I’m really excited about this episode of Where Do We Go From Here? My guest is Yancey Strickler, founder and former CEO of Kickstarter and founder of Metalabel, a company that, according to its mission statement, is creating “new economic and operating models that help creative people cooperate rather than compete.” If you’ve listened to any episode of this show, you know that’s a mission I can get behind.
Yancey’s 2020 book This Could Be Our Future served as key inspiration for this conversation. I devoured it over the course of three days at the start of this year. Our conversation often did not go in directions I expected. I think that speaks both to Yancey’s evolution as a thinker since writing the book, and also to the complexity of the problems we’re both asking and attempting to answer in our work. I peppered Yancey with a lot of complicated, multi-part questions. He often took an admirable deep pause and answered them with a combination of the pragmatism honed from running multiple start-ups with the idealism of an artist and art lover.
By the end of our chat, it felt like we had barely scratched the surface. I’m looking forward to having Yancey back on once Metalabel rolls out some of the exciting features and ideas he references late in the episode.
A few key takeaways from our conversation…
Bentoism & human decision making. In his book This Could Be Our Future, Yancey developed a resilient framework called “bentoism” for considering the needs of individuals and groups in the present and future. Its name derives from Japanese bento box, a traditional, balanced lunch. It’s an effective tool for thinking through problems and planning more sustainable solutions. Yancey explains the origins and applications of bentoism on the episode, but you can get a glimpse of its visual representation below and read more about it here.
Cooperation over competition. Metalabel, Yancey's project, empowers creative people by providing a platform for them to release and monetize their work while retaining creative control. It aims to build a high-trust community and support collaboration as pathways to shared economic autonomy. In Yancey’s words, “people are more powerful when they cooperate rather than compete.” Metalabel’s applied philosophy makes the typically convoluted economic arrangements of budgeting and royalties “very fluid and simple.” The goal of providing an invisible architecture to support creative work seems to not only be about making Metalabel a destination, but also about setting a better example for how the economics of creation can function.
Our bank accounts and our values are in constant tension. Throughout the episode, we touch on the increasing corporatization of the state, whether corporations have a role in shaping our values and our future, and how to balance the financial maximization that capitalism demands with the non-financialized values our broader world and communities need for survival. In America specifically, we are battling the shift of the democratic corporate state to the privately controlled corporate state, a transition that will challenge us constantly and sometimes violently in the coming years.
Artists and creatives will play a crucial role in shaping the future. Through what often feels like grim pragmatism, Yancey’s optimism about artists and the primacy of art shines through. He believes with systems like Metalabel, artists can express their true selves through their work and influence the world for the better. At a time when humans face what might be termed a “meaninglessness crisis” under a tidal wave of constant, paralyzing change, Yancey pours deep faith in communities of artists, collaborators, and consumers to create meaning (particularly on the internet).
Special thanks to Anna Kasper for producing, Will Grogan for providing music, and Hugh Huntingford for designing the Applied Science logo and podcast cover image.
Though Los Angeles’ fires are finally fully contained, the efforts to rebuild remain daunting. As always this year, please find some resources below with direction on those in need of donations, volunteering opportunities, and reliable information sources.
LA Country has launched an exhaustive website with resources for preparedness and recovery (including links for debris removal and right of entry forms).
Mutual Aid Network of Los Angeles’s spreadsheet lists an expansive number of funds, organizations, and aid types across the expanse of the city. A great place to start.
A comprehensive volunteer and support guide from local organization LA2050.
A good post from The Angel on different ways to get involved with relief efforts.
A book/PDF written for parents to help explain the enormity of wildfire to their children.
PBS SoCal’s resources for how to talk to children about wildfires.
A U.S. government fact sheet on protecting children from wildfire smoke and ash.
A spreadsheet of GoFundme’s for Black families from Altadena who have been displaced or lost their homes. Altadena is one of Los Angeles’ historically Black centers, a place where generations of hard-earned wealth and equity in the land were decimated in a matter of days. (first seen via Saul Williams)
A collection of GoFundme’s that are under 20% funded, shared by 5PM LUCKY (via Ventura-based brand RatBoi):
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