web3 for gen z: Recent Episodes
Aryan Bhasin
Bessie Liu, crypto reporter at Blockworks, chats about web3 journalism, gender diversity in crypto, and transitioning into the industry.
This week's guest is Charlie Durbin (@cdurbinxyz), the CEO of Decent.xyz. Decent is a music NFT platform that enables fans and artists to build a deeper relationship through on-chain solutions such as royalty-backed NFTs and new minting and staking and mechanisms. Announced this week, Decent has packaged these contracts into a modular SDK that enables artists and developers to deploy interesting multi-contract applications with simple JavaScript functions and a no-code creator studio.
Charlie and I talk about the music NFT landscape: how is it different from record labels, why people buy music NFTs, and what is the future of the industry. We also talk about his background and experiences building Decent and going through Y Combinator.
Topics Covered:
(1:10) Charlie's background and the birth of Decent
(3:32) How much money an artist makes from platforms like Spotify
(8:36) How royalties from music NFTs align incentives between fans and artists
(10:17) Comparing record labels with music NFTs
(12:56) Creating "index funds" for music NFTs
(17:28) Are music NFTs financial or cultural goods?
(22:49) Who's responsible for the future of music NFTs? Fans, artists, or platforms?
(25:32) What Decent is building next
(32:26) Choosing the right startup accelerator
(35:56) The best advice Charlie got from Y Combinator
(37:54) Advice for people interested in web3 and music NFTs
Follow @webforgenz on Twitter for the best clips from each episode.
This week's guest is Sean O'Connor (@aseoconnor), the Chief of Staff at Blocknative. Sean is an extremely talented marketer, writer, and product owner. He’s been full-time in crypto for 7 years now, starting his work at Consensys, then helping NBA star Spencer Dinwiddie tokenize his employment contract, and now working at Blocknative directly under the CEO.
Sean is also an expert on crypto onboarding and making decentralized applications more usable. In this episode, we cover his wide-ranging background in crypto, product, and marketing and discuss the importance of onboarding and usability in web3.
Topics Covered:
- 1:00 Spencer's work at Consensys and tokenizing an NBA player's contract
- 10:55 Steps for newcomers to learn about crypto
- 13:31 Understanding what's new about crypto from first principles
- 17:30 Convincing skeptics about the future of crypto
- 23:21 Onboarding users about the Ethereum Merge
- 28:10 The role of a Chief of Staff
- 29:03 Bringing web3 products to mainstream adoption
- 33:24 Advice for people new to web3
Follow @webforgenz on Twitter for the best clips from each episode.
This week's guest is Alexander Hentschel, the co-founder & Chief Protocol Architect of Flow blockchain. Flow powers popular games and NFT projects like CryptoKitties and NBA Top Shot. It was designed by Dapper Labs for high performance or "throughput".
In this episode, I chat with Alex about the creation of the Flow blockchain, how it achieves high performance, and why we even care about scaling blockchains in the first place. We also talk about the role of a protocol architect and what sets apart great engineers and researchers.
Some parts of this episode are technical, so I've included a few supplementary resources below. Please enjoy the conversation!
Topics Covered:
- Alex's background and how CryptoKitties birthed the Flow blockchain
- A breakdown of how Flow achieves high throughput
- Why we need blockchains – and why we're trying to scale them
- The role of a protocol architect
- Qualities that set apart world-class engineers and researchers
- Steps to becoming a great engineer or researcher
Bonus Resources
- A Deep Dive Into Blockchain Scalability, Crypto.com
- Intro to Flow by the Dapper Labs CEO, YouTube
- A Primer to Flow
Follow @webforgenz on Twitter for the best clips from each episode.
My guest for this week is Steve Jang (@stevejang). Steve is the managing partner of Kindred Ventures and co-founder of Bitski, an NFT wallet platform. He’s invested in notable web3 companies like Coinbase, dYdX, Messari, and Magic Eden. He's also an early investor and advisor at Uber and sits on the board of Zora.
Topics Covered:
- Distinguishing world-class founders
- How web3 investing is different
- Filling the data analytics void in web3
- Evolving from an investor to a “venture contributor”
- How DAOs have changed investing
- The NFT marketplace and wallet landscape
- Creating synergies between Kindred Ventures and Bitski
- Advice for young entrepreneurs and investors
Check out the transcript and collect it as an NFT on Mirror.
Follow @webforgenz on Twitter for updates and bonus content from episodes.
Alex Shipp is the Chief Strategy Officer at Offshift, an ecosystem that bakes privacy into DeFi applications.
Alex and I cover a wide range of topics between credit systems, DeFi, data, and privacy. Alex explains private decentralized finance, or PriFi, and how to communicate product goals and technical concepts to users.
Topics Covered:
- 1:06 The merits and demerits of credit systems
- 7:49 How DeFi solves problems with centralized credit
- 11:41 Data as a commodity in web3
- 18:52 Explaining Offshift and PriFi
- 27:40 What the Chief Strategy Officer role looks like in web3
- 32:02 How to explain technical concepts without losing accuracy
- 38:32 Advice and resources for newcomers
Links:
- "The world’s most valuable resource is no longer oil, but data", an article by The Economist
- Offshift's fireside chat with Edward Snowden
- The original 1989 paper on zero-knowledge proofs
- Offshift Academy's instructional videos
- Alex Shipp on Twitter, @AlexShippXFT
Check out the transcript and collect it for free as an NFT on Mirror.
Follow @webforgenz on Twitter for bonus content and resources from this episode.
Brian Mokoro is the Head of Finance at Mina Foundation, the company supporting the world’s lightest blockchain, Mina Protocol.
Brian and I talk in-depth about zero-knowledge proofs, the technology that powers Mina's scalability and privacy. Brian explains zero-knowledge proofs through real-life analogies and talks about how Internet protocols create “superhighways” for exchanging value.
Brian also shares details about how finance in web3 differs from finance in investment banking and private equity. He compares crypto vs. wall street culture and discusses how tokens have changed investing and deal-making.
Topics Covered:
- 1:19 Brian's background and experience at Stanford
- 8:17 Explaining zero-knowledge proofs
- 16:43 What finance in web3 looks like
- 22:17 Comparing crypto vs wall street culture
- 24:30 Why Internet protocols are so powerful
- 32:25 How tokens affect venture capital
- 36:40 Advice for gen z: finance and business school
Links:
- State of Zero Knowledge, a 2022 report from Mina Foundation
- Grants Programs for Mina protocol
- Brian on Twitter, @brianmokoro
Check out the transcript and collect it for free as an NFT on Mirror.
Follow @webforgenz on Twitter for bonus content and resources from this episode.
This week's guest is James Pastan, co-founder of Arpeggi Labs. Arpeggi is using blockchains to reimagine the way people create music. Their music studio lets you compose a song, mint it as an NFT, and automatically attribute any creators whose sounds were used in your song.
James and I discuss the problems with music collaboration and attribution in web2, and how Arpeggi uses web3 technology to fix those problems. James explains the network effects of music remixing and shares the story behind his pivot into web3.
Topics Covered:
- 1:17 How music creation on Arpeggi works
- 5:27 Fixing problems with music attribution
- 10:23 Arpeggi’s grand vision
- 12:09 Creating flywheel effects with music creation
- 15:16 What incentives work best to attract creators
- 19:23 How Arpeggi decides royalty splits
- 20:59 James’ pivot into web3 and advice for others
Links:
- Understanding Arpeggi's new Studio
- How Arpeggi is rebuilding music-making with blockchain, Culture
- Camoufly x Arpeggi Remix Competition
- Arpeggi on Mirror
- Arpeggi on Twitter, @arpeggi_labs
Collect our conversation for free as an NFT at https://mirror.xyz/web3genz.eth.
Follow @webforgenz on Twitter for bonus content and resources from this episode.
Editing credits to Jordan Cheung, Tanush Tammanagoudar, and Usman Ghani.
This week's guest is Teo Leibowitz. Teo runs Uniswap Labs Ventures, the venture arm of the company behind the Uniswap Protocol. He focuses on early-stage investments in web3 companies and protocols.
Teo and I talk about crypto metrics, mistakes new web3 founders make, and how to set valuations for crypto companies. We also talk about Uniswap, particularly Uniswap Labs Ventures' goals, Uniswap's acquisition of Genie, and the story behind Unisocks. Teo shares his advice for future founders.
Topics Covered:
- 0:48 Crypto metrics and using data to evaluate projects
- 4:15 Metrics and factors to look at when considering an investment
- 6:26 Common mistakes new founders make in web3
- 9:03 Determining valuations for crypto companies
- 13:24 Uniswap Labs Ventures' investment objectives
- 15:25 Building synergies with companies through venture investments
- 18:29 Why Uniswap acquired the NFT marketplace Genie
- 20:09 The story behind Unisocks ($SOCKS)
- 23:01 Advice for future web3 founders
Links:
- Understanding the Fee Ratio Multiple (FRM)
- The launch of Uniswap Labs Ventures
- Uniswap Labs acquires Genie, the first NFT marketplace aggregator
- Unisocks ($SOCKS), tokens backed by real socks
- Teo Leibowitz on Twitter
- Uniswap Labs Ventures on Twitter
Collect our conversation as an NFT at https://mirror.xyz/web3genz.eth.
Follow @webforgenz on Twitter for bonus content and resources from this episode.
Editing credits to Jordan Cheung, Tanush Tammanagoudar, and Usman Ghani .
In the first episode of web3 for gen z, I sit down with Graeme Boy, the co-founder of Mirror.xyz. Mirror is a web3 publishing platform that lets writers publish posts as NFTs, crowdfund projects, and do a lot more.
Graeme and I cover the importance of communication in your career, advice for interviewing better, Mirror’s incentive models, and why “liking” was bad for the Internet. Graeme shares the story behind crowdfunding on Mirror. We also talk about “collecting” and how it fixes problems with content on the Internet.
Topics covered:
- 0:38 Becoming a better communicator
- 5:36 Practical tips on interviewing
- 8:36 Picking the right place to work at
- 10:52 Incentive models in publishing
- 15:13 How collecting fixes the economics of publishing
- 20:52 The story behind crowdfunding on Mirror
- 25:36 Why "liking" was bad for the Internet
- 28:13 Advice and resources for others
Links:
- Graeme Boy on Twitter
- Graeme Boy on Mirror
- The Startup of You by Reid Hoffman
- John Palmer's essay, "Scissor Labels"
- Like → Share → Collect by Graeme Boy
- Introducing Writing NFTs by Mirror Development
- Why the Past 10 Years of American Life Have Been Uniquely Stupid, by Jonathan Haidt
- Crypto Startup School by a16z
Collect our conversation – and some bonus content on "web1 vs web2 vs web3" – as an NFT at https://mirror.xyz/web3genz.eth.
Follow @webforgenz on Twitter to discuss this episode and stay updated with future episodes.
Editing and Design credits to Jordan Cheung, Usman Ghani, and Muhammad Saad.
Welcome to web3 for gen z.
I'm your host, Aryan Bhasin, and every week I'll sit down with web3 founders, executives, and creators building in DeFi, NFTs, Layer-1s, and everything in between.
I’ll dig deeper into their experiences building the Internet of the future and tease apart the tips they have for our next generation. We’ll talk about web3 culture, the problems people are working on, and how you can break in.
Stay updated with new episodes and bonus content by subscribing on your favorite platform or following the show on Twitter @web3forgenz.