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Nino Saez Of Utopia On Integrating Innovation, Philanthropy, and Transparency Into Web3, Plus: Vikram Bhushan Of Hypermine Labs, And More…
The metaverse is expanding and evolving at an unprecedented scale. Nino Saez saw this interconnected virtual world as a chance to monetize his talents and give back to the community through philanthropy work. Joining Jeff Kelley, Eathan Janney, and Josh Kriger, the phil-entrepreneur shares his mission of transforming the metaverse into a utopia through his company aptly called Utopia. Nino talks about his partnership with Deepak Chopra, the importance of constant learning and transparency in revolutionizing Web3, and centralizing his work around serving others. He also opens up about his experiences running a virtual team and the role of community ownership in the digital ecosystem he currently builds.
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Nino Saez Of Utopia On Integrating Innovation, Philanthropy, and Transparency Into Web3, Plus: Vikram Bhushan Of Hypermine Labs, And More…
This is Nino, Cofounder of Utopia. I’m a proud philanthropreneur who is bridging the gap between our physical and digital worlds through innovation, philanthropy and transparency. I’m here on the Edge of NFT, the show delivering you Web 3.0 content that’s valuable and filled with the values and principles of the best. Keep reading.
NFT curious readers, read this episode and find out how Deepak Chopra is stepping into the world of Web 3.0, how to say, “Friends are a treasure,” in Espanyol and why the Metaverse is your invitation to create your utopia. All this and more on this episode.
Don’t forget, we put together a little gathering at NFTLA that brought out thousands of the world’s most innovative doers in the NFT space. Head to NFTLA.live to get tickets to our bigger, bolder, better but also as intimate and impactful event happening in Los Angeles on March 20th and 23rd, 2023. See you there.
This episode features Nino Saez, the Cofounder and CEO of Utopia. Nino went to IE University Madrid, Spain getting a dual degree in Business and Law. He started his first business in 2014 at nineteen years old. As a student of the world, he decided to jump at the chance to continue school through an exchange to Cuba where the culture forced him to see the need for philanthropy and business.
When Nino return from Cuba, a light bulb went off. He envisioned a new way of helping others through monetizing mobile games, the biggest growing industry back in 2018. With that, he cofounded the eGoGames eSports platform, raising €8.5 million over $8 million US. In 2020, Nino became enthralled with Web 3.0 and founded Ego NFT going on to raise $10 million by February 2022 and create this Web 3.0 project using the connection tangible utilities coupled with the virtual world.
Nino is leading Utopia where he and his cofounder acquired 100% of a powerful metaverse company called Virtual Voyagers. For those readers who aren’t yet familiar, Utopia is a Web 3.0 ecosystem brought together by four powerhouse founders, our guest, Nino plus Maria Bravo, Eva Longoria and Javier Garcia. Their collective mission is to disrupt how businesses operate and innovate using the power of Web 3.0 technology.
Nino, welcome to the show.
Thank you. I’m pleased to be here. Thank you for having me.
It’s great to have you present. I’m very cognizant of the Latin-American/Spanish vibe. I came back from Peru. My wife is working on a film project from one of the first powerful female film directors and producers in Peru who made the film the Contraband and she’s very popular in Cuba, this woman who’s a filmmaker. Who knows, maybe there’ll be a trip to Cuba here in the future. I haven’t been there myself but it certainly is a very interesting and magical place. I want to jump right in here and ask you this question, which when one lists all of the things someone like you is up to the questions that got to be in the mind. How do you divide your time between all the different projects and things you’re up to?
At the end of the day, all I have is my passion and limited time during the day. I try to be on top of everything that probably some of the topics are more at a high level. Thanks to the incredible team that we’ve been building all these years. All of these companies, for example, the gaming one are run by a General Manager called Jose Manuel. He leads it in a great way that makes me run into my true passion and what I dedicate most of my time to, which is Web 3.0.
I am most of the time together with the other cofounders that come along with me to this project building this high atmosphere of the new emerging world that we’re looking forward to creating and bringing value for good for everyone. That is more of the time that I spend with an amazing team and cofounders. My secret is always surrounding myself with people who are smarter than I am. That’s how I manage to do it.
Surrounding yourself with smart people makes it easier for them to feel good about themselves for sure. It’s easy to give compliments when you have people smarter than you around you, which is awesome. It’s impressive what you’ve been able to pull together here. A lot of people are trying to do good in the world. A lot of people are inspired by causes, positivity and things like that but bring it into a business structure. Raising the amounts that you’ve been able to raise and putting together functional businesses based on those principles, especially at a young age. It’s very impressive. You deserve a lot of credit for it. Is that something that’s come intuitive to you? This integration between doing well and doing good and including philanthropy with business or is it something you had to wrap your head around to get that going?
It was something that I started doing in my previous years when I was focused 100% on eGoGames. We managed to build something that was from 0 to 1 because we reinvented the model or the way model games were monetizing at that time. We did it through an eSport software that once we released it, we became the eSports leading mobile eSport company very soon.
As we became leaders, I believe that sentence or word has a lot of significance and you need to act in accordance. We started doing something which was a pioneer at that time, which was believing in philanthropy as a way of giving back from the value we have given to the world. In that sense, we started working with UNICEF and then later on, started working with the foundation that we keep on which is Global Gift Foundation founded by Maria Bravo, Alina Peralta and Eva Longoria, which we truly believe in them.
It was a way of giving example in the sense that we were sharing part of the revenue that we were making. It was always a fixed percentage that we were designated for philanthropy. We thought that as leaders if we could make that example be followed by big corporations around the world where I don’t know which is the amount or the cut or the percentage. Individuals or companies should decide on their own but if we could all make that little effort because, at the end of the day, it’s about getting less revenue for yourself but making good at the same time.
Philanthropy Work: Leaders should set an example by making cuts from their revenue to doing good for the sake of others.
That’s how I rolled in it. I believe that many things could be done once you know that those funds you have destined, you’ve done something that is fulfilling for yourself something good and without expecting anything in return. That’s what I believe is one of the keys to happiness. That’s why we want to keep on with that example in our previous experiences such as the one we’re doing in Web 3.0.
I can see it also helps give you that passion and energy and that you can keep up that energy. There are downtimes when you’re building a business. Being able to have something to turn to that inspires you is useful. We have an exciting announcement here from Utopia on Twitter, the introduction of ChopraVerse. It’s a partnership with Deepak Chopra, which many of us have heard of this fellow and Seva.Love. Congratulations. Can you tell us a little bit more about that partnership and what people might want to know?
We are getting into a well-being metaverse. That’s what I can advance. It’s something that has never been done before and I believe we’ve managed to get the magic of Deepak, Seva.Love and all that amazing family represent in this new world, ChopraVerse. They’re going to be about experiences for everyone that are not easy to have or easy to value daily. If you are not truly connected to it, we believe it’s something that the Metaverse and Web 3.0 experience can provide to the user in a unique way that has never been seen before. It’s something cool.
It’s about a new world. Imagine if the only limit that we can have in terms of building this well-being metaverse is our imagination. We can advance that we are imaginative as you can think about when you see the whole team that is empowering this project. We are very happy to be sharing what is going to be happening, especially the official release of the ChopraVerse. That is going to be announced by the end of 2022. I can advance that.
We talk about AR quite a bit in addition to VR on the show too. It’s interesting the interplay of all this. I remember a movie that came out when I was quite a bit younger, The Lawnmower Man. It was like this guy that got in the VR headset and it put him in this crazy vibe and the weird world and all this stuff. Like sitting on social media or the computer, you’re getting it out of your head and body in not a good way. It’s interesting to try to bring those principles of mental health and well-being into the metaverse. Do you find yourself running into any obstacles there like, “It’s still this digital false land?” How do we make it something that feels rejuvenating and refreshing?
That’s something that we bring along our mission because at the end of the day, doing a well-being Metaverse is focused on doing good for people. Instead of finding those obstacles, get rid of them. At the end of the day, you can be in a place where you can relax, be yourself, get mental treatment and get infinite possibilities that will be coming along without the need of expressing who you are.
You can be whatever avatar and express yourself on a freeway. That’s why this ChopraVerse is very innovative because everybody is going to feel the best version of themselves. We’re going to empower that all along the way and keep on working for that. Our main ambition is to make this new world a place for everyone to feel good. That’s very important.
I wanted to step in here. I’m a little behind here on the episode. I’m trying to get gas in the face of a pending hurricane here in Florida. It took a little longer than anticipated but I shouldn’t have been too surprised. In any case, it’s great to connect.
I’m so glad you made it because I know how things are going in Florida. Sending you a lot of power from here. I’m in LA and hopefully, everything gets better soon.
Thank you. I appreciate it. I’ll be evacuating soon but all good. We’re prepared. You’ve been talking about these various elements that fundamentally come down to community and this idea of constant learning. This community is built by people who are constant learners. It’s the idea of giving back and allowing this cycle to occur over time. There’s this question around community ownership and how it plays a role in this ecosystem that you’re forming.
I’m going to start with the constant learner’s sentence which is very important and it’s part of our DNA. At the end of the day, if you’ve taken a look at Virtual Voyagers, we’ve developed metaverses for big companies such as Meta, Vodafone, Disney or big brands like that. We are always ready for new challenges and propositions that these brands want to build or they imagine in their heads and bringing them into reality.
I believe that’s a key point in our area of being these constant learners. We are constantly trying new things and evolving as I believe everybody’s doing in this space. In terms of how we believe in ownership, I always do say a sentence that my mom used to tell me when I was young, “One friend is one treasure.”
I believe that also having one community is a treasure. How do you build that ownership? First of all, we come along from people that we come together all in the business area. We want to use Web 3.0 for providing that transparency in how we build things. How are companies managed? Even the profits and incomes that we’re making. You can always alter your company but if you’re in the blockchain, there’s that transparency. It’s immediate for everybody that is watching.
Having one community is having a treasure. Click To Tweet
If we want to focus on that and give you a proper answer to that ownership and how we’re building it, it is through the community treasury. I don’t want to get very advanced. I need to be careful of the news I gave out because of the timing that we’re having this episode. We believe in building community treasuries out of tangible businesses that the community can own in a certain way. If they can have access to this treasury, enjoy it together and have this treasure as a community, that’s like having a friend. It’s a real treasure. That’s the ownership that we want to empower.
I haven’t heard that saying before but I like it. I also love how you’ve applied it to the broader community.
In Spanish is it, “Un amigo es un tesoro?”
Yes.
It’s very inspiring. I can see how you keep the energy going in the way that you approach things. Much of your work here is centered around moral principles. We’ve got inclusion and responsibility. How do you approach the concept of smart contracts in light of this principle approach to things?
In my opinion, smart contracts, especially if you’re building a community need to have a strong commitment to whatever you apply to write under. How I would believe the usage of smart contracts and everything we do is the transparency and perpetuity, which is very important for us, those two words. I relate a lot of philanthropy with inclusivity because philanthropy should be good for everyone. It’s the same as inclusivity that this world provides, which we love and it’s represented in everything we do.
Once we release art related to future drops we make, you will see what I’m talking about. We’ve taken care of it in every single aspect but in terms of the smart contract, we can provide this transparency that gives you this long-term utility. You’ll know more about what I’m talking about when more releases will be announced but we want to show who we are, why we are here and our purpose.
We want to bring all that value to put on the market our first collectibles that will happen by the end of 2022. That is what we do. We want a community built on collectibles. We want people to get it, maintain it and know the value of the asset they’re getting. That value’s going to come along all their lives, not only for a specific certain time or something like that. We can apply that in a transparent mode to the smart contracts where all these commitments that we’re willing to do or that we’ve been working all these years to accomplish and put out into a community that shares the same values as us will come along the way also with us forever.
It’s romantic but we believe that’s what’s going to happen. That’s how we want to build the smart contract with this transparency and perpetuity of utilities that will make the collectors enjoy it forever. They also will be able to transmit from generation to generation. It’s the same as you when you buy a Rolex and give it to your sons. That’s the collectives that we’re looking forward to putting out there in every single project that is under the name of Utopia.
Philanthropy Work: Build smart contracts with transparency and utilities that will bring enjoyment to collectors forever.
You talk about incorporating those into the DNA of the company, smart contracts and how you think about them and build them. How does it impact your day-to-day? When we talk about transparency, sometimes people throw that word around but from what you’re talking about, it sounds like it is in the DNA of everybody working within your organization, including yourself. How does that impact your day-to-day life as CEO and the decisions that you make?
I’m an open book, to be honest. That’s why all the time me knowing in my head, I’m all the time saying, “Be careful on the news you’re giving out.” I love talking about everything that is on my mind, brainstorming and sharing my ideas. I’m open-minded, especially with the people on my team. I’ve built this since my first company. I’ve been already enrolled in many companies and gone a proper exit in the previous ones. What I told everybody my key is I’m a passionate driver. I’m obsessed with what I’m doing.
I don’t know how to get committed in 50% or probably 99%. I always go 120% of my capabilities. I give my life to the products that I provide. I feel that the energy and passion that I have gets contagious among all the team members. In the end, I share with them the vision and strategy plans. I like to do all these meetings. We run a team of over 150 employees and we all got together every month where I share all the plans. Everything that is on my mind, I shouted out there while I make my commitments of my life to the project and all of them. That’s what I do.
I believe that transparency is how I try to build it from scratch from the top of the organization to every single part of the company. That’s how I do it, sharing everything and trying to make everybody see the whole picture at the same time. We believe that we are reinventing some of the things or the way to do things the same as we did in our previous experiences. We want to bring so much value to the space. The more we educate and start from the people inside our corporation, the better that we are going to be able to transmit it out there when the time arrives and that is going to be very soon.
It sounds fun. I’d love to be on one of those get-togethers. I’m assuming you have some virtual team members or maybe all virtual. How does that look when everybody gets together for those meetings? Is it a big Zoom call? Are you all in LA? What does that look like?
I’m always in between LA and Madrid. We have our headquarters in Madrid and it’s a full building called Utopia at the top. It’s home to me because we live there. Everybody is so passionate and driven about the project. On one of the floors, we got this presentation area where all the company goes. We bring by Zoom all the people that are in different parts of the world and are not in Madrid at that time. That’s how we do it. I would love to invite you to some of them but I will need you to sign an NDA before.
The transparency stays in the Utopia.
It’s all about communication. You know how it is. You have this amazing project that you accomplished to do in a year so you have those agreements but in terms of communication, I’m making people understand all the messages is very important.
It is so important to keep the team abreast of the general plan and be able to share about those things that are in process or maybe it’s going to go a little bit in this direction or that list. Let’s be fully transparent but let the team be able to know and share freely. It needs to be something that’s among the community. As an aside, being able to call yourself the Founder of Utopia, that’s a fun thing to be able to say, “I’ve founded Utopia if you’ve heard of it.”
You will see once we started releasing our projects and everything that is in both why it is the perfect name and why we believe in that perfect place that everybody can imagine or that perfect state of mind that everybody can think of in their heads. We are going to bring you to the real world somehow. It is going to make sense for everyone that Utopia exists. That’s the goal.
That’s why Utopia was the perfect name.
You know I’m a collector.
Company.
I’m going back to work.
Important Links
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@HypersignChain – Twitter
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@Utopia_W3 – Twitter
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Instagram – @Utopia_W3
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TikTok - @Utopia_W3
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@Utopia_Vgers - Instagram
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Spotify – Edge of NFT
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iTunes – Edge NFT
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@EdgeOfNFT – Twitter