How can the limits of community building in Web2 be overcome with Web3 technology? This week, our guest on Web 2.5 is Robin Arzón, a former lawyer turned ultra-marathon runner and global fitness leader who currently serves as the VP of Fitness Programming and Head Instructor at Peloton. In addition to her roles at Peloton, Robin is a 27x marathon and ultra-marathon runner, a 2x New York Times bestselling author, and the Founder of Swagger Society, an NFT-enabled lifestyle membership club aim...
Have you ever wanted a universal username that serves as your login to the decentralized web? This week, our guest on Web 2.5 is Sandy Carter, the COO and Head of Business Development at Unstoppable, a digital identity platform. With an Unstoppable domain (e.g., Sandy.nft), you get a universal username that serves as your name, wallet address & login for web3. In her role, Sandy is responsible for overseeing the day-to-day operations of Unstoppable, as well as driving strategic partner...
How could the blockchain bring new capabilities to the beverage / alcohol industry This week, our guest on Web 2.5 is Kit Codik, the Founder and CEO of Liquid Collections, a web3-powered wine and spirits platform. Kit is a serial entrepreneur with three decades of operating and investing experience across wine and spirits, media, structured finance, venture capital, consumer tech, and apparel industries. Notably, he served as the Founder and CEO of Liquor.com for over a decade before jumpin...
What value does a large global CPG company see with web3 technology? This week, our guest on Web 2.5 is Sam West, the Senior Global Marketing Manager of Web3 at Mars. In her role, Sam explores the transformational opportunities that web3 can unlock for Mars Pet Nutrition brands. She leverages the Metaverse, NFTs, Blockchain, and AI to accelerate Mars’ purpose and make the world a better place for pets. Through her role, Sam has helped launch an NFT-enabled membership community working to r...
What if the Smithsonian was owned and curated by the Internet? This week, our guest on Web 2.5 is Tom McLeod, the Founder and Executive Director of Arkive, a decentralized, democratized, and participatory museum. Arkive’s goal is to flip the script on how society thinks about museums, art, and who gets to decide what is historically significant and worthy of being displayed. In this episode, Tom gives a behind-the-scenes look at Arkive, how it works, and some of the big works they have acq...
What would you get if you combined the exclusivity of NYC’s famed Rao’s restaurant, the members-only programming from Soho House, and the power of the blockchain via NFTs? This week, our guest on Web 2.5 is David Rodolitz, the Founder and CEO of Flyfish Club, an NFT-enabled members-only private dining club. Token holders gain access to the NYC-based restaurant as well as various culinary, cultural, and social experiences. Flyfish Club is one of the signature projects coming out of VCR Group,...
There have been many communities built on-chain. But what would it mean for there to be an on-chain nation? This week, our guest on Web 2.5 is Chika Uwazie, the Co-Founder of Afropolitan, a digital nation with a mission of enabling all Africans to build and live abundant lives. Afropolitan took inspiration from a thesis by Balaji Srinivasan, the ex-CTO of Coinbase and former Andreessen Horowitz partner. Balaji sees a future of cloud-first, land-later countries that are built around a shared ...
Why does a crypto wallet have to be so complicated and so confusing? This week, our guest on Web 2.5 is Jasmine Xu, the Head of Product at Bitski, the self-described NFT wallet for everyone. Crypto wallets are one-stop shops to buy, sell, transfer, and collect cryptocurrencies and NFTs. And Bitski believes that the key to greater crypto participation is creating a more user-friendly, mobile-friendly, and secure wallet experience. In today’s episode, Jasmine gives us the inside scoop on cry...
How can web3 technology better connect fans to their favorite brands, artists, and athletes? This week, our guest on Web 2.5 is Lin Dai, the Co-Founder and CEO of OneOf, a mass-consumer web3 company connecting the next 100M non-crypto native fans to iconic brands, artists, and athletes. OneOf’s technology enables global brands and enterprises to reimagine commerce, loyalty, and engagement, allowing consumers to seamlessly collect or trade digital assets with no prior crypto expertise. OneOf’s...
How can brands and creators organize existing communities with Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs)? This week, our guest on Web 2.5 is Matt Voska, the Founder and COO of Origami, a platform that helps communities create and grow Decentralized Autonomous Organizations or DAOs. Origami assists its clients with the end-to-end services needed to set up and run a DAO, from the NFTs that serve as token-gated membership passes, to the software, documents, and voting protocols that determ...
How can brands and creators monetize their work without competing in the “Attention Economy?” This week, our guest on Web 2.5 is Julien Genestoux, the Founder and CEO of Unlock, a web3 protocol for memberships and loyalty. Julien was motivated to find a way to avoid the “Attention Economy,” the rat race in which brands and creators are forced to compete for attention by publishing a never-ending stream of divisive content. Instead, he sees an opportunity to empower these brands and creators...
How can web3 and the metaverse drive deeper consumer connections for one of the world’s leading CPG brands? Our guest on our Season 2 premiere is Kate Brady, the Head of Next Gen DTC Connections & Innovation at PepsiCo. Kate and her team enable and accelerate PepsiCo’s engagement directly with its customers, including by leveraging web3 technologies & metaverse experiences. In this episode, Kate explains how PepsiCo leverages web3 to forge direct customer connections, discusses some...
Why do big brands and IP owners enter the world of Web3? What have they hoped to get out of it? And what new trends and themes can we expect from them in 2023? This week, on our Season 1 finale of Web 2.5, our guest is Avery Akkineni. Avery is the President of Vayner3, a Web3 consultancy that guides some of the world’s leading Web2 enterprises through their journey into Web3. Their services cover cryptocurrencies, NFT program development, immersive digital experiences (aka the metaverse), a...
Why does the world’s biggest company launch into the metaverse? What’s their approach? How does it go? What are they learning? This week, our guest on Web 2.5 is Justin Breton, the Director of Brand Experiences & Strategic Partnerships at Walmart. Justin and his team are responsible for driving meaningful engagement with Walmart customers via brand engagement programs, including shoppable livestreams, augmented reality activations, and now, Walmart’s presence in the metaverse. Ju...
How can the blockchain power new ownership opportunities for Black creatives, investors, and entrepreneurs? Our guest on Web 2.5 this week is Shondra Washington, the Co-Founder & CEO of Black@, a token-gated private community for Black creatives, entrepreneurs and investors. Black@ first took shape at Art Basel 2021 – and since then has grown into a full-blown digital community with token-gated chat rooms, member-only events, coordinated NFT group buys, and a burgeoning roster of techno...
How could the blockchain make fashion more social, more interactive, and drive new economic opportunities for women? This week, host Dana Hork sits down with Michelle Reeves, the Co-founder and CEO of Mavion, a leading Web3 company focused on empowering women through fashion. Mavion’s first NFT collection has been a pioneer in the physical meets digital realm, where NFT holders have access to the physical jewelry pieces featured in their NFT. Plus, Mavion teamed up with iconic fashion desig...
Why does an iconic fashion brand spend time experimenting in Web3? And why would they partner with a Web3-native community as part of their go-to-market plan? This podcast episode is part of a special back-to-back two-episode series featuring two powerhouses in the fashion world, Rebecca Minkoff and Michelle Reeves. On this episode, show host Dana Hork sits down with Rebecca Minkoff, the co-founder, designer, and entrepreneur behind the global fashion brand bearing her name, to discuss her ...
How are NFTs transforming opportunities for artists? On this week’s show, we have Amber Vittoria, the NYC-based artist and poet, to talk with us about how web3 and NFTs are changing the game for artists and collectors. Amber is known for her bold, vibrant, and colorful artwork – using ink, colored pencil, and acrylic paint to create her signature rainbow gradients. And she is also one of the leading artists building her brand and business at the intersection of web2 and web3. She started h...
What is the blockchain? What are NFTs? What is Web3? This week's podcast is a special educational episode where “Zeneca explains it all.” Host Dana Hork sits down with Zeneca, the founder of ZenLabs, an educational company that is working to onboard billions more people into web3, to help define and explain a series of terms -- in simple terms. We cover everything from what are NFTs, to what is the blockchain, to what is web3, and more. It’s perfect for anyone new to the space trying to le...
How DO people learn web3? And what would it take to help educate the next billion users (and more)? This week’s episode is the first show in a two-episode series with Zeneca, one of the leading builders, influencers, and educators in web3. This week is an in-depth, behind-the-scenes interview exploring Zeneca’s personal journey into web3, his success as a content creator and project founder, and how he’s now transforming his organically built community into a full-blown company called ZenLa...