I'm Jihad, a founder and researcher building internet-native media businesses.
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I'm Jihad Esmail, a founder and researcher building internet-native media organizations. I'm currently helping lead Forefront, an onchain media organization building at the frontier of tokenized communities and new media. I studied Economics at Northwestern University and co-founded AMA, a creator growth agency that was acquired by Jellysmack. Previously, I've also worked with Syndicate, YBI, and Gitcoin.
I am currently based in Chicago.
I believe that the internet has fundamentally changed the way we consume, distribute, and monetize media, and that blockchains will unlock new organizational models for media businesses.
Recently
Capital flows to the most legible ideas ArticleIn his essay "Individuals Matter," Dan Luu makes a tangential argument that "projects which are mo
Create every day NoteConsistency breeds taste. Taste breeds outcomes.
Visa says to "be prolific" and "do 100 things."
The Feed is the base layer of media NoteThe feed is the base layer of media.
Some of the most popular accounts on Twitter and Instagram
Great Stuff I Read in 2022 ArticleI asked Fardeem for his favorite reads of the year, which of course means I had to reciprocate. 2
Nouns is a Tokenized Community ArticleNouns DAO's gift to the world wasn't introducing the one-a-day NFT auction.
Thoughtspaces
Distributed Identity Formation
Identity is shaped by our worldbview and our associations. Do we have control over our own identities? How is brand and culture related to identity? How does our personal philosophy shape our identity, and vice-versa?
Luxury Media
Much has been written about the nature of new media: it’s free, remixed, algorithmically distributed, and infinitely generated. But I’m more interested in the next question: as internet-native media takes hold, what business models remain? What does an internet-native “media business” actually look like?
Tokenized Communities
Tokenized communities are meme-driven capital allocation networks. Why do they matter? How should they be built? Why are they valuable? Who is using them?