In this episode of Web3Unchained, hosts Kenzi Nakamura, Sachi Tanaka, and Diksha Mehra chat with Jiho about his early days in the Web3 space, and the journey of building Axie Infinity and Sky Mavis with co-founders Trung Nguyen, Tu Doan, Aleksander Larsen, and Andy Ho. Jiho reflects on the early challenges of building in a bear market—when they were “small and unrecognized” but still confident in their vision, team, and community.

A central theme of their journey was creating a Web3 community that not only rewarded technical knowledge but also encouraged learning. Jiho sums up their founding principle: “Something that can play into childhood nostalgia is going to be a compelling way to educate people on Web3.”

As the conversation progresses, Jiho dives into some of the biggest lessons from Axie Infinity’s growth, including working with the community on managing expectations around product features. One of his key insights is: “How do you turn your community into your best evangelists? How do you have them doing the things that are most beneficial for the network, which ultimately benefits everybody? Understanding aligned incentives, different economic models, and the cold start problem is crucial for Web3 startups.”

Today, Axie Infinity is one of the largest Play2Earn NFT games in the crypto space. Recently, Sky Mavis closed a $152 million Series B round, bringing the company's valuation to a staggering $3 billion.