New Ethereum talks, every Monday. The week's conference uploads by event, in your inbox.

Loading player…

Open Conversations: Making People, Places & Things Come Together (Frankie Colamarino, Will Wheeler)

Funding the CommonsThu, Oct 9, 2025, 12:00 AM

A conversation with Frankie Colamarino and Will Wheeler, members of Nouns DAO, Nouns Cares, and Problem Media, exploring how Nouns drives practical, community-led innovation through its decentralized ecosystem. Frankie and Will delve into Nouns’ unique approach to bridging Web2 and Web3, emphasizing real-world impact, collaboration, and accessibility. Nouns is described as a "meme economy" where public goods funding meets creativity. From building schools to producing art and supporting global communities, the DAO combines fun with purpose. They highlight the importance of IRL (in-real-life) impact, showcasing how Nouns uses Web3 tools to address global challenges and foster connections across cultures. This discussion underscores how Nouns DAO empowers communities to bring ideas to life, fund public goods, and co-create a more inclusive, collaborative future. Produced by Funding the Commons in Tokyo, July 2024. Mentioned Projects: Nouns DAO: https://nouns.wtf Nouns Cares: https://nouns.wtf/cares Problem Media: https://problemmedia.com Funding the Commons: https://www.fundingthecommons.io Learn More: Earth Commons: https://www.commons.earth Thank You to Our Sponsors: Protocol Labs: https://protocol.ai Filecoin Foundation: https://fil.org DESILO Inc.: https://desilo.ai Yamauchi-No.10 Family Office: https://y-n10.com bitgrit: https://bitgrit.net ONGAESHI: https://www.ongaeshi-pj.com AI Alignment Network: https://www.aialign.net ANRI: https://anri.vc Chizaizukan: https://chizaizukan.com IBC PATENT ATTORNEY CORPORATION: https://www.hatpat.jp Road to Devcon: https://devcon.org/en/road-to-devcon/ Paramita: https://paramita.co.jp Octant: https://octant.app Optimism Foundation: https://optimism.io Drips: https://drips.network Polkadot: https://polkadot.network bitFlyer Group: https://bitflyer.com サイボウズ式ブックス (Cybozu Books): https://cybozushiki.cybozu.co.jp/books/ SovAge: https://x.com/sov_age Astrofitters: https://astrofitters.space

Transcript

[Music] I'm Frankie uh we're a part of noun sty I'm will wheeler I'm the partner in problem TV and a member of nouns and nouns cares really focused on Bridging the Gap between web 2 and web 3 and make practical uses of web 3 is really our main focus so if they can improve someone's daily life you can execute a project better you can bring another layer of it in terms of community or adoption that's what we're focused on it's awesome that if you have an idea anytime there's an audience to hear that idea there's a community to evaluate that with you help you work through it that's why we love doing what we do but in the doubt because we're all about sort of if we can take you from A to B in terms of getting the idea together and formalized and presented which is not an easy process to go through us as a prop goes executing it as the second part which is really fun right and sort of making it what you want to make it and keeping the spirit of nouns at the same time I like to say just nouns are people places and things it's uh one of the most story Dows in the space uh it's come together and brought members all over the world to have the same ethos have the same spirit and sense of community but it's also about funding public goods and projects and everything ranging from physical Goods art projects public goods building schools making documentaries so on and so forth so yeah it's it's the it's really the magic and the glue that makes the people play things come together nouns is is open-ended enough to where we can tackle serious issues but we could also have a lot of fun you know at the same time I think that IRL is so important for this this space and I think nouns with the Spear of the project and people involved in community IRL is everything we spoke today about public goods and I think I said earlier that I think that public goods are the best case study for this technology and for the the use case for this and I love that the schools the wells project um all those things are huge because they have real world impact and they're not about necessarily maybe your public good but it's it's a global public good if it's if it's good for that community that needs it you should feel good about it you should feel good about funding it participating it and the fact that that that nouns is attached to it visually is just incredible because you could see it an art project you see it in an album recording session and you could see it you know a well we were we're talking about how we We Believe the commons actually aligns most with like our practice and especially even with your background you know it's it's good to find like uh kind of a defined home like of of people who are really looking to break past what we've observed to be a very kind of tornado of of of ideas and energy I think funding the commons really does a good job at like dialing it in I think the funing the common brand and everything you guys are doing is absolutely incredible I think the The Branding and the spirit of of it is really on point I guess I'm biased but I look at all the visual indicators uh and the way that it's represented the language it's used and I think that the environment in which it was and the fact that it's here in Tokyo at this time is was great and I felt like people when we finished the panel they we had some really interesting conversations people had very good questions they were very smart and informed and I also liked that it wasn't hyper technical I think that's really important I think that you can go to one over your head hyper technical crypto conferences and talks and Summits but I think again I always come back to can you explain it to your grandma can you cross the chasm in a really simple way um and I thought that it was really cool that we got to just talk about that in particular today is that we really focus on the public goods conversation the Practical applications of web 3 versus things that are sounding great in theory but maybe we're 20 30 years out from yeah what can we do today how can we impact people how can people uh use this to change their daily lives find your people like that would be my message um and don't be afraid to ask for help right like that's something that we always prioritize you know if Will and I don't know something we don't pretend to know uh and we are we are very proactive about finding the people who do know the things that we want to learn and uh you know making lanes for them you know like make lanes for the people in your life but also don't be afraid to make new friends yeah do things in a positive way uh do things that aren't about you um and that's the trth to me that's like the essence of building right is you're creating something that other people can use and you're making a difference and it's not just about your personal day life it's for everybody else so yeah you make me cry jeez one yeah was beautiful yeah yeah keep building just keep building yeah [Music]

Automatic transcript — names and jargon may be misspelled.