partners in rhyme

Hey! I'm still thinking about Saturday night's fight with Tyson Fury and Deontay Wilder. I was hoping Wilder could pull off the upset but honestly, I can't believe he lasted as long as he did. It was incredible to watch. And thanks for Fury, I've had "Walking In Memphis" stuck in my head ever since.

This week's Trapital memo covers my podcast episode with SoundCloud CEO Mike Weissman, Kanye West's Donda expansion, and TikTok's NFT fiasco.

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new podcast: Mike Weissman, SoundCloud

Mike Weissman, CEO of SoundCloud, came back on the pod to shares insights on SoundCloud's fan-powered royalties initiative, the rapid growth of independent music, and why the music industry should evolve beyond the $10 per month "all you can eat" business model that has dominated the streaming era.

This is a topic I also touched on in last week's podcast with Steve Stoute. It was also referenced in a Twitter thread by Andreessen Horowitz partner Chris Dixon. This has been standard in gaming for years, and we'll see more in music, especially as NFTs and web3 become more popular.

If you're curious about how SoundCloud and the industry will build towards that model, then this is the episode for you.

Tap into the Trapital Podcast here.

the Donda Communications Company

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In the past month, Kanye West made several announcements of his future expansions:

- Donda Academy, a tuition-free private prep school in Simi Valley, CA, which has already landed four-top recruits for its high school basketball program
- "Donda" trademarks filed for:

• ​electronic products including tablet computers, surround sound, audio speakers, wearables
• ​homeware products, including shower curtains, towels, and blankets

- "Ye" trademark filed for a dating app, legal services to low income families, face masks, and more

Unsurprisingly, these items were all listed on the Donda org chart that Ye shared back in 2016:

When Ye first shared these ideas, he got laughed at by Silicon Valley elites. Sure, there are plenty of holes to pick apart in Kanye's vision. But he's brought many of his big ideas to life. His Stem player, the Donda Academy, and Yeezy success were all soundbites shared in past interviews years earlier.

The Donda listening parties were reminders of Kanye's influence. He's smart to expand his dreams into reality now when he has more money and power than ever to make it happen.

Finding the right partners. The biggest factor for Kanye's success though, is who he partners for each business venture and how much autonomy he gives that person. Yeezy succeeded because Adidas was 100% on board. When Yeezy was with Nike, Kanye's releases were deprioritized. The right partner made the difference.

Kanye's plans for Donda Academy sound promising. We've seen LeBron James and others use their influence to launch K-12 schools. But will Kanye partner with expert educators who have launched schools before and are committed to his vision?

This has been a challenge for Kanye's past initiatives. For instance, Ye's past philanthropic efforts, Donda's House and the Kanye West Foundation, both struggled. Ye put Chicago artist Rhymefest in charge of Donda's House, but the foundation quickly ran into financial problems, which wasn't a surprise. Here's what I wrote last year:

Creative geniuses often struggle with hiring and delegation. It's not a coincidence that Kanye's biggest career successes came alongside Adidas and Universal Music Group (two of the most established companies in their respective fields). Ye should keep that in mind as he brings his next set of dreams to life.

For more on Kanye, read my July memo, How Kanye West is Building Donda in Public.​

the struggle behind TikTok's NFT launch

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Last week, I wrote a bullish memo on TikTok's future plans in NFTs. I focused on the high volume of TikTok content created, which increases the likelihood of NFT-worthy moments. But I should have analyzed TikTok's ability to launch a successful NFT project, which matters even more.

TikTok has yet to release the project that was planned for last Wednesday, October 6. And according to Rolling Stone, sources say that the release won't be coming at all. More from Rolling Stone:

TikTok's core competency is reducing friction to consume and create engaging content. It solved one of the biggest challenges of social networks—it gives users a constant stream of the best content on the platform without needing to know who to follow. That increases the reach for each post, which makes creators feel more inspired to continue creating.

But TikTok has struggled with its other initiatives. In August 2020, the company hosted a virtual concert with The Weeknd that was seen by just 2 million viewers. It was clearly inspired by the success of Travis Scott's Fortnite event, but failed to match its impact. TikTok was not a digital environment in the Metaverse the same way that Fortnite and Roblox are. TikTok may have had more monthly active users than either of those services, but the engagement and experience is night and day.

Similarly, TikTok is not built to administer NFTs. It's rapid growth may indicate a cutting-edge ability to do it all for creators, but it actually indicate the opposite. TikTok's parent company, ByteDance, has grown so fast, why would we expect it to quickly launch a Metaverse-style event or create a TikTok marketplace? The company has had issues managing its own censorship controversy, CEO turnover, or geo-political turmoil that surrounds its core product.

TikTok may get there eventually. Over time, most of the social networks adopt eachothers features anyway. But NFTs are a different beast. It may take a little more work to get this project off the ground.

Read more about TikTok's NFT launch in its initial press release.​

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coming soon

Trapital Podcast: Mary Rahmani, founder and CEO of Moon Projects. Drops on Friday!