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25 Comments

I'm building a decentralized city for independent online creators—AMA!

Hi IH, I'm Jonathan Hillis!

🏡 I'm building Creator Cabins (https://www.creatorcabins.com/), a community of remote cabins for independent online creators in the Texas Hill Country near Austin.

We have a residency program (run by a DAO) where indie creators can get paid living expenses to come work on anything they want for a month. Applications for the cohort close in 48 hours!: https://creators.mirror.xyz/L7hCFAnV9-knieb8AM6z5J7ITgVv0ZUCAXPOB0Y5iWs

💸 I also invest in independent creators and online communities via capital.community. We sponsor the Creator Coop (http://creator.coop/) and the Creator Fellowship (http://creatorfellowship.com/), an income-sharing agreement to help people dive into full-time independent online work.

🤖 Meatspace Algorithms is my blog & newsletter about how software eats the world (https://www.meatspacealgorithms.com/)

Ask Me Anything!

  1. 2

    This is dope. I may have to stop by and say hello soon — I'm likely moving to Austin in a few months.

    How long will the residency program last?

    1. 2

      Can I ask you something? How do you approach moving? Do you already know people in Austin or how do you plan to get in touch with more people locally?

      1. 2

        I second this question, I'm planning on moving down early next year.

    2. 1

      Seriously? Why ?

    3. 1

      Be pretty cool to meet if you end up moving 😉

    4. 1

      thank you! I'd love to meet you out there : )

      We crowdfunded the residency program as a DAO (decentralized autonomous organization) on the Ethereum blockchain: https://creators.mirror.xyz/20Eyc57rknNJYL9vJa11zvupU_MXP7NZJUADTzTlCjQ

      The DAO has committed to cover one year of total residencies, which we will give out to 12 people for one month each. This will happen in three cohorts over the next few months:

      Cohort 1: July 19th - August 15th
      Cohort 2: August 23rd - September 19th
      Cohort 3: September 20th - October 17th

      Applications for the first cohort close on Wednesday! You can apply by tweeting @creatorcabins with a proposal for what you would do with your month at the cabins.

  2. 1

    Love the concept @hillisjd! I also like the story of using land that your grandparents had to foster this kind of creativity :)

    1. 2

      thanks Brian : ) hope to see you out here sometime!

  3. 1

    I live in Austin and this has gotta be the most Austin thing happening in Austin this year...blockchain powered community are you kidding me... woww thats nuts, definitely following this and I wanna see how it goes! Hit me up if y all are getting some beers pre cohort 1 begins!

    #keepaustinweird

    1. 1

      haha thanks! I was born and raised in Austin. I've been living elsewhere for a decade but am returning to Austin full-time! Excited to be back & would love to meet you out at the cabins or in town : )

      1. 1

        I'm @sunglassesface on twitter if you are downtown for a beer hit me up pls

  4. 1

    This is amazing software. I use this software. Online Check Writer is one of the best online check platform. I recommend to everyone.

  5. 1

    Hey Jonathan, it's a great idea (shame that I'm in Macedonia, and not vaccinated).
    A quick question:
    Do you invest (or know someone who invests) in early-stage startups?
    I'm talking about Howitzer.

    If you are interested in discussing more about this, please email me at [email protected]

    *I couldn't find your email address on IH

    Thanks! :)

  6. 1

    Innovative idea, I like how you bridged the physical and virtual world!

  7. 1

    This looks amazing! I recently quit my full-time job and am learning to code after spending a decade in the arts industry. Besides taking on consulting gigs (I now actively work on my first projects for clients), I'm not building a public product yet. Would I have a chance of being considered for the residency?

    1. 1

      Absolutely! We would love to see your application—just start a tweet thread and tag @creatorcabins : )

  8. 1

    What happens after the month?

    1. 1

      We will help residents mint an NFT representing their work, which can be sold or held for safekeeping by the DAO. Residents are then granted $CABIN tokens, which gives them governance rights in the community. The hope is that they will continue to participate in the community on an ongoing basis.

  9. 1

    Any chance you're hiring?

    1. 1

      thanks for asking Mark! the residency program is operated by a DAO (decentralized autonomous organization), not a company. So we don't hire people, but anyone can participate.

      Anyone can join the DAO here by participating in the residency crowdfund and receiving $CABIN tokens: https://creators.mirror.xyz/20Eyc57rknNJYL9vJa11zvupU_MXP7NZJUADTzTlCjQ

      You'll then get access to our discord community, where we work on this project.

  10. 1

    You mention indie creators in your cohort can work on anything they want for a month - what were some of the previous projects that came out of previous cohorts? Do you find most people are working on SaaS projects?

    1. 1

      This will be the first official cohort funded by CabinDAO. But we have had independent online creators out at Creator Cabins before, and they have worked on a wide range of things: we've had indie hackers, online course creators, solopreneurs, crypto-hippies, musicians, podcasters...we're open to anyone building independently online!

  11. 1

    This comment was deleted 6 months ago.

    1. 3

      🙏 thank you! we accept applicants from anywhere in the world, as long as you are vaccinated and can make it to Austin, TX on July 19th : )

      1. 1

        This comment was deleted 6 months ago.

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