Currently, as the CEO and CoFounder of MetaCurio, Jeff is working with global brands and talents who aim to enter the Web 3.0 space. With over two decades’ experience that has evolved from technology to blockchain consulting, Jeff has delivered some fine talents in the NFT and Web 3.0 world. His journey began as getting IP rights for big brands (like The Joe Frasier Estate, Albert Einstein, Charlie Chaplin, and The Wright Brothers). Jeff has successfully launched Mike Tyson, Reactor Motors, and the likes into the NFT space.
“Well, honestly, I really never thought I would be doing what I do today for a living, especially with global celebrities that I grew up watching as a kid. So, it’s kind of a crazy experience, a little surreal”.
Jeff started his career in software development in 1999, right at the beginning of Y2K and global outsourcing. For the next seventeen years, Jeff continued his journey into software, exploring various roles, and finally doing an IPO for GSS Infotech in India. Meanwhile, the changing paradigms in the market created a fascination for him towards the growing popularity of Bitcoin and (utility of) Smart Contracts by Ethereum. Asked by Dinis Guarda in this latest episode of the citiesabc podcast, Jeff said that this became a turning point in his career and he started travelling to almost every corner of the world speaking about the practical applications of blockchain. He advocated the importance of tokenising projects and advised offerings during the next few years. Completely caught up in this entire world of cryptocurrency and leveraging tokens as another capital source for projects, Jeff transitioned to equity and venture capital. The skills acquired during that time leveraged his knowledge to understand the fragmented nature of the crypto markets and this prompted him to create a thriving space for content creators.
“I took a different approach than most of my peers. We didn’t invest in technology first, we invested in legal. This was because if you’re familiar with the entertainment industry, every piece of IP or every celebrity or talent has a circle of agents, managers, and lawyers that just circle around their whole ecosystem. So, knowing that, because I had dabbled in entertainment already, I knew that we would have to go through a huge amount of red lines and contract negotiations to acquire IP”, he recalls fondly. After layering enough IPs with names like Mike Tyson, Dennis Rodman, Wesley Snipes, The Joe Frasier Estate, Odell Beckham Jr, Albert Einstein, Charlie Chaplin, The Wright Brothers, MetaCurio (under Jeff’s leadership), started launching NFTs over the concrete foundations at MetaCurio.
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Making MetaCurio a Heavyweight in the NFT and Web3 Space
MetaCurio is a full-service Web 3 strategy company that works with global brands and talents looking to enter the Web 3.0 space for profitable returns. Metacurio is a next-generation creative studio leading brands and talent into the Metaverse. With a vision to create long-term impact over the blockchain and build a true community, MetaCurio helps creators with various solutions like- NFT drops and digital asset development, and epic activations. Under Jeff’s leadership, the company launched the ‘Mike Tyson Cory Van Lew collaboration’ in August 2021, taking a bold never-before artistic approach for the NFT collection of the celebrity boxer. Within its very first few minutes, the collection was sold out, profiting the company by a million dollars. What was more interesting was that it earned over $15 million in the secondary markets.
“I think it was the mix of the right time, right place. But I also feel like I had a very specific opinion and stuck to it. I think, sometimes, in business, you have to be willing to just do that. You know, having spent a decade in crypto and considering myself part of this community, I really focussed on bringing Mike into this space and kind of in the most organic and authentic way possible”, he explains.
Successful NFT launches and future plans
The impact these NFT sales and creations made on the community as a whole encouraged Jeff to carry on with them. Mike’s next drop- ‘The Laser eyes Derivative’ was sold out in mere twenty-three minutes of its launch, generating another million dollars. Metacurio is currently at the fourth NFT drop for Mike Tyson, a trading card game on Solana ‘Iron Pigeons’; and another one on Binance. Other clients like Paradigm Sports, Reactor Motors (sold almost 9000 NFTs in the first four days of launch), Terry O'Neill (authentic band group), and Dennis Rodman. Some of the community acts also include a charity drop recently for Ukraine with artists Vladimir Klitschko and Wisby. Considering the nascent appearance of the company over the space (established in 2021), MetaCurio is currently at its tenth drop.
“Now that we’ve established some credibility and some case studies, we’re working to push Web 3.0 forward in the most authentic way possible to expand the community and to help bring brands and talent into the space in a way that doesn’t punish or hurt collectors. That’s my biggest fear”.
With the dream of creating a space that leverages its participants equally, Jeff and his team at Metacurio are dedicated to creating an integrated space developed with the power of smart contracts. Motivating the young and micro-level creators, he says, “The future of creation in the Web 3.0 economy is the lower-level creators. It’s enabling the people with fewer followers on various platforms to be able to monetise their fanbase in a way that adds value to the total economy”.
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