NFTGo talks to the Web3Brand team: In the era of AI, Web3/NFT is more important than ever

Author: NFTGo Research

In the long run, there are many areas where NFTs can combine with tracks like IP and AI. Although the prospects are bright, many users have questions: how exactly can NFTs be integrated into real life? In what ways can they quickly enter people's lives? How can ordinary people seize the opportunity to become practitioners?

In the fourth episode of our dialogue, we are pleased to invite Web3Brand Co-founder @starzqeth and @rubywxt1 to share their insights. How can we find our own opportunities and step into a bull market? Let’s take a look below.

1. Please introduce Web3Brand to everyone.

Web3Brand is dedicated to exploring how Web3 and AI empower personal and corporate brand building, while connecting content brands of founders, builders, and investors from both East and West, consisting of four parts:

• Weekly In-depth Articles: Sharing industry cases and thoughts, including the development of brands and IP in the Web3 field, the creator economy, and how AI brings changes to businesses, creators, and consumers.
• Weekly Space/Podcast: Conversations with industry leaders, sharing business cases and future developments, connecting Chinese builders.
• Industry Builder Community: We have established a reader community that gathers builders from various fields within the Web3 industry, sharing cases and sparking inspiration every day.
• Project Consulting: Ruby and I have an average of over 10 years of experience in product, operations, and international brand building, having managed products with over 100 million users in large companies and built startups with annual revenues exceeding 100 million from scratch. Therefore, we understand the difficulties faced by entrepreneurs and are happy to use our experience and insights to help more projects move faster and better (Learn about us and the projects we've served).

Regarding why we started Web3Brand, Ruby wrote a long tweet:

• Initially, because there is a vast amount of information in Web3 that needs to be organized and digested every day, we wanted to write some "digestible content" and use "output" to drive "input" to digest and organize the massive information collected daily. Understanding a new field is like crossing a river by feeling the stones.
• Then we found that content is an efficient way to meet like-minded partners. Through collaboration, we connected with those who care about how technologies like Crypto/Web3/AI will change our lives and creations, and how individuals and brands can leverage them for development—those who are not concerned with short-term fluctuations and wish to explore the broad application models and long-term value of NFTs.
• The bear market is an opportunity that led us to establish the reader group, creating a space for thought collision and communication, and uniting to go further together.

2. I noticed that Web3Brand established the "Bear Market Reader Group for Warmth" two months ago. What is your view on the first bear market for NFTs? Are there any signals for bottom fishing currently?

The bear market means that the intrinsic value of NFTs is not enough to support their market value. As the macro environment deteriorates, market enthusiasm cools, and speculative behavior decreases, it leads to the bursting of the bubble.

Based on the Gartner curve, the bear market is an inevitable stage in the development of any market, which will help the market develop more healthily and sustainably. As speculators and noise decrease in the market, NFT-related builders and investors can think more calmly about how to endow NFTs with more intrinsic value, including functionality and application scenarios, and develop more innovative products to capture more value in the next bull market.

The bear market also makes it easier to recruit talent who maintain a long-term perspective. Of course, the most important thing is to remain patient and prepare for a long-term battle to survive until the bull market.

There are actually many signals; the most obvious is the gas fee, along with other indicators such as the number of projects, social network activity, and the number of spam DMs received daily (which may also be due to Elon Musk's governance).

3. Web3Brand places great importance on the IP and brand field. Which application track do you think will most likely bring NFTs into people's lives? Will it be a combination with traditional brands, like Pass cards?

We believe that NFTs will ultimately achieve mass adoption through two dimensions:

1. Web3+: Transforming business with Web3, typically represented by Web3 Native IP. By using the attributes of NFT content + products, we first gather the first batch of loyal fans for the IP, then build an influential community based on this group of fans, and finally reach more consumers through more universal consumer products, establishing a "consumer product" matrix that ultimately touches tens of millions to billions of users. Two typical projects are Pudgy Penguins and BAYC; both established fan communities through their initial NFTs, with Pudgy Penguins reaching the general public through toys/trendy products, and BAYC reaching the general public through games.

2. +Web3: Using NFTs in business to improve efficiency in corresponding links and leverage the characteristics of NFTs to bring incremental value. The core of this area is "asset + Open Loyalty": for example, using token-gated tickets to prevent scalping while constructing an Open Marketplace; Starbucks provides members with more rights through NFT collectibles; Adidas incentivizes community creators through NFTs; Smart Token Labs connects brand collaborations at a lower cost through off-chain NFTs…

These two approaches will complement each other, allowing NFTs to gradually achieve mass adoption: Web3 Native Businesses will attract more attention and enhance the exposure of NFTs, while using NFTs in business will allow more users to encounter NFTs in a more subtle manner.

4. I see that Web3Brand's Newsletter focuses on three themes: AI, the creator economy, and brand IP. Aside from brands, can you discuss the other two points (AI and the creator economy) in relation to Web3?

The creator economy: This is a broad topic, but overall, creators in the Web2 world face two major pain points:

• Low profit-sharing ratios: The long profit distribution chain and high platform cuts make it difficult for creators to earn money, leading to a "toxic culture": musicians no longer create for their audience but cater to recommendation engines, prioritizing scale over quality.
• Difficulty for creators to establish direct connections with fans: Taking musicians as an example, it is hard to know who the loyal listeners on the platform are, making it difficult to build more direct relationships and benefits.

Web3, on one hand, serves as infrastructure that can lower the costs of the entire chain; more importantly, NFTs are the perfect representation of "works + fan relationships," integrating "works + fan rights + social identity" into one. With low-cost issuance thresholds, NFTs become a better target for connecting fans and supporting creators, allowing creators to better practice KK's "1000 Fans Theory." For more content on the creator economy, you can refer to this article “NFTs as the Best Medium for Creators to Practice the '1000 Fans Theory' in the New Era—Taking Musicians as an Example”.

AI and Web3 may seem contradictory—one is a product of highly centralized power, while the other pursues decentralization—but they empower digital products from different aspects.

• AI enhances the replicability and dissemination of digital products, creating an unstoppable force; while Web3/blockchain/cryptography ensures the ownership and scarcity of digital products, creating an unforgeable identity.

Our view is that as basic digital content and artistic works are commodified, brands and IP will become increasingly valuable in the long run. The value of NFT projects will increasingly depend on the "soul" of excellent creators, the stories carried by the works themselves, the intentions behind them, and the fan communities built around them.

Therefore, in the age of AI, Web3/NFTs are more important than ever. Users need not only pure content but also corresponding identities and relationships with original creators, which NFTs can perfectly satisfy.

We have also specifically written an article on the relationship between Web3 and AI here, welcome to read.

5. As a senior practitioner in the Web2 industry, what has been the greatest help from your Web2 experience to the Web3Brand team stepping into Web3?

• Insight into users and business: User needs and business models are not divided by Web1/Web2/Web3; they are more about the study and insight into the essence of things. The professional training in Web2 has helped us avoid "looking for nails with a hammer" and instead think about whether there are better solutions to real user problems, forming business opportunities.
• Experience in managing products and businesses with large user bases: Currently, the user scale in Web3 is still relatively small. Those who have managed large-scale user products in Web2 or have operated larger revenue businesses can better understand the logic of Web3 and help the industry develop and products reach mainstream markets.
• A more long-term perspective: Any innovation or success does not happen overnight. Our experiences in Web2 have allowed us to witness how a successful product or company overcomes numerous challenges to stand out, ultimately forming our own patience and long-term perspective, enabling us to face the bear market with a better mindset.

6. The bear market is more suitable for self-improvement. If some outsiders want to quickly become practitioners through this bear market, what suggestions or learning paths does Web3Brand recommend?

The essence of learning is "creating a positive feedback system with input and output," which includes several core points:

• Input: Build high-quality information sources, which is crucial; your information sources determine your cognitive ceiling. Ruby has organized some high-quality overseas podcasts, which we basically listen to daily/weekly. Of course, we also welcome you to subscribe to our newsletter and follow our Twitter @starzqeth, @rubywxt1, and @0xWeb3Brand, where we will share interesting cases we see/hear.
• Additionally, there are many subfields in Web3. If you don't have a clear interest at first, it's advisable to listen and discuss more to find a relatively clear interest point, and then build matching information sources.
• Output: We strongly believe in the "Feynman Learning Technique," using "output" to drive "input" to digest and organize the massive information collected daily while enhancing our cognition. Output can take many forms, such as writing threads, articles, sharing in communities, or building projects—these are all different ways of output.
• Find your own community to connect input and output, turning it into a positive feedback system that drives your improvement and ultimately helps you find your own opportunities.
• Opportunities do not appear overnight. We previously shared “Joe O'Rourke: How to Transition from a Traditional Industry Sales Manager to the Creator of Starbucks Odyssey”; Joe had already accumulated four years of experience in Web3 before joining Forum3. In our Space on September 5th, Foresight Ventures founder Lao Bai also shared his journey into the space; before transitioning from a brokerage to a Web3 VC, he had already been involved in Crypto Trading for several years.
• Therefore, community as a support system is very important. The bear market is long, and having more like-minded people to inspire and support each other will allow us to go further together, which is also the reason we established the reader group.

We hope everyone can find their own opportunities and step into the bull market.

Conclusion

Many thanks to @starzqeth and @rubywxt1 for their answers, and we look forward to the moment of Web3 Native Business.

NFTGo will continue to invite Web3 Builders for interviews and dialogues, and we welcome everyone to follow our Chinese Twitter: @NFTGoCN to stay updated. If you have any suggestions, builders you want to see, questions you want to ask, or if you want to recommend yourself, feel free to comment or DM us on Twitter.

See you in the next dialogue with Web3 Builders.