(***TIMESTAMPS in description below) ~ Giovanni Gussen is a founder and innovator. In 2021, Gio and prominent artist, Waheed Zai, co-founded Smilesss, one of the most successful NFT companies on the planet called earth. Zai’s incredible portfolio includes collaborations with Supreme, Complex, and the great Pooh Shiesty (among others).

***TIMESTAMPS***

0:00 - Intro; Gio tries to remember SXSW, Gio was a Clubhouse fiend; Smilesss Co-Founder Waheed Zai’s backstory; Gio & Julian talk Bored Ape Yacht Club

25:10 - NFTs and use-case in the metaverse; The concept of value in NFTs; Smilesss’ partnership with eFuse; How many metaverses can there be?

36:07 - The Pooh Shiesty Album Cover that got Waheed on the map; Why Smilesss launched a collection (Smilesssvrs); Reflecting on where we are since the last time Gio was in for a podcast (Ep 34); Everything that goes into an NFT Collection launch

1:03:40 - What Smilesss did post-launch to get rolling; The Verifried Drop; Gas problems; UI, UX, and simplicity in crypto; Smilesss partnership with Coinbase; Why fashion is ubiquitous

1:24:00 - Dealing with different cultures around the world in the modern internet business world; Biden’s executive order on Crypto; The problems with CBDC’s and centralization; The metaverse vs the Physical world; Haptics; Gio brings up Elon Musk & Neuralink; Shaan Puri’s theory on the metaverse; How Gio sees Smilesss in the Web3 world; Gio recalls the Discord hack; The earliest effects of Artificial Intelligence (AI)

1:49:10 - Gio’s recent trip to Miami to meet with the big VC’s; Remembering the Great ICO Crisis of 2018; The balance of building in front of the community vs. innovating; Gio talks more about South BY Southwest;  the shooting that was not Smilesss fault; Who is Smilesss looking to partner with  right now?

2:08:24 - Smilesss the next Supreme in the metaverse?; Fashion and the IG era; Gio and Julian bring up the Metaverse vs Physical world conundrum again; “You have to have bad to know what good is”; Twitter hacks are a disaster right now

2:28:13 - The problem with over-anonymity in crypto; Gio talks about other projects he likes; Smilesss’ TV Show Development deal with Time; Gio & Waheed’s creative relationship; What makes Smilesss different

2:46:24 - Has Gio pinched himself yet?; Leverage; Tai Lopez’s rug

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YouTube EPISODES & CLIPS: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0A-v_DL-h76F75xik8h03Q

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