yWhales
yWhales is the largest, exclusive, global leadership community aimed at shaping the business of Web3 to create a better human experience shared by all. Communities: We’re a community of successful business leaders with a common interest in technology that has the potential to improve our world. Solutions: We support business leaders in understanding how digital transformation will improve their businesses and lives. This is the next phase of digital transformation, not a complete shift in how we do business. Ventures: Web3 is an opportunity for us to help create safer global commerce and, in some cases, a more equal playing field. That’s why we’re ready to deploy capital in supporting founders & businesses that are working to build the next wave of digitization to improve the way we all live, work, and play Labs: We’re building the future that we hope to see – by building with the most talented teams in Web3, our speed, and quality are second to none.
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Episodes
Thursday Feb 03, 2022
Thursday Feb 03, 2022
In this episode, Stephen Pair, CEO of BitPay speaks to the yWhales team. Stephen discusses how BitPay helps individuals manage and spend Bitcoin with the BitPay App as well as turn Bitcoin into dollars with BitPay’s Prepaid Mastercard. He also shares his thoughts on various topics within the space, including Shiba, Dogecoin and who he thinks Satoshi might be.
About Guests
Stephen Pair is the Co-Founder and CEO at BitPay. He was previously the CTO at BitPay after working as a senior software engineer and development manager at IBM. He has over 20 years of experience building software systems in the financial and telecommunications industries. He has held various roles including entrepreneur, architect, manager, team lead, and developer.
You’ll learn about:
How Stephen got into the Bitcoin space
What motivated him to start thinking about building a company in the space and what was the original thesis
Stephen’s thoughts on Satoshi and Proof of Work
How BitPay limits risks for businesses and how its all about payments
BitPay stats and fees
Stephen’s thoughts on the current state of the space and future outlook
Resources:
Connect with Stephen Pair: LinkedIn
Connect with YWhales: Website | BitClout | Twitter
BitPay: Website | Twitter | LinkedIn | Developer Tools
Timestamps
[00:59] Stephen’s first exposure to Bitcoin and how he got into the space
[07:46] What motivated Stephen to think about building a company in the space
[11:20] What was the original thesis
[14:55] Stephen’s thoughts on who Satoshi might be
[??:??] Proof of Work, mining capacity and vulnerabilities of different blockchains
[27:38] Why POW is better than POS
[29:??] BitPay limits risks for businesses and is all about payments
[35:50] Educating customers
[37:58] Shiba and Dogecoin
[42:45] BitPay stats and fees
[47:44] Banks are getting competition from DeFi
[53:11] The current state of the space and future outlook
[58:01] Stoner Cats
DISCLAIMER: yWhales is not affiliated with YPO but at this time only allow for YPO, YPO Gold, and YNG members due to privacy & confidentiality. Support and production for today’s episode was done by Truth Work Media. Nothing in the podcast constitutes professional and/or financial advice, nor does any information on the podcast constitute a comprehensive or complete statement of the matters discussed or the law relating thereto.
Tuesday Feb 01, 2022
Tuesday Feb 01, 2022
Tegan Kline, co-founder and business lead, joins the yWhales team to discuss Edge & Node, a software development company founded by the core protocol team behind The Graph. The company creates and supports protocols and dApps that empower individuals and move humanity forward. Tegan discusses more on what The Graph does and shares her thoughts on Web3, where she thinks we are on adoption and what pieces are needed to align Web3 to the mainstream.
About Guests
Tegan Kline is the Co-Founder and Business Lead at Edge & Node. She was previously the business lead at The Graph and the International Business Development Manager and OXT Relations at Orchid. Her slogan is “Do no harm. Take no bull. Change the World.”
You’ll learn about:
The technology behind Edge & Node
How the Graph works and how its a public good and permissionless
The War on Web3, where we are on adoption and what pieces are needed to align for Web3 to be mainstream
What Tegan thinks is the defining moment for Web3 and how community is extremely important
How to get involved in the Web3 space
The multi-chain future
Bank adoption and how banks can get involved
Resources:
Connect with Tegan Kline: Website | LinkedIn | Twitter
Connect with YWhales: Website | BitClout | Twitter
Edge & Node: Website | Twitter | LinkedIn | Medium
The Graph: Website | Twitter
Timestamps
[01:10] Tegan’s background and how she got into the Web3
[06:29] How the Graph works
[14:45] Where are we in terms of Web3 adoption
[18:21] What pieces are needed to align Web3 for mainstream
[22:09] The rapid pace of the Web3 space
[23:49] About Edge & Node
[26:23] The defining moment for Web3
[34:14] What countries are adopting Web3 and blockchain technology
[37:23] How to get involved in the Web3 space
[42:46] How Tegan does no harm
[47:51] The multi-chain future
[51:44] Forbes 30 under 30
[52:39] Bank adoption and how banks can get involved
[59:22] Crypto gives people a fresh start
[1:00:27] What are Tegan is excited about
[1:03:56] Solving rights and scalability issues
[1:05:41] If Tegan is an NFTs person
[1:09:46] How to contact Tegan
DISCLAIMER: yWhales is not affiliated with YPO but at this time only allow for YPO, YPO Gold, and YNG members due to privacy & confidentiality. Support and production for today’s episode was done by Truth Work Media. Nothing in the podcast constitutes professional and/or financial advice, nor does any information on the podcast constitute a comprehensive or complete statement of the matters discussed or the law relating thereto.
Sunday Jan 30, 2022
Sunday Jan 30, 2022
The yWhales team speaks with Darren Smorgon, the Co-Founder of Polemos, a GameFi platform with guild elements. Polemos aims to become a leading decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) focusing on a variety of crucial and visionary services within the GameFi space. Darren speaks more in-depth on Polemos and what differentiates them from other gaming development.
About Guests
Darren Smorgon is the Co-Founder at Polemos and Managing Director of Sandbar Investments, a Sydney based family office. Prior to that, Darren was a Director, member of the advisory board and partner at CHAMP Private Equity. He has been actively involved in crypto since 2015 and has a broad portfolio of initially seed stage investments, fund manager investments and direct coins. He Co-Founded Polemos in Mid 2021.
You’ll learn about:
Darren’s first exposure to Web3 technology
What is Polemos and how it differs
How seed investing in crypto differs
How a Web3 reckoning is coming and where the space currently is
What Darren is currently excited about
Resources:
Connect with Darren Smorgon: LinkedIn
Connect with YWhales: Website | BitClout | Twitter
Polemos: Website | Twitter | Medium | Discord | Twitch | YouTube
Timestamps
[01:05] Darren’s background and first exposure to Web3 technology
[05:33] Seed investing in crypto
[08:15] A Web3 reckoning is coming and where the space currently is
[13:26] Polemos and play to earn gaming development
[20:11] What differentiates Polemos
[26:34] Projects/games that are looking at/investing in + differentiators
[32:14] Changing the value of NFTs
[37:15] The Polemos token
[47:20] Darren’s relationship with his dad
[49:03] Web3 is defined by openness
[53:02] What Darren is excited about
[1:00:55] Where to learn more about Polemos
DISCLAIMER: yWhales is not affiliated with YPO but at this time only allow for YPO, YPO Gold, and YNG members due to privacy & confidentiality. Support and production for today’s episode was done by Truth Work Media. Nothing in the podcast constitutes professional and/or financial advice, nor does any information on the podcast constitute a comprehensive or complete statement of the matters discussed or the law relating thereto.
Thursday Jan 27, 2022
Thursday Jan 27, 2022
In this episode, the yWhales team speaks with Alvin Wang Graylin, China President of HTC. Alvin brings a hardware manufacturer’s perspective and shares what HTC does and the products that are currently available in the market. He shares how he thinks the world can move more towards the digital space and how HTC hosts internal meetings and conferences in VR. He also talks about what excites him in Web3.
About Guests
Alvin Wang Graylin is the China President at HTC, leading all aspects of HTC’s business in the region (Vive/VR, phone, content platform, partnerships and investments) and the company’s SW business globally. He is also currently Vice-Chairman of the Industry of Virtual Reality Alliance, President of the $18B Virtual Reality Venture Capital Alliance and oversees the Vive X VR Accelerators in Beijing, Shenzhen and Tel Aviv. He has over 28 years of management experience in the tech industry, including 20 years in Greater China.
You’ll learn about:
How Alvin got into Web3 and where he thinks we currently are in the space
How the world can move more towards the digital space, what is the holy grail to live in the virtual world and metaverse and what is missing that is causing a hold up today
What would it take to capture the real world in VR
What is HTC, Pro 2 and other products available in the market
How HTC hosts internal meetings and conferences in VR
What Alvin is excited about in Web3
Resources:
Connect with Alvin Wang Graylin: Twitter
Connect with YWhales: Website | BitClout | Twitter
HTC: Website | Twitter
HTC Vive: Twitter | YouTube
Timestamps
[02:00] How Alvin entered into Web3
[06:50] Where we currently are in the space
[15:20] Moving the world to digital and what is the holy grail
[21:52] What virtual work will look like and what’s causing the holdup
[28:18] Vision: the resolution our eyes sees and the actual field of view
[31:49] What it would take to capture real world
[38:34] HTC and what’s available in the market
[43:34] Pro 2
[47:02] Internal meetings and conferences in VR
[52:33] First company in the world to launch commercial blockchain phone
[55:11] Creating the infrastructure platform for the Metaverse
[56:48] Events in the metaverse
[59:34] What Alvin is excited about in Web3
[1:06:49] Live to Earn
[1:13:47] Use case: traveling
DISCLAIMER: yWhales is not affiliated with YPO but at this time only allow for YPO, YPO Gold, and YNG members due to privacy & confidentiality. Support and production for today’s episode was done by Truth Work Media. Nothing in the podcast constitutes professional and/or financial advice, nor does any information on the podcast constitute a comprehensive or complete statement of the matters discussed or the law relating thereto.
Wednesday Jan 26, 2022
Wednesday Jan 26, 2022
In this episode, the yWhales team speaks with Jessica Billingsley, Founder, CEO & Board Chair at Akerna Corp. She is an accomplished innovator, executive, and board member in the international technology sector. In 2018, Billingsley founded Akerna, an enterprise software company that has created a global technology ecosystem for cannabis.
About Guests
Jessica Billingsley has been running tech companies since she was 22 and grew up with entrepreneurial parents. She graduated college at the end of the dot com boom. She first heard about bitcoin in 2012 and opened up a Coinbase account. As she began to understand the difference between crypto and blockchain she invested in a cannabis company. After investing the company asked her to pick the software and in response she invented Akerna.
You’ll learn about:
Jessica’s background
The Cannabis industry
Jay’s background
Jessica’s family
Where Akerna is currently
The Feudal system
Early adopters in in blockchain tech
The evolution of Akerna
Theories behind Web3
The future of Akerna
Resources:
Connect with Jessica Billingsley: LinkedIn | Website
Connect with YWhales: Website | BitClout | Twitter
Timestamps
[02:05] Jessica’s background with crypto
[05:10] Why Jessica invested in the cannabis industry
[07:24] The early years of Akerna
[09:15] The next dot com era
[21:17] Jessica’s family business
[24:06] TCPI
[31:09] The feudal system
[32:15] The rise of tech giants
[36:27] What is the blockchain?
[39:44] The future of Web3
[44:06] Stable coins and bank adoption
[45:45] Will the cannabis industry adopt blockchain applications?
[51:03] Referral fees
[54:04] The Metaverse
DISCLAIMER: yWhales is not affiliated with YPO but at this time only allow for YPO, YPO Gold, and YNG members due to privacy & confidentiality. Support and production for today’s episode was done by Truth Work Media. Nothing in the podcast constitutes professional and/or financial advice, nor does any information on the podcast constitute a comprehensive or complete statement of the matters discussed or the law relating thereto.
Friday Jan 21, 2022
Friday Jan 21, 2022
James Eisenberg, Chief Investment Officer and Managing Partner at Interblock Capital Partners, speaks with the yWhales team about the crypto and blockchain space today. Interblock Capital Partners is focused on the global opportunity in blockchain technology and consists of software projects, protocols, and new platforms in a variety of sectors and geographies. James shares how he got into the space and what’s exciting and interesting to him today. He also discusses the challenges he faced working in Web 1.0 and 2.0 and compares it to what Web 3.0 is facing today.
About Guest
James Eisenberg is the Chief Investment Officer and Managing Partner at Interblock Capital Partners. He is a tech entrepreneur, founding and running his own ventures in the US and India, since 2003. As a 25-year Silicon Valley veteran software executive, James has significant experience across all facets of enterprise software design, development, service and sales.
You’ll learn about:
James’ background in the crypto and blockchain space
What he’s excited about in this space and what’s interesting to him today
The challenges he faced in Web 1.0 and 2.0 compared to what Web 3.0 is facing today.
How the company approaches L1 investments
Resources:
Connect with James Eisenberg: LinkedIn
Connect with YWhales: Website | BitClout | Twitter
Interblock Capital Partners: Website | LinkedIn | Twitter | Medium
Timestamps
[01:01] Background on how James found the crypto/blockchain space
[02:05] Challenges he has seen compared to Web 3.0 today
[06:29] Where they’re focused on the investment side
[11:57] What it looks like in James’ mind with the different blockchains
[21:09] How they approach L1 investments
[27:02] The concept of network value
[30:06] James’ thoughts on Heath and Ethereum
[33:17] What is Interblock Capital Partners
[38:32] How to contact James
DISCLAIMER: yWhales is not affiliated with YPO but at this time only allow for YPO, YPO Gold, and YNG members due to privacy & confidentiality. Support and production for today’s episode was done by Truth Work Media. Nothing in the podcast constitutes professional and/or financial advice, nor does any information on the podcast constitute a comprehensive or complete statement of the matters discussed or the law relating thereto.
Tuesday Jan 18, 2022
Tuesday Jan 18, 2022
Christophe Lassuyt chats with the yWhales team about Request Network, an open network for payment requests, allowing anyone to create, store, and access invoices in a universal, decentralized network. Transactions on Request Network are immutably recorded, and requests are processed without an intermediary. Companies and individuals pay and get paid in digital currencies of many payment networks, including Ethereum, ERC20s, Polygon, Celo, Fantom, and Near.
Christophe talks about how he co-founded Request Network and how the network is used. He also discusses what the company is currently working on and the challenges they’ve come across to make it happen.
About Guest
Christophe Lassuyt is the Co-Founder at Request Network. He has been involved in Fintech and Blockchain for a few years, including co-founding Request Finance and MONEYTIS. He was previously the Chief Financial Officer and Productivity Management at Virtua SA and Chief Financial Officer at Euranka.
You’ll learn about:
How he founded his company, Request Network
What is Request Network
How Request Network is used
The roadmap they are working and the challenges to make that happen
What Christophe has seen in crypto that’s really cool
Resources:
Connect with Christophe Lassuyt: LinkedIn
Connect with YWhales: Website | BitClout | Twitter
Request Network: Website | LinkedIn | Discord | Github | Twitter | Blog
Timestamps
[00:46] His earliest exposure to the blockchain and cyruptop currency
[02:09] Co-founding his company, Request Network
[03:02] What is Request Network
[05:17] A walk through of how Request Network is used
[11:24] What chain is it active on
[14:16] The biggest challenge they have today
[20:39] What Christophe is seeing in crypto
[23:33] Christophe’s final comments
DISCLAIMER: yWhales is not affiliated with YPO but at this time only allow for YPO, YPO Gold, and YNG members due to privacy & confidentiality. Support and production for today’s episode was done by Truth Work Media. Nothing in the podcast constitutes professional and/or financial advice, nor does any information on the podcast constitute a comprehensive or complete statement of the matters discussed or the law relating thereto.
Thursday Jan 13, 2022
Thursday Jan 13, 2022
Paul Rogash, Founder and CEO, and Scott Parry, CFO, speak with the yWhales team about BetU, a sports, esports and crypto betting platform that is secured by smart contracts and powered by the BetU token. Paul and Scott share the company’s origin story, their approach in building the platform and their implementation structure. They also discuss the tokenomics behind the BETU utility token, which is the sole form of currency to be used within all BetU platforms.
About Guests
Paul Rogash is the Founder and CEO of BetU. He is an experienced entrepreneur and founded and sold MachineSales.com, Escalated Advertising and Lawyers SEO. His contract marketing roles in crypto saw projects increase 30x & 20x in 3 months. Paul has a BBA in Entrepreneurship at Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology.
Scott Parry is the CFO for BetU. He was CEO of Crown Money Management, Australia’s leading money management company, for 19 years, and he was regularly featured in Australian media providing debt reduction advice and money coaching to consumers and businesses.
You’ll learn about:
Where the idea for BetU came from and what is their implementation structure
How they built the platform from concept to launch
The bookmaker side vs the peer-to-peer side
The tokenomics and how they will help people understand it
Why they went with a public sale instead of a VC fundraiser and what is their acquisition strategy
How they are managing the KYC (Know Your Customer) requirement
What it means to be a whale holder
Where they project they will need to be within six month of their launch
Resources:
Connect with Scott Parry: LinkedIn
Connect with Paul Rogash: LinkedIn
Connect with YWhales: Website | BitClout | Twitter
BetU: Website | Twitter | Instagram | YouTube | Reddit | Telegram
Betfair
Sportradar
BetU White Paper
Timestamps
[00:58] Meet Paul and Scott
[02:03] Where the idea came from
[03:58] The implementation structure
[09:34] How the technical team built the platforms
[11:20] The bookmaker side vs peer-to-peer side
[15:38] Building the platform and fundraising strategy
[24:31] The tokenomics, Processing bets and fees
[37:04] Public sale vs VC fundraising
[41:50] How they manage KYC
[49:59] What it means to be a whale holder
[51:57] Projections for the next six month after launch
[56:11] Their NFT platform and other final thoughts
DISCLAIMER: yWhales is not affiliated with YPO but at this time only allow for YPO, YPO Gold, and YNG members due to privacy & confidentiality. Support and production for today’s episode was done by Truth Work Media. Nothing in the podcast constitutes professional and/or financial advice, nor does any information on the podcast constitute a comprehensive or complete statement of the matters discussed or the law relating thereto.
Wednesday Jan 12, 2022
Wednesday Jan 12, 2022
Aymeric V. Bruneau joins the yWhales team to discuss Vizidox (VDX) Blockchain Solutions, a Plug & Play API that empowers developers to easily leverage the benefits of blockchain so they can build revolutionary applications. VDX aims to bridge the gap between real-world applications and blockchain benefits by building applications such as VDXsign and VDXid.
Aymeric, Business Development Executive at VDX, talks about VDX’s approach to turn any portal, website, and application into a blockchain-powered house.
About Guest
Aymeric V. Bruneau is the Business Development Executive at Vizidox (VDX) Blockchain Solutions. Aymeric has extensive business development and sales experience in investment banking, capital markets, financial services and Fintech (Blockchain, AI, Big Data & Cloud). He previously was Executive Director at Fort Capital Solutions and worked in Partnerships at Razlin Capital and Strategic Partnerships & Business Development at Tokenize Stock Exchange.
You’ll learn about:
What is VDX, how VDX start and VDX’s approach
What is VDX’s vision
What is VDX aims to build
How companies use VDX
How VDXsign, VDXid and VDXit works
Using blockchain in the music Industry
Top 3 things a metaverse will need to be successful
Resources:
Connect with Aymeric V. Bruneau: LinkedIn | Crunchbase
Connect with YWhales: Website | BitClout | Twitter
VDX: Website | LinkedIn | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | Crunchbase | Medium
CryptoPunks
Hashmasks
Divine Anarchy
Timestamps
[01:25] How Aymeric got into blockchain
[05:52] How VDX started
[07:24] The journey from Web 1.0 and where we are today
[13:27] VDX today and the solutions they’re trying to solve
[19:30] VDX use cases
[22:08] How VDXsign works
[28:51] VDXit and Premier League Futbol Club
[35:05] Blockchain in the music industry
[41:13] How companies use VDX and how the API works
[47:42] How VDX manages their transactions
[51:00] How VDXid works
[55:44] What is VDX’s vision
[1:00:44] What excites Aymeric
[1:04:39] Top three things a metaverse has to have to be successful
[1:09:04] Projects he thinks will continue to grow in value
[1:13:48] Aymeric’s final thoughts and how to contact him
DISCLAIMER: yWhales is not affiliated with YPO but at this time only allow for YPO, YPO Gold, and YNG members due to privacy & confidentiality. Support and production for today’s episode was done by Truth Work Media. Nothing in the podcast constitutes professional and/or financial advice, nor does any information on the podcast constitute a comprehensive or complete statement of the matters discussed or the law relating thereto.
Wednesday Jan 12, 2022
Wednesday Jan 12, 2022
Summary
Ron and Sue, founders of MuseWorks, join the show to discuss how they’re bringing Broadway to Web 3.0. It’s been a challenging time for the broadway industry since the pandemic hit. With constant closures and Covid outbreaks, every show has been a gamble. Moreover, as an industry, it has struggled with scaling in the past 20 years. MuseWorks is set on helping the Broadway industry scale and transforming its economics so that everyone benefits.
It will leverage the power of NFTs to connect creators and the theater community digitally in a way that everybody wins. Tune in to learn how MuseWorks introduces a new use case for NFTs, the intuitive eCommerce experience it aims to create, and its plan to change how Broadway actors get paid.
About Guest
Ron Guirgius is an entrepreneur and business leader. He is the Co-Founder of Blockchange and The Convergence Collective.
Sue Gilad is a broadway baby and multiple Tony Award winning theatre producer. she is the Co-Producer at Moulin Rouge and Co-Founder of Custom Broadway.
Together, as partners, they have established MuseWorks.
You’ll learn about:
How the pandemic has affected the broadway industry in the last two years.
How NFTs can be utilized to revolutionize the broadway industry and help it scale.
How MuseWorks will build a community of broadway enthusiasts who also are also interested in collecting NFTs.
How NFTs can be used to help finance and build momentum for new Broadway shows.
How NFTs will enable actors to receive royalties (rather than just being paid a salary).
Resources:
Connect with Sue Gilad: LinkedIn
Connect with Ron Guirgius: LinkedIn
Connect with YWhales: Website | BitClout | Twitter
Timestamps
[01:02] Who is Ron Guigius?
[03:02] Who is Sue Gilad?
[05:34] Is broadway in a golden age or in a slump?
[07:44] How MuseWorks was born.
[08:59] Broadway before the pandemic vs. after the pandemic.
[10:06] What is MuseWorks?
[12:56] How buying theater merch and buying theater NFTs collide.
[16:24] MuseWorks’ development progress.
[18:07] What actors and producers think of MuseWorks.
[20:15] Copyrights for Broadway NFTs: what would Broadway NFT owners actually own?
[21:10] How NFTs will change how Broadway actors get paid.
[24:20] MuseWork’s roadmap for the next 18 months (2022-2023).
DISCLAIMER: yWhales is not affiliated with YPO but at this time only allow for YPO, YPO Gold, and YNG members due to privacy & confidentiality. Support and production for today’s episode was done by Truth Work Media. Nothing in the podcast constitutes professional and/or financial advice, nor does any information on the podcast constitute a comprehensive or complete statement of the matters discussed or the law relating thereto.
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