Franky Nines at ETH Denver 2022: From CryptoKitties to SupDucks | NFTS.WTF Interview

Franky Nines, creator of SupDucks, on going from games and app design to Dapper Labs and VeeFriends, and why community and honest promises decide which NFT projects last. Interviewed by David Cash. Book David to host, moderate, or speak: https://davidcash.ca Recorded at ETH Denver 2022, his third ETH Denver, Franky Nines talks with David Cash about how the hackathon crowd changed once the NFT boom arrived. He traces his path from college in the Bay Area and the games industry to a 2017 hackathon to design a crypto wallet, which turned into a move to London, then to two years at Dapper Labs after CryptoKitties appeared. He worked with NFT42 and was lead designer on VeeFriends with Gary Vee before launching SupDucks, the PFP project he drew himself. Franky and David talk about experience as a formula, why community is everything, why builders should spend time in other communities (and get burned) before running their own, how brands stall without Web3 culture, and his main advice: don't promise what you can't pull off. Chapters 00:00 Intro at ETH Denver with Franky Nines 0:27 His third ETH Denver 1:17 From ETH Berlin to the NFT boom 3:09 College in the Bay Area and the games industry 4:14 A wallet hackathon and a move to London 5:12 CryptoKitties and two years at Dapper Labs 6:20 NFT42 and VeeFriends 6:50 Launching SupDucks 7:40 Experience as a formula 9:35 Community is everything 11:23 Get burned before you build 12:45 Web3 culture and why brands stall 13:52 What not to do 15:31 Wrap-up Key topics • ETH Denver 2022 • Hackathon culture before and after the NFT boom • Games industry to blockchain • Dapper Labs and CryptoKitties • NFT42 and VeeFriends • Launching SupDucks • Community and reputation • Learning from losses in Web3 • Web3 culture and brands • Overpromising and regulatory gray areas Speakers • David Cash, interviewer and editor-in-chief, NFTS.WTF • Franky Nines, artist and creator of SupDucks; NFTS.WTF DAO member In their words "Community is everything, right?" Franky Nines "Don't promise anything that you can't actually pull off." Franky Nines Recording details Recorded 2022 at ETH Denver, Denver, Colorado. Originally published on NFTS.WTF, March 2022. This edition: archival re-release with chapters and captions, 2026. How to cite APA: Cash, D. (2022). Franky Nines on SupDucks, Dapper Labs, and NFT communities [Video]. YouTube.    • Franky Nines on SupDucks, Dapper Labs, and...   Chicago: Cash, David. "Franky Nines on SupDucks, Dapper Labs, and NFT Communities." Recorded 2022, Denver. YouTube video, 16:04.    • Franky Nines on SupDucks, Dapper Labs, and...  . About NFTS.WTF NFTS.WTF was a Web3 culture publication and interview series edited by David Cash. It covered artists, collectors, and builders during the 2021–2022 NFT boom. It ran for two years and closed after a board decision by the NFTS DAO, which left many of its interviews unpublished. Watch next More NFTS.WTF interviews:    • Interviews with David Cash   Links Cash Labs: https://cashlabs.io Instagram:   / davidcash888   LinkedIn:   / davidcash888   Subscribe for the full archive of conversations on technology, art, fashion, and culture. #SupDucks #ETHDenver #NFTCommunity #DapperLabs #VeeFriends #NFTSWTF