{"id":8613,"date":"2021-08-19T08:51:14","date_gmt":"2021-08-19T12:51:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/magazine\/?p=8613"},"modified":"2021-08-19T08:51:14","modified_gmt":"2021-08-19T12:51:14","slug":"passion-economy-creators-arent-fungible-li-jin-of-atelier","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/magazine\/2021\/08\/19\/passion-economy-creators-arent-fungible-li-jin-of-atelier","title":{"rendered":"1,000 true fans? Just two will do with NFTs: Li Jin of Atelier"},"content":{"rendered":"

It was once said that the internet would make it possible for anyone with 1,000 fans to make a living, but Li Jin believes that in the age of NFTs, one or two serious supporters may be enough.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Jin is a flag bearer for the \u201cpassion economy,” which she describes as an economic system that allows and encourages people to make money while following their passions. For Jin, NFTs are a new tool that helps creators in the passion economy reach their \u201ctrue fans\u201d and form lasting relationships with them.<\/p>\n

Through her venture firm, Atelier, Jin invests in \u201cplatforms that lower the barriers to entrepreneurship and broaden paths to work.\u201d With a past in venture capital, she is well placed to help transform the way we think about work.<\/p>\n

Bringing the passion back<\/h4>\n

\u201cIt’s been my dream to live in Paris, so I’m just hanging out here for the time being,\u201d Jin tells Magazine toward the end of the interview, which comes after the wrap-up of the much-anticipated Ethereum Community Conference conference, also known as EthCC, that took place in the city. Despite admitting that she does not \u201cfully understand why people are working on DeFi,\u201c which occupied much of the attention of conference-goers, Jin \u201corganized a lunch for people working at the intersection of crypto and the creator economy.\u201d<\/p>\n

The present difficulties of travel are a good reason to savor every bit of a new city, but hanging out in a new place is, \u201cfor the time being,\u201d not something the average worker can do, seeing as they tend to be chained to pesky things like physical offices and scheduled, mandatory in-person meetings. That’s, however, not the case<\/a> for many creators \u2014 especially ones in the passion economy.<\/p>\n

Why do we work, after all? When you ask a child what they want to do when they grow up, the answer is often \u2014 hopefully \u2014 filled with playfulness and passion. When asked why they chose a specific career, the answer rarely revolves around salary, job security or benefits. Upon growing up, many seem to abandon these core motivations, instead seeking a living by fitting into a corporate structure or mindlessly filling freelance orders.<\/p>\n

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\"Fan<\/div><\/a>\n <\/div>\n
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Fan tokens: Day trading your favorite sports team<\/a><\/h3>\n
<\/i> October 7, 2021<\/a><\/div><\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/article>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>
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\"Icelandic<\/div><\/a>\n <\/div>\n
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What it\u2019s like when the banks collapse: Iceland 2008 firsthand<\/a><\/h3>\n
<\/i> October 5, 2021<\/a><\/div><\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/article>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>
\n\t\t\t\t
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\"Crypto<\/div><\/a>\n <\/div>\n
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Crypto City: Guide to Tokyo<\/a><\/h3>\n
<\/i> October 1, 2021<\/a><\/div><\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/article>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>
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\"Before<\/div><\/a>\n <\/div>\n
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Before NFTs: Surging interest in pre-CryptoPunk collectibles<\/a><\/h3>\n
<\/i> September 27, 2021<\/a><\/div><\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/article>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>
\n\t\t\t\t
\n \n
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\"Bitcoin<\/div><\/a>\n <\/div>\n
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Bitcoin ledger as a secret weapon in war against ransomware<\/a><\/h3>\n
<\/i> September 16, 2021<\/a><\/div><\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/article>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n

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The passion seems to be coming back, according to Jin. There is a \u201cshift underway from gig marketplaces, which were built around really commoditized services and products, to more flexible, creative marketplaces that would actually enable people to make income from doing more of the things that they really love,\u201d she explains optimistically.<\/p>\n

This is the core of the passion economy, which \u201crepresents a new type of work that is completely separate from a traditional employer-employee relationship.\u201d This means that a passion \u201cworker,\u201d if we can call them that, does not answer to bosses in a corporate structure, nor do they act as interchangeable \u2014 or fungible \u2014 freelancers a la Fiverr or Uber. Instead, they simply do their thing \u2014 and clients\/subscribers pay for the privilege of being part of the journey.<\/p>\n

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Jin’s first NFT sold for $25,000.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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In a sense, the output of any creative worker \u2014 be it written, designed or painted \u2014 is in effect a nonreplicable, nonfungible \u201ctoken\u201d of their effort. This article is, in effect, an off-blockchain NFT created by myself \u2014 sold to Magazine, but forever connected to me. The work output of non-creative workers like security guards or Uber drivers is decidedly less like a unique NFT and more like a commoditized, non-supply-capped \u201cwork hour\u201d token with a clear market value.<\/p>\n

The relationship between NFTs and creative work is far more than mere associative wordplay, as the technology allows creatives to mint their work on the blockchain and benefit from its sales and resales.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis year, a lot of creators became aware of crypto and what it could do for them in terms of earning income in a way that wasn’t possible before.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

<\/h4>\n

Venture capitalist<\/h4>\n

Jin hails from Beijing, with her academic-minded parents immigrating to Pittsburgh in the early 1990s. She describes growing up \u201cvery poor\u201d during her first years in America, leading her parents to push her toward a safe career.<\/p>\n

She enrolled at Harvard University in 2008, but her parents were unhappy with her major \u2014 English literature \u2014 telling her that she was doomed to become a starving writer and that her choice \u201cwas bringing shame upon the family.\u201d To appease her parents, Jin switched to statistics.<\/p>\n

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