Welcome to HUG

GM!

(That's Web3 speak for good morning. It's always morning in Web3, no matter what time of day you're reading this because we're still so early with everything.)

It's officially happened. After a year of investing in Web3, advising crypto and NFT companies, and becoming a big NFT collector myself...I've officially decided to become a Web3 founder and go all in.

In today's newsletter, I wanted to tell you a little bit more about the project I'm working on, and how I think it fits into some of the overall trends in Web3.

A few trends I've noticed over the past several months:

(1) There will be a?tremendous influx of women into the crypto/NFT space?over the coming years. This trend has already begun, but with launches like Coinbase NFT, apps like Instagram/Shopify supporting mainstream NFT usage, and crypto becoming more and more easily accessible - coupled with the fact that NFTs are such an exciting and fun way to onboard into crypto - this is one of the biggest trends to look out for.

(2)?Discovery is very difficult. It's truly the wild, wild west right now in the crypto world. It is very difficult to discover new projects and to tell what's real from what's all hype/FOMO. Most of the conversations happen on Twitter and Discord, so if you miss something in the moment, you've essentially missed it forever. Launches come and go and people rush to take part, leaving them open to security risks and irrational decision making. We need to solve the problem of the discovery of good, smart projects and thoughtful curation by trusted community members.

(3)?It's a crowded space. A few months ago, just launching an NFT collection was exciting and differentiating. Fast forward to now, hundreds of collections are now launching every week, and it is no longer enough to just have pretty art. Collections need to increasingly differentiate themselves with partnerships, long term roadmaps, and extra utility.

So, what is HUG?

I recently launched HUG, to embrace and support creators in Web3 so that they can make the most of the opportunities in the space, while also evolving in a constantly changing ecosystem. The NFT community is very collaborative, but it can also feel lonely and isolating to launch a new product in uncharted territory, so I wanted everything about HUG to feel positive, joyful, and enveloped in love.

A few different branches of HUG:

groupHUG: our accelerator, where crypto/NFT projects apply to go on an intensive sprint with us, followed by longer term 1:1 advisory work. Projects go through groupHUG as a cohort, since we believe that you learn as much from your peers as you do from experienced mentors. We just announced the first few projects that will be in our second cohort and we are delighted to have an exciting cohort of women-led projects.

hedgeHUG: Our early stage program, for NFT/crypto projects that are too early for our incubator, but could benefit from some extra HUGs as they move towards a growth phase.

HUGhub: Our broader platform that aims to help with issues around discovery and curation in the space, helping quality projects stand out more, and elevating the voices of helpful community curators.

You can find out more about all of these programs in our latest post: https://medium.com/@thehugxyz/hug-it-out-with-us-2ae5a97b1d3c

Can't wait to continue on this exciting Web3 journey together!