Where We Are Going, There Are No Roads | Debbie Soon | Matt Medved | James Zhang | Anjali Young |

[Music] where we are going there are no roads that's the name of this next panel conversation it is moderated by anelie Young co-founder of collab land please welcome this great group of speakers to the stage thank you hi everyone thanks for being here this is going to be a really fun panel just warning you oh I almost fell we got all kinds of good people here we've got Matt Medved from now media do you want to tell us a little bit about yourself everyone one two one to yes yes gmgm how we do in Denver Matt Medved co-founder CEO and editor-in-chief of now media uh you might be you might know us for nft now uh our digital art fair the Gateway and sovereignty our web 3 content tool suite for onchain media next we've got Debbie soon who's a writer and an author of a new book that just came out digital Mavericks yeah my name is Debbie uh I'm the co-founder of an artist community in Marketplace called hug that recently got acquired uh by the dot at domain registry uh and I guess um so you can say I'm either unemployed or an exit founder whichever one uh works but uh I am the author as well of a newly published book that just came out two weeks ago called digital Mavericks uh it's a how-to guide for crypto so probably preaching to the choir but also share some incredible stories on how people started coming on chain including that of Matt who's on the cover of this book an honor an honor and last we have James Zang from concept Labs what's up everyone thanks for being here my name is James Z I'm the co founder of concept Labs we have two products one is UFC strike with the exclusive partner with the UFC on their video nfts and second we got fight five like defi game five we're bring Combat Sports on chain great to be here what's up any fight fans here anybody watch UFC or card combat all right yall are my people we talk so these are all very accomplished Founders and I'm just really excited to get to hear what they have to say today and the first thing we're going to talk about is celebrating as a Founder I know I'm a Founder my husband and I have a startup together collab land for those of you that have heard of it um and celebration is tough It's hard to come by right you're spinning a lot of plates you're always fighting fires there's always something new so tell us do you celebrate how do you celebrate what have you celebrated anyone can start um I'll I'll start uh I wish the answer was yes I want it to be yes but the answer is a no the like the journey we end up going on as Founders like for me um it's so painful and there's always like a next mountain and I just like there's no inner voice when when when I'm the co and founder that says hey stop relax so the one time I remember when I get asked this question is when I actually did IP my art company in 2012 my dad didn't think we could do it I thought I'd keep it a surprise from him he was turning 70 and basically I told him on that date and gave him a check and it was like the first time I ever made money in my life got my family kind of out of debt so that was really really U moving scene that I'll always remember so I kind of need others to tell me that you did really good and I wish it wasn't like that for sure that's really moving thank you uh yeah I guess I'll go also I forgot to introduce my dog my dog is named Guinness um so this is Guinness Guinness yeah Guinness it's her first time on stage so she might be a little bit nervous but uh she seems to be doing well uh yeah I will say oh just as I said that um well I will say that um I guess one thing that I was able to celebrate was the closing of our seed round that that um you know have participation from okx and L'Oreal um and I know it's just it's and I wanted to celebrate that not just because it was another seed round closing but it took us a while because there was a point in time where we were so close we were really close to getting the T sheet I feel like Founders here can relate and then literally that week FTX collapse happened and the people that were going to give us a term sheet basically called us up saying um we're not deploying any Capital right now we need to re-evaluate onti portfolio positions um basically drag out the entire process for like a whole another month or two and there really were times when I thought oh gosh like you know the whole industry is collapsing um you know just no possible way that we're going to able to close this round uh but in the end perseverance and grit and and we did it and that was just really a moment to celebrate um that typing timing is crazy though because FTX wiped out a lot of people they took every a lot of people down with them yeah Matt yeah absolutely I I actually think celebration is really important as a founder because like you know there's so much tension you need that release as well like you know especially when you know you have some of these pressure cooker things like for me what comes to mind is I don't know if people have been here been to our digital art fair the Gateway before we've done it three years uh running in Miami with Christies uh during our basle Miami and we brought it to Korea uh during free Soul uh in Korea blockchain week and those like those are ridiculously like heavy lifts like it takes a village right like so many moving Parts you know for the speakers for the digital art that we display all of that and and it can be quite stressful and uh the whole it's like an all Hands-On deck for multiple months for like the entire team and I'll never forget like um you know uh 2023 uh we did Gateway Korea and it immediately turned around to do Gateway Miami At The fena Forum which is our first time doing it uh on the beach you know Prime Time Prime real estate um the most kind of ambitious one that we had done to date and I'll never forget we had a 24-hour build uh we we had only 24 hours to build it because there were other events happening at the fena and we went we took it right down like Photo Finish like right down to the end I remember for the VIP dinner we were still constructing things so I was with uh Mark sper the former director of Art basle and and and he was just like been here before put up some like black curtains you know turn the music up real loud during dinner and you know like just just have them have them finish and sure enough we we got done just in time it was like but I was seeing like my company's life flash before my eyes you know and um once once that week was done um you know all in the books a big success uh you know we made time to share to to take time to celebrate with the team I think it's really important to not only to to to mark your wins and to recognize that but also to to appreciate all the people who made it possible because you know I certainly couldn't have done it alone and and neither could have even just like the founding team or the SE Suite like so many people came together to help make that a success yeah that's awesome I'm going to skip ahead to another one actually that is just coming to me which is all three of you are involved with the art side of crypto and blockchain like this kind of shows my interest as well because I brought them together but I'd love to know when you first saw that connection between blockchain crypto art it's not natural when you talk about it with people outside of crypto and you say no there's a whole art aspect of they're like what are you talking about like no one knows about it and so how did you first hear about it what inspired you to get started and yeah what's that been like yeah maybe I can jump in since uh you know I I have a wonderful community of like over 35,000 ODSTs and and actually I want to add to the celebrations too I feel like some of the best celebrations that I've had I like the small ones when an artist comes up to me and tells me that we've done something that changed their lives and I think that's really really meaningful uh but yeah actually for me art was really the aha moment for that really kind of connected me with crypto um you know I feel like I never really saw myself as an art collector I always viewed art collecting as something that was you know really bougie I always live in like really small apartments anyway so there was nowhere to put art even if I were to collect it and I think when I discovered crypto art and really seeing how the blockchain could really you know bring authenticity and of ownership and Providence to these artists and give them a new Avenue to really connect with your audience but also monetize their work that really uh resonated with me and then I will also say that artists didn't wake up one day because of nfts of blockchain and then they were like oh I'm an artist today because of blockchain so you know I I feel like this has just really been incremental and additive to them and I know maybe it's not the best it's not always going to be smooth sailing but edbury elas is a new and Innovative way for more people to become art appreciators um that's great Debbie appreciate that um my start in blockchain has a lot to do with art so my first job out of college I was an artist for George Lucas I see James and I used to work in games industry together so I I used to draw spaceships and monsters for Star Wars games that used to be my dream that's the company I eventually took to IPO it's called concept ouse and it's still running today we do work for Diablo things like that but until December 2017 if you were a digital Artist as a physical artist you do this painting you can sell it but there was no way to sell digital art and that's where most of the um the art that my company did so crypto kitties was that aha moment right um so if you think about when a young artist whether you're just starting out or you're Super Famous you really want people to view your work and be able to make a little money for from it so I think tokens and blockchain that's like we're all here it's great about connecting people in communities and so if you do have piece of art anybody that collects that piece of art becomes that part of the community um anyways I think that's a thread that we're all we're all pulling on here to see where it goes yeah I love that I love that um you know prior prior to starting nft now now media I was deep in the music space uh I founded billboard dance Billboards dance electronic music brand and I ran Spin Magazine as editor-in Chief and I was running content at Modern Luxury when my friend Blau the DJ producer and the guy early the guys like very early music nfts uh he pulled me down the nft rabbit hole in Fallout 2020 and um what was interesting for me was you know I dabbled in crypto since 2013 I bought my first Bitcoin at the exact top of that market I was like the top signal you know and like crashed like a week later um but I held on to it because I believed in it and then 2016 to 18 I was like oh wait I was on to something I was at billboard at that time was like the only person who like at who like owned crypto it at the time did a lot of coverage like music in blockchain and like how could this Empower artists and so it was really interesting was um you know when I had this conversation with Blau which like blew my mind in like every direction um and I realized that you know this was the future of digital ownership a lot of people like as I started to get into the space like really expected me would be all about music nfts and I like music nfts and I was a big supporter of them but to be honest like I've always been really drawn to medum Native culture and so what really like what I found really fascinating was like the early art projects that were like using this technology I went to like down the rabbit hole and like the early artists on super rare and like you know the rare Pepes and all these projects that like you know really like paved the way for onchain art and so for me you know I I was I was just amazed to see how digital artists you know could be empowered by this technology um you know for me that that was what made me jump in because for me nfts were kind of that wakeup call of like okay this is the technology I believed in for a very long time it's finally disrupting Fields I'm actually passionate about art music culture in a way that can actually Empower artists cuz I'm not a finance guy I'm I'm a culture guy at the end of the day and so seeing digital artists able to make a living off their own Creative Vision uh instead of client work seeing you know it's funny a lot of the the top digital artists in the space I actually knew some of them from the music like side of things but they were just like they were the visuals guys right like I met Victor moscara at Coachella when he was doing odessa's visuals you know and to see him flourish as an artist and you know get to sell at Christy soube all that same with render with with guys like Nest Graphics like these guys were all making they were they were kind of behind the scenes and this was an opportunity for them to step into the into their own to build collector bases for themselves and to really like pursue careers on their own Creative Visions I found that incredibly inspiring Debbie what you said about like artists saying like like this changed my life like that's that's what really like motivated me it was like obviously you know the big sales are all like well and fine they they they you know they get the headlines they they get the momentum all that but what really excited me was artist being like I can quit my day job and actually pursue a career now based on based on you know the creativity in my head and I just think that's that's brilliant can I can ask question a little bit of what Debbie had said earlier like the celebration is really when someone approaches you and says oh what you're doing helped me in some way and that's kind of the same thing and I love that so kind of coming off that a little bit about like relationships and connections like Debbie James and Matt like how have relationships and connections had an impact on your business and on you personally and really what impact do you think it has on crypto and and what we're doing here uh yes so I'm Singapore Bor and Rays I moved to the US four years ago in the middle of the pandemic um you know I would consider myself having had a pretty good career in Singapore uh but moving from the 18 smallest country in the world to you know what is obviously a big Market in the middle of covid not basically not having a single professional connection um and I found myself kind of like you know I've had a 10-year career and yet I still have to somehow find myself starting from scratch um so I would say yeah community and network is important and I built that really through kind of having a practice of almost sliding into somebody's DMs like every single day of if not if not every single day every other day definitely every week um and you know sometimes it was really just about introducing myself and you know seeing how I could build that connections and I mean I think every single person here that I've met on the stage has you know probably been because of a DM that I've been like hey I really admire your work and here's me you may not know who I am totally absolutely but you know here I am and and actually the fun fact about that um that seed round that we closed um Al Le was actually um digital whose um partner was O shiny I don't know if some of you know o shiny um and I got to know o shiny as well OA through a Cod DM uh and you know that ended up you know after we thought that we were like dead in the water that relationship ended up being the one that kind of brought everything else together and help us um close that round so yeah um so I think the question is about what kind of connections I've made uh since getting into blockchain um I think the best answer for me and what we do with UFC strike we create these nft gated experiences um with UFC involved so we were able to connect so UFC has like 900 million fans um a lot of them don't really know crypto but every Jersey that the fighters wear says crypto.com on the other side you got a lot of crypto people that I mean how would you ever meet a famous fighter if that's your favorite passion so that intersection is where we play so for 2 years now every paper viw we do this thing called champ cup Lounge our top 00 holders come by meet the fighters we give out tickets it's like the best value and people I mean this is in Vegas so we have people come up to and say James tomorrow's my wedding day but I'm choosing to be here tonight because this is so awesome change my life I have a ton of those stories just like what Debbie said about changing artist's life um that showed me what it can do but I think nft is a little depressed so next up is going to tokens I think an easier point of access so trying to stay um politically neutral but just whatever your opinions about Trump coins there's a reason why the belief in Trump power those tokens and now Mass Market everyone pretty much knows what that is so I do think this sets off a new way to connect whether it's memes whether it's nfts whether it's gamey and for that's what I'm trying to explore with all the fans that care about MMA Combat Sports Etc yeah I I think relationships and connections are everything in the space it's still a really small space if you think about it like relatively speaking this is you know it it's it people know each other right and so one thing I think is really special especially you know coming from like the nft side of things was like that Community really came together um in a big way uh like virtually right because um you know 2020 2021 uh a lot of people you know were on Co lockdown and so I remember like pacing around my little New York apartment you know like freezing cold outside like days on night on clubhouse and um you know the people I met on clubhouses relationships I made ended up becoming like lifelong friends and a lot of them I felt like I knew really well you know even prior to meeting them in person and so that first like nft NC when everybody like came together and it was just like URL to IRL was really really special um and I remember that was something that that we realized early with with now media was like the power of events to bring people together and to like like take things to the next level when it comes to relationship building when we did our launch party uh in September 21 I'll never forget like you know funny you mention o shiny because he he also invested in us with digital and I remember like being at it was like everybody's like meeting for the first time and nobody like really knew what everybody looked like CU it was like you know the pfp thing and I remember like being at like the bar and I see o shiny and G money are like both waiting for like to get a drink and like they're both kind of on their phones I was like hey do you guys know each other and they're like huh and I was like G moneo shiny they're like oh and like you know Inseparable rest of the night and like those kind of like moments of magic of like bringing people together of creating those connections I think is really special and um and you know like and you know those that that's where you lay the foundations for like so many of those people that we met in early Clubhouse rooms so many of those artists ended up you know exhibiting with us at at uh at gateways the the builders have come on or Founders have come on our podcast um you know they've been a part of what we've done a lot of like you know the the investors or uh the supporters or the Partnerships that we've done have come from like inperson relationship ship or ones that started digitally and then like and then kind of flourish from there and so I think that's I think it's incredibly important in the space which is why like kudos to all of you for showing up and coming out here and meeting each other and doing this like I always say like you can fake a lot of things but you can't fake showing up and uh web 3 is a place that rewards people who show up absolutely I love that um a lot of it is that again it's a small industry especially as Founders when I meet another founder there's just like this instant look in each other's eyes where you're like I know you've been you've gone through hell and back and maybe you're still in hell and maybe you're back but everyone remembers where they were and and this is what matters this is why we're here um also communities and relationships just quick like I met all of you online and knew you probably for a very long time before I even met you in person and even now when you meet people you see like like yesterday punar has like it says punar right on his shirt because people don't know what he looks like and so um yeah that is a little bit of mystery in Magic when you think about what we do where we lead with our pfps so I think that's pretty cool okay we've got five minutes left uhoh but one of the things I wanted to talk to you about is one what piece of advice one piece of advice has had the most impact on you what made me think of this is like even when we're talking about celebration we think about the hard part and the hard part is how do you get through the hard part right and so what keeps you elevated what keeps you buoyant what keeps you hopeful for the very next day so I know for me like obviously I I have a business with my partner of 30 years and we definitely keep each other buoyant and hopeful um so I wouldn't say my advice is be a co-founder with your spouse but it's worked out for us but for all of you um what has been a piece of advice or something that you carry with you Mantra anything that really helps you get through the hard times and yeah moving forward how many people are founders here by the way Founders okay yeah that's a good 30% all right I mean my so I would give different advice for Founders comeand a college that's never worked anywhere versus somebody who spent 10 years at like Microsoft wants to be a Founder those are different things you have different problems to solve um but for for me I'll just for me um about there's just so many ways to to up but the piece of advice I think about to this day there's a book written by Ben hor it's called the heart of hard things anybody heard of that book The Heart of Heart things okay the hands go up the people that haven't put the you know what I'm talking about um it breaks down situations that I was like oh this is so hard it's basically like this if something really hard happens is it is it all my fault if I take it too seriously I can't get up in the morning if I don't take it seriously enough I'm not really in solving the problem well damn you're telling me I'm damned if I do it damned if I don't what what's the answer and and the Heart of hard things explains there's there's not really like an easy answer you kind of don't quit so whether it's stubborn or resilience when I've have the hard days I just think hey this is just part of the process so I'm really really really bad at quitting and so far it's helped me um more than it's hurt so I would say don't quit yeah I mean that's it's it's always hot to pick just one right like uh I mean the the journey is never never quite the same and there the highs are really high the lows are really low um I think you know one thing that people also like to say is Never As Good Things Are Never As Good as they seem and things are never as bad as they seem so I think that's kind of grounding um but I think one thing too for me is that I always kind of reexamine my why and really understand my why for being not just being a found but why being a founder of this business and I think constantly asking yourself if that if whatever your building and the problems they are trying to solve still kind of hold true to that I think um a lot of the times Founders get tied to an idea um versus really solving the problem itself and hence not pivoting fast enough and so um I would say that's kind of one advice that I would give like don't fall in love with the idea so much or don't fall in love with the whether it's the idea of the business or the idea of being a Founder itself don't be so attached to that um without really thinking about at the end of the day you're building something for people and you're building something that people you want to be building something that people want and need yeah I think those are all great great things two two things I think every effect founder should read uh the hard thing about hard things uh by Ben Horowitz and um there's an an essay called surviving crypto Cycles by Fred ome uh from you know coinbase in Paradigm and I think it breaks down like the unique challenges especially the latter of building in this space which is um incredibly cyclical boom and bus Cycles um highly highly volatile and you know like as a Founder you know you know you you go through these Journeys I think it de what you said about things never being as good or as bad as they are 100% you know like we grew really fast during the bull market you know starting in you know January 2021 riding that whole wave and then when the bar Market hit you know we had to course correct we had to make a lot of tough decisions we had to tighten the belt we had to part ways with great staff members you know and um and that's always really challenging as a Founder um but you know and we we went through some tough and uncertain times but I think that one of the things that you get from like some of these these books is understanding that like you're not alone a lot of Founders have gone through this before Horowitz has this great chapter in that book called The Struggle um which I probably read like 1,500 times during like the worst of like the bare Market um but you recognize like and one of the big takeaways there is that there's always a chess move there's always a chess move if you can if you can survive if you can if you can survive You'll Always Find a move and um you know and that move that move looks different for different people at different times but um you know that you you can find a way if you're persistent and if you refuse to give up which you know most most Founders tend to tend to to have those qualities and so um that's what I've learned a lot from two pieces of advice I live my life according to stay open Don't Force things I think those have also been like really overarching like guiding principles for me as a founder and um yeah I would just I'd welcome anybody who's coming to the space like buckle up it's going to be like a wild ride and you know don't get don't get blinded by the the lights when when the success is you know on when the bull Market's going and the Euphoria is flowing and also don't you know to come to the despair on the timeline when uh when things move the other way yeah yeah that's thank you all of you okay we've got T 10 seconds left I really if you have anything to shill this is your time to do it please do you've all guys you've all got a couple of seconds so buy Debbie's book digital on Amazon it's called digital Mavericks thank you and fight. follow us we'll give away this belt airdrops uh UFC strike go to fft now.com we're the first fly onchain Media Company every single one of our articles is minted on chain currently on based we're bringing it to other chains as well via sovereignty and uh we believe the future media is on chain amazing thank you and I'm young from collab land so check us out