It really tied the room together.

The Dude analyzes static NFT projects using the Four C's: content, collectors, creator, and community. 

A project does not need to have robust strength in all four C's to be investable. 

In fact, it is exceedingly rare that an NFT project can boast strength in all four C's. Most often, investable projects will show strength (at best) or potential (at worst) in one of the four C's. The Dude can count on one hand the number of projects he believes show robust strength in all four C's. Without further ado:

Content: ideally differentiated, visually stimulating, and technologically unique. In Tyler Hobbs’ essay, The Rise of Long-Form Generative Art, he cites consistent output quality and enjoyable variation that still contributes to a coherent collection. Note how that makes platforms like Art Blocks the major leagues of generative art because the artist cannot cherry-pick outputs which then get matched to collectors; each output is derived at the moment of minting without external interference.

Collectors: reputable, long-term, and reliable collectors purchasing the tokens is a sign of collector strength. Collectors do not necessarily need to be whales or large funds, but rather can be collectors who belong to strong communities (Flamingo DAO, Curated Fund, etc) or have a track record of finding great art at early pricing periods. 

It’s also worth noting the importance of following collectors who’s collection style aligns with your personal style. 

One should look for collectors with long-term time horizons and little to no intention of selling (unlike venture capitalists or trading funds; the Dude supports these endeavors from afar and has no problem with the inherent nature of these firms. However, their incentives structures do not align with retail collectors). 

Creator: the originator(s) of the project must have a provable reputation tied to their identity. Note that this may include anonymous creator(s), if a reputation can be tied to this creator identity. The desire to understand the reputation of a creator is what lies at the fetishization of doxxed teams. A good reputation can, but is not limited to, include previous bodies of work, laudable experiments, past sales and/or critical acclaim.

Community: community strength can be both quantified and qualified. Community strength can be crudely measured through total followers on Twitter, total Discord members, and other collectors who follow the artist/project (note this is separate from collectors who vote with their wallet, described in greater detail below). Quantification can be more precisely determined through tools like Twitter audit and identifying proper engagement ratios, like number of likes/comments/retweets to number of total followers. 

More importantly, community can be qualified through spending time in Discord and to a lesser extent on Twitter. Consider the conversations: is the focal point worry with pricing or a focus on the NFTs, the art, and the technical aspects? The former is cause for concern, the latter is a good sign the community is there for the right reasons.