TL/DR with Key Insights:

The conversation covers topics such as podcasting, building an on-chain audience, the role of Bello as a no-code analytics platform, distribution and social insights, on-chain experiments and going viral, the integration of XMTP and social platforms, cross-chain challenges and solutions, participating in A16Z's Crypto Startup School, and the role of grants and accelerators. In this conversation, Adam Levy discusses his experience at A16Z's crypto startup school and the importance of building a supportive community. He also compares traditional education to emerging education in the crypto space. Additionally, he shares insights on the power of networking in the crypto industry and the value of creating content. The conversation concludes with a discussion on Bello's public product launch and plans.

Takeaways

• Building an on-chain audience is crucial for creators and businesses in the crypto space.

• Bello is a no-code analytics platform that helps users understand and engage with their on-chain audience.

• Distribution is a key challenge in Web3, and platforms like Farcaster and Lens are helping creators reach their audience.

• On-chain experiments, such as going viral and leveraging social insights, are emerging trends in the crypto space.

• Cross-chain interoperability is a challenge that needs to be addressed for the seamless transfer of data and value across different blockchains.

• Participating in accelerators like A16Z's Crypto Startup School can provide valuable mentorship, funding, and networking opportunities for early-stage projects.

• Grants play a crucial role in supporting developers and founders in the early stages of their projects. Building a supportive community is crucial for founders in the crypto industry.

• Traditional education may not always provide the necessary skills for success in crypto, but extracurricular activities and networking can be valuable.

• Networking in the crypto industry is often built through conferences, content creation, and providing value to others.

• Bello recently launched its public product and is focused on helping users better understand and engage with their on-chain audience.

Humpty Calderon welcomes Adam Levy, the co-founder of Bello, to an episode of the Oncahin Alpha series. Together, they delve into Levy's journey in the crypto space, from his explorations with NFTs to the inception of Bello, a platform poised to revolutionize how marketers harness the power of on-chain data.

Introducing Adam Levy

Levy's story began in 2017 when he became interested in Bitcoin due to an innate curiosity for the technology. His trajectory led him to cultivate crypto communities and content, culminating in the creation of the "Blockchain and Booze" podcast and eventually co-founding Bello. His recent work with NFTs highlighted the possibility of on-chain audience involvement, driving the creation of Bello as a solution to bridge the gap between Web 2 and Web 3 data insights. Levy discusses their experience with using NFTs to better understand their audience in the Web 3 space and the inspiration behind the creation of Bello, a no-code on-chain analytics platform. 

The Birth of Bello: Bridging Web 2 and Web 3

The topic revolves around Bello, a unique on-chain analytics platform designed to provide crypto marketers with actionable insights. Unlike traditional tools, Bello is a no-code approach, opening up access to critical data analytics inside the crypto ecosystem. 

Levy and Humpty discuss the value proposition of Bello, a platform designed to help crypto marketers discover actionable insights using on-chain data. Bello focuses on inspiring action by enabling users to distribute their messages through different channels, including XMP and linked Twitter handles. 

The process of utilizing Bello involves three steps. 

1. First, users define the audience they want to target by entering the platform and building a custom cohort using over 10 million profiles. 

2. Next, they are presented with comprehensive insights and metrics to generate ideas for engagement. 

3. Finally, they are empowered to engage their audience by broadcasting messages through Web 2 and Web 3 platforms. 

However, distribution is the Holy Grail of Web 3, and Bello acknowledges that accessing and understanding the data from transparent ledgers can be challenging. The platform's approach has evolved since its inception in 2022 to cater to a wide range of users and their questions about understanding various aspects of their audience and competition. The stakeholders, regardless of their differences in size, all have similar needs, and understanding trending topics like loyalty and engagement within specific communities can help guide the platform's strategy. 

Bello: Redefining On-chain Analytics

As more individuals build on-chain audiences, being able to analyze their followers is becoming increasingly essential. With a vast amount of public data available on Web3, Bello aims to provide actionable insights by contextualizing and labelling the information.

The growing value of social insights from on-chain data is highlighted, reflecting the exciting potential of decentralized social media platforms like Farcaster. Levy and Calderon emphasize how important it is for on-chain data to influence content strategies and raise audience engagement in the cryptocurrency space.

cryptosapiens.eth/lens

@CryptoSapiens_

As a sound creator, why haven't you tried distribution platforms on-chain?

@levychain, in his conversation with @thedatadood talks on the amazing benefits attached to using new distribution channels on-chain

See full pod now
youtu.be/eFKW_Er8ZKM?si…

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9:41 AM • Feb 21, 2024

They highlight how platforms like Lens and Farcaster are changing the social landscape in the crypto space and how understanding the percentage of users active on these Web3 social platforms and the communities they belong to can help creators reach and engage their audience effectively. They also mention the integration of new features on Farcaster and the release of new metrics and dashboards to help users gain insights into their followers' preferences and interests. From a creator's perspective, this information can be leveraged to create content around popular topics and engage with their audience more effectively. 

Previously, within the traditional financial data context, insights from wallet activities could help identify good traders and replicate their actions to potentially increase funds. However, the same concept can now be applied to social settings by analyzing on-chain data and social insights to improve content creation and audience engagement.

Levy discusses how on-chain data can inform content strategy and lead to better engagement with audiences in the crypto community. He gives examples of how he noticed increased downloads when he brings guests from Zora, an NFT platform, onto his podcast, and how Diana Chen from the Rehash podcast uses on-chain data to understand her audience and sell sponsorships. He also mentions the value of integrating on-chain messaging systems like XMTP and platforms like Warpcast and Lens in building and engaging Web 3 audiences, as they allow creators to communicate directly with their followers through their wallets and not be reliant on fragmented platforms or email addresses.

They discuss the importance of engaging and communicating with audiences on their terms, especially in the context of decentralized social media platforms and crypto marketing. They highlight the limitations of relying on centralized parties and the need to empower users to act on the data they've collected. Levy mentions XMTP as an example of a tool that allows users to reward their audience for collecting contracts and sending them unique offers. 

Web 3 Dynamics: Bridging Value and Identity

Levy compares the flywheel effect of Web 3 technology to the early days of Web 2 platforms like WhatsApp. According to him, Web 3's open networks, such as Ethereum, enable the dissemination of information and content creation in a more interconnected and natural way, allowing for value interlinking akin to small islands on the same network. He also discusses the concept of bridging value across different networks but expresses scepticism about the user experience of manually linking data between them, preferring a more automatic and seamless approach.

The conversation digs into the complex world of decentralized social platforms, pushing for user-centric engagement models and cross-chain identity solutions. Levy's thoughts shed light on the multi-chain future of cryptocurrency, emphasizing the importance of identity portability and data interoperability.

The discussion further revolves around the challenges of building data products in the crypto space, specifically addressing the cross-chain identity problem. Humpty expresses a belief in a multi-chain future, with Ethereum being the most expansive contender due to its developer support and philosophical permeation. He introduces the product Delegate, which allows users to link multiple wallets to one identity for seamless use across various platforms, including Ethereum and Solana. He underlines the importance of identity portability and data interoperability. 

Humpty explains that projects like Disco have partially solved the identification level of the cross-chain challenge by employing decentralized identifiers (DIDs) to tie various wallets, regardless of blockchain, and issuing self-sovereign, off-chain credentials for usage on specific blockchains. He briefly mentions his past project, Orange Protocol, which aimed to aggregate identities from multiple blockchains and issue NFTs on Ethereum and other chains for composability. Although not a complete solution, the adoption of such projects is still limited, and Humpty briefly touches on the challenge of getting users to onboard and link all their data.  

Education, Integration, and Crypto Accelerators

The discussion focused on the challenge of linking multiple identities on the blockchain and the importance of education and integration to address this issue. Humpty emphasizes that using decentralized identifiers (DIDs) can maintain privacy as the relationship between them remains hidden and only revealable by the user. Education is key to helping people understand this concept, and integration across different protocols can increase adoption. He also mentions ENS and DeFi protocols, such as the recently released Clusters by Delegate Call, as potential solutions. Levy shares a personal experience of applying to Ethereum's Ethereum Name Service (ENS) Class of 2021, emphasizing that the opportunity was a significant milestone for their project, Bello, and the benefits of mentorship, funding, and networking from the program.

Adam Levy shares his experiences with their early-stage company before joining Crypto Startup School (CSS), an accelerator program. After joining CSS, they gained their first paying customers, transforming their idea into a business. Levy also announces their involvement with Tachyon, a Consensys mesh accelerator, and the importance of grants in sustaining their development. 

Stay Connected: Final Thoughts and Resources

As the episode draws to a close, Adam Levy announces that they have finally launched their public product after being in private beta for 542 days. They have revamped their infrastructure, introduced self-service onboarding, and introduced pricing tiers, making the product accessible to a wider audience. Humpty also encourages listeners to engage their on-chain audience by visiting Bello and starting with a free search. For more advanced features, a 7-day free trial is available. The team will be present at ETH Denver for anyone who wants to connect in person.

In essence, the Onchain Alpha series tells an inspiring tale of exploration, invention, and empowerment in the cryptocurrency world. Through insightful conversations and creative initiatives like Bello, the path to a new era of crypto marketing is lit, bringing a new approach to how we view and interact with decentralized ecosystems.