Unveiling the Growth Journey of Pudgy Penguins CEO: From Homeless on the Streets to the Pinnacle of Life

Author: roxi, Realm Hunter Research Advisor

Compiled by: Odaily Planet Daily

The CEO of the NFT project "Pudgy Penguins," Luca Nets, has experienced the hardships of being homeless, but now he not only has the means to acquire "Pudgy Penguins" for $2.5 million but is also leading the project to new heights. I spent 11 hours uncovering the secrets of his success, and here are my findings.

Luca Nets' full name is Luca Schnetzler. He spent 9 years homeless with his mother, relying on the kindness of strangers each night to find a place to sleep, but Luca refused to let a difficult upbringing hinder his growth.

Luca attended Fairfax High School in Los Angeles but had to drop out at 16 to help his mother make ends meet.

After leaving high school in 2015, Luca joined Ring Doorbell, marking the beginning of his career. Ring Doorbell started as a tech startup with only 20 employees, but within just a year, the company's workforce surged to over 2,000. From that moment on, the seeds of entrepreneurship were sown in Luca's heart.

During his time at Ring Doorbell, Luca ventured into dropshipping and learned marketing skills. He then made a move to promote his products through Instagram ads, which quickly gained popularity, inspiring Luca to pursue the path of entrepreneurship.

Subsequently, from Ring Doorbell to La Gold Cartel (Luca's jewelry store) and then to Manners Holdings, Luca's career progressed rapidly.

By 2019, Luca took on a new challenge as the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) of a struggling clothing company, Von Dutch, where he was responsible for the company's marketing strategy. It was here that Luca truly realized his potential.

Later, Luca became the CMO of Gel Blaster and helped the product successfully enter Target and other major retail stores.

After working at Gel Blaster for a year, Luca chose to leave and subsequently posted the tweet that would change the fate of Pudgy Penguins.

On April 2, 2022, Luca acquired Pudgy Penguins and became the CEO of the project. Since then, the floor price of Pudgy Penguins has risen from 0.8 ETH to 4.25 ETH, in stark contrast to other projects struggling in the conservative NFT bear market at the same time.

Odaily Planet Daily Note: We have previously reported on the revival of Pudgy Penguins, see " NFT Deep Bear Market, "Pudgy Penguins" Comes Back to Life."

Notably, in August 2021, Luca purchased his first "penguin," which happened to be one of the first PFP NFTs he bought.

Since the acquisition, Luca's team has been working tirelessly, with their every move documented in a YouTube series called Building in Public.

What is their ultimate goal? To dominate the market and create the largest IP in the industry.

Luca and his employees are implementing some very bold initiatives to achieve this goal. Just in the past month, Pudgy Penguins first launched a brand guide to standardize its visual identity; then released a workstation called "Pudgy Workbench," which contains hidden secrets (to be revealed on May 12); and subsequently announced a partnership with Hollywood talent agency WME to collaborate in film, television, and gaming…

And yesterday, Pudgy Penguins announced the completion of a new funding round of $9 million, led by 1kx, with participation from Big Brain Holdings, Kronos Research, and LayerZero Labs founder Bryan Pellegrino.

What's next? Who knows, but one thing is almost certain ------ it's going to be huge.