The world of technology is venturing into uncharted territory. It feels a lot like the late ’90s out there, where a collective effort pushed online experiences into new realms of efficiency and effectiveness. Now, on the cusp of Web 3, interoperability and participatory culture are well established. Consumer demand is rising for something new.
Technology solves a lot of the world’s problems and has the potential to do so in ways that affect everyone on the globe. That’s what Web 3 is about: a boundary-less multiverse of endless possibilities and an upgrade into new territories of human-machine cooperation. Five companies are at the forefront of these efforts, occupying space and furthering ambitious missions in different sectors.
AUSTIN, TEXAS – MARCH 16: Swan Sit speaks onstage at ‘Web3 is Coming! Navigating the Past, Present, … [+]
Above Board Gaming in the Metaverse
Perhaps the best-developed component of the internet of the future comes in gaming, with entertainment happening every day in the metaverse. This is a space where many business leaders see growth potential, and those with an eye to the realities of Web 3 are already imagining what kind of business can be won or conducted in alternate realities.
Highstreet is the company that’s bridging the physical and digital world. The platform was built natively with blockchain technology and Unity, enabling brands to effortlessly launch in the metaverse. While digital assets have been taking mainstream media by storm, “Phygital” products might be the nearer future for most of us. The value of a sweater that keeps you warm during the winter but also comes with a digital clone that gives you magical powers in a video game is a lot easier to understand than a pure JPEG.
The man behind the magic is Travis Wu, Highstreet founder who spins the right narrative for business in the metaverse, explaining that “Building a metaverse requires a balance between designers and engineers; specialists in both fields are often quite idealistic and stubborn in their own ways. To effectively bridge the two without compromising either, the leadership must emphasize on the player and game narrative rather than the business directive. While maximizing profit motivates investors, a good story motivates everybody.”
This type of customer-centricity, even while understanding and supporting the business potential in the metaverse, encapsulates the ethos of Web 3. If Web 2 paved the way to uphold the end-user, Web 3 puts that user on the throne, catering to their every need and reducing any friction in the process.
Travis Wu understands that there is a predictable adoption curve for new technology, and the metaverse is no exception. Here’s the horizon he envisions: “The future of blockchain as it stands today can go either way,” he says. “Like the old west, today’s landscape is filled with outlaws, misfits, and uncertainty. In the hands of responsible developers, it is an opportunity to begin again, take what is broken in Web 2 and fix it through Web 3.”
Wu issues a word of caution, though, “If left unchecked, the natural tendency for humanity to misbehave behind a wall of anonymity will destroy the frontier before it even gets a chance to mature.” Nevertheless, Wu sees entertainment within the metaverse as full of potential as a revenue driver for companies of all kinds. That is, if it effectively serves the end-user, and encourages transparency, solid principles of practice, and catalyzes operational excellence.
AUSTIN, TEXAS – MARCH 12: Attendee experiencing the Metaverse during the 2022 SXSW Conference and … [+]
“Enabling Technology” for a People-Centered Web 3
We are seeing an emerging trend in which Web 3 is people-centered, a principle that competent leaders already understand. This customer-centricity starts from within, a dynamic championed by Steve Ip, founder of Conductive. He explains that “a successful team is all about synchronicity. It’s not about who is specifically good at a certain skill set, such as having the BEST engineer or UX designer, but how each team member can multiply everyone else’s efforts by tenfold. Especially at the early stage, this team dynamic is critical for the exponential growth needed to escape the great filter of many failed startups. There is no room for error.”
This team management style is in play at Conductive, which provides marketing automation tools for developers building Web 3. The company is providing infrastructure for everything from token utility to product analytics to user acquisition. By leveraging publicly available data on-chain in the open Web 3 network, they can offer companies the ability to process wallet activities to improve a first-time or long-time user experience. An easily integrated tool suite is the first of its kind to facilitate a dependable and much-needed developer haven in the new webspace.
Even with such a horizon gaze, Ip is aware that the future requires specific positioning and plenty of margins. He puts it this way: “The future has unlimited permutations. By building the tools that enable developers to build their own direction without limitation, we are not leaving anything on the table and missing big opportunities. Always trust the developers because they are the rockets that reach the moon. We’re here to make sure that we can be the rocket fuel. And you always bring rocket fuel with you.”
What he’s created is an “enabling technology,” powering tasks and interactions in the digital world. This has the added benefit of simplifying developer experiences so that the average developer won’t need to spend needless hours learning extra things about the Web 3 infrastructure. Instead, they can simply focus on building their own project, while Conductive focuses on smoothing out their trajectory.
Finding Talent to Build Web 3
Who’s building Web 3? While there are entrenched, high-powered technologists and field experts, there are also a lot of specialists undertaking the task of architecting in Web 3 and the metaverse. Sourcing this talent becomes a challenge for leaders who want to be instrumental in what’s next online.
That’s where another innovator comes in. Tudor Stomff founded a company called HYVE with the express purpose of connecting qualified freelance talent to the companies that need it. This includes people who live, eat, breathe, and sleep, the types of skills that will build the next Web.
HYVE is itself a blockchain-based platform that enables freelancers and companies to safely work together through escrowed payments, and Stomff is well aware that diversity is key to their success. The platform makes it easy for companies to work with talented freelancers located worldwide, many of whom are blockchain experts, crypto degens, or have hyper-specialized skills that are essential to constructing new tools for Web 3.
HYVE removes many of the barriers companies face in recruiting a diverse workforce from around the world. With dozens of different accepted payment methods and four different integrated blockchains where users can have their task, HYVE is a technical marvel when you remember that it’s actually a decentralized app, because it behaves just like the normal apps we have all been used to, for example, Facebook. Both internally and externally, inclusion is the name of the game, as leaders at HYVE recognize that the potential applications for their technology are virtually limitless.
According to Stomff, HYVE is always looking for future integrations through partnerships, increasing the scalability of the platform, and stimulating adoption. Our partners range from metaverse and decentralized gaming projects to DeFi protocols and PoS solutions, highlighting HYVE’s immense utility and versatility within the Web space. HYVE has created a community-driven ecosystem that continues to grow with each passing day.
The diversity of the people both behind the product, as well as an open invitation to a diverse user base, makes HYVE a prime meeting spot for talented individuals and the companies that want to hire them. So the question now becomes, what’s the next step for Upwork and other centralized competitors; are they going to rebuild their entire infrastructure, or is it already too late?
Purposeful Crypto Use on Web 3
TabTrader provides a trading terminal for crypto exchanges. This makes it easy for Web 3 users to trade cryptocurrencies anywhere at any time. It’s an essential solution for the disparity of crypto exchanges, which historically required the user to switch in between apps and accounts. By unifying the interface, it represents another way in which future technology is making it easier for people to live, work, and play online. The company already has 400,000 active users and pulls data from 30 crypto exchanges. It’s achieved this success so far in part thanks to the leadership of founder Kirill Suslov.
He explains that enthusiasm and emerging technologies are just one way to garner buy-in, especially among tech-oriented teams: “Highly skilled developers like a visionary leader, who has his own view of the future and a path toward this bright future. Every team member needs to feel a cult-like atmosphere and start believing in the mission of the company in order to make correct decisions without direct guidance.”
Purpose-built products are embedded in the norms of cryptocurrencies, as well as the contexts in which tokens are bought or sold. It’s important that diversity is championed as thought leaders forge into new places. Suslov gets this, and takes it a step further: “We promote diversity of ideas, when the best idea wins. We have an advantage of being able to question everything, because we only work with smart and open-minded people who respect and trust each other.”
The people-centricity of Web 3 isn’t just about the end user but about the people building the thing itself. Many leaders in finance pushing for innovation in Web 3 are risk-takers, ready to go all-in and push hard for progress. Suslov’s measured approach indicates a healthy balance, where all ideas are accepted and the best ideas win. He acknowledges with optimism that a plausible case can be made for the future of finance being blockchain-based. If it happens, it will be because leaders like him are at the helm.
The Future of Food in the Real World
In a totally different sector, some of the original parties in blockchain technology are working to solve problems in the real world with Web 3-friendly strategies. Jon Trask has been an innovator in this space for decades and carries an impressive track record of success in scaling businesses and applying sophisticated technology. He is bringing this acumen to a startup called Dimitra. Dimitra is an agriculture technology platform funded by crypto. Using the $DMTR token, Trask and his team of experts are deploying agtech tools to support smallholder farmers around the world and are already in over 70 countries.
In this alone, Trask faces an unusual leadership dynamic: “Balancing teams of agricultural technologists with app designers and software developers has its own unique challenges. Great people are the key to success and running highly diverse teams has brought incredible value to the design and development process. We wouldn’t be as successful without diverse teams” Dimitra already has active partnerships with government agencies worldwide, which makes the diversity component mission-critical for the company.
The company is harnessing the power of blockchain and crypto to create truly useful tools that support food production around the world. It’s the ultimate picture of high tech and real life, and only made possible because Trask operates in a purpose-driven way: “I personally look at this technique as innovating with purpose, innovating to solve a problem but having a clear vision of what outcome we are trying to achieve.” He urges other leaders working toward Web 3 with this directive, “We need to leave room for research, ideation and repetition in our discovery and development process. Balancing innovation and cost is sometimes a challenge but we need to invest and plan for innovation in today’s Web 3 world.”
In his words, “Blockchain plays a key role in the systems and platforms of the future. Over the past few years we’ve started to uncover where blockchain fits into a developer’s toolbox and this has led to the evolving area of Web 3.”
The Power of Tomorrow Starts Today
Web 3 will be full of value from an amalgam of technologies, including machine learning, IoT, data analytics, and more. Delivering these to the end-user in a way that is so effortless, so easy, and optimally efficient is the driving force behind leading innovations in this space. Leading into the future of new online structures and experiences won’t be easy, but purposeful, passionate, mission-driven leaders are already achieving it every day.
