TIME · TIMEPieces

Keith Grossman contacted me directly on Twitter, now X. He was then President of TIME, and he had created and led TIMEPieces, TIME's Web3 and NFT initiative.

There was no brief at the start. We got to know each other first, and by late 2021 we were talking regularly. I was also a TIMEPieces collector. The advice came out of that relationship, which is why it lasted.

The questions covered the whole collection. The concept, and how to position it and tell its story. Which artists to bring in, how to curate them and which collaborations to pursue. Tokenomics, pricing and supply. The community and the holders. Marketing and launch. Revenue strategy. Partnerships and introductions. Utility, and the wider question of what TIMEPieces and Web3 could become for TIME.

This was advice, not a paid mandate. Keith asked, I answered, and he came back with the next question. That format suited the work: I had no deliverable to defend, only a judgment he could test against what happened.

TIME brings something very few Web3 projects have: decades of covers and a name everyone recognises. In collector culture that name opens the door. It does not make anyone buy. Collectors judge a collection by its artists, its scarcity, its mechanics, the people already holding it, and whether the project behaves as if it belongs in the room.

For a media company, that meant connecting three decisions that a newsroom usually keeps apart: what to publish, who should take part, and what holding a piece should mean over time. That connection was where my advice was useful.

In early 2022 Keith offered me allow-list places for TIME's next drop, Slices of TIME. I sent him more than eighty wallets from my network, from close friends to serious collectors. He added the entire list and gave every name on it the right to mint two pieces instead of one.

Slices of TIME was built on a trade-and-burn mechanic: holders burned pieces to reach the artists' work, and the rarity of each piece depended on how many were minted and burned. When minting opened, I told everyone on the list myself. An introduction is only useful when both sides understand why it belongs.

Beyond that drop, I introduced TIMEPieces to people and communities it did not yet reach: Mondoir, ArtsDAO, and people and communities connected to the Bored Ape Yacht Club. Those introductions led to collaborations. Artists I recommended went on to work with TIME on TIMEPieces.

In 2022 I also told Keith he should do something with Bright Moments and proposed introducing him to Seth Goldstein. Keith wanted to take the conversation further.

Keith integrated my recommendations, including on tokenomics and on the community. The collectors and communities I activated contributed to sold-out moments and to revenue around TIMEPieces, especially in a later phase of the project.

TIME and its artists made the collections and set their terms. My part was the advice, the people and the introductions around them. Keith later spoke publicly about my contribution.

Keith also introduced me to Charly Palmer and Dr. Karida Brown, and to Mike Mongo among others. My relationship with Charly and Karida became a body of work of its own: In The Paint, the conversation with the Los Angeles Lakers and, through Karida, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

In June 2022 Keith invited me to the TIMEPieces artist dinner in New York. He also selected my photography for NFT Liverpool, which has its own record in this archive. Advice, artistic selection and friendship were different relationships, and each kept its own place.