Podcast
Farokh Sarmad, Fueling the NFT Boom on Clubhouse
Farokh Sarmad burst onto the NFT scene earlier this year by hosting numerous celebrities for their live NFT drops on Clubhouse. In this episode Nick and Farokh discuss how he stumbled into the NFT scene, and his strategy for growing his audience there. He also gives his take on NFTs now, and where he sees the space going from here?
Who Is Farokh Sarmad?
Early Social Media Success: At the age of 26, Farokh Sarmad is already renowned as a social media guru. By 2017, he had been listed in Forbes magazine’s Top 15 Instagram influencers You Should Follow, and had his own social media agency, Goodlife, with an advertising reach of over 150,000,000 followers.
Bringing Clubhouse and NFTs together: Alongside his enormous Instagram following, Farokh has become a major proponent of Clubhouse and he found himself in the right place at the right time for 2021’s NFT boom. In February this year, it seemed like every night a celebrity was doing a drop in a room with Farokh.
The Undeniable Future of NFTs
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“This is undeniably the future.” Farokh Sarmad is certain that the NFT and Clubhouse combination is not just 2021’s craze, but a part of the future. He was convinced one night, after he had been administrating rooms all day. After hearing some rumours of big name guests he suddenly found himself in a room surrounded by some of the digital artworld’s biggest names. In fact, it was the night before Logan Paul’s first NFT drop (in partnership with Bondly). “That room is forever going to be legendary. Logan Paul joined and, all of a sudden, every single big crypto artist that operates in the world of NFTs pulled up. Artifex, FVCKRENDER, Victor Mosquera, FEWOCiOUS, Mad Dog Jones.”
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“I knew nothing, absolutely nothing. So I started asking questions.” Once he realised the potential of NFTs, Farokh bought his first one the next day.
The Goodlife Comes To Clubhouse
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Farokh and his Goodlife brand have been building social media strategies for many years. He immediately recognised the potential of the Clubhouse app. “I was bullish on Clubhouse from the second I got on.” He was very quickly hosting rooms and using the app for 70 or 80 hours a week and running some of the largest rooms on the platform. During that period, he quickly helped make Clubhouse a hub for NFT enthusiasts and creators.
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Preparation met opportunity, as Farokh used overflow rooms to create bigger and bigger communities on Clubhouse. As NFTs began to boom in February and March, he was in the right place to capture it.
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Covid-19 meant that many of Farokh’s generation found themselves in lockdown and using apps like Clubhouse and Instagram more than usual. They had the time to discover NFTs. • He found himself moderating over 6000 people in some rooms and was able to send that traffic to other sites, “Clubhouse is perfect to drive traffic to Instagram and twitter.”
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During that period, celebrities and social media influencers were doing drops on Clubroom almost nightly
Crypto OGs and Internet Kids
- Farokh sees two world coming together in NFTs, “Crypto OGs and internet kids that get together to push a digital evolution. Expressed through NFTs.” The young creators and purveyors of new technology come together with futurist investors and venture capitalists in the world of NFTs. Farokh, though, is definitely one of the internet kids, rather than a Mark Cuban or Chamath Palihapitiya.
The Importance of Community on Clubhouse
- Farokh sees the community as being at the very center of the social media and NFT movement. He describes the NFT Clubhouse rooms as spaces where people where creative, altruistic and love to grow together. • Then starting interviews with Jake Paul, Paris Hilton, Rob Gronkowski. • Social media guru, and importance of working together. Paolo Moreno has been in the entertainment industry for many years.
The Clubhouse and NFT Cool Off
- During the hype of February and March, the potential of NFTs became clear. However, Farokh describes the sales and prices by March as crazy, saying “it was not sustainable. It went up too fast.”
- Buyers remorse? Not really. Those who paid high prices in March are part of a growing industry and the slowdown is most likely only a temporary one.
- Farokh has been buying the dip. Since crypto’s crash in May and the lull in NFT prices he has found it to be a good buying opportunity.
- During the downturn, it’s those who stick around to remain involved that show their passion for the space. As Farokh says, it’s easy to tell who’s in it for the long run.
What Now
- He is having the time of his life being true to himself. He is busy working on many projects, including announcing a FEWOCiOUS auction at Christies auction house.
- Farokh’s knows what he is concentrating on right now, “to work with dope people and make money, and elevate everyone on my way up.”
- He has proved he can make a living from socialising online and enjoy life as he’s doing it, “Get to meet dope people, have some cool conversations, do things that I like. There is so much you can do by collaborating.”
The Future for Farokh
- Although it already seems like he is having the time of his life, he is still tirelessly ambitious and doesn’t yet consider himself to be successful.
- Community building and marketing has been his craft for 10 years. Now he is committed to building in the metaverse and continuing to be a bridge between NFTs and the mainstream. Helping artists, creators, and collectors build their brands on social media. He enjoys working with friends and sharing their skill sets, “we are not supposed to build alone, it’s too hard. Let’s just all do it together.”
- As for his part in the NFT innovation, “They’re gonna be writing about people like us in art history books!”
Farokh Sarmad Social Media
https://www.joinclubhouse.com/@farokh