Non-Fungible Token (NFT) project Pudgy Penguins is a compelling case study of how community support and smart leadership can turn around a floundering venture and reignite sentiment. Initially, the Pudgy Penguins project had a road map that it failed to deliver on, leading to communities disappointed with the founders. Matters went from bad to worse when allegations of fund draining emerged against the founders, leading to the community voting to oust them in January 2022. However, in April 2022, a Los Angeles entrepreneur and Pudgy Penguins’ community member, Luca Netz, took over the project, leading the purchase for $2.5 million with the promise to build out the brand and foster better communication.
The New Flight Path
Under Luca Netz’s leadership, the Pudgy Penguins’ project focused on building out intellectual property (IP) and “to be the brand that leads the way in onboarding people from Web2 into Web3.” Unlike the original founders, Netz took steps to put the roadmap in place, creating toys based on the penguin NFTs and releasing a children’s book in summer 2022. In addition, the team empowered the community to create subcommunities, planned real-life and virtual events to connect the community, and gave regular updates on Twitter and Discord. This strategy has worked like charm as the floor price of Pudgy Penguins NFT project has shot up over time.
Meanwhile, the addition of Pudgy Penguins onto Blend, a popular NFT lending platform, further showcases the legitimacy of the project. Interestingly, the spirits are high among the Pudgy Penguins’ community as they can profit from their Penguins by leveraging their IP for licensing or other deals, contributing to the project’s success.
In May 2023, Pudgy Penguins announced a new $9 million funding round and launched the promised toys, which reportedly sold 20,000 units in a few days and helped to sent the floor price of the project soaring to 6.2 ETH, according to data from NFT marketplace OpenSea. Additionally, Pudgy World, which connects people’s real-life toy purchases with the digital world and onboards them to Web3 in a frictionless way, has been unveiled. The project aims to fall in love with a character and onboard the community, especially those not already into crypto. Finally, new investments, real-life toys and a rebound in NFT sales have restored the penguin NFTs’ ethos of “good vibes and positivity for everyone” and helped the penguin prices hit new heights.
A Blueprint for Future Success
The success of Pudgy Penguins’ project showcases the power of the community in Web3 and how trust and goodwill can tremendously influence a venture’s fortunes. The founders of Pudgy Penguins’ project took the necessary steps to rebuild the trust of the community by communicating regularly and transparently. We believe that Pudgy Penguins’ project is a blueprint for future success for other NFT projects, especially when what sets them apart is their community. Overall, Pudgy Penguins’ NFT project has achieved a record trading volume and represents the future of the NFTs business.
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The material in this article is written on the basis of another article.