Who First Got You Into the Web3 World?

Thought leaders is an interesting concept and one that doesn’t sit to well with me personally. I do however, understand the concept and appreciate that it resonates with others. When I think of thought leaders in the NFT space, there have been quite a few who have shared their insight and knowledge to help others bridge the gap from web2 to web3 and NFT’s in general. 

While considering who I would talk about, I decided that I just needed to strip things right back and look at who was the one person who had the biggest impact on me personally, coming into the NFT space and that was Gary Vee and his VeeFriends project. I have been a fan of Gary’s for a number of years and learned so much from his content over that time. When he began talking about his new, up and coming NFT project in 2021, I obviously took notice. I had heard of NFT’s but hadn’t really given them much notice as I was busy building my own business.

Looking back on this time, in early 2021, the biggest benefit for me was how Gary and his team basically held our hands through the process of understanding and getting started in the crypto world. By offering his community the basic insights needed to get set up and how to take precautions, the whole process of entering the NFT world seemed to flow quite seamlessly. Now I do have to say, that there was a significant leap of faith on my side, in jumping into VeeFriends. As the VeeFriends drop worked off a dutch auction system (where the starting price is high and then goes downwards), I had to sit down with my wife and discuss the financial side of investing in this NFT project and potentially losing all the money that was invested. Luckily my wife trusted me, and I trusted Gary, so we agreed to try for one. And this is where I learned quite an expensive lesson!

As I was trying to buy a VeeFriend, I actually didn’t understand that even when you bid on one, you still had to pay the gas fee, whether you won or not. I bid on numerous VeeFriends, winning none of them and then got a hell of a shock when I was down €800 in gas fees!! Ultimately though, I got lucky and picked up an Unwavering Urchin at just above the floor price of 0.5eth…yes I know how lucky I am in hindsight! To me Gary has always understood the value of his community and supporting them. His venture into NFT’s has been no different. To me, he appears to be extremely meticulous in his research and doesn’t throw out information that he is not 99% sure of in the long term. 

He may not be the most important thought leader in the space, but for me, he has had the biggest influence and I will forever be grateful to Gary for bringing me into the NFT space. 

To learn more about Gary and VeeFriends you can go to https://www.garyvaynerchuk.com/ and https://veefriends.com/ Face Painted Kids decision to donate 51% of profits to charity was directly influenced by Gary’s belief in bringing 51% value to others rather than yourself.

Who inspired you to join the Web3 world? Share your thoughts with us on Twitter or Discord!