Thread
You know @Azuki, but do you know the man behind it?
I spent 5 days digging into the untold story of @ZAGABOND to uncover the secrets behind his success.
Here's what I found: 👇🧵
I spent 5 days digging into the untold story of @ZAGABOND to uncover the secrets behind his success.
Here's what I found: 👇🧵
Meet Alex Xu, AKA Zagabond.
His childhood was always on the move - from China to Germany and then all the way to the USA.
1/16
His childhood was always on the move - from China to Germany and then all the way to the USA.
1/16
The only Asian kid in his NY elementary school, he was verbally attacked with racial slurs before even learning to speak English.
Despite this, he found a way to fit in, becoming a school basketball player.
2/16
Despite this, he found a way to fit in, becoming a school basketball player.
2/16
As time passed, he matured into a serious man.
After earning a Business degree from UC San Diego, Alex landed an investment banking internship at Liquidnet.
And so began his journey towards success.
3/16
After earning a Business degree from UC San Diego, Alex landed an investment banking internship at Liquidnet.
And so began his journey towards success.
3/16
From General Mills to Amazon to Google, Alex's career was a wild ride 👇
4/16
4/16
In 2017, Alex's friend Linda introduced him to the world of crypto.
By March of that same year, he bought his first ETH, right before it went parabolic.
5/16
By March of that same year, he bought his first ETH, right before it went parabolic.
5/16
Just three months later, he joined 0x - one of the earliest DeFi protocols.
And with that, he made his debut as a WEB3 builder.
6/16
And with that, he made his debut as a WEB3 builder.
6/16
After four years at 0x, NBA TopShot and BAYC caught Alex’s eye.
His childhood love for Pokemon cards was reignited with NBA TopShot. The moment he opened his first pack, he was hooked.
7/16
His childhood love for Pokemon cards was reignited with NBA TopShot. The moment he opened his first pack, he was hooked.
7/16
Fun fact: Alex even made an NBA Top Shot poster and brought it to the Lakers vs Jazz game 👇
8/16
8/16
Later in 2021 Alex started experimenting and launched 3 different NFT projects: Phunks, Tendies and Zunks.
Despite the efforts, they failed and were ultimately left behind.
But lessons were learned:
9/16
Despite the efforts, they failed and were ultimately left behind.
But lessons were learned:
9/16
Armed with these teachings, Alex made a bold move - he quit his job in September 2021 to launch Azuki.
10/16
10/16
Fun fact: Alex named himself "Zagabond" after his favorite manga, Vagabond.
11/16
11/16
Three minutes.
That's all it took for Azuki to sell out in January 2022 after 4 month of hard work.
12/16
That's all it took for Azuki to sell out in January 2022 after 4 month of hard work.
12/16
After-mint journey was far from easy.
Remember his first NFT projects that failed?
When Alex revealed his involvement, it sparked a scandal that slashed Azuki FP in half (from 20 ETH to 10 ETH in just 1 day).
13/16
Remember his first NFT projects that failed?
When Alex revealed his involvement, it sparked a scandal that slashed Azuki FP in half (from 20 ETH to 10 ETH in just 1 day).
13/16
Alex moved quick and on the next day he already transfered ownership to the Phunks community.
14/16
14/16
Winning back trust was no easy feat, but the value team created spoke volumes:
1. ERC721A - a gas-saving open-source smart contract
2. Beanz Airdrop
3. Bobu the Bean Farmer
3. High-quality merch
4. Massive events
5. Revolutionary PBT – Scan-To-Own technology
15/16
1. ERC721A - a gas-saving open-source smart contract
2. Beanz Airdrop
3. Bobu the Bean Farmer
3. High-quality merch
4. Massive events
5. Revolutionary PBT – Scan-To-Own technology
15/16
You are a legend for making it till the end.
Here's a reward for your efforts - a meme-ified quote from Alex's past 👇
16/16
Here's a reward for your efforts - a meme-ified quote from Alex's past 👇
16/16
If you enjoyed this thread, follow me @PixSorcerer for more🙌
And if you really want to make my day, throw a like/retweet on the first tweet below🤍
And if you really want to make my day, throw a like/retweet on the first tweet below🤍
