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On The Brink with Castle Island


Sep 6, 2022

Ria and Nic from Castle Island sit down with Stephanie Howard and Bennett Collen, cofounders of Endstate, a web3 footwear and fashion brand. We cover the merits of the redeem-and-retain NFT model and the vision for Endstate.

  • Bennett’s prior crypto startup and how he decided to unite his passion for sneakers with web3
  • How Bennett and Stephanie met and cofounded Endstate
  • Stephanie’s career in sneaker design to date 
  • Why creators and athletes are jumping at the opportunity to issue merchandise-linked NFTs
  • Why Bennett and Stephanie chose to launch a web3 native brand
  • How redeem-and-retain NFTs allow manufacturers to reduce inventory risk
  • Why fashion is getting more targeted and niche
  • Why Endstate is able to release new iterations of their sneakers so quickly
  • Endstate’s rationale for manufacturing in the US
  • Endstate drops to date
  • Endstate’s new drop with Eagles wide receiver DeVonta Smith
  • How web3 brands should think about which metaverse to build for
  • Endstate’s thinking around Solana vs Ethereum and the impact of gas fees
  • How to link physical products with NFTs – from NFCs to QRs to visual scans
  • What should we call physical NFTs?
  • Aside from shoes, what merch is amenable to the Endstate model?
  • What product sectors will be NFTed?
  • How developed are authenticated third party marketplaces for physically linked NFTs?
  • Physical-linked NFTs as a trojan horse to onboard mass markets into web3
  • The future state of Endstate
  • Other web3 drops Bennett and Stephanie enjoyed
  • The future of entangled NFTs 

Read more: 

Drops and more at endstate.io

Intro and outro music: Daniel Allan's Collage #344