Hey everyone! I'm Tip (@tip_nz), you may have seen some of my Bitcoin raps such as Timechain and Power floating around Twitter. Last week I released my first 6-minute short film called The Great Resistance: The Story of Bitcoin.
I have a lot of fun making these videos and have learnt a lot about how to create something people want to watch. The competition for our attention is fierce nowadays so I'm focused on how to capture and redirect the world's attention towards Bitcoin. I combine music, visual arts, rhymes, Bitcoin facts and generally good vibes to recreate magical orange pill moments.
My hope is for people to watch my videos and think "Wow. Bitcoin is the answer. I need to do something about this."
Feel free to ask me anything, from silly ways to overcome creative blocks to abandoned projects that will never see the light of day to the weirdest ways I've spent my sats!!! <3
What software do you use to make your videos?
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Capcut desktop - it's free and has similar features as other paid video editing software!
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How do you reach people who are outside of the Bitcoin ecosystem and totally unfamiliar with what’s going on? How do you think about breaking through to new audiences?
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I used to think a lot about this when I was making videos specifically for TikTok. People usually swipe away from your video in 3 seconds if they're not interested. So I would spend a lot of time thinking about a baiting question. e.g.
"What do we use everyday but have no idea how it really works? Money." "Imagine a world with no clocks but one timekeeper who tells you the time everyday. The catch is, time isn't measured in consistent seconds but randomly changes based on what the timekeeper thinks is best from their point of view... This is the world we live in, not with time but with money."
I love making these types of videos and it got a lot of traction, but I found the 1 minute time limit + having to explain Bitcoin concepts from fundamentals over and over again without digging deeper too much of a constraint on my own learning and development of understanding of Bitcoin. Eventually my videos became longer and more geared towards folks on the cusp of being orange pilled but haven't developed a full conviction in Bitcoin yet. But my content will keep evolving and hopefully I can balance accessibility, depth and entertainment in future videos!
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It's an honor being able to communicate with you Tip!. You shouldn't need any introduction here.
I have no words for the video of the Rabbit Hole. I want to say to anyone here, that doing the work of understanding every single frase of that video, will put you in the path of getting to understand Bitcoin.
You don't know what I'm talking about? Please follow Tip on Twitter and go see all her videos, you won't regret it.
I guess that was not a question for you, but I had to say that
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Thank you @Hermit!! Every time I read a thoughtful, positive comment about my videos it adds a bit more fuel to my fire. I appreciate you making the effort and taking the time to share your kind words with me. Gives me the warm fuzzies!!!
<3
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Hey Tip! I'm really curious to hear about your red pill journey at a high level :) also what was the TIPping point to leaving your VC job? Are you now a creator full time?
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Hello!! Haha tipping point :)
I think past experiences in politics and traditional finance exposed me to how vulnerable proof of stake systems are to corruption. So there was always a sense of injustice in the back of my mind, which I thought could be solved through investing in technology (and fairer distribution of opportunities) via early stage venture investing.
I still think early stage investing plays a crucial role in society, but not in the form it has evolved into today. It has become less about the solutions and more about getting a "stake" and "owning" future cash flows, building moats and raising funds after funds and stacking fees. While I was at VC, I felt like a black sheep for believing the financial system was broken and Bitcoin is the answer. So I left.
I spend 100% of my time on Bitcoin, not always creating. Creating is one way I like to contribute to the ecosystem. I'm also working on a few other things :)
I had a quick chat with the Pleb Underground guys about how I got into Bitcoin if you're interested in hearing more:
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what does your creative process look like for new projects you work on?
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I reserve a lot of time in between projects to just play around. Some friends taught me a process called "expansion/contraction." When you're at the beginning of something new, you're in the expansion phase - consuming a lot of new information, trying different things and pushing the boundaries of what you could do next. Usually inspiration hits in the most unlikeliest of places so you want to make room for that!
When I discover a message/lesson/idea that resonates with me, I go into the contraction phase, which requires a lot of discipline, structure, deadlines. I research, then write, then do the artwork, then edit and voiceover. Within those steps are mini expansion/contraction phases as well (e.g. research broadly, then narrow; write broadly, then narrow). Creativity comes about in the expansion phase so I always want to make room for this even when I'm focused on execution and getting stuff done.
I apply this to other things in life, not just content creation and it's been an awesome way to structure work. Shout out to John and Eamonn who taught me this process and are killing it by applying it to their medtech company <3
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This is is a good metaphor. I do the same thing.
But do you ever accidentally get lost in the expansion phase, and keep expanding, and expanding, until finally you pop? That happens to me sometimes...
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Love the expression of how your creativity and work happens. I relate to this but I’ve always just had different words and language. Barvo! 🙏
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From an investing point of view, some argue that a bitcoin standard will make positive cashflows impossible because of the fixed supply. However the purchasing power of bitcoin will forever go up. How do you see the decision model for investing in a bitcoin standard change from the fiat one? Love your work Tip!
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We invest fiat because it's a melting ice cube so we need to make a return on our investment to grow our wealth. We also invest fiat because we want to encourage innovation. Bitcoin removes the first part from the investing equation.
Even though we can grow our wealth simply by holding sats, this doesn't mean we're not incentivized to allocate our sats in a way that grows the value of Bitcoin as a whole, thereby growing our wealth indirectly. I want to spend my sats supporting Bitcoiners who are building user friendly ways to interact with Bitcoin, which makes the whole ecosystem more valuable, which makes my Bitcoin more valuable, and your Bitcoin more value, which increases all of our purchasing power. This innovation also increases efficiency and reduces our cost of living, which also increases our purchasing power.
We're all aligned because we want what's best for Bitcoin because we can all access and hold a piece of Bitcoin. This is not true for any fiat currency, any company equity, any financial instrument in the world. Bitcoin isn't just a store of value, it is an instrument for global incentive alignment.
Also, sats are a tool that allows us to redirect energy into avenues we wish to grow in order to shape the world we want to live in. I see the role of a user, a paying customer and an investor eventually becoming one, because we now all have a secure store of value that gives us the certainty of wealth, allowing us to have discretionary wealth to allocate to projects/people we want to back, without expecting capital gains in the form of equity, but in return, we receive a better product or service that will contribute and increase that value of our entire global ecosystem.
One million people each allocating one sat builds a world more reflective of the true nature of our needs than one institution allocating one million dollars. Because a million people who deeply understand their own problems in their own community can make a better decision towards a solution than one person sitting in an ivory tower, out of touch with the realities of the world. Bitcoin redistributes the power to shape the world through the lens of many. We move from being the spectators of our world to the shapers of our world.
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How do you come up with your lyrics? Do you use a rhyming dictionary, or is it all off the dome?
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  1. Read and research, pull out key points and jot down my own thoughts
  2. Storyboard the ideas into a logical order
  3. Flesh the content out by writing it like an article
  4. Cut it back down to key words again
  5. (lots of iteration between step 2-4, this is the "meat" of the content)
  6. When I have something I'm sort of happy with, I rearrange the words in the sentences
  7. Then I try to make it rhyme. I just google "rhyme with xx" and see if there's a word I can work in / a better way to write a particular sentence. I don't have a preference for rhyming dictionaries, I usually work my way through everything if I'm really stuck!
I don't always follow those steps, sometimes I have key phrases I want to include and work my way around them. Sometimes they pop into my head and everything clicks into place.
Thanks for your question! <3
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Hey Tip, are you seeing any other cool Bitcoin developments / content / companies etc coming out of NZ? (Apart from yourself of course 😄)
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There are a bunch of awesome Bitcoiners in NZ, but I'm not aware of many Bitcoin-only companies. We have a lot of geothermal energy (lots of volcanoes dotted around NZ) so there's definitely heaps of opportunities for Bitcoin mining companies!
Shout out to @bitkiwi1 who puts together great Bitcoin meetups across the country and @kiwilambnz who helps out with payment implementations. There are many smart, innovative Kiwis keeping up with Bitcoin, it's only a matter of time we see more stuff coming out of NZ and entering the global stage <3
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What do you think about the unintended consequences as bitcoin adoption grows??
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Since Bitcoin adoption is not evenly distributed across the world, we could see a massive shift in wealth and prosperity from developed nations to developing nations. Looking at countries where the average person uses Bitcoin, it seems skewed towards developing nations because there is more of a need. Whereas the average person in developed countries don't yet see the need to interact with Bitcoin.
A consequence of this is, as the fiat system continues to falter and Bitcoin grows stronger, the majority of the wealth will transition to people in developing countries and our generation could see an inverse in prosperity. I grew up in both Thailand and New Zealand, and an unintended consequence of faster Bitcoin adoption in places like Thailand could see talent leaving places like NZ for faster growing SE Asia, thereby making places like Thailand more developed than NZ in the long run.
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How do you feel when you realize that your work is helping to build a better society and allow humans to evolve through technology?
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Joyful, proud and hopeful!!
Happy that I can contribute in a way I enjoy and others appreciate. I admire the folks pouring hours and hours into actually improving the accessibility and functionality of the Bitcoin ecosystem. So if my work can create a sense of agency in others who can contribute meaningfully to the ecosystem, then that is more than I could ever hope for!
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I love your art. Sorry if I have nothing to ask but you just keep answering me way before I think at the questions.
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What's your favorite Bitcoin-related video content that you think I should check out?
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Writing your lyrics requires a deep understanding of the ecosystem, and for that a lot of study.
What are the best resources you would recommend to more advanced people? At least 2 books, 1 site. Thanks!
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I prefer articles more than books tbh! Just because articles can be more timely and up-to-date with the latest of Bitcoin. The whole ecosystem is constantly changing, so most of my study isn't reading a bunch of books, but keeping up with the latest progression and thoughts in threads/articles.
Here's a list of one book (The Blocksize War) and a few articles I found useful for shaping my thoughts for creating The Great Resistance:
The Blocksize War by Jonathan Bier - the entire book is free online, just change the link to chapter-2 to access chapter 2, etc.
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Favy Sci-Fi novel?
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Not a novel, but fave sci fi film is Interstellar. I love the story, the music, the visuals, the feels, the acting, how it all comes together! I'm more of a film person than a book person, which is why I guess I make videos rather than write books haha.
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Best and worst thing you spent sats on?
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Best = people! For example, as a thank you to people who help translate my work or as a form of micro-encouragement to steer positive micro-actions (e.g. tipping a great question on stacker news!) The value for money is high because for fractions of a cent, you can put a smile on people's faces and foster the type of behavior you personally want to see more of. Sats are a tool to shape the future we want to live in.
Worst = since sats are money, I'm going to cop out and say, any fiat that could have been converted into sats but I chose to spend on an overpriced drink instead, is not a good use of could-have-been-sats!! :D
Thank you for your question! <3
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cool art.
any advice for new creators ? how to balance the kitchen and the soul :)
cheers.
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for new creators, start small! when you've completed something from start to finish, you'll have more confidence to do something more ambitious. it's easier to iterate and build momentum than plan for something big and never finish it.
also check out my answer for the question "what does your creative process look like for new projects you work on?" for how I balance the kitchen and the soul :)
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Thanks a bunch. will do best.
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Have you ever considered creating NFTs of your work? I absolutely love Timechain. Hilariously brilliant. Thank you for sharing these with the world.
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thanks! I have been thinking about how to give early supporters some sort of recognition for their patronage. Instead of anon donations to my wallet, it would be cool to have their names attached to a particular scene from the great resistance (for example) that resonates with them. This hasn't been my priority though, but will continue to think more about how to do this in the future!
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Where do you get all the graphics, footage and animations for your videos? Do you shoot/composite all of it yourself?
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For older videos I used artgrid.io, giphy, stock images/videos and YouTube. For the short film I used Midjourney, stock images/videos and YouTube.
I don't shoot any footage myself. I use CapCut to edit/mask/overlay to create a scene that corresponds to my lyrics.
Thanks for your question! <3
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I don't know much of your back story. What were you doing before making bitcoin videos?
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I was an equities analyst managing a stock portfolio for a sovereign wealth fund, then joined a startup where I helped build an equities data platform and automated news site to make financial info more accessible to the masses (my first and only experience "coding" basic html hahaha), then I joined a generalist venture capital firm investing in tech companies. Outside of the finance world, I created some TV shows teaching English to young adults in Thailand. And had some experience in politics helping my dad campaign after he left his role as Deputy Prime Minister to start his own political party!
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Tip 🧡
Thank you for all that you do for our community, you have such a unique style of capturing attention with such creative content!
What was your inspiration when you decided to take the creative route of doing these types of content?
Also I’m starting a new project called Lightsats to create more bitcoin adoption via tips to nocoiners.
We’d love to collab in the near future once the product is 100% ready.
In the meantime you can claim some sats from the Lightsats team - https://lgt.st/tip_nz
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Awesome! I was looking for a voucher-type solution the other day.
I have a half-baked idea for something that could be fun and creative to collaborate on. I built an escape room-type thing on a private server in a game and left Bitcoin-related clues for my partner to go through and find, and the final prize was a lightning address for him to reclaim sats. We filmed it all, but I haven't done anything more with it. I think it could be better executed and refined. We were thinking about getting pre-coiners to play the game, win sats and get orange pilled.
Would be happy to talk more about this or other ideas and see what we can come up with! Exciting!
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I'm the developer for Lightsats and a kiwi living in Thailand for 5 years now! Thai will be the first language outside of English we add to our app (with many more to follow hopefully). We'd love to hear your ideas on how to make our app more fun and appealing to new users. I hope Bitcoin will make NZ great again :-)
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So awesome! We'll hopefully be back in Bangkok by the end of the year. Would be great to meet up with another Kiwi Bitcoiner living in Thailand!
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Cool! I’m up in Mae Hong Son - I’ll send you a message next time I’m planning to go to Bangkok
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Happy you liked the concept, we’ll dm you on Twitter!
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sawadee Tip😊
always go full psycho on the content👏🏽😆
how many did you get at your meet up?
is AK ready for bitcoin?
is Aotearoa ready for bitcoin?
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We had about 25 people for the meetup in June! @Bitkiwi1 is your man for meetups now, he's doing them consistently throughout the year around the country. The next one is this month in Wellington.
Nothing stopping Tamaki Makaurau and Aotearoa from being ready for Bitcoin! @Lawblock21's firm is already accepting Bitcoin :)
It will have to be a grassroots movement. No one can stop us using it amongst ourselves, and we don't need anyone's permission to use it!
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What's the most surprising thing you've learned making all those banging videos?
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The most surprising thing I've learnt about others is how much people love and appreciate uniqueness. When I first started making the rap videos I was a bit worried that people would think it was weird. But reflecting on why being different is good, I think we're all a bit jaded by the tsunami of sameness (e.g. Tiktok trends done again and again by hundreds of people). As sats become more prolific in these platforms (and as more people use Stacker News!) we'll be able to navigate our way through the noise and be able find and encourage more uniqueness in everyone!
The most surprising thing I've learnt about myself is how much I enjoy the process. I'm usually very outcome-oriented, but the pure joy of being in the flow of the process is nothing like I've experienced in any type of work I've done ^_^
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Are you a gamer?
What's your favorite growing up game growing up and now?
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I'm not a gamer, but my partner has recently got me into Rust - there's no objective but to survive, which is a cool concept. I'm not great at following rules of a game. I just end up painting billboards and making art in that world haha.
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Hi, how is this BTC price chart created please?
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Hi, how is this BTC price chart created please?
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That was created by @pricedinbitcoin21 (on X)
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How exactly? The graph is always with only one item.
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Oh I overlayed the pricedinbtc21 graph with another existing video of mempool.space. I think it was just a YouTube video promoting mempool.space. I can't remember exactly who created the visuals for the blocks (if that's what you're referring to). I used Capcut to create the whole video with two overlaying graphs.
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