The Now Podcast

We’d like to give a special thank you to Atomic Form for helping bring our studio to life with their NFT displays. To learn more about Atomic Form, go to: https://atomicform.com 

We’re kicking off Season 2 of the nft now podcast with Elise Swopes, a self-taught photographer and graphic designer who has used her business savvy to spin influencer marketing on Instagram into a full-fledged career. Heralded as one of the premier creators on the platform, Swopes has been finding new and innovative ways to share her art since earning accolades as one of the first accounts added to Instagram’s original suggested user list in 2012. In between working on campaigns for some of the largest brands on the planet (Nike, Apple, McDonald's, Google, and Adobe, to name a few), she injects her own brand of magical realism into urban landscape photography, minting and selling NFTs across numerous marketplaces. Further, Swopes is a champion of several social causes. She founded Sunrise Art Club, a creative impact agency that is committed to helping brands and individuals feel included in the emerging Web3 movement. She also co-founded Night On The Yard, the first NFT marketplace dedicated to ending the hidden impact of incarceration by helping onboard incarcerated artists to sell their work as NFTs.

In this episode, we cover:

- Swopes’ first reaction to NFTs, and how her view of the space has evolved

- The biggest problems she sees facing the Web3 space

- The origins of Sunrise Art Club and Night on the Yard

- Swopes’ thoughts on the creator royalties debate

To sign up for the nft now newsletter, where we break down the NFT market into actionable insights each week, go to: https://www.nftnow.com

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Web3 gaming promises to be a critical driver for mainstream NFT adoption over the next few years. To put the scale into perspective, the blockchain gaming market size is expected to grow from $4.6 billion in 2022 to $65.7 billion by 2027. Many of the biggest game developers — including Square Enix and Epic Games — are already working on titles with Web3 integrations. That said, it takes years for any game to be developed, let alone a AAA game. So the space will only heat up as these projects come to fruition.

At nft now’s The Gateway 2022, we welcomed a star-studded panel of guests to the stage to discuss the new wave of gaming including: John Linden, CEO of Mythical Games; Kai Henry, Former Chief Strategy Officer of FaZe Clan and CEO and Founder of fewture studios; Lee Trink, CEO and Co-Founder of FaZe Clan; Betty, Co-Founder of Deadfellaz;  FaZe Banks, Co-Founder of FaZe Clan; and Web3 Advisor Swan Sit.

In this episode, we cover:

- Understanding gaming as a social platform, not just as entertainment 

- How new tools are supporting collaboration and co-creation like never before

- How to dispel the distrust the gaming community has around this new technology

- The future of Web3 gaming, and how we can get closer to mainstream adoption

To sign up for the nft now newsletter where we break down the NFT market into actionable insights each week, go to: https://www.nftnow.com

To follow John on Twitter, go here: https://twitter.com/johnwastaken

To follow John on Instagram, go here: https://www.instagram.com/johnlinden/

To follow Kai on Twitter, go here: https://twitter.com/KAI__HENRY

To follow Kai on Instagram, go here: https://www.instagram.com/kai__henry/

To follow Lee on Twitter, go here: https://twitter.com/leetrink

To follow Lee on Instagram, go here: https://www.instagram.com/leetrink/

To follow Betty on Twitter, go here: https://twitter.com/betty_nft

To follow Betty on Instagram, go here: https://www.instagram.com/betty.dfz/

To follow FaZe Banks on Twitter, go here: https://twitter.com/Banks

To follow FaZe Banks on Instagram, go here: https://www.instagram.com/banks/

To follow Swan on Twitter, go here: https://twitter.com/swansit

To follow Swan on Instagram, go here: https://www.instagram.com/swansit/

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For those just skimming the surface of Web3, it may seem like NFTs are mainly images — of everything from Bored Apes to colorful Chromie Squiggles. But NFTs come in many forms, including literary NFTs, which constitute one of the space's most exciting emerging use cases. Literary NFTs promise to be transformative for the careers of writers and the publishing industry. 

Two of the visionary women at the forefront of the poetry NFT movement are Ana María Caballero and Sasha Stiles, Co-Founders of the VERSEverse, a poetry NFT gallery. Caballero is a Columbian-American poet and artist whose work explores the voice of the home and the layered exchanges of our everyday lives. Stiles is a lifelong poet and creative writer who has been penning poetry since she was six. Most of her work focuses on our relationship with technology and how advancing and speculative technologies are changing what it means to be human. 

The two creatives joined nft now’s CEO Matt Medved during a panel at The Gateway: A Web3 Metropolis. Here, they discussed how Web3 tech could help change how the world views writers and poets, allowing them to sustain themselves financially through their work in ways previously thought to be impossible.

In this episode, we cover the following:

- How the blockchain is changing how poetry can be experienced

- Stiles and Caballero’s work onboarding poets to Web3 at theVERSEverse

- How NFTs empower poets both creatively and economically

- The evolving relationship between writers and their community

To sign up for the nft now newsletter, where we break down the NFT market into actionable insights each week, go to: https://www.nftnow.com

To follow Caballero on Twitter, go here: https://twitter.com/CaballeroAnaMa

To follow Caballero on Instagram, go here: https://www.instagram.com/anamariacaballero

To follow Stiles on Twitter, go here: https://twitter.com/sashastiles

To follow Stiles on Instagram, go here: https://www.instagram.com/sashastiles/

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The crypto industry has changed significantly since Joseph Lubin helped found the Ethereum blockchain in 2015. Now focused on innovating as the CEO of ConsenSys, a leading Ethereum software company and the firm behind the popular MetaMask software wallet, Lubin has remained at the forefront of Web3 as the cultural shift it created continues to reorganize the creative and tech industries.

Speaking with nft now Co-Founder and CEO Matt Medved during a fireside chat at nft now and Mana Common’s The Gateway: A Web3 Metropolis, Lubin reflected on his on-chain career. He also provided insight into the state of the crypto and NFT spaces while looking toward the future.

In this episode, we cover the following:

- Lubin’s candid thoughts on the fall of FTX

- What’s next for Ethereum post-merge

- The future of blockchain

To sign up for the nft now newsletter, where we break down the NFT market into actionable insights each week, go to: https://www.nftnow.com

To follow Lubin on Twitter, go here: https://twitter.com/ethereumJoseph

To follow Lubin on Instagram, go here: https://www.instagram.com/ethereumjoseph/

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Web3 is ushering us into a new era of marketing where Web2 tactics just won’t cut it. Brands must adopt new strategies (and technologies) to stay competitive and relevant. In December 2022, a group of trailblazers took the stage at nft now’s The Gateway to discuss the state of Web3 marketing and how to successfully grow projects amid this changing landscape. For the panel, moderator and nft now co-founder Sam Hysell was joined by Amanda Cassatt, Avery Akkineni, Jennifer Styles, and Swan Sit.

Cassatt is CEO of the marketing firm and product studio Serotonin. Before Serotonin, Cassatt brought Ethereum to market as ConsenSys’ CMO. She’s also the author of the upcoming book Web3 Marketing: A Handbook for the Next Internet Revolution. Akkineni, President of Vayner3, has helped numerous brands find success navigating the Web3 landscape. Styles is Head of Communication at OneOf, an nft marketplace that has seamlessly onboarded world-class brands, talent, and communities in music, sports, and beyond. Finally, Sit is a seasoned Web3 advisor and former VP of digital for NIKE, Estée Lauder, and Revlon. 

In this episode, we cover:

• Tactical ways to successfully grow Web3 projects
• How marketing approaches must evolve in the world of Web3
• How to navigate the mainstream consumer sentiment, and much more. 

To sign up for the nft now newsletter, where we break down the NFT market into actionable insights each week, go to: https://www.nftnow.com

To follow Amanda on Twitter, go here: https://twitter.com/amandacassatt

To follow Avery on Twitter, go here: https://twitter.com/avery_akkineni

To follow Avery on Instagram, go here: https://www.instagram.com/avery.akkineni/

To follow Jennifer on Twitter, go here: https://twitter.com/jen_styles

To follow Swan on Twitter, go here: https://twitter.com/swansit

To follow Swan on Instagram, go here: https://www.instagram.com/swansit/

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In 2019, Ivan Soto-Wright established MoonPay to alleviate some of the biggest pain points of the Web3 user experience. The founder and CEO has since broadened MoonPay’s scope from crypto payment service to its current status as a fully end-to-end Web3 infrastructure.

At nft now’s The Gateway 2022, Soto-Wright spoke of MoonPay’s macro-level business model in Web3 and how legacy brands can utilize this emerging technology to deliver loyalty-based experiences that have never been possible in the consumer market. Of course, underneath all these big plans for the future is a simple core belief that’s held strong since MoonPay’s earliest days: user experience is king.

In this episode, we cover:

• How MoonPay plans to seamlessly onboard the audiences of legacy brands into Web3
• The shifting nature of digital ownership made possible by Web3
• Why “the mom test” is a crucial metric in determining a platform’s ease of use
• How MoonPay’s Web3 Passport fits into its larger strategy of bringing Web3 to the world

To sign up for the nft now newsletter where we break down the NFT market into actionable insights each week, go to: https://www.nftnow.com

To follow Ivan on Twitter, go here: https://twitter.com/isotowright

To follow Ivan on Instagram, go here: https://instagram.com/ivanhodl

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Porsche, one of the most iconic brands in the luxury auto space, is making its move into web3. In November 2022, the company unveiled its 7,500-piece NFT collection based on the classic Porsche 911. Starting in January, collectors will be able to help shape the design of their digital token by choosing a “route” for it — selecting from Performance, Lifestyle, or Heritage options. These routes reflect a particular characteristic of the company’s brand identity and will modify the overall design of the NFT itself, resulting in a truly unique experience. But this NFT collection is only the beginning of Porsche’s web3 plans. At nft now x Mana Common’s The Gateway during Miami Art Week, Porsche’s Deniz Keskin and Lars Krämer took the stage along with Patrick Vogel, Super Creative Director ALT/SHIFT, and artist Vexx to discuss what’s next for the company’s web3 efforts. 

In this episode, we discuss…

-What excites the Porsche team about web3

-The importance of collaborative NFT creation

-How they plan to use this technology to reward their most loyal customers

-How they’re expanding Porsche’s brand ethos into this new digital realm

-The intersection of web3, NFTs, and the luxury space

To sign up for the nft now newsletter where we break down the NFT market into actionable insights each week, go to: https://www.nftnow.com

To follow Porsche on Twitter, go here: https://twitter.com/porsche

To follow Porsche on Instagram, go here: https://www.instagram.com/porsche

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Best known as one of social media and Web3’s earliest advocates, internet mogul Gary Vaynerchuk’s track record of correctly identifying the next big thing and building a solid foundation in it goes all the way back to the dot-com bubble at the turn of the new millennium. After successfully bringing his family’s liquor store business online, he leveraged his insight to plant a stake in the emerging media format of social media, building his latest empire in the late 2000s to early 2010s.

Now, he’s one of Web3’s most prominent builders, and has focused much of his attention on building up his VeeFriends IP. 2022 saw those efforts achieve a culminating event in the wildly successful VeeCon. However, despite everything Vaynerchuk built in the nascent Web3 space, all signs suggest he’s only getting started.

In this episode we cover:

- Vaynerchuk likening the NFT and crypto market’s bull run to his experience in the dot-com bubble

- Staying humble despite his massive success

- What’s in store for the next installment of VeeCon

- Why the NFT market is just like the after-school television programming of the 1980s

To sign up for the nft now newsletter where we break down the NFT market into actionable insights each week, go to: https://www.nftnow.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As CEO & Co-Founder of Deadfellaz, Betty has established herself as a pillar of the NFT community whilst remaining an important figure within the ecosystem of her influential PFP project. While the road to NFT success has been elusive and ambiguous for some, she has remained a staunch supporter of independent artists at a time when creative opportunities have become conditional and creator royalties have come under attack. A proponent for diversity and inclusion in the NFT space, Betty has continued to be instrumental in driving conversation around equity in Web3. At nft now x Mana Common’s The Gateway during Art Basel Miami, Betty took the stage alongside nft now CEO and Co-Founder Matt Medved to speak on how the NFT space can better approach issues with the best interests of creators in mind.

In this episode we discuss…

- How Deadfellaz rose to prominence

- The importance of creator royalties in the NFT space

- Creating value for Web3 communities

- The need for marketplaces to place trust in creators

- Camaraderie in the NFT space

- The disparity between creator and consumer priorities

- And much more!

To sign up for the nft now newsletter where we break down the NFT market into actionable insights each week, go to: https://www.nftnow.com

To follow Betty on Twitter, go here: https://twitter.com/betty_nft

To follow Betty on Instagram, go here: https://www.instagram.com/betty.dfz

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.