An unfair advantage: Random thoughts on web3

Plan Your Next #106

👋 Good morning from Los Angeles! I'm Nate Kadlac, and this is #106 of Plan Your Next. A Sunday newsletter that connects design, creativity, and how you prepare for your next thing.

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💡 What’s new?

🖌 Drawing for Writers was so much fun to co-host. Salman and I managed to throw 4 feeds through a piece of software neither of us had fully tested, and it all worked flawlessly. And the best part, people were inspired to start drawing immediately. If you missed it, you can check out the recording and show notes here.

🎨 How do you define and apply your visual style? Knowing the why is foundational to making confident design decisions, for yourself or your business. This is the last week to join Approachable Design 5, which is held over the weekend of May 21-22. Enroll now.

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An illustration for Sumeru

In the early 2000s, if you were able to build a single website, you could charge money without having any other proof. You would just point to the one website you built and that was good enough.

You might even be able to barter your ‘professional web design skills’ for an old BMW. This actually happened.

In 2008, when the iPhone SDK was announced for developers, you could build a native iPhone app. If you built one, you might have agencies asking to use your portfolio of one to pitch to clients they were also experts in building iPhone apps.

Bus Brain was designed and developed by Andy Atkinson and I

And now in web3, uploading a few jpgs to OpenSea and creating an NFT collection gives you an experience 99% of others don’t have.

If you’re early in what’s next, you have an unfair advantage.

But because of this low barrier to entry, there’s a chaotic mess. It’s simultaneously inspiring and annoying.

Take a peek into the sea of real estate agents. It takes less than a baseball season to attain a real estate license, and 40% of all agents don’t even sell homes regularly.

So, it attracts all types, like the annoying ones below.

This is all to say, the good comes with the bad.

But I’m here for the good.

If you have at all dabbled in what we know at web3 or crypto, you might have come away with a feeling of, “What the hell is going on?!”

Lately, I’ve felt that way as I've fumbled my way through various NFT projects, DeFi, Play-to-Earn, and even Move-to-Earn.

Personally, I haven’t built anything yet as the flood of information is astounding, and there are more ways to participate than building a single website or app.

But that’s going to change as I’ve been listening, and getting my bearings on what interests me most.

It’s like putting my hand in a Vitamix blender hoping to stop the blade before it cuts me. That seems impossible at the moment, but here we are, throwing hands in blades.

Part of being early is having the confidence to listen to your gut, and being honest with what interests you. It’s hard to make a bad decision because any decision is better than none.

Indecision is what kills motivation.

You might think this is all a scam. It could be, but rarely does the train of innovation completely leave us all standing in the station.

If you have ever wanted to change direction in your career, the timing is momentous. Building something is better than sitting on the sidelines. And right now, having built something in web3 is the easiest way to prove you are at the edge of innovation.

This take couldn’t be more accurate.

Jovan Cicmil @CicmilJovan

Seeking senior web3 developer. Must have at least 7 weeks of experience.

⚡️ Two creative hits for you to check out next

👨‍💻 Watch the Netflix intro recreated with$30 of yarn

Kevin Parry @kevinbparry

I recreated the @netflix intro with $30 worth of yarn

👨‍💻 Why we crave software with style over branding
A brilliant breakdown of the longevity of style as a reason for connection.

Within this new state of the world, style communicates the software’s values and signals the type of person for whom it is intended — something that many tech brands today consistently fail to do. —Molly Mielke

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👋 See you next Sunday

If you’ve forgotten who I am, here’s a little bit about me. As always, my calendar is open to chat about your next adventure, crazy idea, or if you’re feeling creatively stuck.

Have a great week,

p.s. If you enjoyed this letter, would you please let me know by tapping on the heart below?