Afleveringen
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In the buzzing world of NFTs and blockchain, Amanda Terry's proven superpower of community building and connection comes into play big time. She is one of the driving forces behind Metagood, a company that strives to build a better future for Web3. One of Metagood's most notable projects is Onchain Monkey. With an artful stroke of genius, they launched the first 10K NFT PFP (profile picture) collection in a single Ethereum transaction and inscribed the first 10K collection on Bitcoin in a single inscription. The result? One of the most vibrant and active digital communities in the space.
But here's where it gets even cooler: Onchain Monkey isn't just about turning a quick profit. They have not just created financial wealth for their community, but also fostered physical health, social connectivity, and impactful social actions. They have innovatively used secondary trading revenues from NFTs to aid causes globally.
What we unraveled —
2:06 - Meet Amanda Terry, Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer of Metagood.
5:02 - OCM's community resembles more of a family. They are creating wealth that enables people to do real-world good.
6:43 - Making big moves into Ordinals: They were the first to inscribe a 10K collection on Bitcoin in a single inscription. Their Dimensions collection is the first 3D animated collection on Bitcoin.
10:48 - Attracting new people into the community with their new collection. Dimensions will be using Onchain Monkey’s genesis metadata (DNA) from the Metagood collection. This collection features high-end art 3D-generated animated NFTs.
12:24 - Short-term and long-term goals: They aim to be a passport to a wealthy digital nation. Creating value for their holders is the top priority. Long term, their goal is to be the leading Bitcoin company for high-value digital assets.
16:40 - The perks of being part of the community: If you like technical innovation, this is probably one of the strongest technical teams in the space. There's always something that will draw you in, and then you go down the rabbit hole.
19:30 - OCM's DAO is a hub of creativity and social impact: birthing new businesses, inspiring art and music, and backing global environmental and community projects.
21:27 - Biggest wins and lessons coming into Web3 for Amanda and OCM: Having one of the strongest communities in Web3. Finding a balance in life is important too.
26:53 - Lightning Round: A series of questions we ask all of our guests.
Unravel Further —
Links Mentioned in this Episode -
OnChain Monkey
Metagood
ACTAI Ventures
Bill Tai
Danny Yang
Danny Yang's Op-Ed for Bitcoin Magazine: Ordinals are Good for Bitcoin, but More Standards are Needed
The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
Listen Next -
Bitcoin Gains Momentum: The NFT Boom, Startups, and VC Funding with Trevor Owens (Ep. 21)
The Art of Bitcoin: Ordinals, NFTs, & Gamma with Nick Sainato (Ep. 18)
More of Amanda...
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Before deciding to join the crypto space in 2017, Maggie kept finding herself either locked out of the club when it came to financial literacy, or in the room, but drowning in jargon that no one was willing to explain. The moment Maggie realized that crypto would allow her to be sovereign over her own resources was not only personally empowering, but also opened the door for that would eventually lead her to become a leader in crypto and web3 education.
Maggie’s three pillars are education, experimentation, and community; as a woman in crypto, she holds a deep belief that she can learn anything, make meaningful connections, and have a good time all while working to build true financial accessibility. Her company, SheFi, is a crypto and web3 educational initiative that has onboarded and empowered over 1,500 women and non-binary folks to Web3 since launching in 2020.
What we unraveled —
4:12 - Maggie’s journey from being a dance and theater nerd to learning about blockchain, and eventually founding her first web3 company in 2018
8:47 - Maggie’s ‘aha’ moment with finance, crypto, and realizing that she didn’t have to wait for an invitation to be sovereign over her own money
12:31 - The SheFi origin story from first inspiration to launching during lockdown, and why your product doesn’t have to suit everyone to be ready for launch
19:06 - Maggie’s take on building something you’re not an expert in, and why starting small and being committed to learning is a huge part of the process
24:57 - The unique way they’re engaging in NFTs with newly minted, participate-to-earn collection, Robo Novas
32:47 - Maggie speaks on the future of SheFi, including the first ever SheFi Summit in Paris scheduled for July 2023
37:34 - Maggie’s take on feminine led business, trusting intuition, seeing the vision, and empowering her team
Unravel Further —
Links Mentioned in this Episode -
SheFi
W3BCLOUD
Andre Serrano
Blockchain Revolution by Don Tapscott
Consensys
UniSwap
Brenner Spear
Alyssa May Tolos
Meltem Demiors
Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin
Listen Next -
Building Things That Don’t Exist With Blockchain, and Rethinking Money and Education with Brittany Laughlin (Ep. 15)
Reimagining Institutions for the Modern Era with Andre Serrano (Ep. 20)
More of Maggie -
Maggie Love is the Co-Founder and Director at W3BCLOUD and the Founder at SheFi. She is committed to using blockchain to build new business and societal models that promote inclusiveness, interconnectedness, and resilience. Passionate about meaningful work, she aims to positively impact and empower others, while constantly learning and connecting people, ideas, and technology for the common good.
Connect with Maggie on Twitter:...
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Zijn er afleveringen die ontbreken?
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Like a lot of people, Orlando thought crypto was pretty much just internet money for people looking to do illegal things online. The 2017 ICO boom piqued his curiosity a little, but it wasn’t until 2020 with the increased interest in DeFi that Orlando started to really pay attention and had his light bulb moment and realized that crypto and web3 are actually revolutionary.
The innovative and disruptive nature of crypto and DeFi naturally bring about questions of legality and consumer protection, there is perhaps no one better positioned to navigate these dense but important conversations than Orlando. With his background as a startup and VC lawyer, securities and government enforcement litigator, and trader, Orlando’s knowledge is second to none, but it’s his innate aptitude for breaking down complex concepts and figuring out the way forward that makes the Lexproof founder and CEO a leading voice of reason in the space.
What we unraveled —
7:00 - What helped Orlando to see crypto was far more than sketchy internet money, and held incredible possibility for changing the world
11:59 - Orlando’s diverse career journey and what prompted him to take the plunge from being a lawyer to founding his own crypto startup
18:58 - Orlando breaks down the concept, practical applications and conflicts that arise with DeFi (decentralized finance)
22:16 - Orlando’s take on the US Treasury’s assessment of crypto, why a significant number DeFi applications aren’t truly decentralized and how that relates to criminal actions in relation to KYC laws
36:42 - What the future of DeFi looks like in light of the KYC, and what Orlando sees as the best path forward to prevent money laundering while still allowing innovation in the space to move forward
43:03 - The proposed SEC rule changes for communications protocols, what it means for crypto, and how it’s related to free speech
51:23 - Orlando’s company Lexproof does how they help businesses navigate compliance infrastructure
52:21 - Zero Knowledge technology, how it relates to NFTs, and why it’s used for privacy as well as scalability
57:06 - Orlando’s take on AI and the impact it will have
Unravel Further —
Links Mentioned in this Episode -
Lex Proof
Helium
Orlando’s DeFi Breakdown on Twitter
Listen Next -
CBDCs, the Banking Crisis, and Being a Leading Voice in Crypto with Thinking Crypto Host, Tony Edward (Ep. 19)
More of Orlando -
Orlando is the founder & CEO of Lexproof, a startup building web3 native compliance infrastructure. He is also an attorney and represents web3 startups and organizations in corporate and regulatory matters.
Connect with Orlando on Twitter
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Ian Tidwell will tell you he’s not a rocket scientist or billionaire, but that hasn’t stopped him and the team at LunarCrush figuring out how to put Bitcoin on the moon (literally) for you to find in the world’s first, NFT planetary treasure hunt.
Ian first heard about Bitcoin around 2017, but brushed it off as a bit of a non-starter. However, his exposure to NFTs in 2020 opened his mind to the realities of digital ownership and monetization in the influencer space, and being a serial entrepreneur, Ian put pen to paper and devised a business plan for a crypto venture to pitch to the only person he knew in crypto. He didn’t land any funding but he did secure a job at world leading social analytics firm LunarCrush, where he now serves as the head of NFTs, which has turned out to be far more exciting than he could imagine as their NFT project Nakamoto_1 is kicking off an innovative, boundary pushing treasure hunt.
Nakamoto_1 will mint for the first time on May 5th, 2023.
What we unraveled —
5:20 - Ian's crypto origin story, and how NFTs opened his mind to digital ownership
7:43 - What LunarCrush is and the assets they deal with
9:24 - Ian’s thoughts on AI and how it improves the web3 space
11:48 - Ian explains the Nakamoto_1 NFT project with Lunar Outpost minting May 5th 2023, what it has to do with SpaceX the moon
20:22 - Ian explains what the Nakamoto_1 community fund is and how contributions will be distributed
25:42 - Why LunarCrush decided to build Nakamoto_1 on Stacks
26:51 - The crazy steps LunarCrush are taking to ensure the privacy of the private key going to the moon
30:55 - Ian’s take on why it’s taken so long to return to the moon, and why the private sector has really stepped up with space exploration
34:53 - Why Ian is so excited to be building the Nakamoto_1 community with people who push boundaries
37:32 - How Ian strikes a balance between his personal life and working in tech
Unravel Further —
Links Mentioned in this Episode -
Nakamoto_1 on Twitter
Nakamoto_1 on Web
LunarCrush
Joe Vezzani
GameStop
Lunar Outpost
SpaceX
Blue Origin
Golden Wolf
Doodles
Gamma
A New Earth by Eckhart Tolle
Listen Next -
The Art of Bitcoin: Ordinals, NFTs, & Gamma with Nick Sainato (Ep. 18)
Building the Future of Technology and Redistributing Power with Chris Castiglione (Ep. 6)
NFTs, Blockchain, and Making The Biggest Impact with Jamil (Ep. 4)
More of Ian...
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Taylor built a highly successful branding and design career working in the corporate sphere before moving into journalism, and eventually joining creative collective Food Fight Studios. With more than a decade working behind the scenes supporting businesses with marketing and design, she recently saw the writing on the wall and made the leap over to stand front and center with The Sauce - and we’re all the better for it.
So many leaders in the web3 space were an easy yes to working in the new frontier of technology, but not Taylor. After spending more than a decade working in branding and tech spaces, she was apprehensive about jumping into a world known more for being a Wild West for ‘crypto bros’ than anything actually useful. It wasn’t until she had the opportunity to work directly on an NFT project that she saw the true value in web3 and crypto for creatives and entrepreneurs building community, and it wasn’t long before she was leaning into the space herself as well as utilizing the unique tools that AI offers, too. Now she’s teaching others how to use these game changing tools to become more efficient, enable deeper levels of creativity responsibly and ethically.
What we unraveled —
7:12 - Taylor’s journey from climbing the corporate ladder in marketing and design roles and reporting on the industry, to joining forces with a decentralized creative collective
14:32 - Moving from behind the camera to building a personal brand
18:55 - The web3 project that shifted Taylor’s perspective on crypto and NFTs from ‘just crypto bros’ to identifying major benefits for creators
21:48 - Taylor’s take on how web3 creates a new layer in business and community building that is unique to the space
25:12 - Why understanding that web3 is a tool to enable creativity like any other technology
28:13 - Why Taylor loves AI, the ethical issues she has, and how she uses it as a creator and in business
38:59 - The parallels between AI and web3, and how they work beautifully together
42:45 - Taylor’s upcoming course on visual branding for people who aren’t designers, including utilizing AI tools to support the process
Unravel Further —
Links Mentioned in this Episode -
More about Taylor
Food Fight Studios
The Sauce Podcast
The Sauce on Substack
The Battle Bunnies
Jon Briggs
Frank La Natra
Bored Ape Yacht Club
Chat GPT
Copy AI
Jasper
Midjourney
Assembly AI
Sam Ewen
Orbify
4 Hour Work Week by Tim Ferris
The Untethered Soul by Michael A. Singer...
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Trevor has been building businesses since university, and with a background in education and full stack development it’s easy to see why he’s found a perfect fit as CEO of Ninja Alerts and Managing Partner of Bitcoin Frontier Fund where he invests in exceptional teams building new use cases for Bitcoin through BTC L1 and scaling layers like Stacks.
Not all of Trevor’s ventures have been successful, in fact he would be the first to tell you that his last one was basically a failure, but having been in the entrepreneurial game a long time he’s learned a thing or two about adaptability, persistence, and where to spot red flags. Now he’s grateful for the opportunity to be able to invest in, and guide other founders across an extensive portfolio of nearly 50 startups in the DeFi, NFTs, and Web3 sectors, passing on the wisdom he’s garnered from direct experience so they don’t make the same mistakes.
What we unraveled —
1:33 - Trevor shares a brief overview of his career and insight into why he’s so grateful to be where he is today
8:04 - Why Trevor’s previous venture was a failure, and what it taught him about running a startup and raising VC funding
15:46 - Playing the long game, staying humble, and why later successes can be much more valuable
22:20 - Trevor’s explains what role VC funding plays in the startup success of a startup
26:23 - The projects and teams Bitcoin Frontier Fund is looking to support in the space, and why three is a magic number for co-founders
31:05 - How to evaluate if a web3 project is a good fit for you to join
36:50 - Trevor’s take on how ordinals shifted the momentum for Bitcoin, and why Ethereum isn’t going away
40:54 - Why Trevor is excited about ordinals, Stacks, and experiments people are doing on Bitcoin
42:55 - Why cognitive dissonance is a huge red flag in an entrepreneur
46:23 - Why Trevor believes education in building on Bitcoin L1 is key to drawing more people to the web3 space
51:02 - Trevor’s top advice for new founders in the current market
Unravel Further —
Links Mentioned in this Episode -
Ninjalerts
Muneeb
The Ordinal Show
NFTNYC
Eli Herf
Gamma
Nostr
Michael Saylor
Crash Punks
How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie
On Writing Well by William Zinger
Listen Next -
NFTs, Blockchain, and Making The Biggest Impact with Jamil (Ep. 4)
The Art of Bitcoin: Ordinals, NFTs, & Gamma with Nick Sainato (Ep.18)
More of Trevor -
Trevor is a multifaceted entrepreneur, author, and early stage startup investor. He is the CEO of Ninjalerts, an Ethereum-based wallet tracker, and also serves as the Managing Partner at Bitcoin Frontier Fund, where he invests in exceptional teams building new use cases for Bitcoin through BTC L1 and scaling layers like...
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After taking some time to dive deep into the crypto ecosystem when he found Bitcoin in 2017, it was clear to Andre that digital currency was the future of economic empowerment. Having weathered numerous bear market cycles since then, Andre’s more excited than ever to see web3 learn from web2’s mistakes and make real, meaningful impact over the next 20 years.
Andre’s diverse background in philosophy, political science, and economics, may not have pointed him toward an obvious career path in the crypto space. However, it was precisely this unique, multidisciplinary informed insight that enabled him to connect the dots, and easily see the incredible potential of a world that trusts math and code over a fiat system. Soon, after finding Bitcoin he began his crypto education journey by reading books, engaging in the ecosystem, and making personal investments in projects he believed were making impact for what he saw for the long term vision of the industry. Now, having worked with various companies in the space, he’s now proud to be the sBTC Resident at the Stacks Foundation where he’s responsible for product and partnerships of sBTC.
What we unraveled —
5:07 - Andre’s crypto journey, and how diving deeper when he started in 2017 made him realise he wanted to devote his career to the space
7:07 - Why Andre says the experience of crypto’s natural cycles of bear and bull markets becomes easier over time and how to navigate them
8:41 - Andre’s professional background since joining the crypto space, and why the issue of privacy in web3 became the problem he wanted to focus on
12:38 - Unlocking the full potential of Bitcoin with sBTC, and why that’s so important for economic empowerment in a fragile time for the macro economy
18:21 - Andre’s take on what’s ahead for the long term for crypto and experimenting on blockchains other than Bitcoin
21:24 - Why ordinals and identity are exciting to Andre
24:37 - Why Andre believes infrastructure being built today on blockchain will replace all of our exisiting systems
29:17 - Andre’s take on governmental involvement in crypto and why he’s fundamentally optimistic
Unravel Further —
Links Mentioned in this Episode -
Bitcoin
Stacks
Andre’s Newsletter
Zcash
Electric Coin Company
Lightning Network
Litecoin
Ethereum
Hayley Carr
The Creative Act by Rick Rubin
More of Andre -
Andre Serrano is a community builder, investor and strategist passionate about empowering people through technology and entrepreneurship.
Currently, he is the sBTC Resident at the Stacks Foundation focused on enabling users to put their Bitcoin to work in a secure and trust-minimized way. Previously, he was the Business Development Lead at Zcash, one of the oldest cryptocurrencies and first to implement zero-knowledge proof encryption.
Andre holds a B.A. from University of Pennsylvania in Philosophy, Political Science and Economics (PPE)
Connect with Andre on
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From being drawn to learn everything he could about tech as a kid in the 90s, to being the growth manager at Okcoin today and being a highly respected voice in crypto with his successful YouTube show Thinking Crypto, it’s safe to say Tony’s ambition to master a wide range of skill sets has been the driver an incredible career.
After immigrating from South America to the US, Tony has always been driven to learn everything he could about every new environment he found himself in. From busting computers apart in the 90s to being a self-taught digital marketer and YouTuber, Tony has a lot of wisdom to share about the value of consistency, passion, and trial and error. Having started his show, Thinking Crypto, in 2017 after finding a natural fit sharing about his passion for tech and crypto, Tony has grown his community to 122K subscribers and is a go-to resource for many people in the space looking for easy to understand takes on blockchain, every changing crypto trends, and digital assets.
What we unraveled —
5:40 - Tony speaks about immigrating from South America to the USA as a child, and his early drive to learn about tech in the 90s
7:41 - Tony’s career journey from marketing to crypto, starting his own podcast and YouTube channel, and working with Okcoin Exchange
8:36 - How Tony got started in building websites and digital marketing back in 2007, and the trial and error of starting different YouTube channels before finding a natural fit with tech and crypto content a decade later
11:32 - Why Tony says consistency is the critical piece to starting something new, and how valuable it is in building skillsets over time
21:09 - Tony’s transition from being the shy kid to a confident, respected public speaker
24:25 - How Thinking Crypto grew from 2017 to what it is today
26:44 - Tony’s thoughts on what’s happening in crypto right now, and why it’s helpful to understand that the ‘bad things’ happening aren’t necessarily unique to crypto
33:22 - Tony’s take on Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) and how it’s different to existing digital services like PayPal or Venmo
35:44 - What former Coinbase CTO Balaji Srinivasan has said about the banking crisis’ impact on Bitcoin, and why Tony disagrees with him
43:32 - The value of Bitcoin as a global asset class, and why diversification is crucial in creating and maintaining financial wealth
46:45 - Why Tony believes the government will use CBDCs as the new financial system
Unravel Further —
Links Mentioned in this Episode -
Thinking Crypto Instagram
Think it's Crypto Twitter
Okcoin Exchange
Bitcoin
Vid IQ
Dale Carnegie
Coinbase
Balaji Srinivasan
Paul Tudor Jones
The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien
More of Tony -
Tony Edward is the founder and host of the Thinking Crypto Podcast. He is also a growth manager at Okcoin Exchange, speaker, and digital marketer.
Connect with Tony on Twitter
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Some people are born with an entrepreneurial spirit - Nick is one of those people, having been both a creator and builder of business since his teenage years.
Now the co-founder of Gamma, a Bitcoin NFT marketplace powered by Stacks, Nick started his first business back in his teenage years before moving onto work in sales and marketing before finding himself in web3. Driven by curiosity and a passion for enabling creators to try things they may never have been compelled to try (without needing to devote valuable time to first understanding code), Nick is clear on his mission to go all in on what matters most: putting creators and artists first in the fast moving, technically complex NFT space whilst also delivering a trustless, safe to use marketplace for collectors.
What we unraveled —
5:32 - Nick speaks about his career journey, from having an entrepreneurial spirit from a very young age to working in sales and marketing, to web3 and co-founding Gamma
11:27 - The advice Nick would give to people starting out with a new venture
12:53 - Why he’s grateful that he took the plunge into web3 full time
19:00 - Nick explains what Gamma is
21:57 - Nick’s take on inscriptions and ordinals, and why he’s excited about the recent functional changes with Bitcoin L1
28:32 - Why Nick believes the Bitcoin Maxi mentality comes from a good place even when it stifles even positive, legitimate innovation in the space
34:35 - How Gamma is supportive of creators (even non-technical ones) engaging with NFTs as priority
38:50 - Why Nick is most excited to see what creators are making in the web3 and NFT space
42:35 - Why Nick believes that onboarding and infrastructure are the key areas of growth to keep an eye on
Unravel Further —
Links Mentioned in this Episode -
Gamma on the web
Gamma on Twitter
Gamma on Instagram
Gamma Co-Founder Jamil (also take a listen to Jamil's insights in Episode 4)
Stacks
Bitcoin White Paper
Ethereum
OpenSea
GitHub
Casey Rodamor
Vitalik Buterin
Hiro
Fundraising by Ryan Breslow
More of Nick -
Nick Sainato is building on #Bitcoin at Gamma.io, a hub for the world’s social identity, centered around NFTs.
Connect with Nick on Twitter
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Drew has a decades long history in tech and product development, but it’s his talent for quickly and insightfully understanding what a community needs to thrive and innovate that’s made him so successful.
He might have discovered Bitcoin in 2013, but Drew’s been attentively listening to consumers, communities and businesses for more than 20 years. Not satisfied with simply delivering the MVP, Drew has made a point of always asking himself how he and his team could innovate to meet the needs of communities in ways that are truly meaningful. It’s no surprise he’s now the CEO of Frens, a web3 startup driven to help communities of all kinds grow, connect, and ensure every member is seen.
What we unraveled —
2:26 - Drew’s speaks to his background in tech, from back in the days of running a web1 product development agency and wine startup, to discovering Bitcoin in 2013 and now serving as the CEO of a web3 company
6:03 - The mindset behind creating, iterating, and pivoting (and how to navigate failure and the lessons that come with it) and why it all comes back to people and community
13:59 - How the current bear market has influenced Drew’s thinking about what he’s building, and how the way people are building community now is so different to how they did in 2021
17:16 - The vision Drew is building with Frens, how it’s an invaluable tool to properly cultivating and nurturing community, and the kinds of communities that are a perfect fit
25:44 - Drews advice to people brand new to navigating Discord
29:23 - What Drew feels is the most interesting and exciting about the web3 space right now, and which areas he sees as really needing attention, particularly in the wake of the FTX and Terra Luna crashes)
Unravel Further —
Links Mentioned in this Episode -
Bitcoin
Crash Punks
Frens
Lean Startup
Stacks
Freehold
Patrick Stanley
R Planet
Discord
Ethereum
The Doodles
Bored Ape Yacht Club
Moonray
Ryder (also check out Episode 14 with Ryder co-founder Louise Ivan)
More of Drew -
Drew Falkman has over 20 years experience in product strategy and development, starting as CTO/Co-founder of a web agency in the Web 1 era. He has worked with numerous startups and enterprise organizations - including Adobe, HP, and AARP - to build products (usually from scratch). Drew started a product strategy consulting practice at Modus Create, a digital transformation consulting company, and grew it to a team of 10 PMs and 25 UX practitioners. He discovered Bitcoin in 2013,...
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Caroline’s long-time passion for digital marketing makes her the perfect person to inspire and raise awareness about the innovation happening in web3.
Starting out as a personal trainer and digital marketer in web2, Caroline developed a love for marketing and a knack for seeing and building up people’s strengths. This infectious encouragement has proven invaluable in her role with Blokpax, a company combining NFTs with traditional collectibles, where she works to build strong communities and move people curious about web3 into action at a pace and level that feels most comfortable for them.
What we unraveled —
6:00 - Caroline shares more about her background in marketing and where she fits into the web3 space, including her role with ethFRENCHIE and Blokpax
12:33 - What Blokpax is, how they combine traditional collecting with NFTs and gamification, and what their ultimate goal is with long-term digital collectibles to serve as a bridge for people to come from web2 to blockchain
19:39 - Why Blokpax is perfect for people interested in collectibles or are new to web3, and how to get started
23:28 - The Lost Miners of Ether NFT collection, which marked the Ethereum merge from Proof-of-Work to Proof-of-Stake, and why it was such a significant collection to create
32:30 - The many hats Caroline wears within her role, and her go-to methods when it comes to marketing for web3 and how it contrasts to marketing in web2 in terms of messaging and the sheer speed of information
39:52 - Lessons Caroline has learned and why she’s so excited about networking and connecting with new people in web3
Unravel Further —
Links Mentioned in this Episode -
Kristina with a K on Twitter and Unraveling Crypto Ep. 10
Nancy Margaret
ethFRENCHIE
Blokpax
Blokpax Discord
The Lost Miners
Ethereum
Charles Pate
More of Caroline -
Caroline is a dynamic leader at Blokpax, where she serves as the Director of Marketing and Product Management. Her passions lie in building strong communities and delivering innovative projects with long-term value to collectors in web3.
Caroline is known for her commitment to seeking new opportunities through groundbreaking technologies that enhance the experiences and goals of collectors. With a particular focus on connecting real-world collectibles to their digital counterparts through blockchain.
Connect with Caroline on Twitter
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Brittany Laughlin grew up in an entrepreneur household that fostered her passion for building things that don’t exist. This foundation served her well as she found herself working in the tech side of venture capital, quickly becoming curious about a new technology called Bitcoin. Her curiosity and passion for building new things eventually led her to working with Stacks and becoming a leader in the web3 space. Currently, Brittany serves as the Executive Director of the Stacks Foundation, has co-founded her own VC firm, Lattice Ventures, and is a professor at Cornell Law School.
I sat down with Brittany to talk about the incredible work the Stacks Foundation does, why it’s important to rethink money, education, and identity, how Brittany feels about often being the only woman in the room in the crypto space, how being a powerhouse woman informs her leadership style, and why she’s personally really excited about the way web3 is moving society forward.
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Meet Our Guest
Brittany is the Executive Director of the Stacks Foundation, making it possible to program on top of Bitcoin. She teaches DeFi at Cornell Law School, welcoming the next wave of legal degens into the space. Prior to Stacks.org she was the Head of IR and Ecosystem Growth at Hiro PBC. She’s worked on Stack's path to decentralization through ecosystem growth, including a qualification by the SEC, and R&D on token economics. She started investing in Web3 in 2013 at Union Square Ventures with their first investment in Coinbase and then continued through her own fund, Lattice Ventures before jumping in as a full time operator. She loves supporting the global tech community and is often traveling for adventures or to meet up to share ideas. She's convinced that the only way forward is more ownership over data and better collaboration on the world's largest problems.
Connect with Brittany on Twitter
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What We Unraveled
* Brittany’s history growing up in an entrepreneur household, and working in venture capital and how it lead her to getting started with crypto
* How the Stacks Foundation helps thousands of people despite being a small team, and why she’s really proud of the work they do
* Why Brittany believes technology opens up new markets, removes barriers, and supports people to create value in business
* Financial systems, value transfers going back in history, and how it relates to Bitcoin today
* All the factors that we should be questioning with the complicated US banking system, and how decentralization and trustless systems are an answer to the problems
* The course Brittany has coming, based on a class she’s taught for 3 years at Cornell Law, that will give people a high level overview of how decentralized finance works and a framework to to evaluate web3 projects
* What ‘DeFi’ means, and how the term encompasses pretty much every area of finance you can imagine, including lending and stable coins
* The benefits and tradeoffs of decentralized financial systems versus traditional ones
* The notable differences between communities in web2 and web3, and what makes the Stacks community different in particular
* What Stacks is, the ideas that prompted the project, and what their key focus is now
* The value of having a portable identity that isn’t attached to Gmail or Facebook
* Why Brittany believes that the next wave of web3 users won’t necessarily care about crypto as much as having an experience completely novel to blockchain
* The key areas of growth Brittany sees in web3, including decentralized identity and civil resistance
* Why Brittany is personally excited about the prospect of using web3 technology for good to move society forward, with a huge focus on revolutionizing education
* What...
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Louise Ivan started his tech journey studying green IT and the history of digital cultures. In 2016 he realized that if he wanted to stay in tech, it would probably be helpful to understand what was coming with web3 and crypto, so he got to work educating himself, but soon found understanding the terms was a lot harder than he expected. While he persevered with learning all he could, and eventually put himself forward for a role with Stacks, it took years before Louise felt truly confident to be a strong voice in the crypto space. Today, Louise is committed to simplifying the same user experience he found so tricky to navigate as the co-founder of Ryder, the world’s first social wallet that blends crypto and real life social interaction.
I sat down with Louise for a short but sweet conversation to talk about his work with Ryder, the importance of blending online experiences with real life interactions, ubiquitous computing, and his journey to becoming a thought leader in the web3 space.
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Meet Our Guest
Louise was the Growth Lead at the Stacks Foundation, leading community and token growth. Here, they manage more than 100M STX in treasury to work towards ecosystem growth, governance, education, and funding.
He has a double master’s Degree in Green IT from the University of Amsterdam and Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. Louise started as a passionate Stacks Community Member before becoming a team member of Hiro PBC, formally known as Blockstack PBC, mostly known for the first-ever SEC-qualified US Reg A offering and concurrent Reg S offering in 2019, which raised a total of $70M+. Currently, STX is the number 1 web3 project on Bitcoin.
Under Louise's leadership, Stacks grew to more than 100,000 dedicated community members, spanning 30+ countries while increasing STX access through various growth efforts, partnerships, and integrations. Passionate about the user-owned internet, Louise co-founded Ryder with the aim of bridging the digital and physical world together while bringing crypto to the next billion users.
Connect with Louise on Twitter
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What We Unraveled
* Louise’s background in green IT, his interest in digital cultures, and why the appeal of shifting dynamics was the reason he got into crypto
* Why Louise believes his intuition is his super power
* The genesis of digital communities in the 90s
* Louise’s first foray into crypto in 2016 and how it led him to put himself forward for a role with Stacks
* What Louise did when he first got a ‘no’ from the Stacks hiring team
* Why Louise felt insecure in the early days of working with Stacks
* Louise’s path to being a thought leader in the space, and how he approaches understanding new knowledge
* What excites Louise most about the crypto space right now, and how a bear market shows us who is here to stay
* What Ryder, the world’s first social crypto wallet, actually is, what and the problem that inspired the project
* Why there is a lot of confusion about what Metaverse is, and how it might integrate with real life human experience
* How Louise explains what a bitcoin domain is, and why it’s important
* The areas of growth Louise sees in crypto, including defi applications and identities
* The advice Louise offers to newcomers
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Unravel Further
Louise on Instagram
Louise on LinkedIn
Ryder
Ryder on
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Albert Liang began his startup consultancy in Shanghai at the tail end of web2 when true innovation was difficult and competitors were on every corner, evolving to become the longest running startup pre-accelerator across the board. However, despite this success, feeling that strict policies governing tech in China had made innovation a challenge, Albert went looking for a new environment conducive to the work he does best. For many innovators in his situation, web3 would be a natural choice, but Albert and his team first had to overcome strong resistance to joining the crypto space. With a little encouragement from friends already in the space, he recalibrated his beginner's mind to run the first Web3 Startup Lab cohort in 2022 with amazing success.
I sat down with Albert to talk about his work helping people build the best versions of themselves, his insights around mindset and creating new thought patterns, the huge areas of growth he sees for the web3 space in these early days, and why bear markets are actually prime for innovation and disruption in business.
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Meet Our Guest
Founder, Investor, and Coach.
Albert dedicates his time to enabling the transformation of aspiring entrepreneurs to become effective startup founders to build meaningful and sustainable startups.
He is the Co-Founder of iGenesiis Group and Web3 Startup Lab, and which have successfully empowered 22 cohorts of entrepreneurs, making him one of the global leaders for pre-accelerators.
Entrepreneurs experience transformation quickly due to an immersive program of hands-on startup tasks designed to build your startup while forming new habits and mindset needed to succeed!
He spends his free time exploring NFT, Defi, and Metaverse projects. Albert is originally from San Francisco / Silicon Valley.
Connect with Albert on Twitter
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What We Unraveled
* Albert’s background in helping people turning their ideas into startups, and how it evolved into his his founding of Web3 Startup Lab, the Stacks pre-accelerator
* Albert’s knack for seeing the talent in people and helping them become the best version of themselves
* What made Albert come around to crypto after being very resistant for a long time
* The immense value in having someone you can trust who already knows about crypto to ask questions about
* The three factors that define success for Albert
* Why Albert believes the key to solving problems is changing habits and thought patterns
* The pitfalls of thinking too much, and how focusing on one user can be beneficial
* Finding the balance between intuition and being pragmatic when starting a new venture
* Why Albert and his team were afraid to start working with a pre-accelerator cohort focused on web3 and crypto, but now are geared to encourage people to enter the space
* The advantages of joining the web3 and crypto space now in the very early days
* The key areas of growth Albert sees in crypto including non-custodial solutions and NFTs
* What Albert believes is the enemy of innovation
* The insights Albert garnered from joining the space just before the bear market hit, and why he says that historically bear markets and recessions are the best times to start new businesses
* Why Stacks enables products to be more efficiently built on Bitcoin
* The cut off dates to apply for the next Web3 Startup Lab pre-accelorator
* Why growth comes with the responsibility of recalibrating yourself consistently
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Unravel Further
Web3 Startup Lab on Twitter
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When Melanie Mason found herself without work at the beginning of 2020 she wasn’t sure what she wanted to do, but she knew that she wanted to find meaningful work. With a little time on her hands, she found herself reading books about crypto that belonged to her partner. It wasn’t long before she saw that crypto was a path to doing good in the world as well as a way of building wealth, and sought out work within the web3 space.
I sat down with Melanie to talk about her path to crypto, her role in supporting Unraveling Crypto behind the scenes, the value of women contributing to the evolution of crypto (and her views on traditional female roles), and her top advice as a recruiter in the web3 space for anyone curious about getting started.
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Meet Our Guest
Melanie is a recruiter at Skolem Technologies, a DeFi startup. She found a love for crypto after reading about the history of money and rethinking our financial systems, and the relationship between women & money. She’s passionate about helping people make the leap to crypto.
Skolem is hiring! If you’re interested in making a career shift to crypto/DeFi, check out open roles on their careers page.
Connect with Melanie on Twitter
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What We Unraveled
* Melanie’s path from being unemployed at the start of the pandemic to joining the crypto space and securing a job as a recruiter in the space, after a long search for meaningful work
* How Melanie has helped behind the scenes of Unraveling Crypto from the very start of this podcast
* Why Melanie’s first purchase was a big deal in terms of helping her reshape her relationship with money, and eventually connect the narratives of ‘doing good’ and ‘being wealthy’
* What made Melanie realize that when it came to money, she couldn’t ‘leave it to the guys’ and learn about investing
* The practical things Melanie does when investing in crypto including dollar cost averaging, monthly budget, and why starting with $5 a month is more than enough to start with
* Why Melanie feels the best parts of her web3 experience has been the people she’s connected with, and learning that she can do good and make make money at the same time
* The growth areas that Melanie sees in the web3 space, including diversity and user experience
* Melanie’s advice as a recruiter to anyone interested in finding a job in the web3 and crypto space, and why imposter syndrome stops people from applying for roles they’d be great for
* The dynamic between partners when one is interested in crypto, and one isn’t (yet)
* Why Melanie feels it’s everyone’s responsibility to be welcoming and inclusive in the web3 space, and encourages both men and women to mentor and support others to get started
* The current issues in the way web3 and crypto are marketed to people outside the space
* What Melanie is most proud of
* Melanie’s thoughts on traditional gender roles, working full time, and the challenges of trying to suppress femininity working in tech
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Unravel Further
Melanie on LinkedIn
Melanie on Instagram
Bitcoin Billionaires by Ben Mezrich
The Bitcoin Standard by Saifedean Ammous
The Psychology of Money by Morgan Housel
Gemini
Skolem
Hire Vibes
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Welcome to another Vane’s Take! These episodes are where we sit down together and get a little insight into what’s happening with our host Vane, the podcast, and the crypto space.
Today, Vane speaks to the gratitude she has for the support Unraveling Crypto continues to receive, her recent trip to Colombia with family for her birthday, cycles of creativity, and why it’s important to live your values in business.
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What We Unraveled
* Vane’s gratitude for the incredible support Unraveling Crypto has received
* The creative cycle and why we underestimate taking breaks in business
* Vane’s recent trip to Colombia to celebrate her birthday
* What’s coming up for Unraveling Crypto and why Twitter is an interesting place to be right now
* Sticking to your values and being intentional in business, especially in tech
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Unravel Further
Bitcoin
Crypto Twitter
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Meet Our Host
Vane Vargas is an entrepreneur, wellness coach, and bitcoin and web3 educator and guide walking the path of self-mastery and empowering the sovereign woman to explore the next era of technology while leading a life of beauty and wonder. With a background in wellness, business, marketing and social media, Vane brings a richly textured perspective on what it means to demystify the sometimes bewildering world of web3, blockchain, and cryptocurrency.
Thinking she would need to start from ground zero when it came to crypto, Vane quickly realized that her ‘real world’ skills were transferable, and is now passionate about helping women break the rules, close their knowledge gaps through easy conversations, and expand their understanding of financial literacy to include the incredible value that web3 brings.
Connect with Vane on Twitter
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Connect with Vane
Twitter
Instagram
YouTube
TikTok
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When Kristina Flynn first wanted to buy crypto, she called her bank only to be told, not surprisingly, that she’d come to the wrong place. Then once she figured it out, she bought her first NFT she got involved in buying and trading, but soon realized she was running on a dopamine high and didn’t have a real plan. This was the wake up call that led her to ask how she really wanted to bring value to the web3 space. Now, Kristina runs her own web3 branding and storytelling agency, is a host on Rug Radio, the worlds first decentralized media ecosystem, and is a key advocate for diversity and inclusion in crypto.
I sat down with Kristina to talk about how she found her way from working in the NFL and philanthropy to being a tech founder, what intention and integrity have to do with diversity and inclusion in web3, how creators can make money in the space aside from selling their art, what decentralized media actually means, and what it takes to stay balanced in a space that moves so fast.
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Meet Our Guest
kristina, with a “k” (she/her) is an entrepreneur, content creator, and community enthusiast, making web3 more diverse + inclusive. As CEO of brand agency, INTENTIONAL., her work focuses on inspiring underrepresented creators through education, advice, and stories, as well as using her personal story to destigmatize mental illness in web3.
Connect with Kristina on Twitter
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What We Unraveled
* Kristina’s non-traditional path from working in philanthropy and professional sports to being a tech founder in web3, her web3 brand and story-telling agency, and her late diagnosis of ADHD and how it helped her dive into the space.
* What is was about web3 and crypto that excited Kristina so much, and what happened the first time she tried to buy crypto
* Why it’s critical that those active in web3 now become advocates for the space to avoid mistakes made in web2
* Why Kristina believes that every skill we have acquired in web2 is going to be required in web3, as well as where this space is different to working in web2
* The lessons that Kristina learned about taking it slow and not gambling when she jumped into crypto, and why FOMO is a clear signal to step away from a crypto investment
* Where Kristina sees areas of growth in web3 in terms of diversity and inclusion, and where she recommends people start when learning about this crucial aspect of the space
* Why not talking is one of the first steps to allyship in web3 and crypto spaces
* The importance of understanding your privilege and how it impacts your access in the space
* Why Kristina is so excited to be able to support artists and creators learn to make money in the space aside from selling art by using other valuable, sought after skills
* Rug Radio, the world’s first decentralized media ecosystem, how it works and why it’s such a valuable framework
* Finding balance with technology and mental health
* Knowing that if your first experience with web3 doesn’t feel great, there are other places that you do belong
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Unravel Further
Kristina on Instagram
Kristina on TikTok
Rug Radio
GaryVee
Modern Finance podcast
Alexis...
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It’s not uncommon to hear of rogue tech engineers throwing in the towel at their 9 to 5 and diving head first into founding a successful startup but for Mark McKenzie, that narrative got flipped on its head when he left the startup world as a new dad for the stability of being an employee. While some might think it a backward step, for Mark this move connected him with a brand new community and paved the way for him to embed himself into the crypto space in the early days, grow with it and eventually find his way back to founder with Megapont Ape Club, an NFT membership club for pioneers built on Stacks.
I sat down with Mark to talk about his trajectory from engineer to employee to founder, his work with Weasly the artist behind Megapont Ape Club, shared about their upcoming women focused collection, and why diversity and making the NFT and crypto more accessible is the way to creating real world impact.
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Meet Our Guest
Mark is the co-founder of Megapont and a chain agnostic crypto maxi.
Connect with Mark on Twitter
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What We Unraveled
* Mark’s background as an engineer, working in the tech art world, and how becoming a dad and a traditional tech job ended up being the catalyst for finding his way into crypto, and eventually, NFTs
* The unexpected value in moving to a traditional 9-5 job after being embedded in startups, and the freedom in having stability at the right time
* The origins of the Megapont Ape Club NFT membership community, and why it serves as an artist launch pad
* The importance of being able to articulate your vision and dream as a founder
* Why diversity and accessibility is important to Megapont Ape Club and with NFTs generally
* The early days of Megapont Ape Club, how growth changed the way they managed their community, and how much the community itself means to them now
* How being at the right place at the right time can change someone's life with crypto and NFTs
* The first steps Mark would suggest to anyone who wanted to break into the space, and why he recommends people’s starting investment be no more than their entertainment budget
* Megapont Ape Club’s upcoming female focused NFT collection, and the thought process behind it as a male-led team who are deeply committed to hitting the mark on female representation
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Unravel Further
Megapont Ape Club on Web
Megapont Ape Club on Twitter
Weasly
Stacks
Coinbase
Brian Armstrong
Bitcoin
GameStop
Mark Parera
Discord
Crash Punks
Bitcoin Monkeys
Project Indigo
Crypto...
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This episode of Unraveling Crypto is a little different than our usual conversations with brilliant leaders in the bitcoin, crypto, and web3 space. Today we bring you Vane’s take, a new feature of the podcast where our host Vane Vargas shares a little more behind the scenes on what she’s up to, her experience in the space, and her takes on varying issues and topics.
In this first solo episode, Vane sat down to share more about her background in marketing and wellness, the journey from Colombia to Miami, how losing $11,000 in a sour crypto deal was a catalyst to diving down the crypto rabbit hole, and what inspired her to create the Unraveling Crypto podcast.
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Meet Our Host
Vane Vargas is an entrepreneur, wellness coach, and bitcoin and web3 educator and guide walking the path of self-mastery and empowering the sovereign woman to explore the next era of technology while leading a life of beauty and wonder. With a background in wellness, business, marketing and social media, Vane brings a richly textured perspective on what it means to demystify the sometimes bewildering world of web3, blockchain, and cryptocurrency.
Thinking she would need to start from ground zero when it came to crypto, Vane quickly realized that her ‘real world’ skills were transferable, and is now passionate about helping women break the rules, close their knowledge gaps through easy conversations, and expand their understanding of financial literacy to include the incredible value that web3 brings.
Connect with Vane on Twitter
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What We Unraveled
* Introduction of Vane’s Take, a new feature of the Unraveling Crypto
* Vane’s background in marketing and wellness coaching, and her journey from Colombia to Miami
* Why Vane’s family felt drawn to the American dream
* The culture and conditioning around money in Colombia, and what it has to do with Bitcoin
* Why Bitcoin is a portal to true generational wealth
* How Vane fell down the crypto rabbit hole despite (or because of) a sour deal that lost her $11,000
* Why Vane is a big advocate of understanding the basics before investing your resources
* Why Stacks ended up being the real way into crypto for Vane, and the catalyst of exponential growth
* The lack of diversity and inclusion that led to Vane creating Unraveling Crypto as a bridge from web2 to web3 and crypto for powerful savvy women
* Why being an expert is not required to get into the crypto space
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Unravel Further
Bitcoin
Stacks
Crash Punks
Grace Ng
Discord
Will Corcoran
Bitcoin Unleashed
Podcast Course
Millennial Women Talk
Stephanie Carcache
Melissa Carcache
Melanie...
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Will Corcoran spent 20 years as an architect before becoming more than a little disillusioned and looking for a different path. Bitcoin wasn’t the likely successor, but a lecture by Muneeb, the co-founder of Stacks, piqued his curiosity enough to reorient toward something he didn’t fully understand yet but knew had powerful potential to solve challenges he saw around him, particularly with how money is created, spent, and transferred. Now, he’s the Grants Program Manager at the Stacks Foundation, and actively contributing to building the path forward.
I sat down with Will to talk about how he moved from architecture to Stacks, why fixing money with Bitcoin excites him so much, why he feels a bigger focus on design is so desperately needed in the web3 space, and how he relies on practices like yoga and swimming to keep a clear head in the fast moving space of web3.
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Meet Our Guest
Will manages the grants program at the Stacks Foundation. He's spent the last 15 years serving as a team and project management lead in the architectural design industry. Will is a licensed architect and has successfully facilitated collaborative processes as both an architect and construction manager.
Connect with Will on Twitter: @corcoranwill
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What We Unraveled
* Will’s role as the Grants Program Manager at the Stacks Foundation, his background in architecture, and why he feels a bigger focus on design is so desperately needed in the web3 space
* What inspired Will to make the unlikely jump from architecture to web3 after falling in love with Bitcoin
* What drew Will into learning more about the underlying technology of crypto in the first place
* How Will found his way to working with Stacks specifically
* The first steps Will recommends to people starting in the web3 space to join in and add value, especially if you don’t have a tech background
* Why the Stacks community is so welcoming and a great place to start
* Why the relationships he’s building is exciting Will the most about being part of the web3 space
* What Will believes the space needs technical and non-technical people to create the kind of user experience that will draw in the next billion users, and why design is so important
* Why Will believes there’s no ceiling when it comes to problems that can be solved by crypto and web3 technology
* How Will stays sane in a space that moves ten times faster than the world outside
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Unravel Further
Stacks Open Internet Foundation
Stacks
Grants Channel Stacks Server
Muneeb (Stacks Co-Founder)
Bitcoin
Ethereum
Don Tapscott on web
Don Tapscott on Coursera
Crash Punks
Brittany Laughlin
Jenny Mith
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