Yon Raz-Fridman is an entrepreneur, repeat founder, and technology executive. Originally from Israel, he went to London to start his career, met his wife, and moved to New York. Eventually, they moved back to her hometown and are now based in Columbus, Ohio. In college, Yon was part of an entrepreneurial academic program where he developed a passion for blending expression, creativity, and digital products.

Supersocial is the number one developer, publisher, and operator of premium virtual worlds on immersive social platforms like Roblox and Fortnight. They create engaging games and experiences that focus on bringing joy to next-gen digital communities using their IP and IP from some of the world's most innovative and largest brands and companies. After seeing the rise of Minecraft, Roblox, and Fortnight before and during the pandemic, Yon began to believe virtual 3D worlds would be the next frontier of the consumer internet. There are two generations (Z and Alpha, born after 2000) that have been born into a smartphone-based world with large, immersive social platforms. They are playing, socializing, and expressing themselves on these platforms and representing themselves as a 3D avatar with a mindset of "It's not just me playing the character. I am the character". Yon realized these kids are going to grow up and will likely want to continue to interact with the internet in the same way. This evolution will change how they interact with media, entertainment, and shopping. While the fundamentals are yet to be determined, the scale is undeniable.

In this episode, Alan and Yon discuss how Supersocial capitalizes on that hypothesis, how brands and advertisers might think about experimenting and getting in early, and what the KPIs are in these spaces. Yon talks about trends he sees in the Metaverse, how they are connected to actual human behavior change, and how Supersocial works with brands like NARS to harness these opportunities. Yons says the Metaverse isn't replacing the current internet; it is the next iteration. It is the next frontier of the consumer internet, and there is exponential potential to grow into it. However, he also warns against getting caught up in hype, both negative and positive, and instead advises to "pay attention to what people do with technology, not the technology itself."

In this episode, you'll learn:

• What Supersocial does and the KPIs they care about
• The inevitable evolution of the internet and how we use it
• What most people are missing when they think about the Metaverse

Key Highlights: 

• [01:46] From Isreal to Columbus, Ohio
• [06:10] The spark to start Supersocial
• [11:45] What is Supersocial?
• [12:40] What we don't know and what we are missing when it comes to the metaverse
• [14:45] The internet is evolving into the next iteration.
• [17:45] How might there be 100 billion people in the Metaverse?
• [20:00] What is Yon seeing in the Metaverse today?
• [21:30] Bringing brands to Roblox in an authentic way
• [26:20] How brands can start in the space
• [29:47] Metaverse success metrics
• [32:00] Pandemic pivot
• [36:00] Advice to his younger self: Perfect is the enemy of great.
• [37:30] Be careful how much you rely on technology versus what people do with it.
• [40:50] Trends and subcultures
• [44:00] You own your time.

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