Trey Pezzetti: VaynerNFT Building Partnerships that Lead with Empathy & Education
Trey serves as a Director of Client Partnerships at Vayner NFT. He focuses on educating his clients on the advantages of NFTs and the business impact Web3 space can have on their relationships with consumers. He leads his clients in all stages of their NFT journey, ensuring authentic entry to the space and building long-term strategic NFT programs. Prior to joining VaynerNFT, he worked as a team lead at an Artificial Intelligence consulting firm and spent 3 years helping build DraftKings marketing partnerships. Trey is focused on putting his clients in a position to take advantage of the next generation of the internet.
Building impact in the Web3 space requires a ton of EQ and AQ and Gary Vaynerchuck and all his various businesses are the blueprint of making sure that the unattractive parts of Web 2 do not seep into the company culture or the client relationships. So it is imperative that the people he entrusts also carry this determination to build an empathetic Web3. You are tasked with all phases of a project with the client but the authentic entry and onboarding process really sets the tone for their experience. What parts of your history, be it upbringing, school or work experience prepared you most for this?
I often speak on this show about road-maps and the rug pulls that are unsuccessful in meeting any part of the promises made. So what excited me about having this conversation with you specifically is that you are achieving this at the highest level in the NFT ecosystem with VaynerNFT. Part of your role at VaynerNFT is building long-term strategic programs. And with very high profile clients. I myself did this in my tenure in white glove hospitality and know how discerning this client can be.
How do you navigate delivering on the vision of a client? And on a more granular level, how do you build out utility that not only serves the client but is attainable?
Can you give an example or case study of a client either at your time at Draftkings or VaynerNFT that allowed you to break new ground to create something that you yourself didn’t see at the start but turned into magic?
The VaynerNFT model really creates an open forum for diversity and empathy. These are core tenants for my show. If I’m not representing that in the speakers and the content I create, then I’m not solving for the future. What do you see for the future in terms of trends and how you and VaynerNFT can possibly solve for the bigger picture?
Are there any projects you are working on that you are especially excited about?
Are there brands or areas of businesses that you are dreaming about creating NFT projects with?
Left field question: are you open to partnerships with creators that come to you with ideas, say through VeeFriends, Discord channels or DAOs?
#nfts #nft #nftart #cryptocurrency #blockchain #metaverse #culturefactor #web3 #metaverse #bitcoin
Transcript
Holly Shannon 00:06
Welcome to Culture Factor. I'm your producer and host Holly Shannon. Our new season looks at creators, innovators and entrepreneurs. Why? Because the creator and gig economy is emerging. Talent has gone to work for themselves. The new year starts with the 101, or the beginner guide for NFTs, blockchain, cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, and all those Metaverse and Web3 topics we keep hearing about. We're all going back to school on Culture Factor to understand this decentralized economy. From creator coins to the tax implications of selling crypto, let's unpack these emerging technologies in really simple terms. Join me and feel free to send in your questions. Would your brand like to sponsor Culture Factor? it is your opportunity to be a part of a podcast that is ranked in the top 2% globally and heard in over 89 countries. Email holly@hollyshannon.com. Subscribe to Culture Factor and share with a friend now. Okay, let's start with our class. Let's get our next guest on.
Holly Shannon 01:11
Hello culture factor family. Today I have Trey Pezzetti with me, and he serves as the Director of Client partnerships at Vayner NFT. He focuses on educating his clients on the advantages of NFTs and the business impact Web3 space can have on their relationships with consumers. He leads his clients in all stages of their NFT journey, ensuring authentic entry to the space and building long term strategic NFT programs. Prior to joining Vayner NFT, he worked as a team lead at an artificial intelligence consulting firm and spent three years helping build DraftKings marketing partnerships. Trey's focused on putting his clients in a position to take advantage of the next generation of the internet. I'm so excited. So welcome, Trey.
Trey Pezzetti 02:01
Yes, thank you so much for having, for having me. I'm excited to be here.
Holly Shannon 02:05
Yeah, this is super. I want to dig right in. And I've kind of just in essence, I feel like I've dissected your bio a little bit. Because there was really some targeted things you said in there. And I and I want to dive in. So my questions might seem a little long, which is not typical for me. But I want people to sort of understand some of the the backstory here if they're not as familiar with Gary Vaynerchuk. So,
Trey Pezzetti 02:35
Perfect.
Holly Shannon 02:37
...building impact in the Web3 space requires a ton of EQ and AQ, and Gary Vaynerchuk, and all his various businesses have been the blueprint for making sure that the unattractive parts of web two do not sink, seep into the company culture or the client relationships. My show was kind of built on the conversation around company culture. And that's why it's so important to me. So it's imperative that the people he entrusts also carry this determination to build an empathetic web three. So you are tasked with all phases of a project with the client from the authentic entry, the onboarding process and setting the tone for their overall experience. So what parts of Trey's history, whether that's your upbringing, school, work experience, or just your entree into the, the Vayner, you know, whole umbrella, prepared you for, for this?
Trey Pezzetti 03:41
Yeah, that's a great question. I think just starting off, you know, talking about how we try to employ empathy on everyday basis at Vayner NFT, I think it's really twofold. Number one, really focusing on education and understanding that this space is complicated to get into for anyone, whether you're very technologically savvy, or you're not. So when we're working with our clients, or when we're working with team members internally or potentially with customers, thinking through how we can lead with education and help people not feel as intimidated and understand the space, and I think the more and more people who understand it and understand how to take advantage of the technology, it's just better for everyone involved. So that's really something that we focus on with our clients. And then also trying to make sure that when we do launch NFT programs or work with partnerships in the NFT space that we're thinking through the values and kind of what web three and and NFTs stand for and making sure that you have that community feeling and that these companies and these these IP holders are coming in, and they're really trying to understand and learn from the space because it's a new technology that's ever evolving. In terms of me personally, I would like to give a lot of credit to my parents. I got, was very fortunate, had really good, really good parents who taught a lot of really good values growing up, such as hard work and effort and, and also empathy and understanding and trying to, you know, be very kind and helpful to everyone that you meet. So I think that they've been really driving forces in my life and always trying to bring those pillars into every situation that that I've been in.
Holly Shannon 05:28
I love that. I think we don't like a lot of people don't lean in on that enough. And I love that we have an opportunity to shift how we treat each other in web three, like we can reinvent this, if we can almost create a movement behind it. And I love that it's already part of you, you know, that it's part of your upbringing, and it's part of the business you've put yourself in. It's pretty special. I, you know, I, I used to be in boutique hospitality. And it's, it's a different kind of animal. I think a lot of people don't realize like how white glove, like how much hand holding is involved in hospitality because it's open 24/7 365. And I feel like there's a lot of similarities in web three. And I don't know if you see this yourself, but you know, the blockchain is open 24/7 365. So we're not dealing with the same cadence in terms of investments, or building out projects with brands. And of course, we're a multinational, you're a multinational business. So you have brands from all over the world. Like, how, do you, do you see, like, that you almost have, that you almost behave like that like that? It's a very, like, it's that five star mentality when you work with your brands?
Trey Pezzetti 07:00
I think that there's a lot to dissect there, I definitely am 100% agreement with you that there's a lot of similarities with hospitality, because these things are happening around the clock and NFT space is moving so quickly that the environment that we were in a week ago, is not the same environment that we're in now. And I think that's, you know, very obvious right now, because of just like, where the price, prices for a lot of projects are at, however, even on a more, a less drastic week, the spaces move so quickly from day to day, and there's a lot of people who are really innovating and pushing the space forward. So you know, when we, you know, driving back to empathy, we want to be really empathetic about that with our customers and our clients and, and knowing that, you know, they might not have as much interest in the space, and they probably don't have as much knowledge of the space. So thinking through how we can, you know, on the education point, how we can really work to educate them, how we can filter through a lot of the noise and bring them the key insights and the key updates that are happening is really important for us. And the other thing I'll say is that, while the space does move quickly and there's a lot of things going on, you know, we think, and I think personally, it's really important that you do take time away, and that you go outside, you spend time for yourself, you work out, you do yoga, whatever you do to kind of get away and to relax, and to make sure that you have strong mental health, I think is really important as well.
Holly Shannon 08:28
Yeah, that whole mental health piece is really critical in, and, I think that, from my exposure in the space, I've noticed that a lot of that hustle culture is bleeding in. And it's scary, because I think a lot of people don't know how to stop, like they don't know how to go outside and and take that break. What do you what do you personally do to take that break and to give yourself that space?
Trey Pezzetti 09:00
Yeah, for me, it's really two things, number one working out and just making sure that that gets into my schedule, whether it's, you know, playing soccer or going to the gym, that's really important for me. And that's something I've learned over the years, that just helps me out. And the other one is just sometimes turning it off. So hey, making sure you're not checking your email when you're out at dinner with friends and family. And just making sure that you do have that space because it can consume a lot of your time. And for me, what I realized is that if I do take that time away, or if I do work out I actually become more productive overall, because I'm not as stressed out. I'm not as like worried about what's going on and I actually come at my work with a lot clearer head.
Holly Shannon 09:44
Yeah, that's nice. That's nice that you do that. I hate when people come to the dinner table with the phones. It makes me crazy, especially when you go out to eat.
Trey Pezzetti 09:53
Yes, it's something that's becoming more and more common. As you know, the societies continues to live more digitally. But there is something to be said about having that conversation with someone in person, and really being able to dive deep, especially if it's a more personal conversation.
Holly Shannon 10:10
Yeah. What I'd love to do, I'm going to just switch gears a little bit. So one of the things that comes up on the shows, and I noticed in a lot of open forums, when people talk or you know, you go to an event, there's the conversation around roadmaps, and rug pulls. And I think for artists, this is something that's really hard, because they have to build out a roadmap. And if they're unsuccessful in meeting any part of the promises made, they can get canceled, you know, the whole cancel culture thing. But what excited me about having this conversation with you is that you're achieving, at a really high level in this NFT ecosystem with VaynerNFT, like you, you are finding a way to build roadmap, roadmaps and work with your clients. So part of your role specifically is building long term strategic programs. And it's with very high profile clients. So how do you do that? Like, how do you build something out with them that is reliable, that won't get canceled? That won't burn them out? Because these roadmaps have a lot in them sometimes. Like, how do you do that? How do you solve for that?
Trey Pezzetti 11:34
Yeah, I mean, that's a really good question. It's something that we're working with. And we're trying to get better at every day, I would say a lot of it has to do with like the intent. And when we're going and we're pitching these companies, or we're looking to work with them, we are coming in, we're saying hey, as Vayner NFT, this is what we do. And what we do is we build long term programs. And we we want to make sure that you, when you enter in this partnership, are also committed to that goal, because that's something that we are very committed to and think it's a pillar of our business. However, we also tried to build in some flexibility. As I mentioned before, the space moves really quickly. And so we don't know exactly what it's going to look like six months from now or a year from now, we don't know, you know, Mattis could release a huge project, they mentioned this week that they're going to use Polygon, that could be a huge impact on the space. You know, that's, that's just one example of, of kind of the unknowns out there that could be very altering for what we want to do with brands and how brands want to interact with their consumers using this technology. So it's really kind of that balance of, hey, we want long, we need long term commitment. But we also want to remain flexible. I think when we're talking about roadmaps, you know, there's a lot of roadmaps out there that people stick right to, and there's a lot that don't, that people don't. I think that a roadmap to me is really just a commitment that you're going to continue to be there for the community. And if you can instill that trust without a roadmap, I think, then that's a great way to go as well. A road map is a is an easy way to display it. But I think a lot of it is really just that intent of the way that you're interacting with your community. And that's what value you want to bring whether you're an NFT project or whether you're a brand launching multiple NFTs.
Holly Shannon 13:28
Have you found that there are maybe utilities or you know, any experiences or things that they want to do along the way that you've maybe had to go the other direction with your client and say, No, we shouldn't build this in because it could make it very difficult for us to see your vision? Like, does that ever happen? Like they're, their goals are almost too audacious for their first project kind of thing?
Trey Pezzetti 13:57
I definitely think so. You know, a lot of what we're trying to focus on utility is giving the token holders of an NFT, a brand's NFT project, like, experiences that money can't buy. A lot of these brands have really cool assets, whether they're partnerships that they've had in the past, or whether it's just like, like touring of a brewery that you might not be able to do as just a regular consumer and trying to unlock those types of things are a lot of the recommendations that we're giving at this point. However, you know, we are really trying to focus on bringing brands like very authentically into the space. And one of the biggest things that we're pushing is that, you know, you don't have to drop an NFT project, like a full 10,000 NFT project to enter the space. So maybe it's a partnership with an existing project. Maybe there's other avenues that you can do to kind of like start getting into the space and learning. And what I'll also say here is that there's a lot of legal teams and also corporate security teams that are still getting their head around the regulations and how they should be treating NFTs and cryptocurrencies. So a lot of brands will come in with really amazing ideas that fit their consumer. However, their own internal organizations are still kind of working through some of the logistics and how these things will be handled with the government. And I think that is something that we're working through a lot, and really centers around education, and making sure that everyone understands the problems that we're trying to solve and exactly like how the logistics of creating an NFT works. And then the legal teams and Treasury teams are able to make really educated decisions, not that educated decision is always the ability that you should launch an NFT, but making sure that they have all the information in front of them to make the best decision for the brand itself.
Holly Shannon 15:56
Certainly perceptive. Like, I love that you recognize that sometimes their infrastructure does not allow for it. That's really cool. I hadn't really thought about it that way. It's really cool. When you were, either with DraftKings or we could just stay on VaynerNFT, have you done any, like projects that were really, felt like you were breaking new ground? Like you didn't see what it was that you guys were creating? And then it like turned into magic?
Trey Pezzetti 16:31
Yeah, for sure. I think that there's been a couple in my career. But one that was just really exciting for me personally, was when I joined DraftKings, they were only a daily fantasy company. And then shortly after that, PASPA, which basically was the federal ban on sports gambling, was repealed by a Supreme Court. And so we pivoted very dramatically into launching a sports book. So I joined in May, and then we were working very hard on launching our sports book product in New Jersey, which was the first state that allowed it. So that was a moment where we were really all working very hard and focusing on getting this product launched as quickly as possible to be one of the first companies in the space. But in the moment, we didn't really know what to expect. And we didn't really know how it's going to go. And it was a brand new market in the United States. And we were a company that had never dabbled in the sports book space, we were only in the daily fantasy space. So it was one of those moments in, in your career where you're just like, very excited about what you're doing, but you're not 100% sure exactly how it's gonna turn out. And for me, that's like, where, where I really like to be. I like to be on the forefront of innovation, and being living day to day and working day to day that you don't really know what tomorrow is gonna look like. But you know you're working on something exciting. So that was really a huge reason why I enjoyed my time at DraftKings and now I'm really enjoying my time at VaynerNFT, is there's actually a lot of similar themes between the launching, launching of sports betting the United States, as well as this web three NFT space, in terms of innovation, and the way that brands are going to interact with consumers, the way that consumers are going to interact with media. Man, I personally want that to continue to be like a foundation of my career as I move forward.
Holly Shannon 18:28
I love that that's really great. And so nice that you recognize like, which parts of the process fire you up. I think being on the bleeding edge of trend and technology, I empathize with you, like I feel the same way. I love being immersed in that space, because that's where like you're where the most growth happens, I feel like. So, that being said, like are there any projects that right now you're especially excited about that you could share?
Trey Pezzetti 19:06
Yeah, for me a lot. I mean, you're talking about in the NFT space specifically?
Holly Shannon 19:11
Yeah. Yeah.
Trey Pezzetti 19:13
I mean, there's a lot for me, I think. I try to focus a lot more on like the utility and like the people who are really trying to push, use the technology to push things going forward. So I'll highlight two, the first one being Altered State Machine. And so what they're doing is they are working to build decentralized, or the ability to train, own and sell decentralized artificial intelligence. So right now, if you want to create artificial intelligence, you train it using AWS, or Google servers, and you basically would use their computing, computing power in order to run the iterations that you need in order to train it. However, there's, that is always going to be the case for the top 10% of artificial intelligence and like basically the bleeding edge of the space. However, there's this other 90% of more like niche use cases that are going to, that, there's going to be a lot more things that we can do. So for example, if I went and I built a chatbot for a coffee shop, right now, there's not a ton of use cases for that. However, if there's a way that I could build the best chat bot, and then I could rent it to all the coffee shops, and they could pay me $5 a month to use my chat bot, that is something that could be an awesome idea and a great way to basically expand the space and have very practical and nice use cases. So what they're doing is they're basically moving that to blockchain technology, where I could have an ownership record as a form of NFT of the artificial intelligence file, and then what I could do is I could actually go rent that out. And what's really exciting to me is, this applies to a lot of different situations. So for example, in gaming, you would be able to have a, a artificial intelligence bot, that would be another character in a game. So I could be playing a first person shooter, and my, I could have a team of three other of my controlled characters that are all artificial intelligence bots that I own. And then if I train them up, and they become really good, well, then I can sell them to other people who want to play the game. So to me it is, it's just a really exciting project, because it kind of comes with a lot of the stuff that I've done in my past jobs. And I'm very excited about the space. And I think that it's going to give a lot of people the tools to be creative. And to really apply a lot of these, a lot of the exciting things that can happen in AI on a more decentralized level, instead of just like the top companies owning it. I think the top companies will still always own like the very complex models. And they'll still be the ones who are really pushing the edge. But I think there's like this 90%, like I mentioned, that are going to be greatly benefit from this decentralization. So that one's number one. And I think that the second one for me is really link style, which is a community of golfers who are basically using an NFT as some sort of like rewards or fan club that will come together and do different events. And they have some long term really ambitious goals. But for me, it's just really cool to see that moving into this web three space, and basically building that community and having benefits because you're a part of that. In terms of discounts, in terms of experiences, I think that they're just doing a really good job around like a niche like golf.
Holly Shannon 22:40
That's really cool. I'm going to need to share that with a couple of people. My sister in law is a top 50 LPGA instructor. So she probably would find that very interesting. I love the concept of the AI technology NFT and how you can buy it and rent it out. So it could, when people are looking to diversify their income that could be a form of passive income. That's a really cool model.
Trey Pezzetti 23:16
Yeah, it's very interesting. I think that the idea of like NFTs as passive income is going to be very interesting as we move forward. So another one, another project that's scary is is the Flyfish Club, which is a restaurant where you have to have, a very high end restaurant in New York City where you have to actually own one of the tokens to make a reservation. So this is a concept that is, you know, has been proven. I can't remember the name of the steakhouse in New York. But basically that at the steakhouse in the West Village, you have a standing reservation for your time every week, and you can get people to fill it. However, you can't just like call up and make a reservation if you're not, if you don't have a standing one. So I think like moving that to an opportunity where you have to own an NFT to have a reservation at a high end club is really beneficial for both parties. Because for the restaurant, they're also having an additional source of income, where they're getting started up by launching their NFT. They're getting startup capital, in order to build out the restaurant and create an amazing experience. They're also getting secondary sales revenue royalties, which will allow them to sustain and have an additional form of income if they do make an amazing experience. What's cool from the consumer perspective is not only do you get access to the, to the restaurant to go when you want to, you can also rent out your, your pass and your NFT on a monthly basis. So if someone comes in from London, and they're going to be in New York for a weekend or for a month, you could actually have them rent out your token and go to the restaurant, and you would get some passive income for doing that and for actually owning that asset. So that's just one example. And I think as we see the NFT space and the web three space continue to move forward, you're going to see a lot more like, creative use cases, like technology like that. And not that the profile pictures is the wrong way to use the technology, but I think we're going to see a continued push. And there's just a lot of creative and innovative people in the space who are seeing this technology and saying like, hey, what can I do with it?
Holly Shannon 25:19
I love that. The idea of renting out your token so that you can utilize this very exclusive restaurant and be a part of a membership, even if you're not physically part of the membership from the beginning. And I had heard that, and so I think this is a similar use case, I had heard that there were people who bought the NFT for VCON. And my understanding is that that NFT is good for the next three years to attend that conference. But somebody might have bought it, and they can't go this year, and they know that they're gonna go next year. So they rent out their ticket for that one year opportunity, that one conference opportunity for 2022 or 2023, whichever year they couldn't do it for. It's very similar. And I hope I didn't speak wrongly. But I had heard that through the grapevine. So is that true? Like, some people are like Airbnb being their VCON ticket?
Trey Pezzetti 26:27
Yeah, so I think it's very close. And it's very similar concept. The way that the VCON tickets work from my understanding was, if you owned a Vee Friends Series 1, which was the original Vee Friend collection, the utility that it came with was you get entrance to VCON for the first three years. And the way they did that was they actually AirDropped an additional NFT, three additional NFTs, one for each of the years. And that serves as your ticket. So if you're not able to go this year, what you could actually do is you could actually sell that ticket to someone else who is interested in going. And so that's just like a really exciting way to do it as well. And that one is more in the form of like an additional NFT. However, both of them work great in terms of providing value to your token holders and your community.
Holly Shannon 27:19
I love that. What brands are areas of, of business are you dreaming about creating NFT projects with? Like, if you could just go off and find clients at this point, what would it be?
Trey Pezzetti 27:35
Yeah, for me personally, I think sports teams and, and sports and athletes are, are definitely like, just because of my personal interest in sports. I think that there's a huge opportunity for sports teams to come in and offer NFTS to their fans, and provide really unique utility for that. So some of the things that, just off the top of my head that I brainstorm are things like, hey, like a special security entrance, if you have like the highest level of the NFT, the ability to design merch, merchandise for the team and basically being able to have some say into like what they're selling, the idea that you could come and pitch the GM for a half hour about like how you think the team should operate moving forward. Not that they have to take all the recommendations, but just the ability to do that would be very interesting. And then the last one that I think is cool is the the ability to go play like a pickup game, on their field or on the stadium on a day where the team's not playing. So there's just really cool things for like a sports team. And if you're operating one to basically come out and like understand what your clients would like or what your customers would like to do, and then provide them that utility and you know, making sure that you are giving back to your community, and that community is really representing themselves by owning your token, I think what we're going to see as you move forward in this space is that a lot of your digital, digital identity is going to be defined by like what you hold in your wallet. So these brands and these teams getting NFTs into consumers wallets now, as those more front end platforms where you can display what you own in your wallet, I know Coinbase has just released a more social NFT platform, but that's just going to become more and more important over time as our digital identity means more.
Trey Pezzetti 27:36
Yeah, it's interesting, I had this conversation recently with with another guest and I think, you know, there's the side of your identity where like, you want to be associated with things so they, you know, they're calling that virtue signaling, if you will, you know, your profile picture represents what you want people to see about you. But have the ability to go into somebody's wallet and to see a track record of what they're collecting could also drive supply and demand of it and also speak volumes around the type of person you are, like what you're interested in. So I wonder, will people start to, you know, just create alternate wallets that give them a little anonymity? I don't know.
Trey Pezzetti 30:25
Yeah, one of the most interesting things that I've heard in terms of talking about this, and being anonymous online, and I'm not sure this is exactly how it's gonna play out, but I thought it was a very, like thought provoking article is that as we're moving forward, and this is probably more like 10 to 15 years out, that you might have like multiple personas online. So one of your personas would be what you, like your work persona, and how you're going to go and like interact with a potentially Virtual Job. And you would want to have that to be like very professional, so that you are like, easily hireable, and you'd want to show off your skills. Another one would be like your personal. So this would be more about like, what you think would be fun, you know, things that represent you as, as a person. And then the last one would be like political, and like how you represent yourself in that way. So I don't know if it's exactly going to play out like that. But I do think it's very interesting to think about how you represent yourself online, and how that might change as we get more and more into, as, as we live more and more of our lives in this digital space.
Holly Shannon 31:31
Yeah, that's a great point, that is a great point. And I'm fascinated by that, like, the whole concept that somebody would, you know, try and shape that. And, and I don't know that it's dissimilar actually, to social media web two, you know, like, you present yourself one way on LinkedIn, but maybe you present yourself, your person, you know, that's your professional. And then your personal might be on say, Instagram, or Facebook. And then maybe your political slash your business are on Twitter, like I feel like some people kind of already embody different personalities, even on social media. So be interesting to see, like, how their wallets expressed that, like how we move towards that.
Trey Pezzetti 32:19
I think that's a really, really good point. And I would also just add on to that, it's, I think it's very similar to how we act in our real lives on a day to day basis. So when you're at work, or in the office, you act a little bit differently than if you're at home with your friends. And that's even different than when you're home with your family. And it doesn't mean that you're a different person. But there's just different social norms in each of those spaces. And you're, you know, talking about different topics, and just acting a little bit differently because of those environments that you're in. So it's really just carrying over a lot of the things that humans have done for a long time into these new technologies. And so it will be interesting to see how it plays out, and what platforms you're going to want to bring different social norms to.
Holly Shannon 33:02
Yeah, and we have we haven't even talked about the Metaverse.
Trey Pezzetti 33:06
Exactly.
Holly Shannon 33:08
Let's see. So, earlier, we talked about, you know, the possibilities of, you know, ideas coming into the space and how you had said, you know, like your ideal would be, you know, the sports area. So, are you then, if we look at Vee Friends, Discord channels, DAOs distributed autonomous organizations, sorry, I said that all wrong, decentralized? Yeah, sorry, I had a word in my head. Are you open to like partnerships, or like creators that come up with ideas, even within your ecosystem of like, Vee Friends and discord channels and stuff like that?
Trey Pezzetti 33:57
Yeah, absolutely. I think, you know, we talked earlier about like, the values of the space. And I think that a lot of the values of the space are like empowering artists, and empowering like individuals who are, you know, really trying to push the envelope and make new projects. So that's something that we really tried to carry over with our, our work at Vayner NFT, as well as we try to instill in the programs and when we're working with brands, I just think that those are really good characteristics that we want to continue to be seen. Going forward. And I also mentioned this is that, you know, launching an NFT program might not be the best move in the NFT space for everyone. You know, there's a lot of opportunities for brands to partner with existing NFT projects, or work with NFT artists who already have really good followings and empower them to build amazing collections or amazing programs. So it's really hard because the space is so new to have like this one size fits all playbook. I think that there's a lot of different options in when you're thinking about approaching the space. And you know, as we move forward, and those options are just going to continue to get more and more. But that also presents opportunity for brands and for IP owners to come in and, and have a successful entrance and, and be a brand that's a leader in the space.
Holly Shannon 35:19
Wonder if there's like that perfect client like that you've been dreaming about doing something like this with is there like, like, is there a certain team or something that you just love that you're like, oh my gosh, this, this would be perfect case scenario?
Trey Pezzetti 35:34
That's, that's good. I mean, I'm a Detroit sports fan. So we don't have a lot of really good sports teams right now. And that's kind of been a theme over the last 10 or 15 years. So I also went to the University of Michigan and Michigan football's huge for me. So that would probably be like a dream client for me personally. I also would love to partner with, you know, artists, like musical artists, and the music in the NFT space is very interesting as well, when you're thinking about how artists will fund themselves as they move forward and how they're interacting with their clients and or with the customers and how those customers are going to be able to get access to the artists. So I think that those two for me would be the ones that like I'm thinking about and would be excited about.
Holly Shannon 36:20
Yeah, the I love the, the Alma Mater type of thing, like you know that everybody has their roots. And I think that's really cool. And I think the music model is one of the more interesting ones to me, too, I keep looking at that. I'm convinced I was probably like a DJ in my past life or something, because I just love music so much. But the idea that like they could cross pollinate on platforms, like they can stream stay with, like, say, Spotify for the larger body of fans and listeners like to find, to be more discoverable, right? But then they can maybe release, you know, individual songs, not maybe an entire album, but like individual songs as an NFT and sell that. And when somebody's done with it, they can sell it as well and create like royalties and a legacy that might be bigger than what they get from the streaming service. Because right now, like they it's like they get pennies from what I understand. I mean, not Lady Gaga, but you know what I mean? Like independent artists, right?
Trey Pezzetti 37:37
For sure, I think that I'm in complete agreement that this is one of the most exciting areas of the space, I think that we're super early on, what you're going to see a lot starting is artists continuing to use a lot of traditional music channels, like Spotify, Apple Music, because that is successful, especially for the big artists. And what they'll do is they'll supplement with NFTs or with this, and they'll use it as a pseudo fan club, right? So if you own a specific NFT, you get to talk to a, or you get a 30 minute FaceTime, or you get to sit front row at every one of their concerts. I know that's been done before you get specific merch. So basically an additive way to engage with your fans. And we talked about this. But just having that ability to have like your NFT in people's wallet and associated with people's identity is really important and very useful to the artist. I think as you move forward, and we get more clarity on regulation, what you're going to see a lot more of is the ability to actually make like investments in artists. And so there's still a lot up in the air. And that would be considered security. So there's additional things that we're going to have to get clarity on from the from the US government about how these are going to be handled. But the idea that you could hear an amazing, amazing artists in a bar, and they're going to launch a 10,000 NFTs for $2 each, to get $20,000 to buy studio time. And then they're going to give 10% of that album that they're going to use that studio time to create to all the token holders like that concepts like that are super exciting and apply not just to artists but to multiple sectors and athletes in different areas. So while that is further down the road, things like that are probably going to be coming. I know that the security token market is already exploring a lot of these types of use cases, a little bit on a higher level, especially in like residential, and like the ownership of large expensive assets. However, as the space continues to innovate, we're probably going to move closer and closer to like security tokens and entities will will probably come closer together and you'll see NFTs who are actually treated like like, like security. So that's really interesting to me. I think having those, access to alternative investments, and also artists having multiple ways to fundraise, not just from like traditional, not just from, like traditional avenues, I think is something that I'm personally excited about.
Holly Shannon 40:15
Yeah, it's so interesting what you pointed out in there. So it's kind of like a circular economy that they create, which is just sort of a really cool concept.
Trey Pezzetti 40:26
Yeah. And you know, if you are found someone and you invested in their first album, well, then and you get some of the royalties, well, now you become their biggest fans, right? And what you're doing is you're telling your friends and you're telling your your family, like, Hey, you got to check out this artists, you're promoting it on your own social medias. And then what that does is it increases the artist popularity, so like the return on the investment for the artists actually becomes a lot higher, because these people have now a financial interest in, in you being successful. And you see this already, specifically with artists, where you're like, Oh, I discovered that artists first are like, I found this new music, I went to this concert like that culture is already something that exists. And this is going to just amplify that as we move forward.
Holly Shannon 41:11
I think what's really cool is it sort of brings us right back to that conversation to about like, empathy and kindness. And I think we are, we are creating a different model that way. I love that your upbringing, you know, it's in your DNA, it's in the, the Vayner, media, DNA, everything that they're doing. You know, it's what I do here on my show, try to bring diversity and empathy and all of these things for the, to the conversation, because I think we need to be part of solving for the future, right? And we need to be part of building web three, to look the way we would like it to look. And I'm excited that you are building partnerships, and helping to solve for that. I think it's really good.
Trey Pezzetti 42:07
Yeah, I really appreciate you, you know, really focusing on those those key things, I think that this is, you're doing a great job. And I really appreciate you having me on. I think the one thing I'll say is that, you know, there's always gonna be bad actors. But as long as you have people in the communities that you're in, who are individually representing those values, and continue and believe in them, that's a good long term recipe for those values to come out on top. So no matter what technology, no matter what your space you're in, there's going to be bad actors, and there's going to be rug pulls, there's going to be people who are taking advantage of other people. However, it's really just about trying to continue to bring that on an everyday basis, in your case an every podcast basis. So I'm just excited to be on the show. And I appreciate you having me.
Holly Shannon 42:53
Thank you, Trey. And you know, I agree with you on that. I would point out that the bad actors have always been around, I think people are also trying to point fingers out it to maybe scare people away. But, you know, back in the what the 1900s, early 1900s, they were called snake oil salesmen. And you know, when in web two, even like if we jump further ahead, you know, there's a lot of people that would steal identities and all kinds of business scams, so you're never going to completely escape it. But I like that bigger companies are starting out in this space with a different viewpoint. And I'm really happy that you have found your spot there. Looks like it's a good fit. Thank you for coming.
Trey Pezzetti 43:43
Yeah, I'm very excited to be at Vayner NFT. We're super excited about the future. And like I said, I really appreciate you having me on this has been a really insightful conversation.
Holly Shannon 43:51
Thank you. Thanks for coming on Culture Factor. This is great. It's a wrap.
Trey Pezzetti 43:56
Awesome. I love it. Thank you.