Hello!

This will be a more personal letter to you folks if you’ll permit me the folly.

Over the years of content creation, I’ve come to realize how ridiculous of a term “influencer” really is. At best I can point in the broad direction of where I’d like my audience to go, but it’s ultimately up to you to decide whether or not to heed the call.

I’m not gonna lie, some years back it used to frustrate me considerably. Yet I came to realize that this was a selfish and naive way of looking at it. Nobody is owed an audience or attention, and regardless of how talented one might think one is, one’s always at the mercy of algorithms and the collective wills of the community.

There are bound to be very talented people out there who weren’t blessed with a few lucky breaks here and there. You are reading my words by a minor cosmic miracle, and I’m grateful for it.

At the risk of pressing my luck even more though, I’d like to ask you for a favour.

Delegate to my new stakepool FLAN. No, I’m not starving, it won’t help feed the sick or needy, but it will help me produce content and NFTs for you folks. 

At the moment, the Flan pool is me and an old friend of mine, Jakob, who is a Senior Software Developer and has been involved in building apps and providing backend financial infrastructure for banks, airlines and the like. 

In addition, there is my girlfriend Mori Mochi, who drew the Flan Clan NFTs and is looking to create bespoke projects where each NFT is unique, instead of mass-produced. We want you to know that when you get a Flan Clan NFT that it is special, and that thought went into creating it, instead of just a random sorting algorithm. 

As for me, there are many Cardano projects that I’d like to tackle – like producing documentaries, videos, books, and even a text-based game – but are presently out of my financial capacity. With your help, I may be able to start making good headway on those projects. At a minimum, I’d be able to devote more time to create Flantoshi content, as opposed to the current status quo where it’s sandwiched between different ghostwriting clients. 

What’s in it for you?

That’s a fair question, and as much as I would like to promise jewels and rainbows, I won’t. I value your trust far too much to bullshit you.

We’ll give delegators a preferred spot to mint upcoming FlanClan NFTs, and we will also give you a chance to win exclusive NFTs that will only be available through stakepool delegation. 

Once we start breaking even and we can start devoting revenue to other things, I want to focus on creating more content for you. Perhaps the first thing we would tackle is a Youtube channel and tutorials for you, from basic operational security to explaining finance and strategies. 

Jakob also wants to build cool things like a light wallet that is easy to use but fully leverages the eUTxO’s capabilities. It bears saying that we want to make these tools accessible and free to use.

And that’s just to start with! There are many other projects in the works, though I’ll openly talk about them when the time comes. We just want to be in a position where we can create cool things that you will love, but which would otherwise be difficult to monetize. 

However, I’m not gonna bend over backwards to try to win the gold medal in mental gymnastics and get you to go against your best financial interests. From a monetary standpoint, there are most definitely pools out there with a higher ROI.

With your support, I believe that we can expand enough to make it worth your while from a content, NFTs and useful tools perspective to offset this though. 

A delegation to FLAN supports the creation of Flantoshi content, NFTs and much more!

At times, I will totally get it if this pool isn’t the priority. After all, there’s definitely going to be interesting ISPO and the like, by all means, stake with them, and I’ll even tell you about them. If we grow in influence we may be able to have them come to us as well.

But that’s beside the point. I don’t think you guys are interested in squeezing every last penny out of your delegation if it otherwise means that you get something cool in return. 

I want Flantoshi to be so much more than just a loudmouth Twitter account. I want it to become a community hub, where we have fun and help each other learn. We’re already starting to see the early signs now, but its ultimate form can only happen with your help and continued support. 

FLAN will be the place where you come back after you’ve had adventures in DeFiland.

We’re a nice beer after a long day, a middle finger to life’s problems, and an evening with friends.

Parting Thoughts

At the time of writing, I’ve been Flantoshi for about half a year now. Somehow writing it as a number feels like a short amount of time, yet it feels like years as every day brings something new. I talk with you on a daily basis, and I consider many of you friends.

My life has changed substantially, as I wake up excited and there is a genuine opportunity for me to be able to follow my passions and create content that people find valuable. That’s something I’ve wanted to do all my life, and I’m grateful for the opportunity.

You owe me nothing, and I’m thankful for every word you read and every tweet you like. But please grant me the opportunity to build something meaningful alongside the Cardano community, give me your stake, and I promise that you won’t be disappointed!

Thank you for your time and support.

Wishing you well,

-Flantoshi