Simon Squibb is our host for this session, diving into NFTs, his own experience and how he changed his perspective. He is also joined by Regina Nogueira and Philip Mostert.
From reading this you will have access to:
– Opinions on NFTs
– How Simon re-educated himself
– Tips from personal experience
Х No financial advice, just sharing experiences!
Our Mission
To start off the session, Simon explains our mission and the drive behind our business.
“Our mission is to help 10 million people start and grow a business of their own. We believe anyone could be an entrepreneur and we’re on a mission to give you those resources to start a business and grow a business for free.”
Simon’s experience with NFT’s
Simon discusses how nine months ago he was stuck in an algorithm, constantly telling him NFT’s were negative, either hearing about people using them to tax-dodge or others who got “ripped off” by the ecosystem. However, Simon got educated by a well-trusted ‘NFT Whale’.
Simon learnt about how the NFT system works and the opportunities ahead for entrepreneurs out there. He says that to him it “represents an opportunity to go direct to consumers, build a community and lift each other up”.
He has reflected on his learning experience and compares it to when the internet was created.
“It’s a bit like the internet when it started. There are things that are bad about the internet and there are things that are good about the internet. But to say the internet is bad and never do anything on the internet is just ignorant, so I’ve gone from ignorance to knowledge.” he explains.
Make up your own mind
Simon stresses that it is just his views and opinions and encourages others to “do your homework” and “learn about these subjects from many different angles”. “Knowledge is power” and “sharing that knowledge, in my view, is purpose”
Our first panelist is Regina Nogueira.
She is the community lead for Mint Base, an NFT toolkit platform.
From her section you will learn:
– What an NFT is and what they are used for
– How to market an NFT
– What you should know before starting according to Regina
What is an NFT in simpler terms?
Regina confesses she is new to the space, which is great for people reading or watching who are new to the space too.
She defines an NFT as: “A digital asset. Contrary to a Bitcoin or an ethereum token that are fungibles- (so one Bitcoin is worth exactly the same as another Bitcoin), an NFT is not changeable and not fungible”.
She explains further and gives us some examples.
“It’s mostly been used for visual arts. NFTs really can be anything! Places utilize this technology to actually make day-to-day applications that can go from anything from ticketing to actual physical real estate or burritos or glasses of wine!”
NFTs can be a lot more than just these collectibles. If they’re related to movies or unlock special privileges or memberships, at the rate that we’re seeing that NFTs are being used, everything will be sold as an NFT.
“If you’re thinking about starting your own NFT business, it doesn’t need to be under this collectible model – it can be utilized for anything,” she rounds off.
How to market an NFT business
Regina gives her top tip on building and marketing an NFT business.
She says that “building a community is the most important thing in the NFT space.”
“Having people who believe in your project and rewarding that community – I would say that’s really the main focus”.
Like many of our other webinars on starting a business, the theme of community continues to shine through, showing that connecting with people is key.
“There are hundreds of possibilities to what we can do with NFTs,” she adds, “I think the potential really is huge for creators and for anyone who wants to start a business”.
What she wishes she knew before
Regina reflects on what she would like her younger self to know about NFTs.
“Just the basics!’ she admits. “The best place to look for information I found was on Twitter and I wasn’t a twitter user at all but that’s where I’m looking for all my information and really trying to understand what is going on.”
She tells us how you can get really distracted and sucked in with all of the new projects popping up. She advises to do your research and really get to know what you are doing, despite everything else going on around you.
“I was a crypto enthusiast but very new before joining Mint Base and I think it’s so easy to get lost in all the tokens that are being launched and seeing all these NFT projects. So, really research the project, research what the team is doing and what the token is actually doing,” she says.
Philip Mostert is our second panelist.
From his section you will learn:
– His take on NFT’s
– An example of an NFT
– What to watch out for when buying or creating an NFT
– What not to stress over when starting an NFT business
Philip’s definition of an NFT
Philip commends Regina for doing a fantastic job of explaining NFTs but wanted to take it a step further with his own definition.
“An NFT, which is a non-fungible token or smart contract, is basically going to be everything that governs the next iteration of the internet. Everything that will be inside the metaverse will be an NFT of some form or another. I think we’re going to start seeing real utilization of these entities.”
Philip uses the example of Simon trying to buy a matrix NFT to explain his definition in context:
“I think your example of the matrix is ideal because that NFT that you will own for the rest of your life, if you choose to have it, will give you access to so much more! It will give you access to metaverse games, matrix games that might be launching merchandise, you might be invited to exclusive events or seminars. You’re going to be given the inside track, so you are going to be joining one of the most exclusive matrix communities”
What to look out for
“When evaluating an NFT project, it is fundamental to look at the community behind the project and look at the benefits of joining these communities,” Philip advises.
It’s important, especially online, to know whether you are going into something positive or uncertain. Philip gives us areas that you should question if you are unsure.
“Look at the teams behind it, the brains, the experiences,” he adds. “Do they have credibility? Do they have the experience in running large-scale projects before?”
He points out how to spot accounts that aren’t trustworthy: look at the bot activity.
“It’s relatively straightforward to see bot activity on community conversations. There’s a lot of fake accounts and copy and pasted comments.” Philip explains. “You need to be careful of these bots because one of the most key indicators of the value or potential of a project is the community sites.”
He reiterates that when you choose a project, you have to do your own research. “We’re not providing legal or financial advice on this call, but we do have the experience under our belts to be able to understand what those certain metrics are,” he says.
Don’t sweat the small stuff
There are many ways to buy into the NFT system, and Philip tells us that he wishes he knew that before he started in the NFT space.
“When coming into the NFT space, don’t be too worried about what your NFT is built on as everything will end up multi-chain anyway”.
He explains this further with the idea of the progression of the metaverse.
“I believe the metaverse will be an interoperable highway of all these different ecosystems and projects, all connecting through multi-chain. So, I wouldn’t necessarily be worried about the block or the chain that you choose to develop your project on because it will be connected to others, so it’s just a matter of getting going!”
Also published on Medium.
