Got a lot of DMs asking me about the current state of @Azuki - from @AzukiPh members, active CT guys, even other Order members First, my temporary PFP change to a Hypurr doesn’t mean anything except that I am also active/ bullish on @HyperliquidX. NFTs are a minority of my book, but I tweet about Azuki a lot because, the art and vibe is just damn cool Second, haven’t talked to team post Token as am pretty busy / on vacation. Will sync up when back, but my high level thoughts: 1) As a new web3 project that saw rapid growth early on, it was right for Azuki to run many experiments, throw multiple lines in the water, and gather data on what might stick, and what might not. Or where the team’s execution capability is, and where it is not. 2) However, almost 4 years in, the strategy has to be clear, and lines that have stayed in the water for too long have to be pulled back. You have to take the learnings from running years of experiments, and take your best shot at the 1-3 things that show the most promise for PMF, even if it means killing a few babies and causing mass butthurt. Take the short term medicine to survive so you can fight for the one or two worthy “North Stars” you dedicate the totality of your resources to. Less a “pivot” than it is justshredding any management and resource distractions once the North Stars are clear. 3) It takes balls for @Zagabond @locationtba to make the call to initiate a drastic restructuring, so I respect them for this. At some point it had to be done. As to whether @AzukiTCG and @animecoin dot com are worthy North Stars, I haven’t seen any internal metrics on why they decided these two were “it”, so time will tell. I do agree that the IP has to be taken beyond web3 in order for scalable monetization. There is a distinction between the current community, and the ultimate consumer, they may very well be two different groups with minimal overlap. But both important. 4) Execution has been mixed (great physical events, awesome physicals in TTJ, @HMoserCie , etc, paired with blunders like the Elementals mint, and ambiguous comms). Regardless, execution needs to be faster at this point years in, and hopefully this restructuring allows that. 5) Comms around this “restructuring” was lacking, but better last few days with the State of the Garden from @huntclubhero and Z’s discord activity. I only found out about this because people were DMing me asking if Azuki was insolvent or out of runway. Wasn’t a nice way to find out about something like this late after lack of intentional comms, and also not ideal that the juicier explanations came only after the announcement. Leadership should have erred on the side of over communication and more thoughtful delivery, given the number of front facing team departures. 6) If they said, we’re going hyperfocused on 1-3 high-lever, high- conviction initiatives and therefore making the painful but necessary decision to significantly streamline the org, then start removing people, this shows that the leadership is acting with direction and intention. If they enact something this shocking without comprehensive comms and it causes FUD, then explain in more detail after, it comes off as just, excuses or desperation 7) In the long term, revenue + cash flow will always be king, so seeing some urgency to manage this is good. But in the short term, when building a venture business in public - the price is the product, and Azuki under mint price / potentially continuing to go down damages the chances of the long-term vision if serious new “consumers” see disgruntled members of the original “community”. With expectations this low now though, it is the time take bold asymmetrical risks imo, but paired with intentional over-communication I still hold hundreds of Azuki/$ANIME assets in my CS wallets, plus more in undoxxed wallets and exchanges (tho not sure if still worth 7 figs at these prices 😅) and will continue to hold / DCA probably. Happy FVF, Azuki fam.