Commerce in the 2010s was marked by the growth of the DTC darlings such as Allbirds, Warby Parker, Casper, and more. What we learned from that era was the brands that prevailed were those with hyper-strong, almost fanatical, communities that helped supercharge the brand’s growth. Think Glossier and Barry's - brands that sell more than products. They build movements by leveraging the power of their community.
At Strobe, we believe community-owned and co-created brands are the future, especially for Gen Z and Gen Alpha consumers who demand their voices be heard in the products they purchase. Younger generations don’t just want to buy products. They want to belong, advocate, and actively shape the brands they love.
Today, the winning formula for building a category-defining consumer brand is to have one or more of the following: 1) ridiculous ad spend, 2) a creator/celebrity distribution, or 3) a cult-like community.
In lieu of spending millions of dollars on Facebook and Google advertising, or unless you're a creator with a casual 10m+ followers, you need to cultivate your own community that becomes your marketing engine and distribution channel.
As such, successful modern brands need to be either community-led and/or creator-led. They either harness massive distribution from a celebrity/creator or tap into the energy of a cult-like community.
And that's why we're co-leading TYB's $11M Series A alongside Offline Ventures. We’re excited to back a team that has firsthand experience in building a community-led brand from the ground up and is now productizing those components on crypto rails. TYB is laying the rails for a new era of onchain commerce, starting by rebuilding loyalty from the ground up.
Traditional loyalty programs are fundamentally broken. They're one-way, static, single-player games where points expire, rewards feel generic, and engagement flatlines.
Meanwhile, brands are spending more and more on acquiring customers. On average, Seed and Series A DTC brands now spend 30-50% of their total raised capital on paid media: TikTok, Instagram, influencer programs, and more. As every brand floods the same channels, ROAS declines and customer acquisition becomes a battle for attention.
At the same time, Gen Z and Gen Alpha prioritize authenticity over aesthetics. Picture-perfect feeds don't convert anymore, as brands with personality that directly engage consumers win. Think Duolingo's viral owl mascot. Younger consumers crave community and belonging.
This is driving a new type of "direct-to-consumer," where brands directly engage with their community and most loyal fans. Deeply incentivized communities will unlock a new flywheel and model where their customers are brought in earlier in the funnel, becoming product specialists, brand advisors, content creators, and micro-influencers.
Lastly, Strobe believes commerce is becoming inherently social. A new social commerce layer is emerging both on and offchain. Consumers are sharing their obsessions and purchases and expect to be rewarded for their taste.
At its core, TYB is a mobile-native, play-to-earn platform where consumers build status by earning coins and collecting rewards through "challenges", including mini-games, surveys, and product feedback from their favorite brands. For every challenge completed, friend referred, or obsession shared, consumers earn tokens that unlock new status, direct discounts, and exclusive access from brands like Rare Beauty, Urban Outfitters, Glossier, Poppi, Paris Hilton, and Crocs.
Before TYB, brands cobbled together fragmented solutions across Instagram DMs, Slack channels, and Google Docs to engage their communities. TYB is rewriting the playbook for community-owned brands, providing infrastructure that lets brands directly incentivize valuable fan actions while community members share in the financial upside.
The app creates a gamified social experience where brand loyalty becomes a status-driven identity that drives daily engagement across a multi-brand network.
Recent product launches demonstrate how TYB is evolving beyond traditional cookie-cutter loyalty.
TYB now powers community for beloved brands like Poppi, Glossier, Rare Beauty, OUAI, Saie and more. And the early results show that investing in community is paying off.
The ~1m users users, predominantly high-value Gen Z women, on TYB purchase 43% more frequently than non-TYB members, with brands reporting 24% higher LTV from their community members versus non-community members.
More importantly, TYB is driving 15% monthly user growth through product-led features like discovery and user referrals. Users aren't just passively accumulating points; they're actively recruiting friends, sharing content, and building reputations as tastemakers within their favorite brand communities.
This shift from transactional to participatory loyalty is creating a new model where customers become co-creators and advocates, not just purchasers.
For instance, TYB members on Glossier have 3x higher purchase frequency and 96% higher LTV compared to non-TYB users.
There's no better person to build this than Ty Haney. At Outdoor Voices, she didn't just build a brand - she pioneered community-led commerce before anyone knew what to call it. During the height of the 2010s DTC era, other brands burned through paid marketing budgets while Ty rewarded community members with physical "Doing Things" hats for participating in surveys and product feedback. Those hats were the analog precursor to the branded collectibles (NFTs) that TYB users mint today.
Ty fundamentally understands what it means to put community first, consistently differentiating her brand by bringing her community upstream in product creation, design, and marketing. Back then, she used web2 platforms like Instagram, Twitter DMs, Slack, and Google Docs to solicit feedback from her community. Now, Ty is building the scalable infrastructure she needed back then - but scalable for any brand.
What’s starting out as this fun gamified social experience will eventually become the building blocks for a new type of onchain commerce infrastructure on Base.
As consumers complete challenges and curate obsessions on TYB, they are actually creating a verifiable taste profile onchain. These components will build a portable reputation system that can eventually be ported across brands and platforms. Onchain TYB data enables new primitives for identity, social, and value distribution that other advertisers, marketplaces, and brands can not only tap into but also build on top of.
Consumer-owned commerce data flowing through TYB's platform will power a verifiable identity layer, enabling hyper-personalization and net-new behaviors/actions.
Join ~1m other users and discover your favorite communities on TYB today. If you're a brand interested in TYB, reach out to the team here or fill out this form.
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early stage crypto venture fund based in new york learn more about strobe ventures at strobe.fund
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today, the winning formula for building a category-defining consumer brand is to have one or more of the following: 1) ridiculous ad spend, 2) a creator/celebrity distribution, or 3) a cult-like community. in lieu of spending millions of dollars on facebook/google advertising, or unless you're a creator with a casual 10m+ followers, you need to cultivate your own community that becomes your marketing engine and distribution channel. and that's why we're co-leading @tyhunnny and a team that has firsthand experience in building a community-led brand from the ground up and is now productizing those components on crypto rails. https://fortune.com/2025/06/11/ty-haney-tyb-try-your-best-series-a-loyalty-consumer/
commerce in the 2010s was marked by the growth of the DTC darlings such as Allbirds, Warby Parker, Casper, and more. what we learned from that era was the brands that prevailed were those with hyper-strong, almost fanatical, communities that helped supercharge the brand’s growth. think Glossier and Barry's - brands that sell more than products. they build movements by leveraging the power of their community. at @strobefund, we believe community-owned and co-created brands are the future. gen z and gen alpha consumers don’t just want to buy products. they want to belong, advocate, and actively shape the brands they love.
commerce is now changing. 1. traditional loyalty programs are fundamentally broken. they're one-way, static, single-player games where points expire, rewards feel generic, and engagement flatlines. 2. meanwhile, brands are spending 30-50% of their total raised capital on paid media. 3. at the same time, younger generations prioritize authenticity over aesthetics. 4. this is driving a new type of "direct-to-consumer," where brands directly engage with their community and most loyal fans. 5. lastly, @strobefund believes commerce is becoming inherently social.
at its core, @tyb is a mobile-native, play-to-earn platform where consumers build status by earning coins and collecting rewards through "challenges", including mini-games, surveys, and product feedback from their favorite brands like Rare Beauty, Crocs, Poppi, and more. the app creates a gamified social experience where brand loyalty becomes a status-driven identity... laying the rails for a new era of onchain commerce
learn more about our thinking here, and how brands like Glossier, Urban Outfitters, and Saie are leveraging @tyb https://blog.strobe.fund/investing-in-tyb
the ~1m users, predominantly high-value Gen Z women, on TYB purchase 43% more frequently than non-TYB members. for instance, TYB members on Glossier have 3x higher purchase frequency and 96% higher LTV compared to non-TYB users. this shift from transactional to participatory loyalty is creating a new model where customers become co-creators and advocates, not just purchasers.