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How Building a Community and Utilizing NFTs Led to Success in the Web3 Space – with Jeff Kaufmann

January 06, 2023

Jeff Kaufmann is the founder of Parachute. It's a business that helps brands build Web3 Solutions. He's also the founder of Jump, one of the first marketing communities focused on Web3. He publishes a weekly newsletter focused on the Web3 space. He is also a collaborator and advisor at Seed Club, a DAO that operates as a social token incubator and accelerator.

Learning is one of Jeff's greatest strengths. When he came across Web3 and specifically NFTs and social tokens, it just seemed to him a new treasure trove of endless learning to go down. And Jeff stated that once a learner starts to learn stuff, he just wants to learn more and this is exactly the case with him.

Due to Jeff's background in marketing and advertising, his company "Jump" began by jumping into Web3. He has worked with many brands like Chick-Fil-A, GameStop, and Dr. Pepper doing social and digital strategy. He believes the strength of marketing skills is that they can be applied in new industries and he did exactly that. He applied and adapted his learnings of marketing and advertising in Web3 to start Jump. He wanted to start with the strategic move of starting a community, building a network, and connecting with other people to learn. The jump was a community for marketing and advertising professionals. It's built kind of off the back of Jeff's network but now has extended into corners of the world that go way beyond his network.

Jeff thinks it’s important for anyone who is planning on starting a business in Web3 space to build a community using the tools that you will apply to your business. In his case, his company is about Web3, in the world of marketing and advertising so it was important for them to build a space using Web3 marketing tools and join communities that are using these Web3 tools.

Moreover, Jeff’s company has token-gated their community because they need an NFT to coordinate and organize themselves. And by holding that NFT, it unlocks access to Discord. So, if 2 people hold the same NFT, they are connected on the chain. But if 100 people hold the same NFT, that's 100 people connected on the chain. They can move around the Internet that's built on blockchain together as a community. Right now, they are just on Discord but in the future, they will be building a whole set of tools where users can verify their community, and access the community because they hold a specific NFT and it's called the Sky Club. 

Jeff talked about UGC, User Generated Capital which is Web2-based user-generated content with Web3-generated capital that demonstrates people aren't just in one community anymore. They're usually in multiple communities, meaning they will hold more than one token. This overlapping of communities will allow Jump and other communities to partner up with each other, expand the Web3 ecosystem, and bring more value to the Web3 market.

Jeff stays resourceful and gains information about what is happening in the Web3 community through Discord. He spends a lot of time on Discord communities to find new information. Twitter is the platform where he follows informative content and people who talk about innovative concepts. He also listens to a lot of podcasts to learn new and interesting information.

Jeff explained that he has organized several events in the Metaverse and plans to organize more in the future. His company is planning to launch Jump News, which is basically a startup that sits alongside the community. It’s a real business that's designed to make money and then a portion of the revenue generated will help support the community. With Jump News, there will be more resources, in terms of both people and technical resources. The increase in resources will help Jeff’s company to organize more events in the Metaverse. Jeff believes events are a big part of the Web3 community but they need a sustainable business model to ace them.

Affirming that engaging with people is the most effective way to enter the Web3 ecosystem, Jeff advised people who wish to start a community around Web3. One-on-one type of relationship building is the most important in Web3. Jeff mentioned that it is important to find the people who are passionate about your niche or your area of interest, talk to them on weekly basis to engage in discussions, outreach people who can help you to build a community. After building a one-on-one relationship, the next step is to create content. Focus on what you want to build, and create content accordingly, this way people in your network will connect with you in a better way. He mentioned his company Jump was able to reach the point where they are now only through regular weekly meetings for bringing people together.

KEY HIGHLIGHTS     (see clickable version on www.cmo-stories.com)

[00:42] Who is Jeff Kaufmann? 

[01:11] What inspired you to become a Web3 pioneer and start these businesses or communities? 

[04:24] Can you explain what the JUMP Community is? 

[07:20] Why is it token gated? 

[14:31] How do you get all the information you need to know?  

[18:15] Do you do events for the Jump Community? 

[21:20] What would be your best advice to start a community for themselves in their niche? 

[28:09] What is the best place to connect with you? 

NOTABLE QUOTES 

“The curiosity of just learning is probably the core thing that has driven me into space and it's also more you know what keeps me going every day.” 

“We can move around together as a tribe or as a community.” 

“In Web2, communities were built on platforms, and in Web3 the community is the platform.” 

“Events are a big part for the community where we want to go but we need a sustainable business model.” 

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