I bought a triceratops fossil

Technically I own 1/11,400th of the first-ever fractional dinosaur

May 27

Last week at VeeCon I spent some time at the Rally brand activation exploring how buying and selling equity shares in collectible assets via a mobile app works. At first I confused Rally the collectible app with Rally the platform for creators to sell their own virtual coins, but they are very very different.

The company was displaying trading cards, sneakers, drawings, and more traditional collectibles that you could see in real life but also bid on owning a fractional share of the asset.. Well, not the entire asset, but a share of it. Always wanted to own a Honus Wagner baseball card or a Lamborghini Diablo? Now you can use this new technology to pool your money with others and own a fractional share. They even have a copy of the Declaration of Independence!

So when I saw I could purchase part of the “first-ever fractional dinosaur” the little dino-obsessed Gregory of my childhood jumped at the chance…

The first-ever fractional dinosaur. This Triceratops skull was uncovered in 1999 by Dr. Bobby Deaton in North Dakota and measures over 7 feet long. With all three horns intact, “Deaton” is onle of only a handful of Triceratops skulls to be sold over the past decade – with the most recent comparable sale clearing $500k.

It’s crazy easy to get started. You download the Rally app, connect your banking account, and put in bids based on market rates. I own two assets now, and as they assets get funded and drive demand, they appreciate or depreciate, and you can sell your share(s) for a profit or loss.

Overall, Rally is a really interesting approach to the overlap of collection culture, investing, and technology. So far I want to clearly disclose that I’ve lost $2 on my one (1) share of the Deaton skull, which is valued at $239,400. As far as I know, I don’t get to rent it out my Triceratops head for parties. After all, I only own 1/11,400th of the first-ever fractional dinosaur… I may need to buy a couple more shares for that.

🤖 VeeCon Takeaways

I wrote 3 Takeaways from VeeCon that will be shared in The Social Lights’ newsletter soon. SOOOOOoooo —> Subscribe here.

And here’s one extra signal for Social Signals subscribers: the same week Pepsi sponsored NFT Land at VeeCon they dropped their Super Bowl Halftime TV sponsorship. Hmmm…

📞 The Last NYC Public Phonebooth is GONE

The last remaining NYC public pay telephone was removed on Monday morning, marking an inflection point in communication and technology that's worth noting.

Payphones were an important part of my teenage years. I rocked a pager in high school and needed them to call people back. It was a technology that was transformational and important in its own time, not to mention helping support a wide variety of audiences well into the era of smart phone adoption.

The vast majority of Americans – 97% – now own a cellphone of some kind. The share of Americans that own a smartphone is now 85%, up from just 35% in Pew Research Center’s first survey of smartphone ownership conducted in 2011.

And that topic — smart phone adoption — was a big source of conversation for years. There was a lot of skepticism about the adoption curve based on: 1) cost, and 2) perceived utility. They were expensive and many people thought they just didn’t need to watch videos, buy things, or surf the internet on their phones. It reminds me a lot of the disinterest, pushback, and animosity toward Web3 and the future of social media discussions the industry is experiencing. Something to think about.