We have an epic vision at Early Majority: to disrupt the environmentally toxic apparel industry by tapping into the global community of passionate adventurers. We believe in producing fewer, high-quality products uniquely designed for and by our members. And we boldly believe that our community will play a critical role in shaping Early Majority’s future. 

Some call our vision —of building a business by growing a supportive community rather than proliferating unnecessary products— “degrowth.” We simply call it good growth, and that’s why we are building Early Majority in web3. That’s also why we’re working with Eco Labs to ensure that all of our web3 activities are carbon negative.  

The mechanisms for building a global, connected community have evolved dramatically over the last half decade, and particularly so in the last year. Prior to the emergence of the web, meaningful community was relegated to the physical world. We found community in-person, in our neighborhoods, schools, workplaces, and places of worship.

But this model continually marginalized people at the tails of the cultural bell curve. Those of us existing at the margins had to choose between maintaining strong ties to geographic places and developing relationships with deeply aligned values. The latter often meant relocating to new places in pursuit of communities that we couldn’t find in our existing geographic homes. 

The internet promised us the opportunity to connect across time and space by building virtual communities instead, but something very different was happening beneath the surface. Our creativity and community-building became free labor for big platform bosses. Not only did Web2 platforms perpetually plunder our connections, their algorithms sorted us into least common denominator versions of ourselves. We ended up not only lonely and isolated again, but increasingly polarized and seemingly unable to escape their power.

We’re transcending these limitations by using digital technology to assemble a global community rooted in outdoor spaces. We aspire to integrate this global community into a participatory brand-building process, collectively building the future of Early Majority as a DAO*. We also want to recognize our early supporters for their unwavering belief in this shared vision. Web3 makes all of this possible, and we’re excited to embark on this adventure together.  

*WTF is a DAO? A DAO is community bound together by shared ownership toward a common goal.

In the coming weeks, we’ll officially launch a limited collection of Digital Member Badges, offered as NFTs. Like our current membership model, these Digital Member Badges grant access to member-exclusive content, perks and prices at earlymajority.com. Each Digital Member Badge also comes with an exclusive physical counterpart: the Early Majority Member Badge. Additional Digital Member Badge benefits vary, but will span a spectrum from individual garments to complete kits.  Every badge comes with its own dock: the Bum Bag.  A handful of Badges will grant holders access to one of everything we produce, forever. 

One of the most important benefits of the Digital Member Badge is visibility into the production process – this is a crucial part of our vision for integrating the community into Early Majority’s growth. Usually companies crank out as much product as quickly as they can in a reckless gamble backed by natural capital.  We’ll work together to create a more deliberate and less destructive approach to meeting the needs of our members. 

We believe true community consists of direct human connection, and we plan to play a vital role in facilitating that.  We’ve already started with online gatherings, but the last thing any of us need is more time spent in the metaverse.  Outdoor activities— from hikes to bikes to self defense classes to direct action training— have always been at the heart of our imagined Early Majority community.

Finally – at some point in the not-so-distant future, your Digital Member Badge will function as a passport to other web3 communities, both online and off. We’ll build out this cross-functionality with the community to deepen Early Majority’s collective value proposition, and we’re excited to use physical badges as a playful way for partner communities to hack our gear for visibility and mutual support. 

Existing Early Majority members will receive a Digital Member Badge as part of their current membership. For those new to web3 – we’re looking forward to supporting you in onboarding. Soon, we’ll share curated resources for getting started in web3, including how to set up your wallet, best practices for wallet security, and, of course, how to mint your Digital Member Badge. 

We believe that our community centered model can facilitate a contraction in material production AND an expansion of economic value for everyone who touches our brand.  If we’re successful, our good growth foundation will unlock a future of degrowth that benefits us all.  We’re ready to build that future and we’re excited to do this in deep collaboration with our community of global adventurers. 

We'll be announcing the dates of the Early Majority mint via our newsletter. Don’t miss out as we take this next step - we’ll help you through the process and provide education and resources along the way.