#37 - Nick Gurol - NBA Top Shot, The NFT Market, & Dapper Labs

Nick Gurol is an investor and teacher. Recently, Gurol was an early investor in NBA Top Shot NFTs. Dapper Labs, in partnership with the NBA & NBAPA, launched Top Shot in July 2019––and the market has seen a major influx of participants and capital in early 2021. Gurol is also known for his 2017 national public feud with Brooklyn Nets All-Star Guard, Kyrie Irving, over Irving's claims that the earth is flat. ***TIMESTAMPS*** 6:06 - NBA Top Shot intro; NFTs; Dapper Labs & The Flow Protocol on the Ethereum blockchain; Hardcourt & Fantasy sports 15:22 - How Nick got involved in NBA Top Shot; Jonathan Bales & his original newsletter on NBA Top Shot; How the secondary market works; The NBA Ad campaign for Top Shot; The Daily Fantasy Sports community influx into Top Shot 23:05 - Series 1, Series 2 & Common, Rare, and Legendary Top Shot classes; How the NBA Top Shot Moments work; Dapper Labs Dr. Seuss project; NFTs and video games; The value of NFTs and Top Shot Moments; Scarcity 32:25 - How the Top Shot website and market works; Could the exchange be hacked?; Dapper’s fight against bots on the site; Coinbase and Mt. Gox exchange examples 39:40 - Dapper Labs valuation; The theories behind the NBA halting their ads; The timeline of the NBA Top Shot explosion into the mainstream; The pack drop that bombed; Examples of Moments in packs 44:45 - Gurol’s “proprietary algorithm” for uncovering outliers in the NBA Top Shot Moments Market; Revisiting Rare, Common, & Legendary levels; Steph Curry 3-Pointer Moment’s crazy price 49:26 - Gurol’s investment; Revisiting Michael Lewis’ Flashboys book; Why Nick is bullish on Top Shot and the NFT Market; The grind and work behind Top Shot investing; When Gurol knew it was time to sell many of his moments 59:39 - Status of current Top Shot market cycle; Money Laundering protocols Dapper Labs has in place; Fine Art and historical use for money laundering, tax evasion, etc.; NFT Market hard to hide things? 1:04:34 - The timing of Top Shot’s rise; Revisiting the Gamestop, Reddit, Robinhood saga; Is the Top Shot market at a “top?”; Peak sales on Top Shot; The sports card market, PSA, Starstock, and the higher barriers to entry there 1:16:37 - Jared Dillian, The Seafood Tower Theory, & The Taxi Driver Theory 1:25:46 - The NBA’s marketability moving forward; Top Shot restriction in China?; Anthony Fenu, Riley Horvath, Justin Baker, & Soar’s potential in the NFT market with volumetric content, holograms, and 3D capabilities; “Friction” and why Top Shot is a better investment than sports cards 1:49:29 - Dapper Labs 5% “rake” on transactions; Flow Protocol and its scalability with dollar integration; Cryptokitties; NFTs explained definitively; Sam Merrill’s Top Shot Moments 1:57:21 - Gurol’s national public feud with Kyrie Irving over his flat earth belief; The elaboration likelihood model; The psychology behind changing your mind; Anchoring; the 3 Doors Test; The effects low barriers to entry on public platforms has on our discourse; Reporting and journal