Re:Building Together EP 254 — When Building Fails

Host: CEELOS (@CEELOSFIGG) with co-hosts Val (@valeriekates_) and Baked (@Bakedmetax) · Tue, 07 Jul 2026 · 1:04:16 · ~4 active voices

TL;DR

• The theme was "when building fails" — CEELOS framed it up front as a no-shots, no-names conversation about projects that lose momentum, and why that isn't the end of the road.
• Core takeaway from the room: failure is part of building in web3, the space is only a few years old, and patience plus resilience matter more than hype-cycle timing.
• Recurring gripe: founders who go quiet for months, lean on excuses, or coast on 2021–2022 credentials — while the space "has a very limited memory" and only cares what you're doing right now.
• CEELOS shared his personal scouting method: when a once-expensive project's floor drops, he checks the socials and Discord, and buys in if the team is still quietly building.
• Selim (@selimweb03), new to web3 from Niger, came up for beginner advice; Baked and CEELOS gave a clean starter rundown: don't click DM links, buy what you like, and jump into Spaces to meet people.
• Housekeeping close: the weekly schedule was recapped (Way Back Wednesday, AI news Thursday, banner-making Saturday, collectibles Sunday).

Highlights

[1:40] The passport bit. Before anything serious, CEELOS and Val riffed on the new passports "that have trompetas on them," complete with "can we cover it with a sticker?" CEELOS also bragged about starting the Space on time despite an Argentina comeback — Messi scoring in the 91st minute to flip the game. A warm, silly open.

[5:25] Welcome and the frame. After a Czarface track, CEELOS opened the show ("welcome to Rebuilding Together… when building fails, oof, this is gonna be a tough one") and set the ground rules: nothing said would be a shot at anyone, because genuine builders sometimes just don't hit.

[8:05–13:33] Late Bake and the flea saga. Baked (@Bakedmetax) arrived late — "I didn't have my alarm on" — and the check-in drifted into aging pets and a shared war story about fleas ravaging their cats in the summer heat. CEELOS named the "patient zero" next-door cat that "comes back all scrappy and dirty" and blamed him personally.

[15:01] Overbuilding as a failure mode. Baked offered the least-tenured-but-sharpest observation early: projects get the "new shiny toy hype" and then can't hold attention — and "there is a point to where too much is too much. You can overbuild and overdo things that will also push people away."

[24:11] The skateboarding philosophy. CEELOS tied his whole web3 mindset to skateboarding: if he'd let the first slams deter him he'd never have learned a trick. You eat it, heal up, reassess, get back on. Building in web3 means being willing to risk failure.

[27:06] Pivoting, and telling the community why. Baked noted Regions (the team's project) has taken heat for changing direction, but "you gotta be able to pivot… and it's even more important for the community to understand why you're pivoting." No project ships perfect from the get-go.

[29:29] How CEELOS scouts a dip. His best method: watch older projects whose floors have collapsed. If he sees holders still rocking the PFP and a founder still lurking in Spaces or posting in Discord, he gets curious and buys in — comforted less by price than by proof the team never wavered. He said he's done this on four or five projects this year.

[36:18] "Are we naming names yet?" Val returned from a disconnect and immediately asked the question everyone was thinking. CEELOS declined — but pivoted to what those failed projects gave him: the friends (Val, Solo Dolo, Bait, and others) he'd never have met without risking it.

[42:04–44:55] The excuses and the memory problem. CEELOS got most animated here on founders who do "little spurts" of two or three months and then vanish behind "I've been busy / traveling / working behind the scenes." Val added that the projects "still operating the same way as a few years ago are the most annoying ones," coasting on old collabs the space no longer remembers.

[38:41–51:43] Selim's onboarding. Selim introduced himself as a newcomer from Niger building his X account and learning skills. Baked and CEELOS gave him the essentials — don't click links, buy what you like not the hype, and show up in Spaces exactly as he just did. Selim reflected that the Nigerian web3 crowd is "into meme coins, three jobs, everything," and the conversation gave him a different perspective.

Topic timeline

Notable quotes

• "There is a point to where too much is too much. You can overbuild and overdo things that will also push people away." — Baked [15:01]
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  0:38
• "You want to be one of the greats, you're gonna lose. You gotta get in the game. And failure is a hundred percent part." — CEELOS [35:14]
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  0:38
• "The space has a very limited memory. They don't care what you did in 2021, they don't care who you collabed with in 2022. They want to know what you're doing right now." — CEELOS [43:32]
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  0:38
• "The ones who are still operating the same way as a few years ago are the most annoying ones, too." — Val [44:55]
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  0:38
• "Buy what you like… don't buy because you feel like you're gonna miss out on something. The FOMO will get you." — Baked [49:19]
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  0:38
• "Nobody here is an expert. None of us… there's lessons to be learned on the daily." — CEELOS [58:10]
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  0:38

Who said what

• CEELOS (@CEELOSFIGG), host — carried most of the airtime; framed failure as inseparable from building, championed patience, resilience and buying what you genuinely like, and shared his method for scouting still-active dipped projects.
• Baked (@Bakedmetax), co-host — the newer-to-the-space voice; flagged overbuilding as its own failure mode, stressed pivoting with clear communication, and delivered the crisp beginner rundown (no DM links, buy what you like, show up in Spaces).
• Val (@valeriekates_), co-host — in and out on connection; provided the comic relief ("Are we naming names yet?") and the sharpest one-liner about OG projects coasting on old glory.
• Selim (@selimweb03), guest — newcomer from Niger studying web3; came up for advice and offered an outside-the-US perspective on the meme-coin-heavy scene back home.

Worth a full listen

• [13:33]–[27:06] — The heart of the episode. CEELOS's unbroken run through hype vs. reality, unrealistic timelines, and the skateboarding metaphor is more persuasive uncut than any summary can convey.
• [42:04]–[47:32] — His most candid stretch on founder excuses and the "working behind the scenes" non-answer, with Val's assist. If you've ever wondered why a project loses its holders, this is the honest version.
• [48:58]–[52:00] — Selim's Q&A with Baked and CEELOS is a genuinely useful newcomer primer, delivered warmly and without condescension.