1 00:00:00,660 --> 00:00:03,840 Tiffany: GM and welcome to episode six of Probably Nothing. 2 00:00:04,050 --> 00:00:17,220 I'm TZ CEO of islands, and together with my cohost Alexis Ohanian, we're uncovering how NFTs and web three are changing community commerce and content online by talking directly with the people building in the space. 3 00:00:17,490 --> 00:00:22,830 Our guest today is Bobby Hundreds co-founder and creator of the streetwear brand, The Hundreds. 4 00:00:23,100 --> 00:00:31,034 The Hundreds was founded in 2003, and in 2011 it was named as the fifth greatest street wear brand ever by complex magazine. 5 00:00:31,575 --> 00:00:38,325 Bobby is not only a successful creator and entrepreneur, but he's also an incredible writer, thinker, and community builder. 6 00:00:38,504 --> 00:00:48,330 His book, "This is not a T-shirt", and essays on a variety of topics are extremely thoughtful observations about community culture and other trends that shape our world. 7 00:00:48,510 --> 00:00:58,019 Earlier this year, Bobby and his partners from the hundreds launched the atom bomb squad project, which has traded over 12,000 ETH worth of NFTs today, making it one of the most successful NFT projects. 8 00:00:58,815 --> 00:01:06,285 We wanted to sit down with Bobby because he is one of the few people who has been able to successfully bridge the gap through web one, web two and web three. 9 00:01:06,825 --> 00:01:11,895 He brings a wealth of knowledge about building community and pioneering new trends as he's done for his whole career. 10 00:01:12,195 --> 00:01:20,925 Don't forget to like subscribe and share this on social media to help others learn more about web three, feel free to tag me @TZhongg and @AlexisOhanian. 11 00:01:21,345 --> 00:01:24,525 I hope you enjoy this conversation with the one and only Bobby Hundreds. 12 00:01:25,245 --> 00:01:27,720 Well, We're excited to have you here. 13 00:01:28,080 --> 00:01:33,430 Welcome to episode six with the one and only Bobby Hundreds. 14 00:01:33,700 --> 00:01:37,410 Do you want to introduce yourself? 15 00:01:37,440 --> 00:01:41,190 I mean, we know a little bit about you or a lot actually, but... 16 00:01:41,470 --> 00:01:44,759 Alexis: A lot don't be weirded out. 17 00:01:44,910 --> 00:01:45,750 We know a lot. 18 00:01:47,220 --> 00:01:47,850 Tiffany: Wow. 19 00:01:47,910 --> 00:01:49,440 That wasn't creepy at all. 20 00:01:51,149 --> 00:01:52,080 Alexis. 21 00:01:53,670 --> 00:01:55,950 Bobby: Um, I don't know. 22 00:01:55,980 --> 00:01:56,910 Where do I begin? 23 00:01:57,030 --> 00:01:59,220 I don't know what, w w who am I? 24 00:01:59,310 --> 00:02:00,630 What are, who are we? 25 00:02:00,750 --> 00:02:02,290 Who are we? 26 00:02:03,230 --> 00:02:04,070 Alexis: Thats profound. 27 00:02:04,140 --> 00:02:09,675 Bobby: What is this because how I would have answered this question a year ago before NFTs, right. 28 00:02:09,675 --> 00:02:14,055 And before all this ha- like that would have been a completely different answer. 29 00:02:14,175 --> 00:02:18,075 Tiffany: Um, so now with NFTs, what's, what's the, what's the new answer? 30 00:02:20,175 --> 00:02:33,810 Bobby: Well, I mean, I guess it's still, I, as far as me being an artist and illustrator, writer, streetwear guy, uh, author, I'm still all those things, but, um, I don't know what my job is anymore. 31 00:02:33,810 --> 00:02:42,690 And it's something that I've, I still say, I say it all the time, especially the younger people who are seeking some type of advice or guidance. 32 00:02:42,690 --> 00:02:46,050 I'm like, I have no idea what I want to be when I grow up. 33 00:02:46,530 --> 00:02:49,980 And this last year for most people. 34 00:02:50,775 --> 00:02:54,105 I know that have immersed themselves in this space. 35 00:02:54,495 --> 00:03:14,430 They went from having a regular day job, a consistent job like myself, where they were known and identified as one thing and are now saying I pretty much allocate the entirety of myself to NFTs web three, de-centralization trying to figure out what this next thing is for all of us. 36 00:03:14,430 --> 00:03:22,640 And so I'm a community builder and I guess I'm just a, uh, I'm here for the conversation and just show up every day for the conversation. 37 00:03:22,740 --> 00:03:30,690 Tiffany: Identity is interesting now with webs three, because I think it also allows people work and jump in between so many different projects as well. 38 00:03:31,260 --> 00:03:39,120 So it's like to your point, a short bio is harder to have now because it's, it's so diverse. 39 00:03:39,780 --> 00:03:40,320 Bobby: Totally. 40 00:03:40,400 --> 00:03:59,710 I apologize for interrupting, but it just seems that the things that intent and emphatic about a year ago, especially two years ago are from another time and from a distant planet and just seemed very, almost obsolete or antiquated in comparison to what we're building right now. 41 00:03:59,950 --> 00:04:10,330 And, um, I don't know what that, I feel like no matter what industry you're in, if you're delving into this technology and the opportunities that can afford. 42 00:04:11,085 --> 00:04:12,615 Whatever you were doing in the past. 43 00:04:12,645 --> 00:04:22,695 It's not that it's dead, but it might find a newer second life in, in this future that we're, we're trying to figure out. 44 00:04:22,695 --> 00:04:25,935 So it just like the old way of doing things. 45 00:04:26,205 --> 00:04:29,655 It just seems so old, not, not a year old or two years old. 46 00:04:29,655 --> 00:04:32,415 Now it seems like that was from 20 years ago. 47 00:04:32,985 --> 00:04:38,205 That's how much information I feel has been passed around over the last 12 months. 48 00:04:38,685 --> 00:04:39,525 Tiffany: It's hard to go back. 49 00:04:39,555 --> 00:04:41,655 Bobby: It's impossible to unring that bell. 50 00:04:41,975 --> 00:04:44,300 We'll never be able to unsee what I've seen. 51 00:04:44,330 --> 00:04:44,690 Right. 52 00:04:44,990 --> 00:04:47,570 Alexis: Well, and so what, what is that specifically? 53 00:04:47,570 --> 00:04:51,920 Because you've been a culture creator and curator for a really long time. 54 00:04:52,040 --> 00:05:03,940 And I think you all represent the first real NFT project that like, I think bridges a lot of cultural intersections that is not pure Internet. 55 00:05:04,090 --> 00:05:10,570 That is actually has authenticity and legitimacy in like streetwear culture in so many other parts. 56 00:05:10,600 --> 00:05:19,330 Like I, I actually believe, and you all are maybe the exception that proves the rule, or this is what I'd like to dig into. 57 00:05:19,540 --> 00:05:26,950 I actually think having a legacy brand is weirdly a liability in web three, because you feel like there's something to lose. 58 00:05:27,765 --> 00:05:47,745 Because, and this is where you're seeing video game companies right now terrified at the prospect, even social media companies terrified at the prospect of adapting or adopting rather web three may because their user base is upset, maybe because, well, for all kinds of reasons, but how have you brought your original community, the true believers along for this ride. 59 00:05:47,745 --> 00:05:50,805 What are the things that you all have had to think about and do that? 60 00:05:50,805 --> 00:06:00,675 Like, if I were starting just a simple profile pic project tomorrow, I wouldn't have to think about, because I wouldn't have an audience that already sort of loved my brand and everything else. 61 00:06:01,005 --> 00:06:04,275 Bobby: It's- so it's Alexis, everything you said is very accurate. 62 00:06:05,039 --> 00:06:21,390 We came into this space, thinking that because we have a legacy and a history where we have experience, um, having built this brand over the last 18 years, that would be to our greatest advantage and in many ways it is. 63 00:06:21,390 --> 00:06:26,039 And, and the ways of look, we, you have trust built into the system. 64 00:06:26,039 --> 00:06:28,260 We have a, something to lose. 65 00:06:28,260 --> 00:06:30,479 And so this isn't a cash grab for us. 66 00:06:31,705 --> 00:06:35,995 All of these other NFT projects are trying to move into being brands. 67 00:06:36,145 --> 00:06:46,765 You know, whether it's through producing soft goods, merchant apparel, to establishing infrastructure of a company and, and figuring out how staffing works management. 68 00:06:46,795 --> 00:06:48,535 And we already have all of that. 69 00:06:48,625 --> 00:06:50,695 And so if you're going to bet on anyone. 70 00:06:51,480 --> 00:06:55,860 You know, if you're gonna, if you're going to collect anyone's project, why wouldn't it be ours? 71 00:06:55,890 --> 00:06:58,590 The artwork comes with a rich history. 72 00:06:58,710 --> 00:07:05,760 There's already associations tied to most of the art people have been collecting them since they were children around the world. 73 00:07:06,030 --> 00:07:07,920 If there's a strong, emotional connection. 74 00:07:08,250 --> 00:07:18,080 So all of these attributes of the hundreds and our experience and our knowledge, we were bringing to the table where like, this is all to our benefit, but. 75 00:07:18,955 --> 00:07:39,960 What we underestimated and I think didn't necessarily appreciate as much to now is that we are also entering and treading into a space where all of those things were not necessarily antithetical, but weren't exactly the most conducive to a web three philosophy, right? 76 00:07:39,990 --> 00:07:46,680 Because there are founder led companies, founder led brands that were established around essentially being walled gardens. 77 00:07:46,680 --> 00:07:47,520 Like these gaming company. 78 00:07:48,085 --> 00:07:54,594 And that was how the philosophy went, especially during web2, but what people also don't realize. 79 00:07:54,594 --> 00:07:57,685 Maybe if they're new to the hundreds are to us. 80 00:07:58,044 --> 00:08:03,114 And they're learning about us really just on Adam Bomb Squad is that we're actually a web one company. 81 00:08:03,265 --> 00:08:08,455 Uh, we are entirely founded on decentralized principles. 82 00:08:08,515 --> 00:08:17,065 And we went through web too, but I never really felt comfortable in what to, or felt like we were our true realized selves in web two. 83 00:08:17,065 --> 00:08:21,175 It never really necessarily aligned, especially with social cause we're really built on blogs. 84 00:08:21,385 --> 00:08:27,355 And the way that our initial blogging system was set up was that it was my direct voice with the people. 85 00:08:27,415 --> 00:08:29,995 And then we gave, gave the people their own blogs. 86 00:08:30,085 --> 00:08:32,275 And so it was, we were all on the same page. 87 00:08:32,775 --> 00:08:35,325 And me growing up in the punk and the hardcore scene. 88 00:08:35,865 --> 00:08:37,215 I didn't want the stage. 89 00:08:37,245 --> 00:08:40,635 I wanted to be on the floor in the mosh pit with everyone else. 90 00:08:40,665 --> 00:08:42,765 And the microphone gets shared and passed around. 91 00:08:42,825 --> 00:08:52,095 I just didn't have the means or the technological know-how on how we could all participate and rise up together. 92 00:08:52,095 --> 00:08:57,045 And so I was doing it from within our brand and other brands trying to establish our community. 93 00:08:57,105 --> 00:08:59,475 And so if there's any web to. 94 00:09:00,205 --> 00:09:01,595 We're not even a web to brand. 95 00:09:01,595 --> 00:09:09,695 If there's any web to company that I feel is not only sympathetic to what's happening with web three and decentralization, but really embodies that spirit. 96 00:09:09,695 --> 00:09:10,745 I think it's us. 97 00:09:11,015 --> 00:09:15,935 I literally wrote the book on building brands around community, right? 98 00:09:16,025 --> 00:09:24,695 And so when you get inside of The Hundreds and you're figuring out how our wheels turn, what really makes us tick, the entire thing is established on building community. 99 00:09:24,695 --> 00:09:27,935 We wouldn't be here if we hadn't said the company, the community though. 100 00:09:28,660 --> 00:09:33,760 Um, on Fairfax with all the other competitor brands of ours, it was never about us just being the winner. 101 00:09:34,000 --> 00:09:45,790 Um, us investing so heavily in collaborations since we started was entirely, that was that in telling someone else's story, we tell a little bit of our story and we are all, uh, symbiotic. 102 00:09:45,819 --> 00:09:48,130 We are all part of this ecosystem together. 103 00:09:48,189 --> 00:09:51,880 And so as the tide rises, you know, we lift all the boats together. 104 00:09:51,910 --> 00:09:53,650 It was, that's always been the mindset. 105 00:09:54,070 --> 00:10:00,010 We were doing it within the industry, and now we're doing it within our actual immediate communities and customer bases. 106 00:10:00,430 --> 00:10:14,860 And so just to bring it full circle to your point about, you know, having to a lot of these companies, established legacy brands are looking at web three and NFTs, and they're scared because they have something to lose. 107 00:10:15,550 --> 00:10:25,030 And for me, it's actually quite galvanizing and inspiring to, to think that every single day I might lose this company entirely to the community. 108 00:10:25,750 --> 00:10:26,110 Right. 109 00:10:26,110 --> 00:10:29,200 Like that to me is electrifying that thought. 110 00:10:29,380 --> 00:10:33,040 And I want to get to a point where that, I don't know if that's tomorrow. 111 00:10:33,100 --> 00:10:34,120 I don't know if that's in a hundred year. 112 00:10:34,785 --> 00:10:42,854 But that's the most beautiful moment when we can fully lose ourselves, you know, to the community and everything is entirely decentralized. 113 00:10:43,334 --> 00:10:44,295 Um, and- 114 00:10:44,295 --> 00:10:45,695 Alexis: So like Reddit vibes. 115 00:10:46,895 --> 00:10:48,584 I'm feeling you, man. 116 00:10:48,724 --> 00:10:49,185 Yeah. 117 00:10:49,214 --> 00:10:49,814 Bobby: Yeah. 118 00:10:49,905 --> 00:10:51,194 It has to get there. 119 00:10:51,405 --> 00:10:54,885 It has to, it's the only way all signs point in that direction. 120 00:10:55,305 --> 00:10:58,995 They tried so hard to make it the other way for the last 10, 15 years. 121 00:10:59,775 --> 00:11:05,205 And it caused a lot of distress and was entirely unnatural. 122 00:11:05,205 --> 00:11:08,535 And you know, it was, it made me unhappy. 123 00:11:09,015 --> 00:11:14,595 I live, I've lived with a lot of guilt and a lot weighing on my conscious over the last, you know, 10, 15 years. 124 00:11:14,625 --> 00:11:15,855 And I talk about this at length. 125 00:11:15,855 --> 00:11:16,785 I talk about it in my book. 126 00:11:16,785 --> 00:11:24,495 I've spoken about it for years that here I am just convincing young people that they aren't enough unless they have this product. 127 00:11:24,844 --> 00:11:27,545 And it's great streetwear fashion design. 128 00:11:27,755 --> 00:11:31,805 What that lends to humans is invaluable, right? 129 00:11:31,834 --> 00:11:46,084 I'm a big believer in all of these things, but when it's a one-way exchange, you know, it's a completely asymmetrical exchange between a consumer and a brand, um, that never really quite sat right with me, even when I was a kid wearing t-shirt brands. 130 00:11:47,095 --> 00:11:50,985 Yeah, here I am being a walking billboard for someone else's company 131 00:11:52,515 --> 00:12:04,495 Alexis: So my version of this was telling startup CEOs to take Merch really seriously and know that it's a privilege to have someone be willing to take and wear your merch, let alone paid for it. 132 00:12:04,855 --> 00:12:05,125 Right. 133 00:12:05,125 --> 00:12:09,895 But even back in oh five startup founders would be thrown out shirts to people being like, here you go. 134 00:12:09,895 --> 00:12:11,035 And it'd be crappy quality. 135 00:12:11,035 --> 00:12:11,995 They'd look bad. 136 00:12:11,995 --> 00:12:14,155 Like, and it's, it's so disrespect- 137 00:12:16,665 --> 00:12:19,485 Tiffany: It's the difference between swag and merch. 138 00:12:19,935 --> 00:12:26,775 Like, I think there's a fundamental difference between companies we'll just call it schwag versus companies that call it merch. 139 00:12:26,805 --> 00:12:28,455 It's like it has to be high quality. 140 00:12:28,455 --> 00:12:30,555 So if that represent, this represents your brand. 141 00:12:30,814 --> 00:12:36,095 And if you're going to put really bad quality things out there, that's what youre promoting your brand to be. 142 00:12:36,720 --> 00:12:41,430 Bobby: And we've always, um, you know, endowed upon the community, the sense of ownership. 143 00:12:41,460 --> 00:12:43,470 They always felt like they own this brand. 144 00:12:43,470 --> 00:12:43,740 Right? 145 00:12:43,740 --> 00:12:47,400 That's I talk about this in my white paper, but why do people buy brands? 146 00:12:47,400 --> 00:12:47,610 Right. 147 00:12:47,610 --> 00:12:48,930 They buy it for a community. 148 00:12:49,350 --> 00:12:54,540 They buy it for identity and they buy it because they have a sense of ownership, but not real true ownership. 149 00:12:54,990 --> 00:13:01,400 And so when young people are getting my logo tattooed on them, which has happened since we started thousands of kids around the world. 150 00:13:01,950 --> 00:13:02,300 Travis. 151 00:13:02,300 --> 00:13:05,555 Scott, why YG they all have our logo tattooed on them. 152 00:13:05,645 --> 00:13:10,805 It's not that they're a huge supporter or fan necessarily just of me. 153 00:13:10,805 --> 00:13:16,415 They feel like the brand belongs to them, but in reality it never did. 154 00:13:16,415 --> 00:13:17,855 It always belonged to me. 155 00:13:17,915 --> 00:13:18,365 Right. 156 00:13:18,635 --> 00:13:22,955 And so I'm out there proselytizing the brand as, oh, we're a community, we're a community. 157 00:13:22,955 --> 00:13:26,465 I wrote a book about it, but really I was still the owner. 158 00:13:26,635 --> 00:13:27,984 So, how is it? 159 00:13:27,984 --> 00:13:37,734 Is there a way where we can all feel, not just feel, but actually half or maintain some sense of real ownership in a brand's upside and success. 160 00:13:37,765 --> 00:13:46,255 And when it's having hard times that we all go through together, because I can not do it alone, it's such a lonely journey to build these brands and to be entrepreneurs. 161 00:13:46,435 --> 00:13:48,255 And there's great upsides. 162 00:13:48,265 --> 00:13:51,055 And in terms of, oh, you're going to make a lot of money for yourself, whatever. 163 00:13:51,055 --> 00:13:53,844 It's not most entrepreneurs aren't doing it just for that. 164 00:13:53,844 --> 00:13:56,084 They're doing it because they really believe in a vision. 165 00:13:56,435 --> 00:14:02,449 Something is missing if the community isn't there to help them and to be there alongside them. 166 00:14:02,720 --> 00:14:05,480 It's one of the most wonderful parts of doing this project. 167 00:14:05,480 --> 00:14:09,110 We're only a couple months in, but the work is overwhelming. 168 00:14:09,290 --> 00:14:10,819 It's, I'm not enough, right? 169 00:14:10,819 --> 00:14:11,569 One body. 170 00:14:11,689 --> 00:14:14,030 Like I'm not enough to hold this thing up. 171 00:14:14,360 --> 00:14:19,160 And so to watch the community come through and they're setting up their own podcast series that run alongside. 172 00:14:20,305 --> 00:14:20,635 Right. 173 00:14:20,635 --> 00:14:21,985 They're having their own events. 174 00:14:22,095 --> 00:14:28,135 They're setting up their own games within Discord and build- there's one person in our community who's developed an entire app. 175 00:14:28,315 --> 00:14:28,765 Right. 176 00:14:28,855 --> 00:14:32,185 And it's like an amazing app that's gamifying Adam Bomb Squad. 177 00:14:32,275 --> 00:14:33,475 Things I could have never done. 178 00:14:33,745 --> 00:14:39,145 I could have never imagined let alone I could have never physically done it myself and they're doing it and they're doing it. 179 00:14:39,145 --> 00:14:42,685 Not because they're trying at first I felt, oh my God, I felt a little bit guilty. 180 00:14:42,685 --> 00:14:44,275 Like, why are you doing this all for me? 181 00:14:44,275 --> 00:14:44,905 Why all for me? 182 00:14:44,935 --> 00:14:44,995 Yeah. 183 00:14:45,690 --> 00:14:46,440 All for you? 184 00:14:46,440 --> 00:14:49,470 F%$@ you,, I'm sorry if I can, like, you know, screw you. 185 00:14:49,470 --> 00:14:50,370 It's not for you. 186 00:14:50,820 --> 00:14:51,900 This is for us. 187 00:14:52,140 --> 00:14:53,070 This is for all of us. 188 00:14:53,070 --> 00:14:54,090 This is for the community. 189 00:14:54,090 --> 00:14:55,590 Like we need to all chip in. 190 00:14:55,590 --> 00:14:56,670 We're all rowing the boat. 191 00:14:57,300 --> 00:14:57,990 Oh my God. 192 00:14:58,240 --> 00:15:02,550 That's so powerful to hear as a business, as a brand owner, as an entrepreneur. 193 00:15:03,334 --> 00:15:06,035 People are alongside you saying I don't work for you. 194 00:15:06,094 --> 00:15:07,805 I don't, I'm not your fan. 195 00:15:07,834 --> 00:15:09,305 We're all in this together. 196 00:15:09,305 --> 00:15:10,925 We're all equally invested. 197 00:15:10,925 --> 00:15:26,375 Whether I dropped $5 in here, 0.05 ETH or I dropped five ETH in here, we're all equally invested because that meant something to us and my time and my energy and attention spent in this Discord following a lot, like we're all in this together. 198 00:15:26,405 --> 00:15:27,365 Like, wow. 199 00:15:27,635 --> 00:15:28,865 Then I feel invincible. 200 00:15:28,895 --> 00:15:31,655 I feel invincible because the scariest thing to me. 201 00:15:32,220 --> 00:15:33,240 When Steve jobs died. 202 00:15:33,270 --> 00:15:44,670 I said, holy crap, this is a problem because the entire brand and company at that point in time, in my opinion, as a consumer was centered and scaffolded around one, man. 203 00:15:45,210 --> 00:15:47,520 And I said, at some point I'm going to die, right? 204 00:15:47,550 --> 00:15:48,900 I'm not getting any younger. 205 00:15:49,620 --> 00:15:49,860 Right. 206 00:15:49,860 --> 00:15:52,890 And I want this thing to live for hundreds of years. 207 00:15:53,460 --> 00:15:53,850 Right. 208 00:15:53,880 --> 00:15:55,770 And at some point I'm going to leave. 209 00:15:55,800 --> 00:15:57,750 And does that mean that it disappears with me? 210 00:15:57,900 --> 00:16:02,670 I think for some founders and entrepreneurs, that might be the exact thing that they want. 211 00:16:02,670 --> 00:16:07,110 They want the whole thing to come crashing down with them because they want everyone to remember how amazing they were. 212 00:16:07,140 --> 00:16:09,510 I'm the opposite, right? 213 00:16:09,540 --> 00:16:12,450 Like I'm, I'm, I'm a mirror person. 214 00:16:12,450 --> 00:16:18,810 I'm not, I'm really not that interesting or exciting of the human, but I think what the brand is and the community. 215 00:16:19,560 --> 00:16:22,140 It's very special and unique in history. 216 00:16:22,200 --> 00:16:23,939 And I don't ever want that to die. 217 00:16:23,970 --> 00:16:24,210 Right? 218 00:16:24,210 --> 00:16:26,490 Like I'm as much of a fan of it as anyone else. 219 00:16:27,060 --> 00:16:28,470 What happens if I leave? 220 00:16:28,590 --> 00:16:30,870 What happens if I burn out, I have a mental breakdown. 221 00:16:30,960 --> 00:16:32,400 What happens if I get sick? 222 00:16:32,610 --> 00:16:33,090 Unhealthy? 223 00:16:33,090 --> 00:16:33,650 What if I leave? 224 00:16:34,560 --> 00:16:37,650 What happens to this, that scares the crap out of me. 225 00:16:38,550 --> 00:16:40,890 And now I don't ever have to worry about that. 226 00:16:41,340 --> 00:16:42,600 That's how I feel right now. 227 00:16:42,900 --> 00:16:48,630 I feel I'm I'm I feel like the brand is immortal because it's not just going to be, and it will be, it's not just me. 228 00:16:48,630 --> 00:16:52,050 It's not just these community members it'll get passed down through generations. 229 00:16:52,140 --> 00:16:53,310 The technology lives forever. 230 00:16:53,310 --> 00:16:54,330 So the brand lives forever. 231 00:16:54,330 --> 00:16:54,570 Now. 232 00:16:54,690 --> 00:16:55,290 That's how I feel. 233 00:16:55,320 --> 00:16:55,950 Alexis: I love that. 234 00:16:56,130 --> 00:16:56,580 Yes. 235 00:16:57,865 --> 00:17:08,365 Tiffany: I want to, I want to dig into how you're thinking about building this into a more decentralized organization, but first to rewind Bobby how'd you first get into NFT. 236 00:17:09,300 --> 00:17:10,740 And what helped you understand them? 237 00:17:10,800 --> 00:17:11,099 Bobby: Yeah. 238 00:17:11,520 --> 00:17:25,500 Uh, this time, last year, almost to the day, there was some news about Beeple and his sale and Trevor , um, who everyone knows now, as Friends With Benefits back then everyone knew him. 239 00:17:25,530 --> 00:17:26,550 Then if for different reasons, 240 00:17:27,940 --> 00:17:29,990 Tiffany: McKayla and other, all the cool things. 241 00:17:31,409 --> 00:17:35,070 Bobby: I know I'm just as Trevor and skeet, because he's the hangout at the shop. 242 00:17:35,764 --> 00:17:36,604 Yeah, when we started. 243 00:17:36,604 --> 00:17:48,514 So he's, he's been a part of the crew since the start and Trevor tweeted it, you know, we're coming off of the election and there's a little bit of a vacuum in terms of the Twitter discourse at that time. 244 00:17:48,514 --> 00:17:48,844 Right. 245 00:17:48,935 --> 00:17:55,485 Because for four years, arguably longer, it had been centered around one type of conversation. 246 00:17:55,544 --> 00:17:57,074 And so I'm still on Twitter every day. 247 00:17:57,074 --> 00:17:58,064 I still love Twitter. 248 00:17:58,064 --> 00:18:00,435 I feel like it's the alpha and omega of all social. 249 00:18:00,794 --> 00:18:13,995 And he drops that tweet in and I'm open and receptive to it in a way where I think the month before, which was around the election, I wouldn't have been receptive to it, but I was open and it's talking about the Beeple sale and it doesn't make any sense to me. 250 00:18:14,745 --> 00:18:16,845 And it scared me. 251 00:18:16,965 --> 00:18:17,415 Right. 252 00:18:17,504 --> 00:18:21,764 Well, first of all, I got mad about it, right? 253 00:18:22,115 --> 00:18:22,784 It was so big. 254 00:18:23,085 --> 00:18:28,365 The number was so big, which compared, you know, I think there was this a $10 million punk sale. 255 00:18:28,365 --> 00:18:31,274 So nothing is now that's relative. 256 00:18:31,304 --> 00:18:33,495 What's big in terms of NFT stuff. 257 00:18:33,495 --> 00:18:39,915 It's just like, oh, $10 million punk sound for a JPEG selling for X, you know, what was it? 258 00:18:39,915 --> 00:18:40,875 $6 million just on. 259 00:18:41,540 --> 00:18:42,530 It was number one. 260 00:18:42,530 --> 00:18:45,500 It, it, it, it made me a little upset and mad. 261 00:18:46,290 --> 00:18:47,790 And then it made me a little scared. 262 00:18:47,790 --> 00:18:52,410 And that's when I was curious, because I was just like, okay, I'm feeling a certain way reading this. 263 00:18:52,830 --> 00:18:57,870 I need to know more to either get ahead of it, to dismiss it for my mind- 264 00:18:58,110 --> 00:19:00,240 Alexis: I love you for thinking that way. 265 00:19:00,510 --> 00:19:10,770 Bobby: I think, I think like that with everything, nothing makes me more freaked out than young people because they make me feel irrelevant and they're pushing me out of the relevance window. 266 00:19:10,800 --> 00:19:11,310 Every single. 267 00:19:12,034 --> 00:19:15,725 Um, and so I dive in and I spend as much time with them, right. 268 00:19:15,905 --> 00:19:18,754 Because I need to know they need to help me understand. 269 00:19:18,784 --> 00:19:22,955 And I have all my fears in life or drowning, public speaking, and going to the dentist. 270 00:19:22,955 --> 00:19:25,475 And so I go to the dentist twice a year, surf every single day. 271 00:19:25,475 --> 00:19:27,365 And I do as much public speaking as possible. 272 00:19:27,485 --> 00:19:29,495 Like what I'm doing with you right now, it's frightening. 273 00:19:29,495 --> 00:19:37,235 Like my whole back is sweating, but I forced myself to do it so that I feel some semblance of control over the situation. 274 00:19:37,294 --> 00:19:38,044 Alexis: I love it. 275 00:19:38,945 --> 00:19:39,574 Bobby: But the same thing. 276 00:19:41,590 --> 00:19:46,630 But the same thing happened with the people sale, where I was like, it's making my back a little sweaty. 277 00:19:47,080 --> 00:19:49,000 I feel like I don't understand. 278 00:19:49,000 --> 00:19:50,710 Am I aged out of this? 279 00:19:50,710 --> 00:19:52,570 Am I, am I not in the conversation? 280 00:19:52,600 --> 00:19:53,350 Let me in. 281 00:19:53,410 --> 00:19:54,910 And I hit up Trevor. 282 00:19:54,910 --> 00:19:55,900 I said, explain this to me. 283 00:19:55,900 --> 00:19:56,590 And he explained it. 284 00:19:56,590 --> 00:19:59,650 I was more confused and I got even more angry about it. 285 00:20:00,375 --> 00:20:01,995 And then I said, let me talk to someone else. 286 00:20:01,995 --> 00:20:03,315 And he said, talk to Dee from Zuora. 287 00:20:03,315 --> 00:20:15,765 And I sat with Dee, from Zuora and I think my entry point in and what really started to inspire, well, there was a number of things, but one of them was, I was just looking at it as an artist first. 288 00:20:15,765 --> 00:20:24,115 And I think a lot of people were at that time, it wasn't NFTs weren't this day trady investment stock type thing it turned into over the summer at that time. 289 00:20:24,945 --> 00:20:36,045 Uh, resource for a lot of artists to be able to get their work, seen circumvent the gatekeepers, and then also like provenance and then also, uh, maintain some royalties right in secondary sales. 290 00:20:36,135 --> 00:20:41,325 And so there was a lot of frustration that I had felt as an artist, my entire life. 291 00:20:41,415 --> 00:20:43,125 I've been trying to build my art. 292 00:20:43,935 --> 00:20:59,145 I had to pivot and use a street wear brand to do it, but I want to be known and remembered as an artist, as a photographer, all these things, but there were all these gates in between that kept me out and NFTs from what I was seeing were breaking down a lot of those holes. 293 00:20:59,879 --> 00:21:09,689 So then I was in, I was just like, not only is it going to help me, it's going to help all the other young artists that we work with, that we surround ourselves with, that I see are also being kept out of the room. 294 00:21:09,870 --> 00:21:10,290 Right. 295 00:21:10,470 --> 00:21:21,990 So if it's going to help me in the community, all right, I'm in, I looked at it also because of what I touched on earlier, I always felt this imbalanced relationship between myself and my consumers. 296 00:21:22,110 --> 00:21:29,629 And I was like, maybe this is a way where we can all share in the upside of a brand success and we can all be in it together. 297 00:21:29,689 --> 00:21:34,639 Like truly, truly have some ownership instead of, oh, I feel like I'm a part of the brand. 298 00:21:34,909 --> 00:21:35,300 Right. 299 00:21:35,510 --> 00:21:41,750 And, and, and then I think third, I've always been a little bit curious about tech because I'm not a tech guy. 300 00:21:41,959 --> 00:21:42,469 Right. 301 00:21:42,530 --> 00:21:48,959 And the NFT or crypto up until that point to me represented two things that I was highly allergic. 302 00:21:49,625 --> 00:21:52,055 Number one was tech and number two is finance. 303 00:21:52,385 --> 00:21:53,855 I hate both of those things. 304 00:21:54,125 --> 00:21:57,545 I feel I'm the stupidest person in the room with both of those subjects. 305 00:21:57,754 --> 00:22:05,555 And so NFTs has made it palatable to me because it was spoken through the lens of art and collected and collecting and culture and community. 306 00:22:05,555 --> 00:22:07,264 And I was like those things I do. 307 00:22:07,264 --> 00:22:08,105 And I know, and I understand. 308 00:22:08,649 --> 00:22:12,520 And so if I can understand these other parts, maybe it'll help me understand this part. 309 00:22:12,520 --> 00:22:20,440 And so I think looking at it from a lens of, I don't understand tech or finance art, it's going to help me community and culture are going to help me get there. 310 00:22:20,500 --> 00:22:21,850 That was very appealing. 311 00:22:22,825 --> 00:22:24,045 That's where I'm at today. 312 00:22:24,075 --> 00:22:27,735 Love the 12 months later, I feel like I've moved an inch 313 00:22:27,855 --> 00:22:35,505 Tiffany: 12 months later, and you have Adam Bomb Squad, which is an incredible community that you've built with what? 314 00:22:35,505 --> 00:22:38,985 Over 48 million in total sales volume now. 315 00:22:40,350 --> 00:22:44,750 How's that compared to building The Hundreds as a brand. 316 00:22:44,760 --> 00:22:50,760 Cause this is a whole new brand that lives under kind of The Hundreds brand that you've built in the past. 317 00:22:50,790 --> 00:22:55,860 But how have you seen like the big stark differences in building these brands? 318 00:22:57,150 --> 00:22:59,700 Bobby: I, I paused to say that it's. 319 00:23:00,524 --> 00:23:04,155 Uh, brand and the way that I've always, always understood brands and branding. 320 00:23:04,155 --> 00:23:10,875 When I see a lot of NFT projects out there and they're striving to be brands, or they liken themselves to other brands, right. 321 00:23:10,875 --> 00:23:12,375 There's a lot of Supreme comparisons. 322 00:23:12,375 --> 00:23:13,514 Like who's the Supreme. 323 00:23:13,725 --> 00:23:17,774 It's really hard for me to reconcile those two things because. 324 00:23:18,320 --> 00:23:19,310 The way I've always understood. 325 00:23:19,310 --> 00:23:20,180 Brands is brands. 326 00:23:20,210 --> 00:23:23,030 Number one, they take time and there's been no time. 327 00:23:23,210 --> 00:23:23,720 Right. 328 00:23:23,750 --> 00:23:27,200 And brands just have certain narratives and arcs. 329 00:23:27,200 --> 00:23:29,090 And there's a lot that goes into brands. 330 00:23:29,090 --> 00:23:30,980 A lot of, a lot of branding is about discipline. 331 00:23:30,980 --> 00:23:36,470 A lot of branding is about saying no, a lot of branding is about, um, just really like measured breaths. 332 00:23:36,980 --> 00:23:37,340 Right. 333 00:23:37,370 --> 00:23:39,770 And I haven't seen any of that really this year. 334 00:23:40,120 --> 00:23:52,139 And so Adam Bomb Squad is a brand more or less, but I'll be more keen to say that in a few years time, if not like 10 years, I think right now what it is, it's, it's a community aspect. 335 00:23:52,139 --> 00:23:53,280 It's a culture aspect. 336 00:23:53,280 --> 00:23:56,700 It's a movement aspect associated under The Hundred. 337 00:23:57,479 --> 00:24:02,129 And The Hundreds, when we speak on it has never just been about clothing. 338 00:24:02,129 --> 00:24:03,120 It's not just street wear. 339 00:24:03,120 --> 00:24:04,229 That's why my book is called. 340 00:24:04,229 --> 00:24:07,350 This is not a t-shirt, it's really not to do with the cotton. 341 00:24:07,379 --> 00:24:09,750 The Hundreds is a lifestyle. 342 00:24:09,750 --> 00:24:11,189 We always called it the lifestyle. 343 00:24:11,399 --> 00:24:14,669 The Hundreds is the people, The Hundreds is an attitude, right? 344 00:24:14,699 --> 00:24:20,969 And so Adam Bombsquad is a way of congealing the culture side, the community aspect. 345 00:24:21,795 --> 00:24:28,125 Where there's, again, those three things, those three things associated with branding, community identity and ownership. 346 00:24:28,365 --> 00:24:37,785 Like we can actually realize all three of the things within Atom Bomb Squad, but over time yes uh, do I want Adam Bomb Squad to be known as a brand for sure. 347 00:24:37,815 --> 00:24:37,995 But. 348 00:24:38,715 --> 00:24:49,995 It's, I'm not kidding anyone just because some people within the NFT echo chamber know what the Atom Bomb Squad is, um, does not mean, first of all, most people on NFTs have never heard of it. 349 00:24:50,024 --> 00:24:50,625 Still. 350 00:24:50,685 --> 00:24:54,524 Most people from within The Hundreds of universe have never heard of it. 351 00:24:54,764 --> 00:24:57,524 Even my own personal friends who I talk to regularly. 352 00:24:58,290 --> 00:25:01,260 Hit me up every day and say, Hey, have you heard about NFTs? 353 00:25:01,500 --> 00:25:02,880 When are you guys going to do an NFTs? 354 00:25:03,420 --> 00:25:04,500 It's shocking to me. 355 00:25:04,980 --> 00:25:08,160 We're still so early, still so early. 356 00:25:08,280 --> 00:25:10,230 So they don't know what Atom Bomb Squad is. 357 00:25:10,260 --> 00:25:12,090 The world does it and it'll take time. 358 00:25:12,150 --> 00:25:18,780 And if you really want to speak on brands, they just required time and discipline, passion and patience is what I always say. 359 00:25:18,780 --> 00:25:20,010 You need passion and patience. 360 00:25:20,190 --> 00:25:26,440 And can you sustain the passion over long periods of time, especially long drought, then you have a brand. 361 00:25:26,770 --> 00:25:33,284 But the way that a lot of projects are going right now, which is to me, fast rise, fast demise. 362 00:25:33,615 --> 00:25:35,024 Everything's very frothy. 363 00:25:35,084 --> 00:25:39,074 Everything is excitable excited, hight fueled. 364 00:25:39,135 --> 00:25:40,185 We seen all that. 365 00:25:40,514 --> 00:25:42,675 I'd done that before fashion has done that. 366 00:25:42,675 --> 00:25:46,155 It's even faster now because of the technology it's expedited. 367 00:25:46,514 --> 00:25:50,115 I've seen it all with street wear and there are seasons where you're like, this is it. 368 00:25:50,115 --> 00:25:51,105 This brand is forever. 369 00:25:51,105 --> 00:25:51,524 This is the. 370 00:25:52,210 --> 00:25:55,180 And two years later, I'll see you at the next stop. 371 00:25:55,210 --> 00:25:57,370 And half of those brands won't be there. 372 00:25:57,460 --> 00:26:02,170 And so I'm not interested in calling Adam Bomb Squad, necessarily a brand yet. 373 00:26:02,170 --> 00:26:06,640 Like I called The hundreds of brand because we've been around for 18 years. 374 00:26:06,640 --> 00:26:09,160 And to me that's still not nearly enough. 375 00:26:11,685 --> 00:26:14,565 Alexis: But I think that's the mindset you got to have and that you're bringing to it. 376 00:26:14,565 --> 00:26:17,745 That the average project isn't like there's to be clear, right? 377 00:26:17,745 --> 00:26:23,895 There are so, so, so many of these NFT projects that are. 378 00:26:24,355 --> 00:26:32,485 They're they're short-term, they're Cash at grabs, you know, 99.9% of them in a few years even are going to be worthless. 379 00:26:32,755 --> 00:26:45,895 And, and, and that's going to give you, unfortunately, that's going to give a reputation to the broader space that is unfair, but it's going to malign it just because, you know, there are short-term greedy folks who are just doing this to make, make a quick buck. 380 00:26:46,105 --> 00:26:47,995 Bobby: We thought again with streetwear. 381 00:26:48,195 --> 00:26:53,020 Our generation, which was arguably the third or the second or third wave of streetwear. 382 00:26:53,110 --> 00:26:54,699 It was very cash grabby. 383 00:26:54,729 --> 00:26:58,659 There are people who are genuine, genuinely interested in building lifelong brands. 384 00:26:58,659 --> 00:27:02,649 Like when we started, we said, oh, we want to be like, Levi's we never took outside money. 385 00:27:02,649 --> 00:27:10,389 You know, we fully bootstrapped a thing because we wanted to move very organically and authentically, and we wanted to maintain some kind of control over the brand. 386 00:27:10,479 --> 00:27:16,840 And then we saw a lot of people sell out and a lot of people grabbed that cash and I'll say in their defense. 387 00:27:17,399 --> 00:27:20,580 And I see it still, even within this space with a lot of things. 388 00:27:21,600 --> 00:27:27,060 A lot of them aren't even maliciously doing so they think that this is what you're supposed to do. 389 00:27:27,060 --> 00:27:37,320 You're supposed to take this money in, and this is how it moves and we're supposed to move this fast and they are going to burn out and it will look cache grabby, but I don't think they came into it necessarily thinking about it. 390 00:27:37,320 --> 00:27:43,080 I think they have a drop and they get on the other side of that trop and are like, oh my gosh, this is. 391 00:27:43,775 --> 00:27:46,235 A giant mountain that we have to climb. 392 00:27:46,655 --> 00:27:51,275 And they think that leading up to the drop that this is all that matters is I got to get over this little hill. 393 00:27:51,275 --> 00:27:58,325 It's like, um, there's a meme of a surfer going over one small wave and, and there's like a hundred foot wave coming up. 394 00:27:59,220 --> 00:28:00,570 Yeah, that's what this is. 395 00:28:00,870 --> 00:28:07,500 And most people don't know that I didn't even fully appreciate what was on the other side of that release until I got over that first hill. 396 00:28:07,500 --> 00:28:11,160 And I was like, oh my gosh, I just opened up a whole can of worms. 397 00:28:11,190 --> 00:28:13,440 I'm I'm starting at zero. 398 00:28:13,440 --> 00:28:19,200 I'm actually starting behind zero and I got a hundred 50 years, 75 years to build into this. 399 00:28:19,230 --> 00:28:24,840 But for me, since I've already gone through that, I was just like, okay, I'm already doing that anyways. 400 00:28:25,350 --> 00:28:33,660 And I'm accustomed to this lifestyle where 24 hours, seven days a week, I'm pouring myself into the project and constantly innovating and adapting. 401 00:28:33,720 --> 00:28:37,830 But I think for a lot of people who were like, oh, the sale is the big hit. 402 00:28:38,250 --> 00:28:39,810 And then, you know, a success. 403 00:28:40,919 --> 00:28:55,980 We sold out of them or we sold a certain amount of them and that's the successI don't think that they were prepared and I don't think they'll ever quite be prepared because building a brand in reverse, uh, I would have never been able to do it when I was 23 years old. 404 00:28:56,040 --> 00:28:58,070 If at 23 years old, someone came along. 405 00:28:58,905 --> 00:29:05,355 Here's a hundred million dollars and now builds your brand in reverse, and now prove yourself to that a hundred million dollars. 406 00:29:06,015 --> 00:29:06,645 Wow. 407 00:29:06,975 --> 00:29:10,745 We never had that pressure, never had that type of scrutiny. 408 00:29:10,745 --> 00:29:18,195 Alexis: Thats the liability of having the high expectations and all the sort of money up front, the same way. 409 00:29:18,345 --> 00:29:25,515 Bobby: It's near impossible, in my opinion, for artists to be able to perform to their full potential under the weight of that. 410 00:29:26,429 --> 00:29:30,060 Under the scrutiny of shareholders, let alone thousands of them. 411 00:29:30,149 --> 00:29:43,820 And third, which is probably the hardest part of it all because we didn't grow up under this, like my partner, Ben and die, but the watchful gaze of the internet, 24 hours a day, and you're hearing all the feedback all the time. 412 00:29:44,020 --> 00:29:47,010 It's the greatest thing that ever happened for the a hundred. 413 00:29:47,745 --> 00:29:50,115 We started a few years before social started. 414 00:29:50,295 --> 00:29:51,885 So we were singing in the shower. 415 00:29:51,945 --> 00:29:52,275 Right. 416 00:29:52,305 --> 00:29:55,455 We had blinders on, we, we didn't know what we sounded like. 417 00:29:55,605 --> 00:29:57,405 We did it because we believed in it. 418 00:29:57,405 --> 00:29:59,055 We didn't listen to anyone's thoughts. 419 00:29:59,055 --> 00:30:02,045 We had one hater every now and then that would pop up on a message. 420 00:30:02,970 --> 00:30:05,460 And that was enough to disrupt my entire day. 421 00:30:05,699 --> 00:30:20,250 Now, starting a brand, let alone being given a hundred, a million dollars, a hundred million dollars of someone's money and being like now prove yourself and thousands of people going like, where's my money on top of you, how is an artist supposed to perform an execute anything that they want? 422 00:30:20,870 --> 00:30:33,740 Because they have to sit, sit there and do social maintenance, calm people's fears, alleviate FUD when the artist's job and the creator's job is to sit in a dark room and dream and realize, and think positively and crate. 423 00:30:34,460 --> 00:30:43,670 So it's, it's, it's very hard and I feel, I feel it for a lot of NFT projects out there and, you know, I know it's hard to feel bad for people. 424 00:30:43,670 --> 00:30:45,050 Who've made a lot of money, but. 425 00:30:45,870 --> 00:30:52,020 I'm telling you for some of these people that I've talked to behind these projects, they would turn it all back in, in a heartbeat. 426 00:30:52,110 --> 00:30:54,040 You know, they would, they really would. 427 00:30:54,629 --> 00:31:01,620 Tiffany: It's interesting because to your point, it's like these creators, these artists, they don't have time to create anymore. 428 00:31:01,680 --> 00:31:03,270 Like they're managing comms. 429 00:31:03,480 --> 00:31:06,810 Full-time now they have to, they have to be the face of it. 430 00:31:07,710 --> 00:31:12,240 Otherwise the community is going to be mad if you're not responding, but also it's like the sale isn't the end. 431 00:31:12,990 --> 00:31:18,120 The sale means, you owe everyone something, right? 432 00:31:18,270 --> 00:31:19,230 That's the difference. 433 00:31:20,220 --> 00:31:23,550 It's just the start and you, right? 434 00:31:23,580 --> 00:31:24,690 Bobby: No one thinks about this. 435 00:31:24,690 --> 00:31:33,180 When they get into creating an empty project, all they think about is the bag, but we couldn't do that because when we are coming in, we have a reputation to uphold. 436 00:31:33,180 --> 00:31:33,730 Right, right. 437 00:31:34,120 --> 00:31:39,920 This is the case, the gears, my credibility in this space and my life is on, like, I'm not an anon. 438 00:31:40,195 --> 00:31:41,965 You see my face, I put it out there. 439 00:31:42,715 --> 00:31:45,175 Like, if you want to know where I am, you can find me every single day. 440 00:31:45,175 --> 00:31:46,044 Like I'm here. 441 00:31:46,044 --> 00:31:50,245 I can't disappear and nor do I want to, but I'm not going anywhere. 442 00:31:50,274 --> 00:31:56,905 And I have 18 years of work that I'm very proud of that I don't want, you know, any negativity to eclipse. 443 00:31:56,995 --> 00:32:05,425 And so that to us was, is a real blessing because we are held accountable every day in this work, we are held accountable. 444 00:32:05,425 --> 00:32:13,345 We have to show up and not because the community's breathing down our neck and telling us and screaming at us that we have to do XYZ. 445 00:32:14,065 --> 00:32:17,455 We show up because we show up for ourself because we have to prove it to ourselves. 446 00:32:17,485 --> 00:32:18,655 Like I need to sleep at night now. 447 00:32:19,385 --> 00:32:22,565 I upset someone in the community, but I don't want to upset myself. 448 00:32:22,655 --> 00:32:24,215 Like I don't want to disappoint my family. 449 00:32:24,395 --> 00:32:26,105 And so we have that. 450 00:32:26,315 --> 00:32:27,725 And to me, it's a gift. 451 00:32:27,905 --> 00:32:33,485 I think it can be crippling for some people, but for us, it's a real gift because I show up to perform, right. 452 00:32:33,514 --> 00:32:34,835 Like I do it for me. 453 00:32:35,165 --> 00:32:40,264 And then I think that trickles down to the rest of the community, but I'm out here every day to prove it to me that I can do it. 454 00:32:41,235 --> 00:32:58,575 Tiffany: As you guys become more decentralized or aim to do so, how do you think about maintaining that brand quality and that box of super, super curated brand control that you've done over the past decade of building? 455 00:32:59,335 --> 00:33:01,855 Your brand, because I think that's the biggest question. 456 00:33:01,855 --> 00:33:02,215 Right? 457 00:33:02,455 --> 00:33:08,125 And it goes back to what you were saying earlier, where this is the most important thing projects or companies that have started this year. 458 00:33:08,335 --> 00:33:20,335 Uh, I guess their company, technically companies now these like NFT projects, uh, with the amount of money they have in treasury, it's still too early for them to be considered, uh, a brand per your definition. 459 00:33:20,425 --> 00:33:24,805 And so how do you think about that as this becomes more and more decentralized? 460 00:33:25,725 --> 00:33:34,905 Bobby: I remember when we started the company, um, it was a very selfish project and I think many young entrepreneurs, they start their projects. 461 00:33:34,935 --> 00:33:36,854 It's coming from a very selfish place. 462 00:33:37,155 --> 00:33:40,185 They don't hear their voice necessarily out there. 463 00:33:40,185 --> 00:33:42,074 They don't see themselves represented. 464 00:33:42,104 --> 00:33:45,195 They have an opinion on something that's not being warranted or received. 465 00:33:46,065 --> 00:33:49,005 And so they step up and say, Hey, my art belongs here. 466 00:33:49,215 --> 00:33:52,005 I'm just as good as anyone else I can do that better. 467 00:33:52,035 --> 00:33:53,205 No, one's listening to me. 468 00:33:53,235 --> 00:33:53,505 Right. 469 00:33:53,535 --> 00:33:59,535 That's why I started even building this brand was I was like, everything else that's out there is garbage. 470 00:33:59,745 --> 00:34:00,945 My art is better. 471 00:34:01,065 --> 00:34:02,115 It needs to be seen. 472 00:34:02,145 --> 00:34:02,865 It's a shame. 473 00:34:02,925 --> 00:34:04,665 And it's a disservice, right? 474 00:34:04,845 --> 00:34:07,935 This is my ego telling me like the world needs you. 475 00:34:08,205 --> 00:34:09,585 The world is not enough without you. 476 00:34:10,665 --> 00:34:16,094 And so I start this project from a purely egotistical, selfish point of view, right? 477 00:34:16,335 --> 00:34:24,105 As a creator, as a creator and as artists, and one day Ben, my business partner comes over and is just like, you need to hire someone to help you do your art. 478 00:34:24,195 --> 00:34:25,995 And I said, no, this is my art. 479 00:34:25,995 --> 00:34:31,395 And he said, well, you're holding us back because you're only turning out 10 t-shirt graphics a week. 480 00:34:31,545 --> 00:34:32,384 I need 20. 481 00:34:32,594 --> 00:34:35,235 And I was just like, no, I don't want to compromise my art. 482 00:34:35,505 --> 00:34:38,745 I'd rather hold us back and keep it slow and keep it pure. 483 00:34:38,835 --> 00:34:41,505 And he's just like, that's fine, but we're never going to grow. 484 00:34:41,745 --> 00:34:47,775 And we're never going to be the successful brand you want to be, unless you hire someone and you train someone to take on some of your duties. 485 00:34:48,719 --> 00:34:51,480 And it took me a while to finally do it. 486 00:34:51,569 --> 00:34:55,170 And I started hiring designers under me and started building a team. 487 00:34:55,409 --> 00:34:57,240 And the work was never good enough. 488 00:34:57,270 --> 00:35:02,129 And to this day, it's never exactly held up to the standards that I've wanted. 489 00:35:02,160 --> 00:35:02,400 Right. 490 00:35:02,400 --> 00:35:13,890 It's frustrating as an artist owner, because you're never going to get the results that you want, the 110% exactly how you would do it because there's no one else like you, you hire these people. 491 00:35:14,595 --> 00:35:22,875 To come work with you, not for you because they collaborate with you on their versions and interpretations of what those designs should be. 492 00:35:23,205 --> 00:35:28,605 And so then I didn't appreciate this until years in for the first few years, I was like, this is not good. 493 00:35:28,605 --> 00:35:30,345 This is kind of like a sub standard. 494 00:35:30,345 --> 00:35:32,564 This is a sub Bobby version of The Hundreds. 495 00:35:32,564 --> 00:35:34,754 This is not exactly how I do it, bro. 496 00:35:34,814 --> 00:35:36,225 It was never about you. 497 00:35:36,734 --> 00:35:38,595 This project was never about you. 498 00:35:38,714 --> 00:35:42,855 It left your mind and entered the universe and the day that you sell one t-shirt. 499 00:35:43,665 --> 00:35:44,924 We sell one NFT out there. 500 00:35:44,955 --> 00:35:46,995 It doesn't belong to you anymore. 501 00:35:47,174 --> 00:35:50,055 You think it belongs to you because the money comes to you. 502 00:35:50,205 --> 00:35:51,555 The brand does not belong to you. 503 00:35:51,555 --> 00:35:53,595 That's why people get a tattoo tattooed on you. 504 00:35:53,595 --> 00:35:54,944 It has nothing to do with you, dude. 505 00:35:55,634 --> 00:36:00,915 It has to do with their emotional associations, with whatever they were going through that time in high school. 506 00:36:00,915 --> 00:36:03,375 And they were wearing that t-shirt and they're like, I want to get that tattooed on me. 507 00:36:03,555 --> 00:36:04,395 That has nothing to do with you. 508 00:36:05,205 --> 00:36:05,445 Right. 509 00:36:05,475 --> 00:36:11,835 So you have to get past that as a founder and as a creator, you have to understand that it has nothing to do with you. 510 00:36:11,835 --> 00:36:16,725 And so I started looking at the brand and the breadth of work that we were putting out. 511 00:36:16,905 --> 00:36:17,925 And I was just like, you know what? 512 00:36:17,925 --> 00:36:19,935 I would have never designed that jacket that way. 513 00:36:20,055 --> 00:36:23,170 That was a compromise that I had with some of the design team here. 514 00:36:23,170 --> 00:36:23,980 They wanted it green. 515 00:36:23,980 --> 00:36:24,819 I wanted it red. 516 00:36:25,359 --> 00:36:27,730 It's not a compromise, it's a collaboration, right? 517 00:36:28,270 --> 00:36:40,960 And now the brand is stronger because it's a mosaic of my vision and all these other talented people who are honestly better at their jobs, younger, their ears are to the ground are fresher. 518 00:36:41,020 --> 00:36:43,060 They're more spirited and engaged and inspired. 519 00:36:43,935 --> 00:36:52,634 To do the work than I could ever be being a 41 year old washed up dad, you know, trying to run a business, still trying to be the cool artists like out in the streets. 520 00:36:52,634 --> 00:36:54,795 Like, no, of course you don't want that. 521 00:36:54,825 --> 00:36:57,555 You want to know what kind of clothing I'm going to design by myself. 522 00:36:57,585 --> 00:36:58,365 It's awful. 523 00:36:59,174 --> 00:37:00,285 Thank God I have a team. 524 00:37:00,345 --> 00:37:07,500 And so I only bring that story up that ended up the anecdote because I think the same way with this project, right? 525 00:37:07,680 --> 00:37:11,850 The more decentralized we get, they're going to look to me as a north star, right? 526 00:37:12,029 --> 00:37:14,580 I'm the inspiration, I'm the Walt Disney of it. 527 00:37:14,700 --> 00:37:21,210 What would Walt do, not Walt, get down and you do it yourself, but what would walk through and what in my mind would walk. 528 00:37:21,825 --> 00:37:25,455 And whatever you think what Walt Disney would do is not necessarily what he would do. 529 00:37:25,485 --> 00:37:25,755 Right? 530 00:37:25,755 --> 00:37:30,435 Like for all we know Walt Disney was like a horrible person by some accounts he was right. 531 00:37:30,525 --> 00:37:30,795 Yeah. 532 00:37:31,445 --> 00:37:32,265 Right, right, right. 533 00:37:32,665 --> 00:37:34,575 I read, I read a lot about Walt Disney. 534 00:37:34,785 --> 00:37:35,205 Yeah. 535 00:37:35,415 --> 00:37:37,365 We don't really want wall to do what Walt does. 536 00:37:37,425 --> 00:37:42,154 We want to do what you Tiffany, and what you, Alexis would think Walt would do and do that. 537 00:37:42,495 --> 00:37:42,855 Right. 538 00:37:42,884 --> 00:37:45,555 And so I'm only one small piece. 539 00:37:45,674 --> 00:37:53,024 I represent like a north star where it's like, okay, try to stay within that realm, but we want your voice is in here, man. 540 00:37:53,024 --> 00:37:55,395 Like, this is what makes the brand so strong. 541 00:37:55,455 --> 00:38:03,734 And the coolest part about the Hundreds is in every season, every generation have different staff, you know, who was working at that time, it's moved. 542 00:38:04,274 --> 00:38:06,375 The personality of it has changed. 543 00:38:06,404 --> 00:38:07,575 The texture of it has changed. 544 00:38:08,325 --> 00:38:09,015 I love that. 545 00:38:09,225 --> 00:38:10,395 It's not just a story of me. 546 00:38:10,395 --> 00:38:11,865 It's really the story of the community. 547 00:38:12,045 --> 00:38:13,875 It was a small staff at the time. 548 00:38:14,325 --> 00:38:19,725 And now with Adam Bomb Squad, we have thousands of people who are lending their voices and adding to the texture of what it is. 549 00:38:19,875 --> 00:38:22,214 And I'm just kind of like an idea right. 550 00:38:22,845 --> 00:38:23,775 In the floating in head. 551 00:38:25,320 --> 00:38:28,560 Tiffany: It's really about building something greater than yourself. 552 00:38:29,070 --> 00:38:34,800 Ultimately, whether you're a startup founder, whether you're creating an NFT project, whether you're creating a brand. 553 00:38:35,040 --> 00:38:46,770 And I say this to a lot of content creators as well, because a lot of content creators, they think very one dimensional and they're like, Hey, I assume my shelf life is going to be a few years. 554 00:38:47,040 --> 00:38:47,700 And that's that? 555 00:38:47,730 --> 00:38:49,890 I'm like, no, you have to think about your community. 556 00:38:50,190 --> 00:38:51,540 If you want this to be a longterm. 557 00:38:52,245 --> 00:38:55,815 Like you have to think holistically about this and you have to make this greater than yourself. 558 00:38:56,205 --> 00:39:03,045 They can't just come to this community because it's you, but because you represent something that they're passionate about, 559 00:39:03,495 --> 00:39:07,095 Bobby: It's romantic to think so, but it's, it's transcendent, right? 560 00:39:07,305 --> 00:39:07,935 It's transcended. 561 00:39:07,995 --> 00:39:10,725 If you want to do an art project. 562 00:39:10,725 --> 00:39:14,475 That's just, you selfish, you stay in your basement and do that. 563 00:39:14,625 --> 00:39:15,795 Those are called hobbies. 564 00:39:16,785 --> 00:39:18,855 Those are hob- those are hobbies. 565 00:39:19,424 --> 00:39:20,964 We all have a hobby, right,right? 566 00:39:22,634 --> 00:39:23,325 Do that. 567 00:39:23,355 --> 00:39:23,815 Do that. 568 00:39:23,835 --> 00:39:25,365 That's self satisfying. 569 00:39:25,395 --> 00:39:28,785 That's for you to have a release, but if you're out here. 570 00:39:29,565 --> 00:39:33,464 To create something that everyone can partake in and benefits the world. 571 00:39:33,585 --> 00:39:37,095 Like I have a line that real artists make the world look better than not themselves. 572 00:39:37,125 --> 00:39:38,924 Like your job is to make the world look better. 573 00:39:38,955 --> 00:39:39,884 That's why we have art. 574 00:39:40,125 --> 00:39:40,964 It's not for you. 575 00:39:41,234 --> 00:39:42,075 It's for everyone. 576 00:39:42,105 --> 00:39:46,815 So you have to think in terms of that in building companies to now, in my opinion, 577 00:39:47,265 --> 00:39:50,535 Tiffany: I love that basement hobby example. 578 00:39:50,595 --> 00:39:52,634 You just said it makes a lot of sense. 579 00:39:53,025 --> 00:39:59,985 And with that, we have one last question, which is if you're stranded on an island, What NFT would you bring? 580 00:40:00,195 --> 00:40:03,645 It can be your collection or any NFT in the world. 581 00:40:04,575 --> 00:40:05,625 Bobby: Oh my gosh. 582 00:40:05,715 --> 00:40:09,615 Um, I mean, I would never leave Adam Bomb Squad. 583 00:40:10,215 --> 00:40:15,615 I have, um, there's an essay I wrote, uh, it's called The Robots. 584 00:40:15,674 --> 00:40:17,235 I minted it early in the year. 585 00:40:17,295 --> 00:40:29,520 It's one of my favorite things I've ever written and it just kind of shares my point of view on what makes human being special in contrast to AI and machines and robots. 586 00:40:30,029 --> 00:40:35,100 And, um, and the, the moral of the story is it's, it's really our imperfections. 587 00:40:35,129 --> 00:40:35,430 Right? 588 00:40:35,730 --> 00:40:39,419 And, um, we have those in order to help heal each other. 589 00:40:39,720 --> 00:40:41,939 And robots don't need that because robots are perfect. 590 00:40:41,939 --> 00:40:45,990 And we always think we want perfection, but really what makes us special is that we're imperfect. 591 00:40:46,319 --> 00:40:50,120 So I wrote this essay and it doesn't, it never really went far ive been shopping around. 592 00:40:50,120 --> 00:40:51,920 I try to get it sold through publisher. 593 00:40:51,920 --> 00:40:52,880 I put it up. 594 00:40:52,940 --> 00:40:55,130 As I mentioned, as the NFT, I got a couple of bids. 595 00:40:55,130 --> 00:40:55,940 It kind of died. 596 00:40:56,120 --> 00:40:58,790 And I still read that thing all the time and I love it. 597 00:40:58,790 --> 00:41:04,890 And a few people really understood, like Hotson min Hodge, like DMd me once and was like, dude, this thing is crazy. 598 00:41:05,220 --> 00:41:11,654 And I'm like, yeah, that's the one piece of writing that I'm most proud of that one day I'll get recognized for it. 599 00:41:11,685 --> 00:41:13,215 And it's just buried somewhere. 600 00:41:13,634 --> 00:41:15,645 You can see it on my OpenSea but it's just buried there. 601 00:41:15,674 --> 00:41:17,654 And, um, I'm really proud of it. 602 00:41:17,775 --> 00:41:21,875 And I'm not proud of it because it sold for $10 million, like a crypto punk. 603 00:41:22,785 --> 00:41:28,515 You know, I'm not proud of it because I sold 25,000 of them, like Adam Bomb Squad and they sold on dates and nothing to do with that. 604 00:41:28,665 --> 00:41:31,335 I'm proud of it because it really means something to me. 605 00:41:31,335 --> 00:41:33,035 And, and, um, and I believe. 606 00:41:33,950 --> 00:41:35,390 Know, so I love it. 607 00:41:35,720 --> 00:41:37,100 It's probably the robot's essay. 608 00:41:37,610 --> 00:41:38,660 Tiffany: I will go and read that. 609 00:41:39,680 --> 00:41:40,640 It sounds amazing. 610 00:41:41,480 --> 00:41:43,820 Um, thank you guys for the time today. 611 00:41:43,850 --> 00:41:44,720 This is a lot of fun. 612 00:41:45,260 --> 00:41:47,600 I have a lot of, I have a lot of questions for you. 613 00:41:47,930 --> 00:41:49,040 We'll kick it in LA. 614 00:41:49,640 --> 00:41:51,884 Um, yeah. 615 00:41:51,884 --> 00:41:54,194 Alexis: I'm going to buy some more, uh, Adam Bomb Squads. 616 00:41:57,705 --> 00:41:59,685 Tiffany: Alexis, you got to find the robot now. 617 00:41:59,714 --> 00:42:02,835 Like you gotta go by the story, right? 618 00:42:03,015 --> 00:42:03,794 Bobby: I'll never sell it. 619 00:42:03,825 --> 00:42:04,875 Maybe that's what it is too. 620 00:42:04,875 --> 00:42:07,194 I'm like, I want accept any bit it's priceless 621 00:42:07,214 --> 00:42:07,484 Alexis: Okay. 622 00:42:07,484 --> 00:42:08,415 Challenge accepted. 623 00:42:11,835 --> 00:42:12,944 But seriously, thank you, Bobby. 624 00:42:12,944 --> 00:42:13,515 This is great. 625 00:42:13,544 --> 00:42:16,095 Bobby: I love you guys so much. 626 00:42:16,095 --> 00:42:16,544 Thank you.