[73] Azurbala Reawakens
[NFTs, Pivoting, Building in Public, Survivability]
GM Readers!
I’ve been an early community member in Azurbala. The project received backlash for its initial art reveal in late 2022. But since then, the team has worked hard to stage a comeback. Let’s dive deeper into this turnaround and highlight some of the lessons that are relevant for founders and builders.
-LJW
(P.S. For the summary and further breakdown of this essay, follow me on Twitter)
Relevant Essay:
🎨 Life in Color Relevant Essays: [Opportunity of Chaos] + [Evangelists Assemble] [10,000 True Fans]
🎨 Background Reading: [Azurbala Jungle Punk Vision Write Up by the Team] + [Revamping Tally Labs Writers Room]
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There is a lot of excitement in the Azurbala community. This week, Azurbala will relaunch their revamped NFT PFPs. The first time around, Tally Labs (team behind the Azurbala project as well as Jenkins the Valet / Writers Room projects) showcased art that caused backlash from the community.
Since then, the team had leaned into what it means to be a Web3 project and worked to stage a comeback.
The turnaround of Azurbala is a notable story because the Tally Labs team has not only leaned into the feedback, but when all said and done, might actually thrive off of it.
🖌
Pivoting in Public
In September 2022, Tally Labs teased the Azurbala PFPs, and the community disliked the art. Some thought this was the end of the project because for a PFP project, the art matters a lot to the community.
For those who want more details of how his unfolded, my friend Mamoru has a great thread here. There are a lot of good lessons for Web3 founders on crisis management and how to handle tough community feedback.
Rather than give up, argue with the community, try to tell the community why the community was wrong, etc… the team leaned into the feedback. Some quotes from a Twitter Spaces by the Tally Labs team (as summarized by Mamoru).
Since then the team has engaged with the community to rebuild the Azurbala project from the ground up. Aside from the continued engagement with the community, they focused on where they got the most feedback, the art. To address the community’s feedback they put together an art council made up of community members / NFT thought leaders and also hired a new art director. Additionally, the team set up a community council to engage directly with the community.
All this had led us to the revamped Azurbala.
Here is the new art, which I think (and the community thinks) is a big improvement.
But everything else in the new Azurbala is also worth calling out.
🖌
Azurbala: Franchise Development
Jungle Punk Vibes
In v1 of Azurbala, there were a lot of complicated mechanics and the team tried to mix match its different IPs into one world. E.g. Jenkins traveled to Azurbala. The new Azurbala is more streamlined and sandboxed as its own world where the team will focus on a few core elements that build on top of the Azurbala world, lore and characters.
Catalyst Events — The moments of excitement that you build towards as “culminating moments” for your community of holders. These are your big swing moments to make a mark.
IP Development — The moments where you grow your IP via various mainstream works (and to us — the key failure of IP development is only in limiting the lack of discoverability).
Community Development — The constant fostering, supporting, and celebrating the Azurian community as a true group of jungle punk creators, builders, and network.
Unlike v1 of Azurbala, the team is opting more for the element of surprise and discovery. Instead of revealing all the mechanics at once, the community has to invest their attention and engagement to find out how Azurbala unfolds. “Not knowing what comes next is the entire reason you read a book or watch a movie.” (Quote here)
Azurbala is building its entire franchise on the “Jungle Punk” vibe. The team describes Jungle Punk as:
Azurbala is about overcoming struggle — to succeed, you must endure. This is contextualized by the Azurian mantra “when you bleed, let it scar.” The beauty is in the journey, not the destination. Azurbala is about enduring challenges and adversity of your own personal “jungle”, and celebrating the beauty of our scars (imperfections and struggles we’ve had to overcome). And so it makes sense that Azurbala is for Only The Fierce. It’s for those willing to keep pushing forward, despite all odds, to survive and grow…
… The Azurian franchise is built on being “jungle punk” — evoking epic (wondrous), dangerous, and mysterious feelings. Azurian activations, holder rewards, and experiences must (and will) reinforce these vibes.
Azurbala’s Meta Story
The Azurbala lore is a meta-story of what happened with the v1 art reveal and the comeback the Tally Labs team is staging. The Tally Labs team turned the art mistake into motivation that led to the evolution of Azurbala. The team is “eating their own words” … what happened IRL for the project team is exactly what the Azurians in this fantasy world go through … which is sort of akin to every great startup’s "near death experience.”
It’s not like some random team is talking about what it means to be Azurian, it’s the team that has endured the gauntlet that is (sometimes) Web3 community feedback.
As I say, when life gives you lemons, become a lemonade tycoon. 😁
🖌
Community is a Two Way Street
In Web3, the term community gets thrown around a lot.
It feels a bit like how some companies talk about culture … it’s just talk and platitudes on the proverbial wall.
The Tally Labs team genuinely engaged with their community when things weren’t going well.
We tried to innovate in too many different ways. Our rollout became overly complex and confusing to follow. We rolled the world out too quickly in ways that weren’t easily digestible. For example, we introduced you to Azurbala through the eyes of Jenkins the Valet, which created confusion on what Azurbala is versus what Writers Room is.
And the community members that stuck around during the turbulent times formed a closer bond with each other and the team.
Having a transparent team that is open to dialogue allows the community to speak their mind, which allows for a virtuous feedback loop. True building in public is about iteration, which attracts a certain kind of community member.
All of this reinforces itself in a flywheel of sorts.
Community should always be a two way street: it’s a collaboration between bottom up and top down.
The true test of community is NOT what happens when things are going well. Of course the community is going to be excited when things are going well … because things are going well.
The true test is when things are not going well… what does the community do, what does the team do?
Ironically, the best of anything is forge in times of trouble.
Survive to Thrive
One of the things we see time and time again is how category defining companies start one way and then pivot their way to the current thing we know.
Some of the biggest company pivots
Youtube started as a video dating website
Slack started as a gaming company
Shopify started off selling snowboards
The difference in NFTs and Web3 is that most projects (are almost required to) build in public, which makes every decision scrutinized — building in public is a double edged sword.
But the message is the same: survivability is key, all great companies are great because they know how to pivot. Survivability is a function of resilience and patience and that’s sort of what the Azurbala world is about.
And it’s important to note that many NFTs projects found success in the last bull market. Bull markets can cloud the judgement of builders because it’s actually hard to know if what you are building is truly loved by the community.
Bear markets raise the bar so high that few survive.
It’s even harder to go from a bull market to a bear market, because one minute you are riding highs and the next you have fallen to the depths.
But the best of anything (franchises, companies, startups, movements, etc) are born in the depths because that’s when they are most challenged.
In Web3, if your community is still around when you are struggling, imagine what it’ll be like when you are thriving. That’s the thesis for community: find the super fans who see it through and who help through the down times (e.g. when you have to pivot).
When things aren’t going well, that’s when the Web 3 ideals of community and co-creation are tested.
As they say in Azurbala, only the fierce make it.
🛟 Disclaimer:
This post is provided for educational and informational purposes only. Nothing written in this post should be taken as financial advice or advice of any kind. The author(s) may own some of the NFTs, art and/or collectibles mentioned in this post. The content of this post are the opinions of the authors and not representative of other parties.
Empower yourself, DYOR (do your own research).