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Li Jin

Co-Founder & General Partner

Variant Fund
SeedSeries ACreator EconomySocialConsumer

Investment Thesis

Creator economy, passion economy, crypto-enabled creator business models.

What Excites Them

Creator-first platforms, passion economy tools, onchain creator monetization

What They Pass On

Platform-extractive models, creators as afterthought

How to Pitch

Show creator-centric design. Li thinks about how crypto empowers individual creators.

Key Frameworks

100 True Fans Model

Crypto enables creators to monetize with far fewer fans through direct ownership and community tokens.

Notable Writing

The Web3 Renaissance: A Golden Age for Contentessay

Web3 tools give creators unprecedented ability to monetize and own their work.

NFTs and the Future of Workblog

NFTs enable new work models where creators own their audience relationship directly.

Platform economics skew to top creators; crypto can distribute value more equitably.

100 True Fansblog

You only need 100 true fans willing to pay for premium content

Crypto enables creators to monetize with far fewer fans through direct ownership.

The Passion Economy and the Future of Workblog

New platforms enable people to earn a living from their passions

Podcast Appearances

Web3 Social and the Ownership EconomyBankless
web3 socialownershipcreator tokens
The Creator Economya16z Podcast
creatorspassion economy
The Creator Economy x Cryptoa16z Podcast
creator economyNFTs100 true fans

Key Quotes

The creator economy needs a middle class, and crypto can build one.

Harvard Business Review

The future of work is not about gig economy. It is about the passion economy, where people monetize their unique skills and knowledge.

Blog

Background

General Partner at Variant. Previously at a16z. Author and thought leader on creator economy.

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