Web3, finally explained...
Together with [Carta]( [April 03, 2022]( | [View Online]( | [Sign Up]( | [Shop]( Ben Hickey IN THIS ISSUE Finding the right workplace The AWS of Web3 Baseball's trust issues Â
 Editor's Note Â
 Good morning. So the big news last week was that the mastermind behind the theft of 3.4 million liters of maple syrup in 2012 was slapped with a $7.3 million fine. Known as the Great Canadian Maple Syrup Heist, the robbery deprived the Quebec Maple Syrup Producers stockpile of 9,571 barrels of the sticky stuff. Canada has a maple syrup stockpile? Sure doesâin order to ensure adequate supply of the product during periods of bad harvests. In these bottlenecked times, weâre seeing how useful a little doomsday prep can be. Biden, of course, just tapped the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to dampen soaring gas prices. In the early days of the pandemic, governors requested supplies from the Strategic National Stockpile, which contains items like drugs, vaccines, and surgical masks. Other stashes are a bit moreâ¦unique. The US stores a helium stockpile 3,000 feet beneath Amarillo, TX. China built up a pork reserve in 2007. Norway constructed a Seed Vault inside the Arctic Circle with more than 1,000,000 samples to replenish the Earth in the event of an apocalypse. The National Raisin Reserve was a thing in California, once. My takeaway? Anytime someone accuses you of hoarding, just say youâre creating a National Strategic Stockpile and theyâll back off. âNeal Freyman  CULTURE  [Stock watch](
[Stock watch for April 3]( mailto:?subject=Check%20out%20this%20story%20from%20Morning%20Brew%21&body=Stock%20watch%3A%20utm_campaign%3Dmb%26utm_medium%3Dnewsletter%26utm_source%3Dmorning_brew%0A%0AWant%20more%20great%20content%3F%20Subscribe%20to%20Daily%20Brew%20%E2%80%94%20Delivering%20the%20latest%20business%20news%20from%20Wall%20St.%20to%20Silicon%20Valley%2C%20daily.%0Ahttps%3A%2F%2Fwww.morningbrew.com%2Fdaily%2Fr%2F%3Fkid%3D4904f90a%26utm_source%3Demail_share%0A  Q&A  [Icebreakers withâ¦the co-founders of Web3 giant Alchemy](
[[Alchemy cofounders Nikil and Joe]Alchemy]( With the launch of a zillion NFT projects and other crypto experiments (DeFi apps, DAOs, etc.), the blockchain space is as wild as one of those giant inflatables at the car dealership. But thereâs a company giving it a backbone: Alchemy. Founded in August 2017, the startup hit a $10+ billion valuation this February and has been heralded by some investors as the âAmazon Web Services of crypto.â Morning Brew chatted with Alchemyâs co-founders, Nikil Viswanathan and Joe Lau, to learn about the hot term of the moment, âWeb3,â and what the company, well, does exactly. So, what does Alchemy do, for the uninitiated? Nikil: When you think about the big shifts in technology in the last 100 years, thereâs three: personal computers, the internet, and now thereâs blockchain or web3. They each had this developer platform that enabled people to build apps. For the computer, thatâs your operating system, so Windows or iOS, which lets you build apps on top of it, like Excel or Chrome. The way it does that is by abstracting the underlying technology and making it really easy for people to build. Alchemy is that developer platform layer for Web3, for blockchain. So we make it easy for people to build applications [like NFTs]. You mentioned the term âWeb3.â Can you explain what that means? Nikil: Computers came along with the idea that machines could follow human instructions. And then the internet gave it this new capability: Two machines could now exchange information between each other, they could talk to each other. Web3 is giving a new building block: Now, machines can transactâmeaning they can have commerce, they can send money to and from each other. And I know thereâs some confusion here because we have PayPal and Venmo, but, without going into technical details, thatâs not really being able to transact. Thatâs just an application built on there. Now, you can take money and put it into code, which was never possible before. With all this breakneck growth, do you think blockchain will experience a shakeout similar to what happened following the dot-com boom? Nikil: There were a lot of companies that ended up dying in 1999. But it didnât mean the internet was dead, right? Certain ideas might not have worked out or they might have been too early. And when you look at crypto, there are a lot of people playing with experiments, and âexperimentâ doesnât mean itâs going to work. But what it means is thereâs a lot of new ideas, new ingenuity, and new products coming into the space. And fundamentally, the reason that Web3 and blockchain is interesting and useful is not because of the technologyâitâs because it enables new types of products that were never possible before. Like when you think about NFTsâ¦actually funny story: Now, we do $100+ billion in transactions annually. But our very first user was this guy who built a side project that we thought no one was ever going to use. He built CryptoPunks. Do you have any advice for co-founder duos like yourselves? Joe: One lesson is just to work with friends and pick them carefully. Nikil: This is how we think about hiring and also how we tell people to think about productâ âmarket fit, which is the hardest thing to get [right] in an early stage startup. If youâre asking, âIs this the right co-founder fit or do we have productâ âmarket fit?ââthe answer is no. If you have to ask that question, then youâre not there. mailto:?subject=Check%20out%20this%20story%20from%20Morning%20Brew%21&body=Icebreakers%20with%E2%80%A6the%20co-founders%20of%20Web3%20giant%20Alchemy%3A%20utm_campaign%3Dmb%26utm_medium%3Dnewsletter%26utm_source%3Dmorning_brew%0A%0AWant%20more%20great%20content%3F%20Subscribe%20to%20Daily%20Brew%20%E2%80%94%20Delivering%20the%20latest%20business%20news%20from%20Wall%20St.%20to%20Silicon%20Valley%2C%20daily.%0Ahttps%3A%2F%2Fwww.morningbrew.com%2Fdaily%2Fr%2F%3Fkid%3D4904f90a%26utm_source%3Demail_share%0A  TOGETHER WITH CARTA Equity 101 is now in sesh [Carta]( More and more companies are starting to offer equity to their employees as a form of compensation. Wondering exactly how that, uh, works? [Cartaâs free Equity 101 course]( was designed to demystify the basics of equity in an approachable wayâno intimidating jargon, no head-spinning. Equity 101 also features trailblazers who advocate for equity ownership in their own unique workspaces, such as Serena Williams, Kerry Washington, and more. Last year, a whopping $580M worth of workersâ vested, unexercised equity expired, and one of the biggest reasons is a lack of education on the topic. So Carta created a better way to learn and earn. Ready to get started? [Equity 101âs free tools and resources await you](.  WORK LIFE  [How to find your ideal workplace](
[Make it work image ]( Each week, our workplace whisperer Shane Loughnane answers a reader-submitted question about problems at work. Anything nagging at you? [Ask Shane here](. I am a high school senior who is in the college/career market. This isnât necessarily a question about the workplace, but rather how to find the best workplace for me. Whatâs the best way to find one that suits me?âJ. from Michigan A friend in crisis sought my counsel via text this week: âIs there anything more unsettling than realizing your fly is down?â Reflexively, I countered, âAt least youâre at home,â forgetting theyâve been called back to the office after two years of remote work. I am fortunate to still have WFH flexibility, an arrangement that agrees with both my work and overall lifestyle (to say nothing of my wardrobe) quite well. Indeed, there are no flies on me these days, so to speak. In the current climate, itâs increasingly important to consider how suited you think you'd be to the traditional workplace experience. My own zipper-free Xanadu notwithstanding, remote/hybrid options certainly arenât one-size-fits-all. For example, I have colleagues for whom the lack of in-person collaboration is demotivating. Similarly, while not reporting to a physical location has helped catalyze the ability of some folks to achieve certain personal goals, that hasnât been the case for others. Where do you fall on this spectrum, and how might that influence your decision? Of course, what makes a workplace ideal is more than deciding whether youâll take up space on a floor plan. Finding a culture that values learning and curiosityânot just for your job, but whatever calls up your passionâis key. If you can nail that aspect, the X-factor becomes surrounding yourself with the right people. Early in your career especially, youâll find that you inevitably become more like your co-workers. So before you take a job (or commit to that college), itâs worth considering who youâll be spending your time with. My idea of the âbest workplace everâ has continuously evolved. As your priorities change and you gain experience, yours will too. Enjoy the rideâand if you wind up staring at a closet full of office clothes for your newly remote gig one day, remember you can probably wear them to your 20th reunion or something. mailto:?subject=Check%20out%20this%20story%20from%20Morning%20Brew%21&body=How%20to%20find%20your%20ideal%20workplace%3A%20utm_campaign%3Dmb%26utm_medium%3Dnewsletter%26utm_source%3Dmorning_brew%0A%0AWant%20more%20great%20content%3F%20Subscribe%20to%20Daily%20Brew%20%E2%80%94%20Delivering%20the%20latest%20business%20news%20from%20Wall%20St.%20to%20Silicon%20Valley%2C%20daily.%0Ahttps%3A%2F%2Fwww.morningbrew.com%2Fdaily%2Fr%2F%3Fkid%3D4904f90a%26utm_source%3Demail_share%0A Â ANALYSIS Â [Baseballâs trust issues](
[[Fenway Park at sunset ]Maddie Meyer/Getty Images]( Baseball will hold its Opening Day on Thursday, bringing with it another season of walk-off homers, too many pitching changes, and lawful monopoly status. â¦come again? Major League Baseball, for about 100 years now, has been exempt from the USâ broad antitrust rules that ensure a competitive marketplace. But will MLBâs 100th year as a legal monopoly be one of its last? Earlier this month, Sen. Bernie Sanders introduced a bill, the â[Save American Baseball Act,](â that would end MLBâs antitrust exemption and âprevent the greed of baseballâs oligarchs from destroying the game.â Last year, three Republican senators also attempted to strip the monopoly shieldâbut for different reasons than Bernie. They were angry that the league pulled its All-Star Game from Georgia after the state passed a restrictive voting law. So how did MLB end up with this exemption in the first place? In the early 1900s, baseball was composed of multiple leagues duking it out for supremacy. A club from one league (the Federal League) sued MLB for monopolizing the market for players, and in turn violating the Sherman Antitrust Act. - The Sherman Act of 1890 is the earliest and most important piece of antitrust legislation in the US. It aims to prevent the formation of price-gouging monopolies, as well as to regulate interstate commerce. In 1922, the Supreme Court decided that the National League holding games between teams from different states did not amount to âinterstate commerceâ (it was just guys playing a game in a single location, after all), and thus fell outside the purview of the Sherman Act. That 1922 ruling has taken a beating by legal scholars in the decades since, but itâs withstood a barrage of challenges, including a major case in 1953 involving a former Yankees player. The implications are minor Despite its antitrust exemption, the MLB operates similarly to the other US professional sports leagues that arenât considered legal monopolies under US law. Well, except for one aspect: its tight grip over its minor league system. The league has historically paid its minor league players well below minimum wage, often under a uniform pay scale that definitely wouldnât fly under the Sherman Act. And in the lead-up to the 2021 season, it scrapped 40 of the 160 affiliated minor league teams. Itâs this removal of 25% of minor league teams that forms the crux of Bernieâs monopoly allegations. Looking aheadâ¦baseballâs been slow to change, and its monopoly status is no exception. But challengers may try to exploit a remark made during a recent Supreme Court case on the NCAAâs amateurism rules. In that case, the judges said they would not extend baseballâs antitrust exemption to other sports leagues, because, as Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote, the Court has acknowledged that the 1922 decision was âunrealistic,â âinconsistent,â and an âaberration.ââNF mailto:?subject=Check%20out%20this%20story%20from%20Morning%20Brew%21&body=Baseball%E2%80%99s%20trust%20issues%3A%20utm_campaign%3Dmb%26utm_medium%3Dnewsletter%26utm_source%3Dmorning_brew%0A%0AWant%20more%20great%20content%3F%20Subscribe%20to%20Daily%20Brew%20%E2%80%94%20Delivering%20the%20latest%20business%20news%20from%20Wall%20St.%20to%20Silicon%20Valley%2C%20daily.%0Ahttps%3A%2F%2Fwww.morningbrew.com%2Fdaily%2Fr%2F%3Fkid%3D4904f90a%26utm_source%3Demail_share%0A  TOGETHER WITH FUZZY [Fuzzy ]( Fur-tunately, telehealth for pets exists. Say farewell to spending late nights Googling the weird sound your pet just madeâand hello to Fuzzy, a telehealth service for pet parents. Fuzzy offers 24/7 access to veterinary professionals with virtual vet consults, live chats, and more. Youâll even get handpicked product recs, perfect for your liâl bestie. [Start here](.  REAL ESTATE  [Open house]( Welcome to Open House, the only newsletter section that isnât afraid to get its paws dirty. Weâll give you a few facts about a listing and you try to guess the price. [GIF of petting zoo for sale]Corcoran Today, weâre heading where no Metro-North train has gone before: to New Yorkâs Catskills, where a 193-acre zoo is looking for its next caretaker. What began as a family-run petting zoo in 1933 was bringing in over 500,000 visitors a year by the â60s to see its hippos, mountain lions, and âprehistoric horses.â (Spirit?) In 2012, the animals wentâ¦hopefully somewhere niceâ¦and the main âgiraffe houseâ building was renovated into a boutique hotel with six bedrooms and lots of kitschy zoo decor. Amenities include: - Outdoor hot tub and indoor rec room
- Private glamping sites
- Loads of animal stalls (could be a cool hostel concept)
- The ghosts of the 150+ species that used to live here How much to yell, âWe bought a zoo!â and really mean it? mailto:?subject=Check%20out%20this%20story%20from%20Morning%20Brew%21&body=Open%20house%3A%20utm_campaign%3Dmb%26utm_medium%3Dnewsletter%26utm_source%3Dmorning_brew%0A%0AWant%20more%20great%20content%3F%20Subscribe%20to%20Daily%20Brew%20%E2%80%94%20Delivering%20the%20latest%20business%20news%20from%20Wall%20St.%20to%20Silicon%20Valley%2C%20daily.%0Ahttps%3A%2F%2Fwww.morningbrew.com%2Fdaily%2Fr%2F%3Fkid%3D4904f90a%26utm_source%3Demail_share%0A Â RECS Â [Just click it](#) - How an Ivy League school turned against a student. ([New Yorker]()
- Online shopping in the middle of the ocean. ([Rest of World]()
- Keep getting lost? Maybe you grew up on the grid. ([NYT]()
- The business students skipping Wall Street for Web3. ([Morning Brew]()
- The cabin on the mountain. ([Longreads]()
- Eurovision 2022: All songs and participating countries. ([wiwibloggs]()
- Attempting to break the world record in Tetris. ([Boston Globe]()
- The rise, flop, and fall of the comb-over. ([Mel Magazine]()
- A bookstore revival channels nostalgia for big-box chains. ([Bloomberg CityLab]()
- Losing my ambition. ([The Cut]() Humblebrag: We went to SXSW. We were there to understand all the ways the worldâs greatest creatives make the worldâs greatest work. To help us make sense of it all, we spoke to the creative collaboration experts at WeTransfer. Read all about what we learned at SXSW [here](.* *This is sponsored advertising content. Â CONTEST Â [Meme Competition](#) Welcome back to Morning Brewâs Meme Competition, where we crown a single memelord every Sunday. Todayâs winner: Lexi in Orem, UT [a meme of a futuristic landscape with the caption: "Society if we could take the strings off bananas"] This weekâs challenge: You can find the [new template here]( for next Sunday. Once youâre done making your meme, [submit it at this link for consideration](. Â ANSWER Â # $3.6 million Written by [Neal Freyman](, [Max Knoblauch](, [Jamie Wilde](, and Shane Loughnane Was this email forwarded to you? Sign up [here]( WANT MORE BREW? Industry news, with a sense of humor â - [Emerging Tech Brew](: AI, crypto, space, autonomous vehicles, and more
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