This week, we take a look at how communities are building their own digital spaces away from traditional web2 platforms, and how it’s manifesting IRL. Â
TL;DR
Entire communities are changing in fundamental ways not seen in decades, having massive economic and political implications.
Social networks are undergoing a similar, rapid change where communities are unbundling and seeking disintermediation from traditional platforms.
The next wave of startups will focus on building communities first, utilizing the tools of web3, and we will see these digital communities come to life in the real world in the coming years.
Retro vibes today:
It’s getting faster now
Highway 93 is one of the most scenic in America, and it’s the one I’ve driven most in my life.Â
It straddles the eastern edge of the Rocky Mountains, a two-lane highway that gets you from the northernmost suburbs of Denver to Boulder in a hurry. Â
It’s home. It’s where I grew up. I know every turn of the highway, every unique cliff of each mountain, every deserted lot along its way.Â
I love that drive.
But something horrific happened there the other week.Â
A shed caught fire along the highway’s edge. Â
And that little fire caught 100 MPH winds, and found bone dry lands, such that entire communities that I know and love burned to the ground in a matter of hours.Â
No, this story isn’t about climate change. I’ll save that for another time.
This is about that shed.Â
It turns out that the cause of that colossal wildfire was on the property of a religious cult. It is a Christian fundamentalist sect called Twelve Tribes, which owns the land and an enclave of homes for the members of the group, all living off an exit for Highway 93. Â
I couldn’t believe it. Â
I know that highway. I know Boulder. And yet I never knew about a controversial Christian sect living there.
An entire community, inside of my community, entirely unknown to me. Â
I guess I didn’t know my community as much as I thought.
Silicon Valley distributed
Patrick Collison, founder and CEO of Stripe, started an interesting thread among tech founders as to the rapid change that is underway for Silicon Valley companies.Â
Since the pandemic, tech companies that have historically been associated with hiring people in traditional tech hubs like Silicon Valley and Seattle are now amassing workforces distributed globally. Â
Yes, that means that new tech hubs like Austin and Miami are sprouting up.  But it’s more than that.
It means that the most iconic tech companies of the future might just as likely hire their next dev in Montana or Mumbai as they would in Mountain View.
What does that mean for culture, for the community, of these companies?Â
And what does it mean for the wider community that was once Silicon Valley?
Redistricting
Politics is undergoing a similar, massive transformation. Â
The Great Resignation and migration is well known. People are leaving expensive states like California, Illinois, and New York and moving to America’s Southeast, Texas, and Arizona. Â
Less appreciated is that, as these communities change, so will their politics. Â
Those experiencing the influx of people already know this. Don’t bring your politics with you, and all of that.Â
But the reality is, a person leaving California for mostly economic reasons is not likely to drop their political views along the way. Â
Politics is a central part of identity, especially now. The type of cars we drive, where we buy our groceries, even the type of mask we wear–all conspicuously displaying our political views. Blue team. Red team. Politics everywhere.
That is why the 2022 election, and definitely the 2024 presidential election, will surprise people. Bright blue and bright red communities may change to a purplish hue in ways that even political junkies are probably missing.Â
The Great Unbundling
Marc Andreessen has this great framework for thinking about where to spot the next massive growth opportunities. In a nutshell, there are only two ways to make money in business: One is to bundle; the other is unbundle.
For the last twenty years, we have been bundling together on social platforms like Facebook, Reddit, and Twitter to interact and connect with one another.Â
But now it’s clear that the idea of a centralized, social network is coming apart. Â
A massive unbundling is underway. In only a few short years, it won’t just be every Twitter has its equal and opposite Gettr. With the help and infrastructure of web3, all of us will have the tools to find and build our own unique communities.
The great companies being built today understand this.
They are just as focused–maybe even more focused–on building great communities as they are the products themselves. Anyone who has a great idea for a NFT or protocol or product, all of it starts with building a Discord first.
And the thing is, all of this unbundling and creating new communities is happening in the real world too.Â
This is not just a digital thing.
Right now, in communities where people work and live, there are DAOs creating entirely new communities IRL. Whether it’s buying a golf course, creating cabin getaways for the creator economy, or actually building an entirely new city, all of this is happening in the real world today.
That little shed off of a highway you’ve driven by a million times?
It might be home to an entire community you never knew existed, which could start one hell of a fire someday.