Top Podcasts
100th Episode! - Edge Co-Hosts Reveal: NFT LA, Podcast Takeaways, Launchpad Luna Startup Accelerator, Spirit Seeds, Living Trees, And More...
The Edge of NFT Podcast reaches a milestone with its 100th Episode! To celebrate this achievement, hosts Jeff Kelley, Eathan Janney, and Josh Kriger discuss what they have in store that everyone should look forward to. They talk about the genesis story and the people behind NFT LA, which will be held on March 2022. They present the virtual program Launchpad Luna Startup Accelerator that helps NFT startups shape the digitization of the future. The hosts delve into the promising impact of Animoca Brands and how the community could benefit from their Spirit Seeds project. Jeff, Eathan, and Josh also open up about their major takeaways about the podcast after a hundred episodes, breaking down the lessons they have learned along the way.
—
Listen to the podcast here
100th Episode! – Edge Co-Hosts Reveal: NFT LA, Podcast Takeaways, Launchpad Luna Startup Accelerator, Spirit Seeds, Living Trees, And More…
**This 100th episode celebration episode features us. The NFT cohosts are pulling back the curtain on the edge of NFT phenomenon. We might as well start with some official intros for each of our hosts. You may know our personalities and proclivities and may have a glean tidbit about us each here from reading but let’s start with some official bios of all three hosts. I will read that as tradition goes. We’ll start with Jeff Kelley. **
**Outside of Edge of NFT, Jeff Kelley is a lifelong entrepreneur, investor, advisor and creator. He’s a former US Army officer with a history of leading teams in high-stakes environments, including multiple ventures, real estate, food tech, eCommerce and blockchain. He has a Bachelor of Science in Mathematical Economics from the US Military Academy and an MBA from Yale University. **
Let’s know a little bit about Josh. He’s been a serial entrepreneur in consulting, food, eCommerce and blockchain. He and Jeff cofounded Territory Foods, decentralized food prep and delivery service, which has scaled nationally. Josh built out its decentralized culinary architecture. Josh is an ex-big five senior manager, has led an array of projects from complex data analytics to geospatial data projects at the multimillion-dollar level. He has a BBA from the College of William & Mary in Information Technology.
Finally, I, Eathan Janney, am a polymath within multiple domains, including music, art, science and business. I’m an experienced podcaster and have built a growing network with other successful podcast shows and professionals in the podcast industry. I’m also a veteran of the piano industry, having built a global online educational resource for piano, tuners and technicians, as well as a piano tuning company in New York City.
I studied jazz piano at Rutgers University. My scientific curiosity led me to acquire a doctorate in Neuroscience from the City University of New York. Jeff, Josh, I’m impressed with you. It’s a little awkward for us to read our bios here but the audience will appreciate it. I’m impressed with the whole team. It’s a pleasure to work with you. Let’s dive in and kick off this celebration of our 100th episode.
We’ll ditto on being impressed. It was amazing stuff that we’ve collectively put together. It’s super exciting. Why don’t we jump in and give a little preview about where we’re going to chat about across the board? First and foremost, we’ve got to talk about NFTLA, this incredible event that we’re planning for on March 28th up to the 30th, 2022 or so. We want to take a step back after that. Maybe reflect on what we’ve learned in these first 100 episodes.
I can’t believe it’s been under a year since we started, which is crazy. Maybe after we reflect on that, we can give some insights into all the different ways we’ve been and are planning to grow in terms of both scopes of what we do and also the team we work with, which we have a lot of updates to give there. We want to give an update on our NFT project, Spirit Seeds, Living Tree. After that, they can finally get to know a little bit about us in some other interesting ways. I’ll stop there and turn it over to Eathan.
Let’s dive right into talking about NFTLA. I’ve been holding down the fort, publishing the show, growing our Discord community. Jeff and Josh here have been more than I heavily involved in nailing down the events. I want to ask you the questions and get your perspectives on most of what’s going on. Why don’t you tell us, Jeff, the origin story of an NFTLA?
There’s so much happening in LA in and around NFTs. Maybe the first true exposure we had to anybody that had done anything in the NFT space was with the CryptoKitties crew. They were hosting a small get-together in early 2018 in LA. It’s grown from there and it’s such an amazing community. After experiencing and planning to participate in so many cool NFT events outside of LA, we said, “Why isn’t there something happening here at the epicenter of so many cool fun things in LA? If we’re going to throw an event, what are we going to draw from and look to for inspiration?” For me, one of the coolest events that I’ve attended on a couple of occasions is something called the Upfront Summit that Upfront Ventures puts on every year.
100th Episode: NFT LA aims to co-create an environment inclusive of the totality of the community. This makes an open-door policy for creators and leaders in entertainment, arts, and sports.
You go to this thing. It’s everybody together. Take on this journey from the moment you arrive under 1 roof with 1 main stage, amazing talks, amazing entertainment, true connection, co-creation and value at every turn. You leave there not with a feeling of FOMO but a feeling of fulfillment. It’s so rare in the conference space. We wanted to try to create something like that. This was something that I pointed to and we talked about it here among this group, as well as some of our other partners, Zach Sekar and others. Everybody felt aligned with throwing an event like that. That’s what we’ve been working on and what we’re trying to do.
It’s super exciting. When we started this show, we all knew that we all had our own experiences with events. I’ve done online events. Jeff, you’d done events in Washington, DC. Josh had been involved in planning events as well. We knew whatever we did, we were probably going to kill it. We’re excited about it. Josh, I want to get your take on the next question.
Before we jump on there, part of the genesis story of NFTLA has to include Zach Sekar. You alluded to it but Jeff and I have known Zach for many years. I’ve been to so many of his killer events in LA over the decade. He was one of the first people I met when I moved to LA when Jeff and I were expanding Territory Foods. He’s that quiet guy, calm in the back of the room. I was like, “Who is this fellow? There must be something going on.”
Sure enough, everything was working like clockwork with all his events. He could relax at the back of the room. We had talked early on when NFT surged and the show was taken off that we got to do some cool events. It’s a real honor to have him in the boat with us. He’s done thousands of events in and around LA. We couldn’t do it without Zach.
We started with him with a couple of small-time events to test a relationship and everything was splendid. As a musician, I have to call out this analogy. He sounds like a bass player. The bass player is that guy who is quiet in the back. He’s not the lead singer or the drummer doing something crazy but holding down the fort. I see that. Josh, my question for you was, why should people come to NFTLA? What’s the pitch?
We wanted to co-create an environment that was inclusive to the totality of the community that’s excited about NFTs and Web3 but also makes an open-door policy for creators, leaders, entertainment, arts and sports who have heard of these things. Maybe their son or daughter has purchased one or their friends are telling them, “You need to buy them.” Maybe their boss has said, “Look into this. See what we can do with this in our business,” but they haven’t jumped in the deep end yet. We wanted to create a space for them as well. I envisioned about 1/3 NFT curious.
Maybe 1/3 of folks that have read the show checked some different content out there. Maybe purchase 1 or 2 NFTs and folks that are deep in the space. We have a variety of programming that suits all of those different types of folks. Let’s not forget the creators. If you’re doing amazing art, music, entertainment or you’re more on the video side of things, there’s going to be some great content for you as well.
We’ve got some incredible speakers too, which we’re excited about, as well as collaborators and sponsors. It’s going to be a blast. Jeff, for the audience, we got a little bit into why we decided to host the conference but maybe you can go in a little bit more detail but also tell people what else they can look forward to beyond what Josh was highlighting.
It’s the journey. This is not 150 different talks. We’re going to be pulled in a bunch of different directions. That’s great for a lot of folks. You can pretty much throw a dart at the calendar and find something amazing in some of these events. What we’re trying to do is take folks on a journey. We’re creating this entire experience where folks can be led through the day in a way that’s comfortable and satisfying, that provides enough space connecting with people for exploring or consuming amazing content and entertainment.
This is LA. We’re going to incorporate that in a big way like you’ve never seen before the Crypto Conference. Certainly, not that I’ve ever experienced before the Crypto Conference. It’s a major part of what we’re doing. That’s why the location of LA Live at the Convention Center is so perfect for this. It’s right at the epicenter, many fun things related to music, sports and entertainment.
**Before we move on from this topic, let’s pick something quick. We’re super forward to the event. I will kick off and say the parties. There’s going to be incredible nightlife because we’re co-creating it, as well as events before and afterward. I’m very much looking forward to that experience I’ve had in Miami and New York, all this cool networking and parties but having it right in the midst of what we’re creating. **
With the entertainment part of it, there are going to be these moments and we’re not going to be announcing the details of the entertainment by and large, where if you weren’t in that room, listening to that main stage during the main session, you’re going to be disappointed. Spend that time, go there and enjoy it. There are going to be a lot of wow moments and cool, memorable things that happen. I’m excited about those entertainment pieces in between what’s going to be amazing talks.
There’s so much I’m excited about. We’re so knee-deep in the planning process. A lot of it is still unfolding as we speak but we have some incredible partners working with us on so many different elements of this event. For one, the one and only Scott Page is going to be performing at the Wisdome, which is an immersive killer auditorium with augmented reality on the walls. He’s going to be dropping some NFTs. That’s going to be amazing. I’m certainly excited about some nightlife and metaverse options that our friends at BMA are cooking up.
I have the honor to help work on the curation of the content side of things with some of these amazing keynotes. Neil Strauss and Steve Aoki are going into an interesting conversation about where this is all leading. That’s going to be an amazing talk. I’m certainly not going to want to miss it. There’s a lot here. A lot of the sponsors who are more like partners and co-creators to this event are working on dropping some incredible news during the event. The folks and media are going to be there. They’re going to hear some exciting things happen in the industry that will blow people’s minds.
The message I’m getting across the board is you won’t have FOMO when everything’s done as long as you’re there. Touch it while it’s happening. Jeff, do you want to kick us into the next topic of COMBO here?
Let’s talk about the show. It’s been a wild ride so far. We clearly can’t reflect on every single moment from the last 100 episodes but maybe we can reflect on our top takeaways. Let’s give that a try. Eathan, let’s start with you. What are your three biggest takeaways from the Edge of NFT show?
Holy cow has a takeaway that I didn’t even realize. It’s a little inside joke from one of our episodes. Holy moly, that’s what it was but what an experience. Number one, building and growing with you, incredible folks have echoed in the guests and the people that we get to network with here. Inside and outside the show episodes, it’s been inspiration after inspiration. That theme of inspiration and co-creation is there. On top of that, a theme of FN do it. The players in the space that are making things happen over and over again are the ones that are doing it themselves. They’re talking about it enough so that they could do it. That’s inspiring.
On top of that, move quickly and trust your intuition. It’s similar to that do-it mentality but going ahead and trusting that intuition because, in a space like this where you have creative entertainment alongside things like real estate and decentralized finance, you’re having an advantage if you’re willing to trust your instincts and move forward with them. Those are a few takeaways I’ve had. Nothing specific from a guest in what I’ve said but I’ll pass it along to one of you. How about I flip it over to Josh?
This is a tough question because there’s so much that I’m still processing from the first 99 episodes that we’ve done around what’s possible here. Number one, there’s unlimited opportunity for innovation in this space. We’re in a world where 5G is coming alive. All these different technologies have been cooked up for quite a while. You bring NFTs into that mix and there’s unlimited opportunity for innovation. With that, comes great opportunities for folks to stretch their imaginations and do something cool that maybe was not possible a couple of years ago.
100th Episode: There is an opportunity for everybody in NFT. You can start with nothing but an idea and a smidge of technical understanding yet still create something of meaningful value in months.
I also think that we were redefining failure and making mistakes. We’ve heard since we were young that it’s okay to make mistakes as long as you’ve learned but we know from Corporate America that mistakes are not okay. Everyone is making mistakes in this industry. It’s a little bit more room in there for innovation. Having worked on an innovation lab for the federal government and bid in that space of management consulting, we used to say mistakes were okay but we didn’t mean it. I think we mean it now. That’s an important distinction.
Last but not least, 2021 has been mind-blowing to me in terms of the speed of innovation and the types of projects that have crossed our desks. We get 20, 30, 40 pitches in 1 week, sometimes about the crazy stuff that people are doing in this space. I truly think this is the beginning, and this is the perfect time to take a breath and look at what’s possible in the future. The level of utility that’s going to be created for NFTs in terms of building greater community and doing amazing things to make the world better is starting to unfold beneath us.
I agree with everything you guys said. It’s not a surprise as we’ve experienced this thing together collectively. I will say one of the big things, for me, that stands out is the pace with which things are changing, growing, evolving and improving is extraordinary. You always hear about technology or the evolution of technology doubling every eighteen months. I forget whose law that was around computing power originally.
We’ve blown that out of the water certainly in the realm of NFTs. When we ask guests about what their thoughts are about the future, they can hardly ever go beyond a few months because things change so rapidly. When you couple that with the reality that we are at the beginning of what NFTs can do, it’s like, “What’s coming around the corner?” That’s exciting. For me, number one is that.
Number two is the metaverse. It’s coming in a big way. It’s already here in many ways but we can’t yet access it. There’s that hardware interface that we’re missing. In a lot of cases, the underlying software development needs to happen to build this thing out but it’s common and coming fast. It’s this intersection of virtual real estate, gaming and NFT is all built on that backbone. That’s something that’s become abundantly clear to me in talking with all of our guests.
Lastly, there is an opportunity for everybody in this space. You can start with nothing but an idea and a smidge of technical understanding, which you can download from YouTube in a few hours. Spend 50 hours downloading information and you can create something of meaningful value in a matter of months.
We’re not talking about the notional value that you’re receiving money and being valued at some dollar amount but creating real revenue, real value for the users on your platform in the hundreds of millions of dollars. It’s happened several times. To me, that’s insane. No matter where you are in the world and what you lack in life, there is an opportunity that’s happening here and it’s built on the back of NFTs.
I feel like we could dive into every single one of these and have an hour-long conversation but we’re trying to jam-pack this session with a lot of cool info. There’s a lot of stuff going on behind the scenes that the audience won’t know about because we’re focused on the show and mostly the guests. Not on us. There are some things that we can’t tell our audience about the cold things we’re cooking up because it’s sensitive information embargoed for a certain period but we certainly can say some funny things. One, Edge of NFT has been admitted to a startup launchpad program called Launchpad Luna. There’ll be a press release about that soon. It is hosted by Brinc in affiliation with Animoca Brands. Animoca has been one of our guests in the past as well.
For the audience’s sake, I’ll give a little bit on each of these players involved in this program that we’re in and we’ll chat about what are our most exciting parts of this. First of all, Brinc calls itself a different breed of startup accelerator firm. Core to their business is their belief that some of the world’s biggest challenges could be solved by entrepreneurs who they like to call game-changers. More game-changers will make a positive impact on the world if they’re given the right backing. That’s what Brinc’s are here for. Support and mentor founders and their teams from across the world and provide investment to help them grow.
They believe that technology-focused startups with the right backing and support can fundamentally change how we move, what we eat, how we feel and where we live for the better. Animoca Brands is partnering with Brinc to bring Launchpad Luna. They launched this virtual program focused on global startups in the Blockchain and NFT space. The program called Launchpad Luna aims to identify a mentor and invest in promising blockchain and NFT startups that are shaping the future of the web and driving digitalization.
**Launchpad Luna will also accept high potential startups seeking to adopt Blockchain and NFTs into their core business. Finally, about Animoca Brands, we’ve heard a lot about them on the show but to make it clear. A Deloitte Tech Fast winner that is ranked in the Financial Times list of High Growth Companies Asia-Pacific 2021 is a leader in digital entertainment, blockchain and gamification. **
Spirit Seeds has been a super fun project. We’ve gotten to know what it’s like to start an NFT project, first of all. We talk about them and get to test this thesis that we’re building as we build the show, how important is a community, for example. I’m excited about the community of folks that are on board with these Spirits Seed NFTs. We’ve got MIT graduates, people who are running investment funds, people who are in the film and television industry doing incredible things, creators and entrepreneurs. It’s fascinating to watch as each one jumps on board and becomes part of this community.
Go ahead, Josh. Jump in.
Where do people go, Eathan?
Important Links:
-
Scott Page – LinkedIn
-
Animoca – Previous episode on Apple Podcasts
-
Nicole Buffett – Twitter
-
John Sungkamee – LinkedIn