizes kind of the fighting spirit of the garden.
People like that about us.
We also did things in the tech side like PBT and ERC 721A.
A lot of people joined the community because they love the tech innovation side.
We've also done IRL immersive events and people brought their friends plus ones and some of
them joined because they're like, wait, these events are dope.
I want more of this.
We've also done things like PBT and Golden Skateboard.
And people are like, wow, that broke the record for the most expensive skateboard ever sold.
Like that's sick.
I want to see more of that.
And so as we've done these drops across the board, you know, people joined for different
reasons.
And now when, you know, we have a mishap or a misstep, people are like, okay, floor price
is going down.
I want more of what I came here for.
I want more jackets or I want more events.
I want more digital products.
I want more tokens.
And so I think this is a result of us not concisely communicating our long-term vision
and roadmap yet, right?
We've done a lot of very cool brand drops.
So the brand is cool, right?
People feel like Azuki stands for something, but what is that big thing that we're all striving
to work hard for?
I think a lot of the community members feel like, you know, I'm creating for the garden.
I might be, you know, hosting spaces or creating merch or getting commissioned art or connecting
people together.
And, you know, I want to know what the long-term vision is because I'm getting tired, honestly,
right?
It's a long, fair market.
Floor price is going down.
I'm tired.
So where's this all going?
That's completely valid.
And so it's up to the team now to come out and say, this is our long-term vision.
This is the roadmap.
This is how we plan on rewarding the community.
And this is how we can create a sustainable ecosystem where we can create this anime IP
together.
And so that is coming.
We've taken a long time to get there because we don't want to rush this thing, right?
This big bet.
It needs to really make sense.
It needs to be sustainable.
We're not the project, the type of project to really look at the current meta and say,
yeah, let's just copy that.
I think there are a lot of different takeaways and insights that we can glean from the current
metas.
And a lot of it does make sense, right?
Otherwise, it wouldn't be working.
But for us, we've always taken things from a first principles approach of what makes sense
for Izuki.
That's why we had a vision on day one.
It was on the mind map.
Remember, like no other project had a vision back then.
It was just, here's the art.
All right, let's go.
So when we do things, we want to make sure it makes sense, right?
And so, yeah, that's how we want to balance innovation with the demands of the community.
I think it's as much of an art as it is a science.
But we've been around for a couple of years, right?
I think we have a good sense of what the community is feeling.
We can do a much better job on the communication side.
But the community team, Dem, Rose, A's, myself, we are reading everyone's comments every single
day.
I'm having calls with holders, not just large collectors, but also after Elementals, I've
been on two trips to Asia.
I've met holders that own Beans or Just a Bobu or many Izukis.
I've listened to all the different archetypes and kind of what their expectations are.
And so we have a good grasp on where the community stands and where we go from here.
So, yeah, it's definitely not easy balancing the demands and expectations, but it is the
job of the team and especially me as a founder in this space, right?
So I think improvements are being made there and I'm looking forward to just doing a much
better job of communicating and to show you guys where a big bet is.
Man, I love that.
And you just reminded me, it is or about to be the two, if it's not already, the two year
anniversary of Izuki, right?
On the 12th of January, about a month away.
Look at that.
Look at that.
Let's fucking go.
Put some respect on that name.
No, I'm just kidding.
Sorry.
Sorry.
My immediate reaction is almost comedic relief and it's a problem.
I know I have to work on it.
But real quick, I want to throw it over to AJ.
AJ, I know you got to go.
So I'm going to throw it over to you very quickly and then we're going to go ahead and
start throwing around some more.
Thanks, guys.
Hey, it's nice to meet you, Zagabon.
So I have a few things I just wanted to say real quick.
And I have a question.
But one thing I wanted to say, I've been on the kind of outer rim of the garden, right?
I came in.
I mean, I've always been supportive.
I'm, you know, space's host from a long time ago.
But I came in during Elementals and the Beans.
And I just want you to know, I know Sansa said that, you know, Azuki Privilege.
Well, I never felt like I was on the outside of the garden, you know?
So I just want you to know that on the community side, they've been amazing.
And I just think you should know that from the express for shot, every space, everybody,
everyone's just like, I always felt so welcomed.
And now, so me, I do feel a part of the community.
You're talking about digital and physical.
My question is, in IRL garden, in real life garden, semi-regular basis, SoCal, is anyone
up for that?
Because I could provide a location.
So I'm just like, everyone is bringing something to the table.
That's what I could bring.
So I just wanted to offer that, throw that out there in SoCal.
I had a meeting today.
Love it.
Yeah.
Chris was there recording.
We had a couple of dudes from the Utes.
It was just beautiful, man.
So that's what I like to offer.
I wanted to just say, like, congrats on what's going on.
A lot of people still support you.
Yeah.
I think, yeah, I always have to get reminded, I think, you know, because I always focus
on how we can improve and what we can do better.
And, you know, I've become friends with, you know, close friends with, you know, some
holders over the past couple of years.
And when we meet in person, you know, Min X Dynasty, he does a great job of reminding
me that, like, look, you've really created something that's magical for a lot of folks,
including myself.
And so, you know, thank you for that.
And, yeah, so just appreciate you coming up and saying that.
It does mean a lot.
I think in terms of your idea of meeting up in SoCal, I mean, we're in L.A.
That's where the team is based.
And a holder recently mentioned, like, wait, have you guys ever done a meetup in L.A.?
Like, it's your home turf, right?
And we're like, I actually don't think we've done an official one because, like, the team,
like, we just go to work and then, you know, we're just working the whole time and then
we go home.
But, yeah, definitely down to meet more holders and, you know, get something going.
So, great idea.
Love it.
All right.
All right.
I'll talk with you later on that.
I'll step down.
I appreciate y'all.
Yeah, AJ, I appreciate you and the place that you showed earlier today.
It looks sick.
Makes me want to fly back out to L.A.
Come on down.
Yeah.
Well, here's the problem, though.
White B already agreed to let me go on a 10-day trip to Tokyo solo.
And then the month before that, I'm going to Paris for two days for NFT NYC.
I'm sorry, for NFT Paris.
That's silly.
And then we got NYC the month after.
So, there's a lot of traveling happening next year with a lot of other stuff happening
all at once.
Yeah, bro, while you talk, I'm taking a flight to NFT New York City in Basel.
Okay.
Don't forget NFT Dubai in April.
I'm a part of that.
You guys, Azuki's are invited.
Yeah.
You're invited.
Yeah.
He can go.
I appreciate that.
But I'm not going to Dubai, bro.
That's fine.
That flight's way too fucking expensive.
But I'll be there in spirit.
Real quick, I'm going to let up someone who literally changed their PFP to a bean.
AJ, I appreciate you.
I'm just going to start.
Remember, we got a full panel.
So, we're going to get some people up here as we go on.
That doesn't mean the request button disappears.
So, if you find a spot open, you want to request to come back up, we will bring you back
As long as you change your PFP to a bean, like Doc Doofu's absolute legend.
Welcome to the garden, baby.
I can't imagine.
I can't imagine.
Just, you know, like content creation.
You're like, ah, you know what?
Fuck it.
I'm changing my PFP so I can get some preferred treatment.
Get some respect on my name to get up here on stage.
So, real quick.
We're going to start throwing it around a little bit to the whole.
Ellen left the stage.
I feel bad.
I really wanted to get there.
But, AJ sparked a whole thing for Zianna as someone who has also hosted in a Zuki event
before in Vegas.
Skate the gallery.
If you didn't know, you should know.
Or more so, you should be keeping your fucking years peeled for the next one that's going
to be released.
But, Zianna, I'm going to throw it over to you.
And then we're going to start circling around to the other speakers.
So, first off, huge, awesome congratulations, Shaka and Zanda.
Proud of you boys.
Won't say it enough.
Zagabon, it's always a pleasure to hear you speak and more so share a stage.
So, on top of what AJ was saying, as someone who has actually had the pleasure of throwing
in a Zuki event on behalf of just trying to get the community together, what do our IRL
events look like for you guys coming up in the next year or two?
I know that you guys have just done an incredible job with just reaching out to the Asian community.
You have Tokyo coming up in March.
What does it look like for March moving forward?
And is it a possibility for you all to consider community members wanting to seriously get
involved to really help you guys launch these for the betterment and the growth of your community moving forward?
Yes, good question.
I think events are great because, and I was just talking to Steam Boy about this.
I asked him how it's been working in the Web3 space for a couple years now.
And, you know, he said he, like, everything comes to life when he meets holders in person.
And the last event that we were at both together was at the Garden Tour Hong Kong event.
And Steam Boy was giving a little speech and he was like, yeah, I was born in Hong Kong.
I'm so excited to be here.
I'm like, I didn't even know you were born in Hong Kong.
You know, like, I'm learning more things about you through this event.
And he was just so amped to meet everyone.
So, yeah, I think seeing people in person and then making a connection that way is just really
helps amplify the network of dope people that we've created.
And that was the impetus of the Azuki Garden Tour, which is happening right now.
The series of events that started with Azuki Hong Kong and Azuki Taipei just happened a couple
of nights ago and will be in Melbourne on, I think it's a second week of January.
After that, we'll be in Shanghai and then Tokyo.
And so some of those dates are still being worked out.
And the cool thing about Garden Tour is these are done in collaboration with the local communities.
And we are helping them by providing resources, logistics, you know, operational help.
And, Ziana, since, you know, you work on planning these events, like, you know, it's very logistically
intensive.
And so, yeah, would love your help if you're up for it for some of these future events that
we have coming up that I just listed.
And we just want to take some insights and learnings from these Garden Tour events on,
you know, how we can make them bigger and better going forward.
Because, you know, we've historically done one big event every year.
First one was in, you know, L.A.
That one wasn't huge by any means.
That was our very first event ever.
I think we had about 300 or so people.
And then we did one in New York into the alley, which is an immersive build out.
And then we did one most recently in Las Vegas.
And a lot of people can't make those, right?
Just one event out of the year.
If you can't make it that day or that weekend, then, you know, you can't attend anything
Ozuki related for a whole year, I think.
Yeah, it kind of sucks.
So I think spreading them out, working on them with the community is something that we're
trying out.
And then we'll take some learnings and then go from there.
Thank you so much.
I actually just recently moved to L.A., so I'll definitely try to connect with AJ and
see if there's something that we can put together.
I know that.
I don't know, again, if you guys have anything officially planned for NFT L.A.
coming up, but would love to continue getting the community together here locally or anybody
who's traveling during that time.
So thank you so much for your answer.
Sanza, guys, if you need to, just kick me down and bring somebody else up.
Yeah.
Yeah.
No, don't worry.
I'll fly over to L.A., help you out.
You know, I could I could spare maybe two days.
Now, got to be like, hey, what?
Got to get on this plane.
They need me over there on over on the West Coast, East Coast, Best Coast.
But, you know, got to get over there and help them out over there.
So, yeah, don't worry.
I'll meet you.
I'll meet you in a few days.
It's fine.
Anyway, it means the Yana have seen each other like six times in the last year.
We're so sick of each other.
You guys don't even know.
But I love you.
I appreciate you.
And just just a reminder, once again, we're going to be moving around the speakers a little
bit.
But we are technically at the one hour mark.
And I need to ask Zaga just really quickly.
I'm not putting you on the spot.
Just want to make sure we have a proper, you know, closing to the spaces.
Um, what's your time restriction tonight?
Yeah, I got 10 more minutes.
Um, and then after got to go grocery shopping with, um, Ted Kimo, spent some quality time
together.
But, um, yeah, it's got a couple more questions.
Yeah.
How dare you have a confounders have life and still be successful?
I'm just kidding.
I'm just kidding.
No one take that seriously, please.
Yeah.
Our quality time is just me talking to her about a Zuki.
So have you heard of a Lord and Savior?
Zuki?
Oh, you have.
Okay.
Cool, cool, cool.
Um, that's actually really funny.
I did the same thing with my wife today.
I was like, I got the spaces tonight.
You know, she's like, oh, are you talking to that?
I'm like, yeah, yeah.
It's, you know, no big deal with the, with the founder of a Zuki.
She's like, oh, okay, cool.
And I'm like, you don't get it.
You'll never get it.
But anyway, uh, that being said, I do want to say this.
We'll probably try to force Zaga back, back on here for part two, considering how many
hands are up.
And I do want to take a moment here to remind everyone that tomorrow is Tuesday, which does
mean that it is the garden talk, uh, edition of the espresso shot.
So that means we highlight Zuki a little bit more as best as we can.
Uh, we have Rose who's chilling in the audience right now as co-host, uh, sometimes has her
coffee.
Most of the time doesn't and hates me for it, but it's all good.
We work it out every single time.
Uh, so that being said, I do want to take a moment here to throw it over to another, uh,
holder who has also been here for a minute and waiting.
Yogi, you got your hand up chilling with that beautiful PFP, my man.
How we doing?
Yeah.
What up, dude?
Uh, new to a Zuki, uh, glad to meet you all.
Um, really excited to be a part of this community.
Um, no, dude, I, I came out, I was surprised to see this space.
And so that I jump up and, and share some feedback, you know, appreciate Vaughn, uh, seeing
Vaughn and, and Basel is that I got curious how you guys think about, um, you know, kind
of, you know, you've obviously, you know, we've had some rough patches over the last two
years.
And, you know, obviously if a bunch of people are sticking down, how does a Zuki kind of
go from this, you know, secretive empire that delivers dope shit to something that's
a bit more approachable and connected.
Cause my, you know, we obviously like, at least myself and some of our members, you know, have
very different views on a Zuki.
Some of us are very close to like, we know what's going on a little bit, you know, we have
a, you know, deeper conviction.
We have deeper bags, so, you know, it's not as risky, but.
You know, for me, uh, I think this is the first event since Vegas that I had gone to
and there's like three recurring, you know, themes that I've seen in the ecosystem.
You know, a lot of us love a Zuki.
It's the only project we really connect with, you know, we'll support every other project
out there.
Uh, but a Zuki is kind of what makes us, you know, the culture or the community at
resonates.
You know, we all, like I was messaging the spirit dials like, yo guys, I feel so weird being
at an NFT event without other Zuki dudes.
Um, and the number two, there are a lot of quiet a Zuki whales out there that like have
10, 20 of these and they don't ever talk about it.
They don't have a PFP.
And, and for them, it's just like, you know, how do we feel that, you know, the team hears
us, you know, they're here, you know, mixing with other projects and founders like, you know,
golden skateboard was a huge thing.
Why didn't we have a pop-up at Basel with that to show people what a Zuki is.
So just curious on like how you kind of think about that.
Cause I think a lot of people love a Zuki.
They don't want it to go anywhere, but they don't know how to, how to approach it.
So just, just curious.
Yeah, that's a, that's a really great question.
And, and I absolutely resonate with that because historically the team has been fairly secretive
and we don't communicate as much.
And the reason for that, you know, I think in the very beginning the idea was, look, we
want to just drop dope shit, right?
Surprise and delight.
It's a, it's a method that was fitting for the space at the time.
Now, as time goes on, things change.
And at this point, you know, what's funny is like a couple of years ago, right?
Everyone was using a PFP.
No one was doxing themselves with pictures.
And then fast forward, like today, you know, I just saw last week, people are like, oh,
this is me.
This is also me, right?
Like everyone's posting pictures of themselves now because look, we're becoming more of an
intimate community.
And I'm talking about the NFT space as a whole, not just Zuki.
Right.
And so this whole like secretive thing, like it, it's not what we intend to do today, but
it's a result of us playing catch up on the communication and marketing side of what we
And, you know, first and foremost, before we get more transparent and showcase kind of
what we're doing and connect with other projects and give more of an inside look on how the
sausage is made, so to speak.
We first need to be very excited about the big bet that we're going to make and the long
term vision and communicating that with the rest of the community.
But when that happens, we have plans right now.
So we're filming some behind the scenes documentary style videos.
We're going to start releasing those to give more of an inside look on, you know, so we have
an anime series coming up, right?
What does that process look like?
Who's doing what?
How do we engage the community as we do these things?
We also haven't done very many collaborations with other NFT projects, because I think the
culture of the team and, you know, and this and this might go back to even just Asian culture
is like, you know, we're more reserved.
We kind of keep to ourselves.
We work hard and then we release stuff and then we hope it resonates with people.
But I think Web3 is all about collaboration.
It's about transparency.
It's about showing people kind of what we're all working on.
I completely agree and I get that.
We're making updates to how we do things that allows for us to do more of that.
And so for me, it's like it's not like I don't want to be doxed or anything like that.
Like I'm showing up at events now and would love to be more involved.
Like recently in the in the recent months, I've just been so focused internally with
the team on, OK, look, our plan on dropping these doing these drops that are more so for
brand building, right, isn't working the way that we intended.
And obviously, Elementals was a huge shock to the system.
The definition of insanity is just keep trying the same things and, you know, hoping that
you get different results.
And so we had to think about how do we change things up and that starts with a long term
roadmap that actually makes sense.
So focus on that first next step, communicate it and then we'll be out there.
We want to be more transparent.
We'll be at more events, partnering with different projects, showing up at conferences and things
like that.
I really believe in that direction.
So I'm glad you brought it up.
And yeah, it's in the works.
No, I appreciate it.
I think, yeah, I think it's it's it's all the little things that build up to something
bigger.
And it's about framing.
And we we know Web3 needs a lot of handholding.
And when you when there's silence, a lot of toxicity, Bruce.
And so, you know, controlling the narrative is important.
I think you have a bunch of people that are diehards in Izuki, maybe not Ding-a-Lang.
I don't know what his deal is, you know.
But, you know, besides him, you know, I think there's a lot of people that like it here.
I think that the tough challenge for you guys is going to be how do you do it with your
broad ambitions, given that you have three different demographics.
And I think that's probably what made Elementals the toughest is that you have OG collectors
that are a bit wealthier.
Then you have a more entry class asset and you have beans and then kind of creating that
funnel brand building and kind of bringing it all together and then tying it into a narrative
in a way such that people can have imagination.
But that imagination leads to something that they believe in while still resonating with
their journey.
So best of luck.
And I'm sure we'll be talking soon at some point.
But thanks.
Yeah, absolutely.
I'm going to jump down.
Yeah, the one thing I'll, you know, add in response to that is it's about clarity in
the narrative.
And it's also about repetition of that narrative.
And that requires the team, myself included, to be out there, to be communicating it.
And it's not something that we've done a good job of, especially and I'll be honest, you
know, after the FUD last year, I did not enjoy spaces.
I did not enjoy going out in public because, you know, I was getting death threats from certain
communities and, you know, just things like that where it was like, this is so toxic, right?
I'm going to focus on just building and showing that we're capable of creating good products
and rewarding our community.
And so we went ahead and did that.
But that's in the past, right?
And so, you know, it feels like I'm back.
I'm out here.
I love this, you know, energizing feeling right now of just the community getting together.
And yeah, so we'll have that narrative.
It takes repeating that narrative.
It takes me being out there, fully understand that.
And I'm feeling energized.
I'm feeling motivated.
And so, yeah, for all the haters that were like, you know, yeah, we got Zagabon.
You know, we shot him down.
He's dead.
He can't come back.
We came back once.
We're going to come back again and again and again and again.
So, yeah, I totally get your point.
And I just can't wait to just prove everyone wrong once again.
I love it.
I love it.
Okay.
Oh, no.
So why don't we prove people wrong again?
Zagabon, I got a question that, you know, I know that you need to leave.
So I need to do this right now.
We have about 30k Azukis and 20k Beans.
Does that mean that Beans are the main characters?
Everyone is a main character.
There you go.
I didn't press the mute button, by the way.
That wasn't me.
I just heard.
I was making emojis.
Yeah, yeah, I know.
Real quick, Zagabon.
I know you have to go.
But I would feel really, really bad that someone literally changed their PFP and then lost their checkmark and didn't get a chance to ask the question.
Bring him up.
Well, he's here.
He's already here.
But real quick, and I want to apologize, Pestle, Waj.
I know you guys have been here.
And look, how about this?
I'll promise you guys to prioritize you on part two.
Don't worry about how I'm going to make it happen.
We're going to make it happen.
Zagabon doesn't know it yet, but I'm going to make it happen.
We'll prioritize you guys on the next one, I promise.
And everyone else.
Actually, you know what?
Let me take a screenshot right now.
I'm going to take a screenshot for all of you.
And also, Yogi, for someone who's new to the garden, that was a fantastic question of presentation.
I'm really, really happy to meet you.
Am I following?
Oh, look, I'm following you.
Wow.
You are such an influencer, man.
I'm so proud to meet you.
Hoping to meet you in IRL one day, man.
Sanzo, you call me an influencer one more time, I'm going to unfollow you.
Wow.
Kind of spoken like it.
Never mind.
Doc, let's throw it over to you, my man.
Thank you for changing your PIP.
Welcome to the garden.
How are you doing today?
I'm doing good.
Thank you very much, Sanzo.
Shotgun bringing me up.
I really appreciate it, dude.
I'm ready to go.
I'm going to make this quick.
I think you're going to like the question.
And thanks to Zagabon as well for taking the time.
And just give me the opportunity to ask this question.
So here's my question.
I'm interested in utility for the content creators, like ways to help the storytellers
to create maybe like visuals, maybe through tooling or maybe AI.
And here's why I'm asking this.
Like Shotgun, Sanzo, you guys put out like fire content.
But that art you put out, it's these incredible derivatives of the Azuki brand, but it takes
time.
It costs money.
It's, it's, you got to pay other people to do it.
Like it's not an easy task.
So are there any discussions with the team on ways to empower the content creators and
the storytellers in your community and like extend the brand in the process?
And if you haven't yet, I'm hoping I may have piqued your interest.
Yes, I think empowering storytellers is absolutely core to our vision, which is to co-create this
anime IP together.
It's just a matter of priorities and stack ranking everything against each other and sequencing
our rollouts.
You know, I think there's a lot of tooling resources that we can put together.
Absolutely.
We also have a thesis that with AI generated content, you know, and think about this as
a subset of user-generated content, the quality is going to get better and better rapidly to
the point where that it's indistinguishable from traditional created content.
And today, right, you need a certain set of skills, whether that's an artist or illustrator
or, you know, you render 3D art.
And, you know, those will still come into play in the future.
But for the average fan of an IP, as long as they have a crazy imagination, there will be
tooling out there that enable them to really put their creations into reality just simply
from, you know, text prompt, right, audio prompt, and they can spit out these, like,
awesome outputs of content.
And so I think the world is definitely trending in this direction.
And the IPs that can really capture the value and the communities that can capture the value
from the content that's being created by this whole new category of creators that's coming
very soon is going to be victorious.
There are going to be IPs that succeed in this future, and there will be IPs that fail
who, you know, do not adapt to these changes.
And so that's why Web3 IP is so important and will fundamentally change how new IPs are being
created because there will be on-chain ways to reward creators that actually create content
and contribute value back into the IP.
And that attribution was hard to really get in the traditional IP world because with closed
IPs, you know, you can make something for Harry Potter and you can post a video on it,
get a few million views.
But if you try to monetize it, right, chances are you'll probably get taken down.
And so it really disincentivizes you to contribute to, you know, traditional IPs.
And, yeah, that's why Hollywood is struggling, right?
No one wants to invest hundreds of millions of dollars into new IPs.
And the top films in Hollywood now are all sequels and remakes and Fast and Furious 10
and, you know, all that stuff.
And we've had enough of it, right?
We want new original stuff, and that's going to come from Web3 IPs.
It's going to come from you guys as creators.
And so I am excited to empower creators.
It's on our list of things to do, and I'm excited to share more going into next year.
Absolutely nailed it.
I appreciate that response.
I would have a follow-up question around AI and open systems and, you know,
muddying the waters around IP and who owns what once they see the image on their platform.
I won't even go there, but maybe next time.
Again, I appreciate your time.
Yeah, man.
Doc, you just – that whole question that you just had on the follow-up,
that looked like a whole entire space just on its own.
So, yeah.
Bing, bing, bing brains, baby.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
But Zaga is about seven minutes late for his grocery trip,
and I refuse to keep this man from his free-roaming organic Fast and Furious groceries
over there in L.A. with the kale smoothie that comes for free when you check out at the grocery store.
So, L.A., I see you.
I know you.
You – we're so much more alike than you think in New Jersey, baby.
I promise.
But Zaga, I fucking love you, man.
Thank you so much for your time tonight.
I hope – and you don't have to answer this, but I'm going to get you back from part two,
whatever it takes.
So, for everyone, I took a screenshot that you got your hand up.
I'm going to prioritize you next time, I promise, if you want to come through for that.
But once again, I really enjoyed this show, and I hope you did too.
I hope you learned a little bit.
You laughed a little bit.
Maybe even you cried a little bit.
But, Zaga, I want to give you a chance for closing remarks.
We're going to take over to Shotgun, and then I'll play us out.
Hey, thanks, everyone, for having me.
Love you guys.
Love this community.
If you're in the community, you know, look, we've been through a lot.
But, you know, we're still here.
And a lot of exciting things coming.
And, yeah, I just love the culture that we've created.
And for those that are not in the community yet, yeah, we'd love to have you.
So, yeah, let's do this again soon.
This was fun.
Appreciate you guys.
Let's go.
Bullish on Zaga Daddy.
I mean, Zaga Mom.
Shaka, go ahead, my man.
Closer remarks from you.
Bro stole my whole flow.
But, dude, I'm really, really happy with tonight's space.
Not going to lie.
It's 11.20 p.m. in Brazil.
But it feels like it's 10 a.m.
You know, like I'm properly caffeinated and ready to go, like, 30 more questions, 50 more.
I can't just keep going.
Like, Sansa knows, and that's why he stops me, you know, because otherwise I would prevent Zaga Mom from having a life and I'm not doing it.
But I really wanted to thank each and every single one of you who pulled up.
You know, this was one of those spaces that, like, probably me and Sansa, we've been looking forward, like, for a minute because we definitely look up to the man.
And, you know, as Izuki lovers ourselves, as Garden lovers ourselves, like, that's what we do these things for.
Like, we've really been here for these moments.
And, dude, just really, really grateful.
Thank you, Zaga.
If you know anybody in South America that's trying to do something, definitely link me up with them.
Because I'm out here trying to find Izuki MFers down here to actually start something.
Maybe a South American community out there.
Just put it out there.
Maybe some of y'all, you know, show the hell up.
But that's pretty much all.
Thank you all very much.
And I'll see you all tomorrow.
Absolutely.
Absolutely.
And if you guys don't already know, now you know.
Special Martini Shot.
We show up sometimes on Mondays at 8 p.m.
BSD when it works for everyone.
So, shout out to Zaga.
Getting your groceries.
And I do want to do a quick shout out to my boy, Vaughn, who's up here on stage.
He will be hosting Skaters of Web 3 tomorrow morning, 11 a.m., power hour type deal.
Don't miss it.
Make sure you get in there.
I pinned it to the Jumbotron so you can set your reminders.
And if you don't set your reminders, then I don't know what the fuck you're doing.
But I want to play an outro by Siredo.
Can I say one thing, bro?
Can I say one thing before this?
I just want to say, yo, Gordon, we are fucking out here.
I love it.
Vaughn is amazing.
I'm inside a car.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
I'm just going to go ahead and press it.
I'm not inside anywhere.
I'm out here, baby.
We out here.
We out here.
But I want to do the outro, Siredo and Play, one of our very own Garden community members
and a fucking OG.
But I want to say this one more time to everyone here.
You could have gone to any spaces tonight, but you came to this one.
And I hope you enjoyed the fuck out of it just as much as we did.
Let's go ahead and play it out.
We'll see you in the morning.
Tieno, kid, on play.
I don't want to let it go, I got diamond hands, I won't hold your hand, why would you think
I'd hold your bags, throw my hands, throw it back, I can't surpass, I can rock in Tokyo,
I'm busy shaking hands, okay baby, I'm popping paparazzi on my ass, it's a band, it's not
a project baby, I dropped out of class, drop it, top it, shorty, top it, top it, in the
ass class, I'm cool, I bring it, cast it, when I'm on the beat, know that it's a homicide,
I see nula, I'm attached, love it, I'm a head, used to jump off the porch, ain't no car slide,
switch the bands, that's a dealer, what's the car slide, I was in the streets for real, but
I was not.
I love you all, have a beautiful night, or if you're just waking up, enjoy the fuck out
of your day, and I want you to be grateful that you woke up today, or that you're going
to sleep, you get the rest, make sure you touch some grass, eat away, I love you.
