Its T-minus 24 hours. I just came from looking at the collection. I am broken.
Here I am desperately trying to find the financing to win the auction, when I really don’t know how Elizabeth Meaders is going to cope. The collection is her life. There are so many intimate details of each item, that only she knows intimately. I don’t really know how she will be able to give it up. I know I would struggle. The money is meaningless. If she passes without sharing the narrative — the vibrancy of her collection is somehow lost. If she does not pass it on, who knows what will become of these items. Muhammad Ali’s shoes, Bill Pickets Saddle, Letters from Richard Nixon and Martin Luther King, Rare posters from the Apollo. Floor to ceiling of memorabilia. Priceless. At the end of the day, I guess she is making the right decision, because she is 92 and who knows what will happen to all these items.
Tomorrow is the auction. Its at 2:00 p.m. I have two campaigns ready to go and I am out of time. One on OpenCollective.com and one on Syndicate.io. The dilemma was this… By following the model set by the Constitution DAO I ended up with Syndicate.io. The sales pitch — Just connect your wallet to start a DAO, changed slightly when I actually did it.
Seems easy enough. Till your realize its only 99 people.
After I connected my wallet, I was limited to 99 people…because of SEC Regulations. Its an investment club, limited in scope and reach. I don’t know how the Constitution folks got around the limitations, I tried Sigh. I ponder for the ramifications. I could share this DAO with the hope that someone would committ the Ethereum, but invariably THEY would own it. Hope for me came from a very special place — OpenCollective.com
Saved by the Collective
In 50 seconds: What is Open Collective?
If we gather a community of enough people, we can raise enough money to win the bid — — except that the entire auction is tomorrow. I doubt my TikTok campaign will garner enough traction. But there is hope.
How Open Collective Works
So Open Collective, takes your $600 for one share, and holds it in escrow until the raise is completed. If we are successful and win the bid, the money is transferred as a pass thru to the newly formed Elizabeth Meaders DAO non-profit., which can then pay the auction house. All fiat. No crypto. No muss. No fuss.
But what would make anyone pay $600 to join a ‘dusty” collective of people trying to buy some black memorabilia…..Hmmm NFT’s tied to a physical object.
Here is what most people, cannot see. This is one of the biggest financial opportunites I have witnessed in a LOOONG time.
Fuzzy Mathematics of NFT’s
I have setup the campaign to receive 20,000 submissions to match the 20,000 items in the collection. By giving each shareholder a digital NFT (in 6 months, after pictures and 3D images are taken) tied to the actual object. The value is justified. This theory comes from Sacred Economics
You pay $600 now to join the collective. You get an NFT in 6 months, the NFT you get will match the actual physical object that you will own and can sell after a grace period.
If the valuation of the collection is true — $10 million. Then we will have raised $12 million enough to cover the value minus the 15% platform fee.
That leaves $200,000 in the bucket — Not enough for taxes. LOL. So the maximum bid for this collect at the current rate would have to be less say $5 million to $8 million dollars. Taxes are estimated to be about $370,000, then the collection would have to be immediately insured and stored. Those costs are estimated to amount to $200,000 for the first year from the industry experts I have talked to.
A vendor like Boom.co would have to be contracted to take the pictures at scale. Then arrangements would have to be made with a NFT company like Dapper Labs or Flipkick.io or Bandwagon Fan Club to create the contracts for the NFT’s. The process would take about 6 months.
The contracts drawn up can be written to benefit the entire community, so eveyone can get a residual share of the NFT revenue.
Then there is money to be made for a 5–10 year period from photograph royalties, Metaverse sales (clothing items, reproduction) museum tours, Virtual Realty subscriptions, television specials, and mini-installation.
My plan is for the entire collection to be sold to Sothebys at the end of the NFT vesting period. Each shareholder would be able to sell their physical item after having a multi-year revenue share and profits from their NFT.
So how do you manage 20,000 people voting on your proposal? Enter Votaz.com For a few dollars per year, Elizabeth Meaders DAO Collective could manage the entire process virtually using Zoom and an app to vote on each revenue proposal.
Ok Collective Its time to Vote!
Example Timeline
April 15 — Auction close and reconcillation. Each person in the collective is given shares in the non-profit.
April 16 — Zoom meetup and Vote using Votaz.com
April 17 — Photograph and NFT process begins
October 2022 — NFT distribution, Second Meetup and and Vote using Votaz.com. Presentation and bids by Museum display companies, virtual reality, hologram and other vendors. Community proposals.
January 2023 — First exhibits take place in New York City and Washington DC.
Quarterly Zoom and Votaz.com meetings. Bi-Annual Dividend distribution.
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It all sounds good until you do it. Except its done! We are incorporated
EMeaders DAO Collective. Anyone can join!
Our campaign is live. We are seeking believers and early adopters! All moneys are held in escrow by Open Collective. (And we are going to try the Tik Tok thing). This campaign preserves the spirit of Ellen Meaders Collection and allows everyone to be apart of their own Black History. Follow us on emeadersdao.com
click on the word live.
Our TikTok Campaign is live. My prayer is that it will garner enough persons who realize the potential of this venture and will want to jump on. Part 3 will cover the aftermath, costs, and learnings of this incredible adventure!