#joseph jaffe

I was excited to mint one of the TribeX NFT’s on launch. And then the unthinkable happened. 400 ETH stolen from the minting wallet of the founders. I immediately listed my NFT on OpenSea because I just did not have the energy to go through the whole FUD and rug broken record again.

Instead of the founders disappearing, giving up, going dark and/or throwing in the towel, these founders stayed and fought. They were not going gently into the night. They would persevere. They would prevail.

After a series of consistent Discord AMA’s and Twitter Spaces, I delisted my NFT and then relisted it at 1000 ETH. In other words, “I’m not leaving” to quote Leo in the Wolf of Wall Street.

If they’re not leaving…I’M NOT LEAVING!!!

Today at 1pm EDT, I’ll have the Architect on the show to talk about this story and of course the NFT collection. And yes, they’ll be giving away a TribeX NFT and yes, I’ll be doing the drawing for one of Ali Sabet’s NFT’s from last week’s show.

Subscribe to the show at bit.ly/subscribetotheshow and then paste your username in the giveaways channel in my discord at bit.ly/notfamousdiscord. You will need to own 1 $JAFFE coin in order to access the show channels and you can do that at rally.io/creator/JAFFE

Watch full episodes at youtube.com/josephjaffeisnotfamous

Let me be clear. You WILL regret not joining me LIVE at a special time of 9.30pm EDT tonight with the very famous Daniel Pink.

As you may have surmised, we’ll be talking about regret, namely why regret makes us human, why regret makes us better and why regret clarifies what we value.

Daniel’s new book is called “The Power of Regret: How Looking Backward Moves Us Forward.” Also, he’ll be keynoting at Joe Pulizzi’s inaugural cex (Creator Economy Expo), May 2-4 at the Arizona Grand Resort in Phoenix, AZ.

The event is going to be awesome! Besides just getting together IRL and meeting up with so many people we've only interacted with virtually, the speaker lineup includes the one and only Ann Handley, Alliestrasza, JaMarr John Johnson, Nora Dunn, Jeremiah Owyang, Roberto Blake, Brian Fanzo and many more!

...but wait, there's more: If you register at https://cex.events/ and use code JAFFE or NOTFAMOUS, you’ll get $200 off, PLUS you’ll get a walk-on role on a live taping of my show on site AND private drinks with me (on me!)

I can't wait to meet you and hang out together!!!

Watch full episodes at youtube.com/c/josephjaffeisnotfamous.

Subscribe at bit.ly/subscribetotheshow

Join the Discord at bit.ly/notfamousdiscord

Dinosaurs and Prophets

I had the pleasure of beginning my marketing career pre-Internet. Well, I think floppy disks and 4-color VGA monitors existed back in South Africa circa-1992/1993 (we were a little behind the rest of the world), but for the most part “you’ve got mail” was still a phrase reserved for the one job that surely would never be under threat: the mailman.

Today, the pendulum has swung to the opposite extreme, where the word “analog” is essentially verboten and a swear word and the 30-second spot is pretty much dead and buried (but don’t go telling that to those still buying and selling the old dog).

It’s all in my fourth, book, “Z.E.R.O.,” which hits newsstands (assuming they still exist) within the next two weeks.

I believe it’s still available in hardcover, although I’m told it may be one of the last books EVER printed on trees. You may want to grab one as a collector’s item. Soon we’ll all be reading them on our personal Google Glasses, while we pretend to be soooo interested in the conversation with our artificially intelligent bot-date -- or worse still, our IRL spouse!

As someone who has made a career in the “what comes next,” I have digital and its successors to thank for paving a path where “the next big thing” is priced at a premium and good old common sense, best practices and strategory is discounted or considered “value-add.”  And while I’m making my acceptance speech, I would like to send mad props to all those delusional executives who continue to push back on progress, evolution and innovation in favor of the elusive retirement package and the belief that big ideas, storytelling and creativity will always trump real data, proof of concept and actual, measurable and tangible results.

Actually I’m a big fan of ideas, storytelling and creativity -- only I don’t feel it absolutely, simply has to be done via television commercials.

Regardless, I’d like to plead the case that I don’t discriminate. I hate everyone equally, which is why I’m here to turn my back on BOTH the “old” and the “new” in favor of… the “old” and the “new.”.

I’m here to offer you a simple 2 x 2 matrix, framework, paradigm or whatever you want to call it when it comes to planning and executing marketing campaigns, commitments, ecosystems, funnel flipping programs or whatever tickles your fancy.

I want you to throw out the worst of the old. I want you hold on to the best of the old.  I want you to embrace the best of the new.  I want you to reject the worst of the new.

Sound oversimplified? Perhaps. But I think it’s also quite profound, even if I do say so myself.

The fact is, there is a lot wrong with the incumbent model. We all like to beat up on the status quo, but shouldn’t we also give credit to the universal best practices that have stood the test of time?

On the flipside, there is a lot right with the new ways of doing business -- from mobile intimacy to social reciprocity to digital parity. At the same time, there is also a cacophony of absolute crap associated with the get-rich-quick schemes of emerging technology Lotto.

And so the next time you think about constructing a marketing program, I invite you to find your optimal mix of best-old, best-new, worst-old and worst-new to ensure you move forward with the former two and leave behind the latter two. I don’t expect the mix to be even, but my hope is that you will naturally select and optimize your marketing mix -- and in doing so, distance yourself from both the endangered dinosaur and false prophet.

A couple years back, Joseph Jaffe wrote:

“My message to brands is very simple: Don’t be turned off by a startup’s lack of reach. In fact, this should turn you on! You’re dealing with the most fertile real estate, untouched, and unspoiled by the masses…

On Wednesday night, the Evol8tion team went to support the 2013 Spring Semester Founder Institute graduates and hear their pitches. Evol8tion CEO and Co-Founder, Joseph Jaffe, is a mentor for Founder Institute and we love to see the new crop of startups coming out of the program every semester!

Brian Cohen, Chairman of the New York Angels, kicked off the night with valuable advice on how to get smart funding for your startup.  He was joined by panelists Jason Reynolds, Director of Engineering at ff Venture Capital, Jeff Stewart, CEO of Lenddo, and Jeff Wald, Founder of Work Market, to continue the discussion and advise the new startups on how to navigate the challenging investment landscape.  Key piece of advice? Know your consumer base in and out.  The kiss of death in an investment pitch is to say "That's a good question. I've never thought of that!"

Take a read and see what Evol8tion's Co-founder and CEO, Joseph Jaffe, has to say about the latest award to hit the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. Be sure to check out jaffejuice.com and follow him @jaffejuice. 

Awarding vs. Rewarding Innovation 

I’ve spent a fair amount of time talking about failing fast, failing smart, embracing risk and the like as it relates to experimenting, piloting and/or collaborating with startups.

To date, my sense is that the industry “feels” that the bridge between Madison Avenue and Mountain View is either already important or will become increasingly important. That’s the good news. The bad news is that it’s still early days in the space -- and as a “grizzled old-timer” who has lived (barely) through the rise, fall and resurrection of digital and subsequent déjà vu all over again of social and mobile, I can attest to the fact that the learning and adoption curve is still a fairly steep and arduous one.

I think it’s a safe assumption (sure thing) that the wave of marketing-led innovation through technology is not just a gentle crest, but in fact a tsunami of epic proportions -- and how we get to this point is a lot less clear in terms of path, progression and process.

One of the “signs of life” offering proof that we are heading in the right direction is the cockroach of the advertising profession, the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, which has just introduced a new award category to recognize innovation and how it leads to the birth of powerful ideas.

When it comes to embracing startups, New York City is more like Gotham City overrun by a schizophrenic Joker.

On the one hand, the city of New York, led by a mayor with a proven track record of entrepreneurial success, pushes the startup agenda with a bold agenda of building on its #2 status in the U.S. and possibly overtaking Silicon Valley as the hot bed of startup success.

Last month, John Battelle and Brian Monahan’s OpenCo. Initiative rolled out in the city, with Robert K. Steel, Deputy Mayor for Economic Development, espousing NYC’s startup surge and Rachel Sterne Hoat, the City’s Chief Digital Officer, doing likewise.

However as the one hand giveth, the other taketh away, with a judge ruling two weeks ago that airbnb violates NYC’s “hotel law.” This ruling is the third in quick succession, joining the likes of RelayRides and Sidecar on the sharing “sidelines.” These rulings continue to throw obstacles in the path of startups whose time has come. Treating hosts as common criminals and scaring off potential visitors is not exactly the best way to say, "I Heart NY," is it?