Grants only seem to help build anything high-quality when given to someone who built high-quality things before they got the grant. It doesn't seem to make someone start building better quality and it doesn't appear to be an indicator of quality.

That's why I think crowdfunding is superior to grants. You build up a reputation *first* and then people trust you and pay you to *do more of the same*. And they keep their money in their own pocket, until they give it to you, personally.

But all the grant money flooding the Nostr space has dampened our crowdfunding-fu.