Episode 70: Web3 Technologies & the Gartner Hype Cycle - Why Small Business Owners Should Be Thinking Ahead Ft. Becks Perfect
GUEST:
Becks Perfect is the Founder of Nifty World, an educational resource on YouTube for both collectors and creators of NFTs and those interested in the wider Web3 space. It is also a future Metaverse Media Consultancy helping Web2 brands launch within Web3. Becks has been a broadcaster for over a decade working in tech, film and entertainment, and she uses her broadcast skills to interview top creators and thought leaders in the space, also providing investment analysis and tutorials to help folks start their journey into Web3. Becks is Co-Founder of The Sidechain, a brand new platform for Web3 and AI education, especially for founders and freelancers. Through courses and downloadable resources as part of The Sidechain community, its aim is to make the next iteration of the internet super simple, easy to understand, and help futureproof businesses for what's next!
Having started her career representing major broadcast clients such as Sony Broadcast and Fremantle Media as a PR Executive for Ogilvy and Mather, Becks progressed into broadcast journalism and was the resident Film Critic for the BBC Asian Network and TalkRADIO for over five years. She has been a film and tech pundit for Sky News, ITV, BBC Radio 1, Channel 5 News, Weekend on ITV and The Saturday Show. Becks remains a Tech Expert on QVC and the Film, TV and Tech reporter for TalkSPORT with Paul Ross.
LISTENER BONUS!
From Becks Perfect…
“The Sidechain is a Web3 and AI education platform for Founders and Freelancers helping to give them an unfair advantage with emerging technologies. We're super proud to be featured on From the Blockchain, and this code gives the user a $50 discount off the full price of our Futureproof Foundations course when the cart opens. The course gives you an A-Z on all things Web3 and AI and the practical steps needed to integrate these technologies into your business strategy.”
To participate in this exclusive From The Blockchain x The Sidechain promo*, head over to thesidechain.co and use…
Discount Code: BLOCKCHAIN50
*available when the website cart opens.
“The builders of today are the unicorns of tomorrow.”
THE EPISODE:
Becks Perfect shares why it’s time to demystify sensationalised headlines and shed light on the forward momentum of Web3. Companies like Starbucks, Adidas, and Bored Ape Yacht Club are building innovative programs and full-scale businesses, and while current public sentiment around NFTs and crypto may be bearish, she suggests now is the perfect time for solopreneurs and small business owners to position themselves ahead of the pack. Looking at historical patterns of real technological innovation, user expectations, practical implementation, and productivity, Becks refers to the Gartner Hype Cycle and draws parallels between the evolution, growth, and gradual development of Web2 adoption to that of Web3. Facing real world challenges, blockchain and NFT technologies are in a phase of disillusionment, but maturation is happening and Becks suggests, enlightenment is just around the corner.
LINKS + RESOURCES
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LINKS + RESOURCES |
GUEST: Becks Perfect
LinkedIn
Twitter
GUEST COMPANY: The Sidechain
Website
Instagram
GUEST COMPANY: Nifty World
YouTube
EPISODE LINKS & RESOURCES:
REFERENCED
NFT Marketplaces: SuperRare, OpenSea, Foundation
NFT Projects: Doodles, Deadfellaz, Boss Beauties, World of Women, Bored Ape Yacht Club, Cool Cats
Adidas Three Stripes Studio (or /// Studio) and “ALTS by Adidas”
Starbucks Odyssey (blockchain loyalty program)
Axie Infinity (web3 game, virtual world, NFTs, marketplace)
HV-MTL Forge (Yuga Labs and Bored Ape Yacht Club web3 game)
“What is Bitcoin?” (very good video explanation Ashley mentioned)
Learn more about the Gartner Hype Cycle
What does it mean to “burn an NFT” and why might one do it?
What is a blockchain “gas fee”?
FURTHER LISTENING
Lauren Ingram - APPLE | SPOTIFY (From The Blockchain ep. 68 | Becks’ Co-Founder “The Sidechain”)
Adam Brotman - APPLE | SPOTIFY (From The Blockchain ep. 64 | Launched Starbucks’ web3 loyalty program)
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*NOTE: The transcript below does not include opening teaser and intro in time stamps. Begins at beginning of the interview… powered by AI (so may not be 100% accurate).
Ashley Smith (00:01.578)
Hello everybody, welcome back to the show. I am so excited for today's episode and another wonderful guest. Today, the person I'm speaking to is someone that I had the privilege to connect with very early, early days in terms of my Web3 journey. I'm talking about Bex Perfect. She has such a strong presence in the Web3 world and is doing a lot of really, really cool things.
I'm going to give you a little bit of background about Bex and why she's so phenomenal. And I want to make sure that you find her and follow her and follow everything she's working on. So who is Bex? Bex is the founder of Nifty World, an educational resource on YouTube for both collectors and creators of NFTs and those interested in the wider Web3 space. It is also a future metaverse media consultancy helping to support Web2 brands launched within Web3.
The aim of Nifty World is to make web three easy for everyone to understand. And Bex uses her broadcast skills to interview top creators and thought leaders in the space, as well as providing investment analysis and tutorials to help anyone looking to start their journey into the world of web three. Now they, she is working on some really cool stuff now, uh, moving forward. And this is a really great time for us to be launching this episode. So alongside Nifty World, Bex is also the co-founder of the side chain.
a brand new platform for Web3 and AI education, especially for founders and freelancers. Through courses and downloadable resources as part of the side chain community, its aim is to make the next iteration of the internet super simple, easy to understand and help future-proof businesses for what's next. Let's take a little look back at Beck's career. Beck's has been a broadcaster for over a decade working in film.
tech and entertainment. Having started her career representing major broadcast clients such as Sony broadcast, she then progressed into broadcast journalism and was the resident film critic for the BBC, Asian network and talk radio for over five years. Bex has been a film and tech pundit for Sky News, BBC, Radio One and other networks. She remains a tech expert on QVC and the film TV and tech reporter for Talk Sport with Paul Ross.
Ashley Smith (02:14.838)
And she also happens to be a new mom managing it all. And I think it's funny because we have such a similar timeline, I think, in our Web3 journey and in our journey of motherhood. So a little bit of a little soul sister here. Bex, welcome to the show. Thank you so much for being on From the Blockchain.
Becks (02:19.246)
I'm gonna go.
Becks (02:34.418)
Oh, Ashley, thank you so much for having me. And what an introduction. I mean, you basically told my life story.
Ashley Smith (02:40.932)
Well, you made it easy. I always appreciate it. I think context for our guests matters. I think when we're talking about the nascent technology and things where there's been a lot of hype, it's important to know there's smart people with real professional careers who have taken the time out of their lives to deep dive into what's next and understand their why. And especially right now, why still? Why are you still here? So.
Maybe let's talk a little bit about that before we look back. Why still, why are we here today?
Becks (03:12.634)
still? Well, that is a really great question. Because if we look at the massive crypto crash that caused the NFTs to crash and all of that kind of stuff, you'd be asking why are you bothering? But I am a huge believer in disruptive technology and a huge believer in emerging tech and the opportunity that's going to be built out of that. So, you know, the builders of today are the unicorns of tomorrow. And that's the belief I have. And, you know, I think the landscape,
like the NFT space in particular, which is where we both kind of met and sort of focused on. It's completely different nowadays to where it was, you know, two, three years ago. And that doesn't necessarily mean that I'm as evangelical as I was two or three years ago, but I'm still a believer. And I still think that fundamentally that technology that will underpin so much of what everyone is doing, and we're seeing it.
Ashley Smith (03:59.754)
Mm-hmm.
Becks (04:10.23)
We're seeing it in different ways. We're seeing it through big brands that are still stepping into the space. They're having web three strategies put forwards and are executing things. And this is a time for experimenting, right? So I'm still in this space because this allows me the time and the flexibility to try new things, see what works, see what doesn't. And then that one thing that will hit, which will use all of my expertise from...
Ashley Smith (04:24.095)
Yeah.
Becks (04:37.706)
my real life presence and all of that knowledge that I've learned over the last two or three years to bring that together to provide the best offering. Like that's why I'm still here is because there's a future in that and it's not gonna go away.
Ashley Smith (04:51.902)
I agree 100%. And I think it's interesting, because you and me live across the pond from one another, but very similar journeys. And I think very similar motivations in our why. And we both had the opportunities to speak to so many thought leaders in the space and learn from folks who are dabbling in many different sides of it. And I think it helps build a more robust.
vision of what's happening and what can be if that makes sense. Why don't we touch a little bit on your upcoming company, which I believe there's going to be a launch around the time of the release of this show, The Sidechain. Tell us what is The Sidechain, which by the way, I want to make sure to mention you co-founded with Lauren Ingram, who is the host of the Women of Web3 podcast, who has also been on the show and is wonderful. So we'll link.
Becks (05:43.149)
Yes.
Ashley Smith (05:48.511)
her episode in the channels. But anyhow, back to the side chain. Tell us a little bit more.
Becks (05:49.133)
Yeah.
Yeah, so Lauren and I are both British. And we found that over the last couple of years that we've kind of grown together as I suppose authorities in the web three space amongst the female contingency in particular, but actually amongst small businesses amongst people just wanting to get in and make a change for themselves. And so we thought that by bringing the expertise that we both have together to create stuff, a course initially,
that will really answer those burning questions when it comes to not just web three, but AI as well. It allows people to kind of get demystified of everything and to actually have those practical steps to allow them to implement what they learn into a path that they might take as a founder of a company or as a freelancer as well. So, you know, the questions that people might have are like, you know.
How do I pitch this into clients? Like, how do I sell this idea of Web3? And, you know, where do I find the right teams from? And what should I be doing to grow my knowledge in Web3? And we answer all of this and so much more in our essentially foundation course. It's called Future Proof Foundations, the course itself, because, and the strap line is, is that give yourself an unfair advantage with emerging tech, because...
That's exactly what we're doing. We're so early to the game and anyone that kind of comes onto this course will be doing it, I would say a good year or if not more before anyone else really thinks about doing this. And so it's a great time to get clued up. So we're really passionate about making sure that we educate people in the right way through trusted resource and you know, and we've grown that trust amongst our community and that's really important to us. So it feels like.
Becks (07:41.822)
after doing all of that groundwork, that now is the right time to be able to take everything that we've learned and we've tried and tested and to give people someone they can trust to know that they're going to learn from people who have been there and, you know, I'm going to give them the one-oh-one that they really need, but in a way that's easy to understand, which is key in such a complicated world that we live in.
Ashley Smith (08:04.634)
Mm hmm. Do you find that when you say you like you're breaking it down into ways people can understand do you find that's mostly about the tech and how it's used and how to engage with it as a user or is it more about sort of the possibility of what can be done kind of bigger picture type of type of idea?
Becks (08:25.034)
It's a bit of both, right? So we've got a section in the course, which is all about the jargon, right? Because I'm not, when I'm talking about jargon, I'm not saying wag me or LFG or anything like that, not that kind of colloquialism. We're talking about what is a smart contract? What is, you know, what are DOWs? Um, what it, what does NFT actually mean? That side of things we have to break down because you need to kind of know what you're talking about, but then actually, when we're talking about implementing it and you're kind of going.
Ashley Smith (08:29.643)
Mm-hmm.
Becks (08:54.606)
uh, you know, what are, what is the tech side? How does this all piece together? How is it changing? And, you know, how is it evolving? Like we have to make sure we address that as well. And we also have to do it in a way that doesn't like date the course, if that makes sense. So we will, as well as kind of having the foundations, which we think will stay relatively consistent throughout. We're constantly updating with other videos as part of that. So that if you're watching the same course in six months time, you'll have, you know,
Ashley Smith (09:05.942)
Mm-hmm.
Ashley Smith (09:09.47)
Mm hmm. Yeah.
Becks (09:24.258)
how to set up your digital wallet might slightly change. So we'll have a how-to on how to do that because it's all those fundamental things that if you don't get right, you might fall foul. And actually you and I will know this. We've seen many people, for instance, fall foul to the problems of giving away your seed phrase to the wrong people or, you know, clicking on the wrong links, et cetera, and how that can have a really damning effect. And for new people coming into the space, it's that one negative.
move that might put them off altogether. So we really feel that knowledge is power and to keep that knowledge updated is going to be, you know, really core part of what we do as well.
Ashley Smith (09:54.858)
Yeah.
Ashley Smith (10:02.502)
Absolutely. It's a funny thing, I feel, we don't need to deep dive too much into it, but...
Ashley Smith (10:12.958)
best practices around security and your devices is important regardless, but I think it's just, it's clearly the severity of and the important significance of that is such a next level when it's associated and affiliated with anything that you might have that's an asset. And I think that
Becks (10:29.399)
Yeah.
Ashley Smith (10:34.19)
a lot of people relate scams to crypto and NFTs, etc. But these scams are happening all the time, it just might not feel as invasive or as I don't know, the repercussions might not be so damning. If someone just somehow gets access to your data, it might be damning, but you might not think of it as the same sort of thing. And I wonder, I love that you are focusing on freelancers, solo printers,
Becks (10:54.903)
Yeah.
Ashley Smith (11:03.974)
I think that what we're starting to see is an emergence of agencies that are out there helping kind of more the corporate world and you may very well be able to provide value in that sector too. But I think there's this gap for small business owners, like how to really think about what they might want to do in this space. Can you speak a little bit to that? Like, have you had a lot of folks coming up to you and what kind of questions are they asking you?
Becks (11:08.61)
Mm-hmm.
Becks (11:21.163)
Yeah.
Becks (11:26.252)
Yeah.
Becks (11:32.014)
Yeah, so well, look, fundamentally, my experience actually has been before even stepping into the NFT space has been around small businesses. And because what during the pandemic, I was coaching small business owners. So that I don't know if you remember this, or if you had this across the pond, but in the UK, as soon as the pandemic hit, we had this flurry of new business owners, reaching out on Instagram, and setting up digital stores and, you know, and working in ways that are
different to how they would have been had the pandemic not happened. So you kind of had this wave of that and then it kind of tailed off. And I think now as people who are still feeling entrepreneurial are wanting to step into the space, they are kind of going, well, I know how to set up a small business, but I want a point of difference. And, you know, and they come to come to myself and they come to Lauren and they kind of ask those questions of...
why do I need to know about this? How much of this is going to last? And what do I need to do to take my first steps? And that's where we come in, we saw that kind of opportunity and gap in the market, because you're right, like these people are not going to go away. They're not going to, you know, they're not going to go, Oh, web three is not for me. And actually, we don't want that at all. We want to encourage everyone to have a piece of the pie of web three, because, you know, if we look at 2005,
when web two really kind of came into the forefront of people's minds, it wasn't something that happened overnight. It's taken years for that to establish. And that's exactly what's gonna happen with web three. But I feel like there have been times in my career if I'd have gone, oh, I wish I'd been on YouTube. I wish I'd been on...
Instagram, like in the early days, I wish I'd, you know, done this for my business. How much further ahead would I be if I'd have done that? And I think now is the opportunity for anyone that recognizes that and has learned from that in web two can come back to web three and go, right, what is the equivalent of that, that I need to know to get ready for the next iteration of the internet, because it's not, it's not going to stop, it's going to happen. It's just, we're not sure what that path is going to be like yet. So, you know, we, we have people just with absolute.
Ashley Smith (13:22.038)
Mm-hmm.
Ashley Smith (13:41.526)
Mm-hmm.
Becks (13:48.258)
brilliant curiosity that come to us. And that's where both Lauren and myself are really passionate about going, well, we're getting all these questions the whole time. We're getting people who are interested. Let's answer those questions in a way that will help serve them for the long run. Not just for now, not just for next year, but for the next five, 10, 15 years, whilst this space evolves.
Ashley Smith (14:00.767)
Mm-hmm.
Ashley Smith (14:10.606)
Sometimes I find that we, many of us who've been around in the, we use the term space, right? The Web3 space. And what does that mean? And I wonder for someone in the audience, for example, who's listening and is like, what, what does this even mean to me? If you're thinking of a solopreneur or a freelancer, what kind of businesses could you see benefiting from
Becks (14:17.217)
Yeah.
Ashley Smith (14:39.622)
And I realize there might be a wide range, but maybe we can give one or two examples of like the type of small business that could incorporate some of this technology into their business strategy. What does it mean for them to enter quote unquote Web3? What could they maybe do?
Becks (14:56.798)
Okay, well, let's look at, I suppose, Ashley, when you and I jumped into the space, the game changer for me, and I know things are different now when it comes to royalties, but the game changer for me was when I saw artists who had struggled to, and my husband as a photographer, he had this problem pre-pandemic. He could only get his art seen if he was taken on by a gallery, right? The Web3 space changed the game.
for artists, it allowed them to take everything from the marketing, the PR, the sales, everything into their own hands and have true ownership of that, right? So we saw from very early days that it cut out the middle man, the royalties gave generational wealth as well. So for anyone who doesn't know what I'm talking about there, I'm talking about if you were to put your art out as an NFT on platforms like Super Rare,
OpenSea, Foundation, things like that, you would set a level of royalties and every time that NFT changed hands, you would earn anything from 2% up to 20% in some cases. So it really did change the game for a lot of people financially. So art is a really easy way of kind of putting that into a bit of a picture frame. Now we're seeing the opportunities like, I'm not just talking about NFTs, I'm talking about the metaverse as well. If you can dream it,
you can create it in this web three world, right? So fashion is a great example of how people, and beauty of how people can really maximise on the web three space. Avatars are gonna become a thing, you know, because our kids are the ones that are playing on roadblocks and Minecraft. They're the customers of the future. They're gonna be flexing their clothes in the metaverse. So if you are a clothes designer,
apply that skill and learn a digital way of creating those same clothes, like have that digital twinning idea of things. And that can apply to multiple industries. What I think is fascinating about this space is how the web3 space is applicable to pretty much every industry, even if you think it's a really dry industry. Like if you think of like town planning, for example, a metaverse map is going to save millions of dollars or pounds
Becks (17:19.322)
on creating infrastructure for town planning as an example, because you don't have to actually dig up to work out where all the pipes go. You can map it out in the metaverse on a digital piece of land. That saves on manpower, that saves on time, efficiency, all that kind of stuff. And that's at the touch of a button. I've seen it happen in healthcare as well, where people are using the metaverse to learn how to teach like.
Ashley Smith (17:31.858)
Mm-hmm.
Ashley Smith (17:39.818)
Mm-hmm.
Becks (17:46.466)
from one surgeon in Australia to teach another trainee surgeon in the UK how to do really intricate work via VR goggles in the metaverse being able to do this stuff. Like this is going to be such a major shift that every single industry is going to have it applicable to them.
Ashley Smith (18:04.054)
Mm hmm. Yeah, I think that's part of this conversation is there's no one great way to define web three, everyone has a different idea about it. And I think to me, so much of it is about this next iteration of the internet and what it will enable. I've heard as well, directly from some folks about some of this surgeon training, for example, which is so interesting. Now,
I that's obviously a RVR type of technology. It doesn't necessarily require, for example, blockchain and smart contracts, but it's, it's keeping your finger on the pulse of what is possible, and what, in some cases hardware might enable folks to connect. But I do wonder sometimes it feels like there are things that we think of that it's like, oh, this makes so much sense.
for it to be quote unquote on chain. Like, and I think that for folks who haven't been paying attention, it might not be like the why might not necessarily be there for them in terms of like, you know, why does this need to be a digital asset versus something that could just be obtained, you know, in the cloud or just through the internet or whatever. And I think that what hasn't been done yet is a really sound...
explanation of like the benefits of some of these technologies in terms of like why it's different, if that makes sense. I don't know if you have any thoughts about that. I did see a really great video about Bitcoin yesterday that explained the value of decentralization in a way that I had never heard before and I'll put a link in the show notes to it because it really helped me even. Anyways, I could go on but I'd love to know your thoughts on
Becks (19:36.118)
Yeah.
Becks (19:42.475)
Yeah.
Becks (19:59.138)
Yeah, I think, I think like, look, if we look at the NFT space, for example, immutability, if that's a word, I'm not sure if that's a full word. I think it's a word. Yeah. So something that is immutable, like it cannot be changed. Right. So when we look at documents and this is, I speak to some of my friends who are lawyers, okay, and I say, you have to get clued up on blockchain technology, smart contracts, all this kind of stuff. Right. Because I think that anything that is of
Ashley Smith (19:59.37)
some of this.
Ashley Smith (20:06.874)
I think it's a word.
Ashley Smith (20:12.615)
Yeah.
Becks (20:28.006)
importance as a document and needs to be tracked and needs to have that transparency of passing of hands to who owns what, there is nothing more transparent and immutable than an NFT. And that's something that I think is going to change mortgage documents, legal documents, things will not be sent via a PDF file anymore, they will be sent as an NFT.
Ashley Smith (20:54.174)
Yeah.
Becks (20:56.054)
to prove that you are the legal owner of something until that changes hands and then that maybe gets burnt as you do for an NFT, you can burn an NFT and then they create a new one. And that's what for me is trying to kind of get say to like I say like the more traditional businesses that we need to embrace this technology because this is a leveling up of what we do right now. And don't get me wrong, I've just purchased a new house.
And I can't tell you how archaic some of the processes in the legal system are in order to get that in the UK. And you kind of go, you're still doing that. Um, so we've got a long way to go to convince a lot of people, but I think what we need to do right now is, is kind of, uh, bust the headlines a little bit because the headlines are either one extreme or the other. And this is, this is the thing that I think is putting off a lot of people. They're either.
Ashley Smith (21:38.026)
Yeah.
Ashley Smith (21:46.471)
Yeah.
Ashley Smith (21:50.698)
Yeah.
Becks (21:54.958)
telling you about teenagers who have traded some NFTs and have made trillions of dollars from it. And then you've got people who have lost everything and they're saying, like journalists are saying like how this whole space is a scam. Where we are right now is in a position where we've had this massive, and it's Lauren and I refer to this quite a lot in our course actually about Gartner's hype cycle, which is.
Ashley Smith (22:07.623)
Mm-hmm.
Becks (22:19.078)
Um, you know, it's a really common curve that you see with disruptive technology, where you get that kind of hype moment and that's kind of what we saw this gold rush of 2021. And then you see a massive crash that happens and then it kind of comes back up again and levels out for mass adoption. And where we are right now is somewhere in that bottom depths of that crash where people are really disillusioned by this space.
Ashley Smith (22:40.488)
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
Becks (22:43.466)
And so that's why it's up to you, Ashley, it's up to me, it's up to Lauren, it's up to all of the people that you interview on here to kind of keep that conversation going and keep telling people that actually just stick with it. Things will change and evolve. It might not be the way you remember it from 2021, but it will still be here and it will become part of common life, maybe by 2025.
Ashley Smith (23:05.21)
Yeah, yeah. It's um, as you're talking, I just feel like an example popped in my mind, one that I've feels like common sense, but I've never really thought of it. So I'm just gonna bring it up, bring it up. You mentioned about real estate, you mentioned about contracts, you mentioned about like archaic ways of doing business, as most people, if they've been listeners of the show know that I have a real estate background. And, you know, in the time of my career,
Becks (23:17.686)
Hehehe
Ashley Smith (23:33.11)
which is about 16 years now since I was first licensed as a realtor. You know, there's obviously fax machines still kind of in use. But there was a lot and still sometimes is a lot of paper signings. So especially with older demographics and that's fine. But there's a lot of room for fraud and a lot of room for even like sometimes fraud is a bad word because it's not necessarily so nefarious.
little thing on a contract, oh shoot we made a mistake, let's just scratch this out and like change it and whatever and I'm not suggesting that there's professionals out there doing a lot of this but the potential is there that it can be done and you can't necessarily trace when those changes were made and whether or not for example two parties both approved those changes and those are the types of things even if they don't matter much that in court could be a problem if someone wants to get out of a deal they can you know
claim that something was not done properly and it's hard to prove one way or the other. Now today's world, generally speaking, I would say 90%, maybe more, of real estate transactions are dealt with using digital signature type thing. And that's a great technology. It's enabled a lot of efficiency, time-saving, international or more remote deals being done.
However, there's still room once again to change things. Like the tools are set up to try to prevent it for sure because you're not supposed to be able to change things once it's in that digital signature service. And there's a variety of them and variety of probably pros and cons to each platform. But there's still ways to snapshot a PDF, recreate it.
and make a change and then get a signature or say a contracts is lapsed in terms of when it was, you know, things maybe again, not being done properly. And if there was some sort of conflict, what kind of impact might that have in court? And sorry to go off on this a little bit, but I feel like when transactions of that nature where something is such high value, if it can be done on chain, you can see exactly when.
Ashley Smith (25:54.686)
everybody did everything and one might argue with those digital signature services, you could like, you know, trace it, but someone has to know how to do it. They have to go in and do the homework. Whereas if things are on chain, it's all there. It's all available. It's all, you know, in an order that can't be broken, if that makes sense. So sorry, I don't I didn't mean to go off on a tangent. This is my interview for Bex, but you haven't really thought about
Becks (26:19.714)
I'm sorry.
Ashley Smith (26:22.014)
this particular piece before and the way you put it made me think of, you know, a lot of the risks with the current technology that I think we take for granted, if that makes sense.
Becks (26:32.618)
Yeah, yeah, absolutely. And it's interesting because I spoke at a cyber security forum. I was the closing keynote speaker a few months ago. And I said, why are you getting me to speak to all these cyber security experts? And they were shocked when I gave the examples of phishing scams, you know, like social engineering, things like that are happening.
And they basically said to me, they go, this space right now needs a lot of work. But once we sort it out, it will be a great space because it does, you know, these scams that I talk about that are putting people off stepping into web three, right, are interesting because they're actually no different to the scams that have very much happened in web two. It's just the way that it's being positioned in the media and, you know, like it's...
It's all about the hype around the positive and the negatives. And fundamentally there are flaws in everything and there always will be in everything that we partake in and that we do from a legal perspective, you know, a real estate perspective, like all the industries, they're not infallible, but what we can do by having stuff on chain is try and have that level of transparency so that people can point the finger and go, that's not right, quicker, and try and sort that out.
Ashley Smith (27:57.395)
Mm-hmm.
Becks (27:58.89)
And I'm actually really fascinated by, and it happens with a lot of traders when we're looking on Twitter or X as it's now known, and people are pointing out like sales that have happened on chain by this code and this code on the blockchain and stuff. And they just see these little like innate differences and they can spot that. I think it's fascinating how people can do it because I can't do that. I'm not, I don't know how to read all of, you know, what I understand the blockchain.
Ashley Smith (28:23.46)
Mm-hmm.
Becks (28:28.374)
sort of transactions and how that needs to look, but seeing those nuances and those differences that means that something's not quite right or someone is sending something back to themselves and to profit a little bit more and all that kind of stuff. I think, yeah, it's fascinating to see when they get caught out on that. And that's all part of the landscape, like mellowing out and becoming more, I suppose, understandable for a lot of people.
Ashley Smith (28:38.944)
Mm-hmm.
Wash washing. Yeah.
Ashley Smith (28:51.775)
Yeah.
Ashley Smith (28:56.742)
Yeah, but it is, I mean, I would assume, you know, maybe I'll eat my words in five years or whatever. But I would assume that a lot of the sort of more technical sides, like what you're speaking of, where you can look and see what transactions have happened, you know, I'm the same as you, I think. Like, I can get the basics. Beyond that, it's way over my head and I don't have the time. And it feels like early days of, you know,
Becks (29:11.138)
Yeah.
Ashley Smith (29:23.994)
HTML code, like you don't necessarily know what's going on in the back end to create a website. But now you can build a website and everything's what you see is what you get. And you're just creating it and designing it and all the other stuff is happening. And I would imagine that in a period of time, when there's, you know, as this evolution continues, some of that stuff is going to become a lot more simplified. Some of the stuff where you see like how people are interacting and being able to
review, whether it's transactions or better, make sure you really know who you're dealing with, for example, I think that there will be a much more user-friendly user interface, perhaps.
Becks (30:07.254)
The moment that we reach mass adoption is when we don't need to kind of explain what we're doing. You know, that's the crux of it. So when it is that simple that, you know, like for a child now, it is second nature to them to hold a phone, to be able to FaceTime, to be able to press an app. You know, that is stuff that basically you and I, we had to learn to do because we're not of that generation.
Ashley Smith (30:34.72)
Mm-hmm.
Becks (30:37.214)
But when it becomes something so seamless and people don't talk of an NFT or the metaverse as that, that's when we've achieved, like when we've plateaued into Web3 as a staple, I think. But right now, everyone is kind of like, what is this you speak of? And we've got to try and make it easier to understand. And I remember...
Ashley Smith (30:50.966)
Mm-hmm.
Ashley Smith (30:58.215)
Yeah, yeah.
Becks (31:03.714)
Like actually when you and I met and actually funny enough, the tables were turned and I interviewed you. Um, we were talking about gas fees and things like that. Right. So that is like almost the equivalent of when you buy a product and there is an added value, added tax onto it. And I don't know if it's still the same in Canada, but where you kind of, uh, in the UK, you don't even have to think about the VAT, right? We just, it's just part of the payment that you're doing. So the gas fee.
Ashley Smith (31:08.372)
Yeah.
Ashley Smith (31:27.594)
Mm-hmm.
Becks (31:32.866)
For instance, although now it's not as much as what we probably painstakingly paid for it back in the day. It's when people don't even need to think about what the gas fee is or what a transaction is gonna cost you, because it's just like, oh yeah, it does that. That's kind of making things a lot easier. But I still speak to people and I go, have you heard about gas fees? And they're like, what are you talking about? So it's not the price that I'm paying? What do you mean these things fluctuate by the second? How does this even work?
Ashley Smith (31:39.24)
Yes.
Ashley Smith (32:00.358)
Yeah. Yes.
Becks (32:02.346)
So it's all those kind of conversations that I think, when they drown out and don't become prominent anymore, we've reached a good point.
Ashley Smith (32:10.982)
Mm-hmm. Yeah, 100%. Maybe any other anecdotes or highlights or key learnings as we look back over the last couple years.
Becks (32:22.334)
Wow, what a ride the last couple of years have been. I mean, I've gone from someone who was curious to obsessed, like I was staying up every night, like thinking that I needed to get the right times to purchase these NFTs. Someone who was kind of going, spending a lot of money, and has lost a lot of money. I think you and I had this chat about our NFT collections, like...
we were such believers and we still are like and I'll raise this again because offline Ashley and I had this chat about this where I said, I strongly believe that some of the key brands that Ashley and I have both bought into so board eight yacht club, deadfellas, world of women, boss beauties, those kind of key staple brands will become the digital antiques of tomorrow and their value will come back round in a circle. And that's not just me saying
Ashley Smith (33:11.766)
Mm-hmm.
Becks (33:15.714)
saying that because I wish I'd sold at the peak. But that is me saying that everything has a cycle and comes back and we've seen it in the cycle of crypto crashes and then bear markets, bull runs, all that kind of stuff. I think we're gonna have to be patient and see that stuff come around. So what have I learned from this? I've learned to sell at the peak when the time is right. And...
Ashley Smith (33:17.907)
Yeah.
Becks (33:43.026)
And keep a smile on my face if I miss that opportunity, because you can't do anything about it.
Ashley Smith (33:47.054)
Yes, I can. Oh my gosh, I can relate. I can relate 100%. And I will say all the ones you mentioned, yes, I also have NFTs, part of those projects. And, and again, not financial advice, everybody. But I do think that there's, it will be very interesting to look back and see what companies were really born out of this technology. And for me, personally, I think it's a lot more of IP development and real business development.
And I think what happened was a lot of NFT speculators felt like these companies were needing to build for them as holders versus building businesses that would become super relevant in culture, whether it's fashion or another one that I bought as prices came down and I probably could have waited a little longer. It was one that I thought I had missed was doodles. And they, to me, and again, this is not...
Becks (34:26.871)
Yeah.
Ashley Smith (34:45.15)
for the purpose of sharing what my bag looks like. But more like I watch from afar, I don't pay super, like I miss things all the time. I'm not paying a lot of attention. I'm not like expecting anything frankly from these teams and companies, but the IP development is just so interesting to see like something that's digitally native that, you know.
Becks (34:49.206)
Hehehe KAH
Ashley Smith (35:11.734)
can be, I feel like they're building like this world of wonder and, and it's really interesting for kids and who knows, it could go nowhere, right? But I think that a lot of the biggest brands that we know came out of interesting mediums like cartoons or toys or books, Harry Potter as an example, like so they just come from different mediums and then grow out and I don't really know necessarily how to explain what it means for me as an individual holder.
For me, it's been a lot more of my way of participating and seeing where it goes and being able to learn along the way and the challenges. I don't know about you, how you feel about that part, but yes, I could have sold some things.
Becks (35:52.887)
Yeah.
Becks (35:56.462)
Yeah. Yeah, I do you know what I I'll be very personal on this kind of anecdote actually, because NFTs. So firstly, I'll position myself within the NFT space because it is out of all of web three is the part that I'm the most passionate about. I'm very lucky to hold the trophy or the torch of being the first female YouTuber.
on NFTs and someone told me that and I was like, that's incredible because I've never been early to anything in my life. I've done this. I discovered NFTs at a time where in the midst of the pandemic, I was suffering quite a lot, mental health wise, all that kind of thing. And the idea of community that was built through going on Discord, talking to the communities around these particular NFT collections.
Ashley Smith (36:23.636)
Mm-hmm.
Ashley Smith (36:29.93)
Yeah.
Becks (36:50.622)
really helped me and I know that they helped a lot of other people too and people who maybe were not socially confident pre-pandemic in themselves suddenly found a place where they found like-minded people who all felt like they had this incredible sense of hope and opportunity and I never even as a woman in the space and I know that there's still a disparity there and there still is a long way to go to have more women
Ashley Smith (37:03.094)
Mm-hmm.
Becks (37:19.154)
in tech just generally having a more stable space to grow and to really make their mark. As a woman in this space, I felt nothing but love from the community and I never had a bad word to say about it. And I think from an in real life perspective, and I'm sure Ashley, you'll agree with me with this, we didn't actually manage to catch up at NFT NYC, but I've never seen anything like it. Like that one. And I'm quite glad that I didn't go this year because I think I left it on a high because
the events that I went to, I went to these cool cats events and saw how they turned that into an incredible theme park almost and using their IP for that. You go to these music events, these satellite events that were happening, these dinners, these networking things. It was incredible and everyone was in such great spirit. And the crash is a real shame that happened and that dragged a load of people out of it. But I will always remember that as a super happy time.
because it pulled me out of something that was quite low, made me into a massive, massive high in the sense of, I found this euphoric sense of community. And that's why I'm still here, is because I believe that people will still make those friendships and still be supportive of all the other people that they met in this space, and that will continue onwards. And that for me is worth anything more than what I've bought or sold, to be honest. And I know that sounds cheesy.
but I really do believe it. Global friends that you meet around the world, that you connect with, reconnect with like we have, I think that's, it's just worth its weight in gold.
Ashley Smith (38:55.686)
Mm hmm. 100%. And I think there is some interesting nuance in that. And I think it's worth unpacking a little. And this is just my best guess. You know, I think there were a lot of NFT projects, especially in that first year, 21, that launched. And like people were just getting into things because they were speculating, day trading and whatever. I think for yourself and me, it's a little funny because, you know,
you could buy into a project you hardly knew anything about the founder or the artist, if anything at all. And most people's common interest was speculation. I think there was obviously some interest in the maybe the art, if they liked if people liked it, or maybe the tech and the learning. But I think that with women, we had this underlying like, we're all here. And we know we're the minority.
And we all have interesting stories. And so many women that I met had, you know, professional careers, professional backgrounds, and they were really leaning into like learning. And so I think there was this sense of community, especially with many of the projects that you mentioned that really invited that, right? And so there was a more organic culture, I think that was being built in some of these communities. And
I think the challenge moving forward, let's say if there's another bull run in the NFT, digital asset collectible space is, how do we, for example, avoid the random drops for the sake of making money, like, and where founders were doing it for the sake of making money, people were buying and selling just for the sake of making money. There's nothing inherently wrong with that, but it's not super sustainable.
And how do people either come and build something new and attract the people who will resonate with one another and resonate with certain value systems maybe or interests. And that's where I think the brands, even legacy brands, there's an interesting play there because they already have hardcore fans. I think of something like Sailor Moon, whatever. Brands like that could come into this space and if they did it well.
Ashley Smith (41:12.234)
could build out community and connect the dots with people who already have such passionate common interests in things and then could allow them to connect in the way that you're talking about. So I think that it was kind of this magical moment. There was a lot of good and bad. And now I'm curious to see where that side of the NFT market goes. If it, if we see it again, if that makes sense.
Becks (41:38.11)
Yeah, it does. And I think if you're curious about that now, we can look to some brands who are doing an incredible job in the space. So Adidas is a great example, right? They set up a web three section of their business called the three stripes studio and they have released. So what I love about Adidas is when they started out, it was like a David and Goliath situation, right?
Ashley Smith (41:48.85)
Yeah.
Ashley Smith (41:55.967)
Yeah.
Ashley Smith (42:06.976)
Mm-hmm.
Becks (42:07.65)
They, you didn't have to be the big name to get it right first time. And they got it so wrong on the initial launch of their capsule NFT. And they held their hands up and said, Hey guys, we're learning. Right. And for a massive brand to say that was, was incredible. And the community kind of went, it's okay. We get it. Learn and be better. And they came back and they have.
created this alts by adidas collection, I think is so great because it has not only excited its current, uh, dedicated customers, but has also brought in curious new customers who don't even necessarily have to buy the NFT, but are curious because their storytelling around their web three journey is so interesting. And I would say to anyone who is
looking to brands like that, I would say Adidas is a great one. Starbucks is another really good one. They learned from their in real life experiences of people loving to collect regional coffee cups. And so then they did a digital NFT version called the Starbucks Odyssey, which is basically like a loyalty card in that respect with digital collectibles. And I thought that was a really clever move. And, you know, I think we will learn
from their mistakes as well, because they will let's not let's not let's not be around the bush these companies will have the budget to make the mistakes right but ultimately us as the consumer the way that we don't fall foul to these rug pulls and these you know these people who are only in it for the um you know the short-term financial gain is through education.
and understanding what to look out for, what not to look out for. Sorry, my cat is in the way of my camera. And, and to, and to understand and go into the space with a, in a, in a more savvy way, I was victim of a rug pull really early in my NFT career. And I had the terminology you burn, you learn, but it didn't cost me a lot to get burnt on that, but it could do. And so.
Ashley Smith (44:20.714)
Mm-hmm.
Becks (44:23.674)
After that moment in time, I knew not to follow an influencer and believe what they say if they don't declare it as an ad. I knew like, you know, it's all those things that you kind of go, Oh, I wish I'd known that before. But now that I do know that I'm not going to make that mistake again. And that's exactly why education is key. Learn from people you trust and then go into the space and there is no rush to do it.
Ashley Smith (44:37.611)
Mm-hmm.
Ashley Smith (44:46.29)
Well, that's a great segue to talk a bit like let's go back to sidechain for a second here. Launching and we think people might want to check it out. So what would be next steps if you want to learn about sidechain, what you're doing, what you're offering?
Becks (44:51.691)
Mm-hmm.
Becks (45:04.458)
Absolutely. So if you jump onto the sidechain.co, which is, is going to be hopefully linked in this, in the show notes here anyway, we will be offering a discount code for anyone who wants to sign up for the course, which is really exciting. And that is just for on the blockchain listeners as well, which is great. So the code and everything is in the show notes for that. But basically, if you sign up, you will immediately get put onto our newsletter join our community.
And we will also be giving you a downloadable freebie, which is already worth about $49 in value. So you're getting something for free anyway. So there's no harm in signing up. And then what you'll do is you'll hear from Lauren and myself, not too much, we promise, but just enough that you can get your Web3 interests. We can whet your appetite. And then when you guys think the time is right, if you wanna learn a little bit more, you always have the option of not just the course, but also coming along is going to be
industry related courses. So if you are from a particular industry, we'll be having stuff coming your way, but also really useful downloadables as well. So if you're just like wanting to dabble a little bit and learn more, at least you'll have stuff that you can take with you and know that you're doing it in the right way, if that makes sense.
Ashley Smith (46:19.31)
Yeah, no, that's awesome. And thank you so much for sharing that with our audience. The discount code will be in the show notes as Bex mentioned. I'm really excited to be able to bring some value to the listeners that way. And these ladies are amazing. So I think it's, there's maybe a dozen or so people in this space that I think are just continuously putting out value and have been here for a long, I say long time, but you know, since the beginning of it really getting crazy and, and the,
focus for them and yourself has been to share what you're learning and hopefully really bring some real value to people. And I love that this is now coming from a business perspective. And you do you want to check out Bex's YouTube channel and even some of your older videos. There are some little snippets in there that go through some basics. So I would implore people to check that out too because it's helpful.
Becks (47:12.491)
Mm.
Becks (47:15.682)
Yeah.
Ashley Smith (47:18.986)
So thank you for that. So that's the side chain. We will have to end pretty quick here, but I wanted to throw you a left curve. We haven't chatted about it, but I know that you have a background in eSports and you know, we don't need to go deep dive too hard here, but I'd love to know a little bit about your eSports background and what you think about when you're thinking about all of this
Becks (47:33.534)
Yes!
Ashley Smith (47:48.498)
arenas that I know so little about and it's like astonishing to me about the Fandom the amount of people like the audience people who are into it the money that's being made. It's crazy So I just would love a like little snippet about that topic
Becks (48:00.203)
Yeah.
Becks (48:03.938)
So when I was working in esports, I think it was 2017, 2018. So I basically brokered deals between esports teams and brands. So I was understanding that whole space from both sides and it was really fascinating because you know what? It's like what I said about people finding community within the NFT space and discord and things like esports. I loved it. It's the rise of the geek.
Ashley Smith (48:14.678)
Mm-hmm.
Becks (48:31.422)
and they were coming out on top because they were the ones that were selling out arenas and they were gaming and doing this incredible stuff. And I basically helped to develop our very own eSports team as well. We scouted people. We were called RTFM, which is gaming slang for read the manual or read the flipping manual, shall we say. And we thought it was a really clever play on words and basically, yeah, we had an absolute blast.
Ashley Smith (48:52.442)
Mm-hmm. There you go.
Becks (48:59.702)
The predictions for esports for 2019 was that it was going to be this like billion dollar business. And so where we were at 20, similar to this, like where we were at 2017 to 2018 was on that cusp where people were like, I still don't know a lot about it, but I hear that it's kind of coming up off the ground. And that's where, where I get really excited in business is to get there at an early stage and to watch it grow and to understand how to do that. And
Yeah, it was, um, it was fascinating and we met some of the best teams in the world. Um, these kids who are good at gaming were making a lot of dough. Let's put it that way. And they were doing it by doing something that they absolutely loved and was so good at. And yeah. And I think it just, it helped me. There's, there's all this kind of thing where all these different roads of all these different businesses that I did over the years, like coaching small businesses, running e-sports teams. All of those roads lead to where I am now, which is within the
Ashley Smith (49:34.954)
Yeah.
Ashley Smith (49:54.454)
Mm-hmm.
Becks (49:55.53)
Web3 space, educating, using all of that knowledge and bringing it together to make sure that the next steps of people are the right steps for them to take. So yeah, it's not just the last three years that you'll be learning from when you come to come to speak to me, it will be years and years and years of everything that just kind of piles into one. So yeah, but thanks for that. You've done your research, Ashley. Yeah. I don't talk a lot about the e-sports stuff, but I definitely did it.
Ashley Smith (50:18.646)
So you must see a future with like a natural fit with esports and the metaverse or AR, VR. Yeah.
Becks (50:24.67)
100%. Like, yeah. And gaming in itself is going to be like on-chain gaming is, although in quite a, like early stage right now, is going to be once again, once everything gets ironed out, that is going to be a massive, massive revenue driver for the web three space. It's going to bring more people into it. It was almost the first thing that brought people into the web three space in the first place because of Axie Infinity. You had, you know,
I'm half Filipino. We had kids in the Philippines earning more money than they've ever earned before as a second income because of Axie Infinity and playing those games. So the power of gaming and the power of web three is absolutely phenomenal. It just needs to like with every disruptive technology, we go back to this Gartner's hype cycle, it just needs to level out. And people need to test and, you know, and actually just quickly, we see it in some respects with the Board Ape Yacht Club and what Yuga Labs is doing.
with the Forge and building their kind of gaming future as well as using the IP there to build up a new side of things. That in Web3 is going to be what other businesses need to do is experiment in these different areas to see what is going to work.
Ashley Smith (51:40.058)
Yeah, I think it's an easy to dismiss side of the economy and so big the potential is so big and when I say easy to Dismiss, I think for those of us who aren't gamers or you know But anyhow that seems like a topic in and of itself, but it's certainly it's certainly Not only for the players but for the audience and the fans because the fandom around e-gaming is like just crazy So the ability to connect
Becks (51:50.221)
LUL
Becks (52:03.551)
That's insane.
Ashley Smith (52:06.762)
that community and also that even makes me think about what sports teams can really do with building on chain communities generally. So I'll leave that like cliffhanger for our audience to just chew on a little bit and but thank you for bringing some of your insight Bex with that topic as well. So you guys we've mentioned the sidechain.co I'm going to put the links in the show notes along with the discount code so make sure you check that out. Bex where else?
Becks (52:13.079)
Yeah.
Ashley Smith (52:36.01)
Can people find you if they want to follow your journey or things you're talking about? Yeah.
Becks (52:40.246)
Yeah, well, my journey is going to continue on YouTube. There's been a little hiatus because I did a little thing like birth a child, the last like year or so. And actually the way the landscape has changed on my YouTube channel, I am coming back with a perspective that is much more like, what am I gonna do as a mum in this space? How am I gonna build a career and a future for me and my family and stuff? So if you're interested in that side of things, watch this space.
Ashley Smith (52:48.659)
Yes.
Yes.
Becks (53:09.77)
I've got some really exciting videos coming your way, not just about Web3, but AI as well. So yeah, there's really fun content coming your way. You can find me on LinkedIn, that's perfect. That's the best place to connect with me. And I'd love to, yeah, I'd love to meet all of you guys, especially if you have a new business or you're looking to move into this space with your current business, come talk to me, come talk to Lauren about the side chain. We'd love to help you out.
Ashley Smith (53:13.994)
Mm-hmm.
Ashley Smith (53:34.998)
Awesome. Well, thank you so much. This fun episode backs. It was so nice to reconnect with you I think you're just one of these people I'm gonna have to reconnect with from time to time and really unpack all the awesome Things that you're doing. So thank you for joining us. I'm from the blockchain everybody listening. Thank you for tuning in We'll be back again next week. Have a wonderful day
