Tally Labs

Tally Labs operates as a Web3 media company, founded in 2021 by individuals known by their pseudonyms, Safa and Valet Jones (VJ). Their journey began with a creative experiment: in May 2021, they acquired Bored Ape #1798 and crafted a persona for it named Jenkins the Valet. The initial concept involved writing first-person stories from the perspective of Jenkins, the head valet at the Bored Ape Yacht Club, and posting them on Twitter. This narrative approach resonated within the NFT community, leading to rapid follower growth and requests from other NFT owners to have their own avatars featured in Jenkins' stories.

This initial traction validated the founders' hypothesis that compelling intellectual property could emerge from the blockchain. The business model centers on creating and monetizing decentralized, community-driven content. A key component of this model is "The Writer's Room," a token-gated community where NFT holders can vote on the creative direction of projects. This structure allows Tally Labs to crowdsource narrative development and foster a dedicated community of creators and fans. One of their first major projects was "Bored & Dangerous," a novel written in collaboration with New York Times bestselling author Neil Strauss, where over 4,000 NFT holders licensed their characters to appear in the story. The company generates revenue through the sale of these content-based NFTs and aims for broader distribution in traditional media, such as physical books.

In May 2022, Tally Labs secured a significant milestone with a $12 million seed funding round led by a16z crypto, with participation from other notable firms and angel investors like Sterling VC, Dapper Ventures, and Lionel Richie. This capital was earmarked for scaling the team, developing new software infrastructure, and expanding the Jenkins the Valet IP into other entertainment formats like podcasts. Beyond Jenkins, Tally Labs launched another project, Azurbala, a fantasy world with its own lore and characters, created with screenwriter Emma Needell and artist Ty Carter. Despite initial challenges with the art reveal for Azurbala's PFP collection, the team worked with the community to revamp the project. Tally Labs provides tools and platforms, like their software "Avenue," to enable community members to create their own stories within these established universes.