As we discussed on a recent episode of 7-Figure Small, the use cases and utility for NFTs go so far beyond just getting a cartoon image to use as a profile picture.

This is actually the biggest mistake that many people new to learning about NFTs make when they see the exorbitant amounts of money that projects like Crypto Punks and the Bored Ape Yacht Club sell for. They assume it’s about the artwork, when that’s merely the top layer.

What really matters is everything going on beneath the surface in these super-exclusive communities that provide real benefits to their members.

Because that’s really what someone is buying when they purchase such an NFT: yes, they’re getting a unique jpeg that can signal social capital and even convey valuable IP rights; but more importantly they are getting entry and access into an online space that can provide networking, camaraderie, purpose, opportunity, fun, giveaways, and even collective revenue streams.

And sometimes, it’s not the community that comes first; it’s the NFT project — with a spontaneous community spinning up around it. Do some of these spontaneous communities turn out to be short-term mirage communities filled with speculators hoping to flip a jpeg for a quick profit?

Absolutely.

But when done right, these spontaneous communities can quickly become genuine, connected communities that carry the initial mission — and financial goals — of the NFT project’s founders beyond their wildest expectations.

In this case study conversation, which was originally a piece of premium content for Future Freedom members, Jerod talks with the founders of one such NFT project — CryptoDads. (Full disclosure, Jerod is a member of the CryptoDads community by virtue of owning multiple CryptoDads NFTs.)

Jerod stumbled upon CryptoDads after spending some time searching for an NFT project to get into, so he could see this spontaneous community building from the inside. As he explains, he immediately bought into this project because of the utility roadmap the founders had laid out, and because the big idea spoke to him on a personal level. The best of these NFT projects connect with members in at least one key component of their identity. CryptoDads hit him in two: his emerging interest in crypto, and his enduring joy and responsibility of being a dad.

And because this project made a similar connection with so many other like-minded people, as well as the inevitable speculators who are always looking for promising projects, its public sale of 10,000 NFTs ended within minutes, driving quite a bit of revenue for the founders, devs, designer, and investors. They also get a cut of each NFT when it is resold as well. Pretty interesting business model, right?

Also an extremely challenging one to pull off, as we discuss. But even if launching the next 10,000-mint pfp NFT project isn’t in the cards for you, it’s useful to understand why they can be so powerful in building spontaneous communities.

And with NFTs set to serve as unifying digital tokens for existing and emerging communities alike moving forward, understanding this phenomenon through the prism of a project that is making all the right moves early on will help ground your understanding of NFTs moving forward.

Links:

http://futurefreedom.com
http://cryptodadsnft.com
http://twitter.com/cryptodadsnft