Brand-verse NFTs - Cyber Shakti

Brand-verse NFTs - Cyber Shakti

Participants:

• Nadja Bester (CEO & Co-founder of AdLunam)

• Cyber Shakti (Founder of Haus of Shakti)

00:25

Nadja

Sound check. Please give me your favorite Twitter emoji if you guys can hear me. Awesome.

00:34

Nadja

So greetings web3 Twitter.

00:37

Nadja

We are going to give it a few minutes for the room to continue filling up. While we wait, I have two very special announcements today. One of them also happens to be very personal, so stay tuned for that. The first, if you haven't checked out just yet, season one of AdLunam's Non Fungible Talent NFT competition is live. If you're an NFT artist, do submit your work and stand a chance to win. We've already received almost 100 entries since we launched Non Fungible Talent just a few days ago. Send us yours and join the fam. Second, the magic powers, maybe of NFTs AdLunam as a company is passionate about the future of NFTs because as a company we are also pushing the boundaries of Web3 investment with our dynamic NFT investor profiles. Which is also why we are passionate about hosting the show on a weekly basis, talking to people, exploring the boundaries of what this technology can do.

01:45

Nadja

since: 2017

02:53

Nadja

Because I'm as nontraditional as it gets when it comes to all things marriage, I won't be caught dead changing my surname or wearing wedding ring. I'm the last person I ever thought would think about marriage. I am going to take a slightly different direction with all of this and have some fun doing it with NFTs. I have a few tricks up my sleeve already, but if you have any crazy suggestions for me, tweet them to me at Nadja Bester and use the #Nftproposal. The wilder the better. Let's explore some of the possibilities of what NFTs can do in the love arena. For now, we have a very awesome speaker in the house today. Let's hit the road and kick off today's very interesting chat with our fascinating guest speaker, Cyber Shakti. Cyber Shakti, are you here and audible? Can we do a sound check and let me know?

04:02

Nadja

Tell me how's it going with you today.

04:06

Cyber

Hello.

04:07

Cyber

Check, check.

04:08

Nadja

Absolutely check. How's it going, GMGM?

04:13

Cyber

It's going so well.

04:16

Nadja

All right. I am very excited to be getting into all of this today.

04:19

Nadja

Let me do the intro and then let's kick the show on the road.

04:23

Cyber

Perfect.

04:25

Nadja

If you are just joining in, hey, web3 world. This is Nadja Bester from AdLunam and you are listening to The Future of NFTs, the show that looks beyond current NFT use cases and dives into what Non Fungible Token technology is evolving into. All of this as seen through the eyes and built by the minds of the amazing guest speakers we speak to each week. AdLunam is the only IDO Launchpad that rewards attention with allocation. Our Engage to Earn platform features, dynamic NFT investor profiles, NFT allocation fractionalization, and our one of a kind Proof of Attention allocation mechanism. Catch the future of NFTs live on Twitter Spaces every Tuesday and subscribe to us on your favorite podcast streaming platform for any of the episodes that you might be missing out on. Our sister's show Diving into Crypto is live every Thursday and very big surprise coming up.

05:26

Nadja

in media marketing came early: 2020

06:37

Nadja

Your art, which is, of course, the next question. To me, your art seems to have a very dualistic focus. On the one hand, it emphasizes this divine feminine principle, Shakti. For those in the audience who are not familiar with the term, it's a power of the divine feminine as it's known in Hinduism. Bringing this divine feminism into the cyberspace, but at the same time really focusing on observing India's ethnic cultures and customized customs by immortalizing it on chain. I am very excited to get into these topics today. If you guys in the audience want to ask Cyber Shakti a question, either put in a speaker request during Q and A time at the tail end of the hour or you can just DM your question to the AdLunam Twitter handle at AdLunam Inc. So, Cyber Shakti, welcome to the Future of NFTs. Please let us know where you are and where we are going with this crazy NFT ride that we are going to be talking about today.

07:48

Cyber

Wow, that's a loaded question. I think let's answer this throughout the time that we have here, going into one step at a time as to how we started and how we are going where we are going. To begin with, I think you introduced my art really well. The whole idea is to show that there is divine feminine in every female out there. I try to articulate emotions that women have. Women almost every time in any situation, will have multiple layers of feelings and thought processes going on in the sense like you have one authentic feeling and one is the world wise way of interacting with the world. Women always try to find a balance between what they are perceiving and how they are articulating because as we know, it's very difficult to be a woman in this world and in this space. Far few of us are totally free and unabashed in how we express.

09:08

Cyber

This whole balancing act that women always try to have in every interaction is something that I examine and I question, especially in the Artwork series that I created on OpenSea called the Pop Art series. I deeply explored how pop culture, advertising, beauty standards, et cetera, are affecting women so much to the point where how we spend our downtime, our me time is also always, is it really your time if somebody's telling you how to spend it?

09:53

Nadja

This is by far the best opener that anyone could have asked for. I am very happy that I asked you that loaded question because I think the rest of the hour is going to be very full of amazing nuggets of wisdom. I love talking about NFTs to anyone who wants to talk about them, but really, as a woman in Web3, I've had some pretty lonely moments in my time in this industry. I'm always that much more excited by talking to another woman in the space because I think this is definitely a conversation that we don't really have as much and especially as nuanced as you were saying, this balance that women have to find between perception and articulation because we are articulating in a predominantly man's world and in the industry that we are in. The web3 industry is this amazing place where you can kind of do whatever it is that you want to do, but we still in some sense are governed by these laws of the patriarchal approach to business and just to the world of the world.

11:10

Nadja

I'm very keen to get into just your voice as a woman in the space. I think that these voices are so incredibly important because as you say, every interaction is this balancing act.

11:23

Nadja

Am I going to articulate what I'm perceiving or am I going to articulate what the standard accepted narrative is asking me to do? I want to know what is your background that got you into the space, especially into NFTs, and why NFTs? What is it about NFTs that made you go, whoa, this is the medium I want to be involved with, and.

11:49

Nadja

This is really the universe that I want to be involved with.

11:55

Cyber

Honestly, I have always been an artist, but I have very Indian parents. They insisted on me completing my education and getting a postgraduate degree because graduation in itself is not enough Indian society. You need to have a post-graduation, you need to have a certain employability in your belt. Really, it should be a norm. I went through all that and honestly, pursuing art as a career was never encouraged in my family. And it's not just about my family. That's the standard norm Indian households that one must focus on having employability. I wouldn't say that they focus on your career because honestly, women are also not very encouraged to have career focused existence. Women exist to serve, women exist to nurture, right? In this whole culturally conditioned way of living, my art was always given a backseat or a second priority. I completed my MBA, and after my MBA, I still felt like I wanted to do something more creative.

13:19

Cyber

I found a midway with my family wherein I pursued master specialization in advertising and communication. This was partly creative, but it was still a degree. We sort of signed off on it. I went for that course, and through that I stepped into advertising. I spent some years in advertising and then I switched on to the client side, that is, the media side. I was marketing a lot of content, I was ideating on a lot of content, I was pitching a lot of IPS, I was show running a lot of IPS. Throughout all this, the artist in me always was the second priority in the sense it was only seen as a downtime or when I want to refresh myself over the weekend, would I pick up my camera or would I paint? And then the lockdown happened. And during the lockdown, something beautiful happened. I became unemployed because obviously the first one to go from any organization in layoffs is the marketing person.

14:31

Cyber

That was a very stressful time because the future was uncertain and I was making a lot of art. And as a coping mechanism. I was channeling my anxiety and my stress because I wanted to stay strong for my family and I just kept making art. Thankfully, throughout the years, while I was pursuing art as a secondary hobby, I was still in touch with a lot of artist communities globally. Glitch art being a very underground art form was always my go to community because I somehow resonated a lot with them. What happened is one of these glitch artists saw that I was amping up my art posting like I was posting art every day. They reached out to me and they said, we love your work, and we've been seeing your work throughout the years and hey, why don't you join this discord channel? And I hesitated for a while.

15:38

Cyber

discord. This is early or mid-: 2020

16:53

Cyber

Here is where I found a blank canvas to be who I wanted to be, to express what I wanted to express. The best part is people were loving it. This helped me to shake the dust off me and for the first time digest and internalize that, yes, I am an artist. I am not a hobby artist. I am a practicing artist. It hit me because people were having shows in the Metaverses and they wanted to put up my art and people were like, celebrating my art. This is what NFT did for me. It turned me into a practicing full time artist. From there on, I've not gone back to my everyday life again. The good thing that happened is because I had marketing experience and I had advertising experience, I could use all this experience, take all my NFT learnings and my NFT insights and the cultural nuances that I picked up here, blend it together with my marketing profession.

18:07

Cyber

Now I also do this for brands and NFTs. I help them out with their NFT strategy. I help them out with their communication, I help them out with growth hacks. So it's just worked out perfectly.

18:22

Nadja

That is absolutely amazing. I wanted to comment just one thing. I think you said that art is not really an option for Indian parents but I think this is very universal because there are not many parents anywhere around the world who would really encourage their children to go into art. I love this really full circle that we've come with. NFTs, where, as you say now, it not only gives you that employability, but it really also opens up this world of possibilities in terms of income, in terms of branding, in terms of really pursuing your craft and your art as an artist and not just, as you say, a hobby artist who kind of does it in the moments that you can steal from elsewhere. So very inspiring. I think this is really one of those stories that hopefully aspiring artists are listening to or will be listening to over the coming days, weeks and months.

19:24

Nadja

As we put it onto a podcast platform, because it really says so much, I think. Not only about you as a person.

19:32

Nadja

Also about the possibilities that we get as people who participate this early on in the space, but really also this magic that exists in this world where the traditional world was. So affected by COVID, as you say.

19:50

Nadja

Having to subject ourselves to all of the perils that came with lockdown, including unemployment. For a lot of people, with this extra time in your hands and really deciding, are you going to use it to invest in your mental health like you did with your art? Or as many people were doing panicking and watching the news and the statistics every day. Really as a result of COVID this is when NFTs first came to the fore at global mass scale because suddenly people were asking the question well, what is possible? And it's just so amazing that art ended up being one of the first things that has gone full circle from something that no one's parents want them to become a professional artist to all.

20:36

Nadja

All of a sudden, here we are having you on as a speaker today, talking about the just many insights and experiences that you've gathered over the last few years of being here. I am curious, for me the beauty of NFT is because it means completely different things to different people and the more we explore, the more NFTs developed both as a concept and as a use case. I'm curious what is unique about your approach to NFTs?

21:11

Cyber

Like you rightly said, NFTs mean different things. NFT is just a technology. NFT is essentially, it's a technology that gets value from how it is perceived. In the sense I can just use NFT to trade art. There are so many communities that are using NFTs for access. There are so many. Like for example, in the metaverse NFTs can be ownership certificate, it can be access, it can be anything, really. I think the use cases and how NFTs can evolve is really up to the imagination. It's about what you can do with this technology that's given to you. I think we are still in the very early stages and eventually we'll see this evolve on the go and so many more possibilities are going to open up. How I see NFTs is I see this as an opportunity to write the blockchain pop culture history in the sense see as a creator in the space.

22:23

Cyber

ng out my work on chain since: 2020

23:12

Nadja

Yeah, that is absolutely perfect. This idea that your imagination is your limit, that's one that I'm very used to and very familiar with myself. What you said about writing the blockchain pop culture history, that is absolutely amazing because you are so right, because everything is on chain. We have this very unique opportunity in history to just document the evolution of a technology right on the technology that's mind blowing.

23:45

Nadja

I'm so happy to be part of this. I'm so happy to be speaking to you today, because I think as a brand expert who got started in the more traditional media world, you have a very different perspective on the role that NFTs could play in branding, in the Metaverse than someone who perhaps doesn't have the background. Could you share with us your thoughts on where you see NFTs taking branding in the Metaverse?

24:12

Cyber

I think it'll take some time for us to bridge perfectly between web2 and web3 because right now with almost every brand that I interact with, the web2 brands, I mean, they still operate from a very traditional marketing mindset. For example, they still want to know as an influencer how many followers they have, how many impressions they get, what is the kind of revenues NFTs can generate for them. It'll take a lot of unlearning for the traditional marketers to get engrossed in this culture and understand, it's not really about selling, it's not really about revenue. I mean, ultimately it is about money and this is why bored apes are respected so much. I mean, we can say all we want about community, but it's the ten x return 100 x return that generated is making the headlines, right? Nobody's writing about them because, hey, best community ever.

25:16

Cyber

Ultimately, it is about money, but it's about the way that they went around it, right? They rewrote stories and they broke all the rules and they made things possible for people who chose to invest in them. A lot of traditional marketing rules don't apply here. I think brands really need to get rid of the revenue first mentality and B, start thinking, offering community first. What can I do for this space? Or how can I rewrite my brands? How can I rewrite my brand story on the blockchain? I think that is a great place to start. What problem can I solve for my community? Yeah, why do I even need to be in blockchain? Is it because it's a PR activity? Will it make my company be seen as progressive if I get into NFTs? Or do I genuinely have a long term vision of how am I bringing my people closer and solving some problems for them using NFTs?

26:40

Nadja

Yeah, those are some absolutely fantastic points. I think that you really hit the nail on the head.

26:47

Nadja

Traditional marketing, and I also come from well, perhaps not a super traditional marketing background, but I worked in the early days of digital marketing when having a website was kind of the ultimate of being digital and it's so true that companies have this very short sighted understanding of what marketing is, okay? It has to make sense in terms of the numbers. The really amazing thing about especially NFTs, I think web3 as a whole, but especially NFTs because it's so early, so young, so new, is we always say that it's all about community.

27:26

Nadja

But what does that even mean? I think your example about Bored apes is absolutely brilliant because exactly, yes, it ultimately is about the money, but it's about how do you go about it? Look at the opportunities, as you say, that the board apes creators unlocked for their investors, breaking the rules in such a way that no one had ever done something like this before. I think that's really where the ultimate value comes from. Speaking of what, this is now really the loaded question of the hour. What do you see as the Future of NFTs and how do you think it's going to evolve from what we are seeing today?

28:08

Nadja

Because, as you say, it's very early. We see these brands hopping on and going, okay, I'm just going to do it for the PR and you have all the big companies coming in and trying to do something here. It's not necessarily always that successful. So how do you think that it's going to evolve from these kind of expressions to a real utopian future? In the sense that NFTs can become everything that they can be instead of just XYZ use case.

28:43

Cyber

The idea is that everybody is looking for the next board. If everybody is looking for a cracked template to follow, instead of saying that making something new is the only template you should follow, I'll give you an example. Like if people are still trying to reinvent but they're reinventing the packaging, they're not reinventing the formula. I think reinventing the formula every time is the key. Like for example, your utilities possibly don't need to be another Airdrop your utilities possibly don't need to be another Merch drop, right, just because somebody successfully done it. Do you still need to do it? There are10K NFTs in your project and your project giving IP rights to owners is great, but are you showing them how are you creating opportunities or are you creating examples of how these IP rights can be used? Yes or no? Right? Nobody's successfully cracked it yet, so how about you do what best?

30:07

Cyber

For example, I'm working with a project, right, that has insane experience in backpacking hostels. They have a chain of backpacking hostels. Through their NFTs, when they dropped their project, they said we are going to make a project for web3 native communities. Ultimately, what is the best thing that they know how to do? Right? They know traveler mentality really well. Here they saw an opportunity to mix NFT based access, but then they decided they want to make a real world Metaverse. In the sense it's a meeting space, it's a hangout space. For web3 travelers have different needs than say like a regular traveler. They would probably want to be around a space that lets them host token gated events, for example. They went ahead and they are creating a chain of these spaces globally, like at least ten cities. I know they're going to start their physical spaces that are token gated and they know hospitality well.

31:21

Cyber

So they're creating that for their community. The community is so bullish on this that only 1% of their NFTs are listed for secondary and all of those are way above floor price. That's because they're doing something very unique and that's because they know that if they are doing something, they're passionate about it and they're good about it. They are not trying to play with things that they think will be successful. They're sticking to their expertise and what they like doing and what they know.

31:59

Nadja

Yeah, that is, I think, such a brilliant example because I think so many of the lines that you are using today are some of those that if you type something into Google, that has to come up as a quote because really you are dropping a lot of amazing bombs here. This idea of companies just following a crack template. Absolutely. Spot on, reinventing the packaging instead of the formula because I think this is the downside craziness of Web3 is you have this blank canvas you can create and do whatever your mind can conceive of. As you said, imagination is really the final frontier. Whatever you dream up, you can do it. The rules of the traditional spaces don't apply here and yet, unfortunately, so many companies come in and they just copy paste what they see everyone else doing. One of the cool things about crypto winter, every time that we go through the cycle is it's kind of a great reset, because with the next spring coming along, it's because people are, for the first time in however long, pushing the boundaries again until we see the self-same copycat practices that we see in the industry.

33:17

Nadja

I think what you are saying about sticking to whatever your expertise is, people come into Web3 and into NFTs from many different backgrounds, industries, countries, just life experience. And if they are abandoning all of that to try and create what has already been created in web3, that's why a lot of projects don't succeed.

33:44

Nadja

However, if you play to your own strengths, as you say, if you're in hospitality, focus on what focus on what you like doing, and you might just end up creating the next big thing. Because people who are in the NFT space as collectors are also coming from traditional industries. Whatever you are disrupting, they will also be part of this disruption. So, really good points. I wonder then, what do you think is hindering progress and even mass adoption for NFTs?

34:20

Cyber

FUD. Fear, doubt and uncertainty, I think globally, because a lot of countries, especially coming from where I come from, a standardization of regulations, I think. A lot of web3 projects that I know are building are having problems with currency on ramps, infrastructure is being developed everywhere. Education, mass adoption, everything is a challenge. I think this will be a learning curve for everybody. Like a lot of projects that we've started building will not be relevant because something better will be built in other parts of the world and that will scale, what I mean? A lot of people are also reinventing the wheel for the same set of problems. I think we need a more open source approach to building rather than say like a VC driven or like a capitalist approach, I think. Ultimately, whatever is happening, it's good only because, hey, I think even half a step forward is a good step.

35:34

Cyber

Yeah, I think there's a lot of learning and learning that will happen. We're still in the early days and.

35:44

Nadja

Eventually after the show Cyber Shakti, I'm going to add another question to my usual set of questions and that is what controversial advice do you have for this industry? I think your idea about an open source approach to building rather than this capitalist VC driven approach yeah.

36:06

Nadja

It's a painful thing for some to think about, but it is very true in the sense that, unfortunately, these cycles that we are moving in because people are building at the same time distributed all over the world, unfortunately. There is a lot of replication. Sadly, this means that a lot of projects will never see the light of day. Because, as you say, by the time that I am finished I don't know, building my first proof of concept. There might be another project, maybe in the same country, maybe on another continent, that has already gone through the entirety of their funding rounds and are even one day away from launch. So very interesting points to think about. At the end of the day, I loved what you said about even half a step is still closer to where we want to get to. So it's all good in the end. I have a final question before I'm going to open it up for Q and A.

37:04

Nadja

Audience, please DM your questions to the AdLunam Twitter handle or you can also put in a speaker request. So, final question being, what is your philosophy about Web3 changing lives?

37:18

Nadja

I think you've touched on a lot of different aspects today that are very pertinent. Where do you see this technology taking us in the sense that it really can change the lives of ordinary people on the ground?

37:35

Cyber

I think Web3 is still an open canvas. I don't know if it'll be the same a couple of years down the line where everything is more organized. I don't know yet, but right now it's full of opportunities. Web3 is the only space where moonlighting is not looked down upon. I mean, I'm seeing cases here in India where the traditional desirable corporations where people strive to get jobs in are firing people for moonlighting. Here this is Web3, where like a 19 year old college student has three gigs and he's still getting more offers and he's in a position to say, no, I don't have the time, or no, I want to go party now. I'm done. I have enough money. You know what I mean? I've seen people who are from the LGBTQIA community that probably people personally, I know they've seen a lot of struggle in life to get decent blue collar jobs.

38:38

Cyber

Because they got early to the Web3 space, they've built some projects anonymously. First they made decent money, then they got courage to reveal their identity and now they are showcasing their art like on Nasdaq in NFT.NYC, what I mean? In two years, their life completely changed because nobody was like asking them, why are you getting this opportunity? They went ahead and they made it for themselves, what I mean? Right now is the time to get in. Get your hands dirty. Take as many projects as you want, because I don't know if this window of opportunity will be open for too long once things and processes and structures and infrastructure is in place. Right now, there are so many problems to be solved. If you can solve two problems or three problems for people or community or in the space, people will value you for those.

39:47

Nadja

Yeah, thank you for highlighting that really beautiful point. We had a show also last week on our sister show, Diving into Crypto, that was all about Web3 employability. Our audience, I think it's still available on Twitter, or you can just wait for the episode to come out on podcast. But I think this is really Cyber Shakti. Something that you touch that is so important is this idea that people are accepted in this space in a way that is not necessarily possible in other spaces. There's this double edged sword in terms of the anonymity of projects, for instance. I think the example that you gave about people really able to put forward what it is that they can do and who they are and not be judged for it, or rather than being judged for it, being seen and acknowledged and accepted for it. Whether this is in terms of art or whether this is in terms of someone working in the industry, maybe living in a country where it's very difficult to get a job, or even more so, difficult to get an international job and an online job.

40:56

Nadja

between when I first came in: 2017

41:52

Nadja

I can see the audience is enjoying it as much as I have because my screen is constantly lighting up with questions. I'm going to go into the first one. What are the big challenges you face to open your own brand studio? Any advice, please?

42:15

Cyber

I think the biggest challenge was trusting myself and telling myself, I can do it like I've been doing it for other brands all my life. To treat your own brand as your client and as your baby, I think the first step and the first biggest fear is convincing yourself that you can make it on your own.

42:37

Nadja

Absolutely perfect. Please go for it. Continue. Sorry for interrupting.

42:44

Cyber

Yeah, because obviously you're emotional and you're emotionally attached to what you're doing. Like, when you're doing your client work, you're putting your heart out there, but ultimately you're seeing it from a third party. Objectivity in building your own brand is very difficult to achieve in the initial stages.

43:09

Nadja

That is absolutely beautiful advice. Next question. Do you believe that Web3 will reach artists in rural areas?

43:25

Cyber

I believe it should. I'm seeing a lot of art collectors wanting to get traditional arts and cultures onto the space, probably immortalize cultural nuances in the sense I'm seeing a lot of groundwork happening without taking names. I'm associated as an ambassador for a blockchain, right? They're going out of their way to bring traditional artists onto their space. Efforts have been started, and I think it should be amped up because, hey, we're losing touch with our cultures. Why not bring them onto the blockchain and ensure that they have a longer life and artisans, get more employment, get some money, just good for the world to keep these things online and on chain.

44:26

Nadja

Next question. That relates to your answer among modern day art or NFT, which pieces really inspire you?

44:42

Cyber

I think in NFTs, because traditional arts is something that I grew up learning from, but it's NFTs that gave me tangible examples of, yes, this is possible. Yes, you can achieve this. Yes, an underdog can still be seen as an elite artist. I think, say people like Fuoshius, people like XCOPY, there are some glitch artists that I really appreciate and admire. Her name is Donia. She is a trans artist and she was the example that I gave earlier on. She went from struggling to get a blue collar job. She had to put out appeals to people on Facebook to help her with aid because she didn't have survival money to actually winning some awards in the NFT space. She's come a long way and she has this piece that was showcased on Nasdaq in NFT.NYC. That piece of hers from SuperRare is something that is like a shining beacon of hope that anybody can make it.

45:59

Nadja

Thank you. That is, again, a very inspiring example. There really still a future in NFT art? No one's buying.

46:15

Cyber

That’s true. Investor mentality has changed, but you also need to understand the people that were buying NFT art. Now, I am going to go into a very controversial a space here. Are we good for that? What happened was, if you see traditional, there's this example that Van Gogh only sold one art piece ever, right? When you were not practicing artists in the NFT space, how much art were you selling? Probably twice a year. Twice a year. NFTs gave us early movers a window. This is why we couldn't have good things, because we had to go out to the media and sell NFTs as something that gives you millions overnight. Right? We sold that story out and then everybody flocked to NFTs with the expectation of making money. That is where everybody stopped making money. Eventually what happened is people were selling artworks. They were flipping artworks as collectors because they wanted to make money, not because they wanted to collect art.

47:47

Cyber

Eventually, NFT projects started coming in. Your PFP projects started taking over. People realized that, hey, probably buying NFT art is not the easiest way to flip and make money. Let's try flipping JPEGs, PFP projects. So people started flipping PFP projects. What really happened is it's filtered out your flippers. Your collectors are still investing in artists that they enjoy. People are not using art based NFTs for flipping anymore. Only very few collectors who still enjoy collecting art are still doing it, and they're doing it in the down low. If you thought that people went art crazy for six months no, they went money crazy, and they found newer instruments and a more short short instrument or a format to make that money. Artists shouldn't think like NFTs are finished. Rather, there are so many more ways to make money using the Web3 ecosystem to have art immortalized.

49:02

Cyber

For example, even digital artists can use easy software and start selling 3D variables, for example, of their art. I see that as an opportunity. You can learn a new software and build like a metaverse for somebody, or you can make that for yourself. I think you can drop your own NFT projects. You can build your own community and set your own utilities to them. Artists need to stop depending on other people to giving them opportunities. Artists need to make their own opportunities, is how I see this.

49:47

Nadja

Yeah. Thank you for keeping it real. I think that these words definitely need to be said more often and linking it back to what you said earlier. Are you only reinventing the packaging or are you actually going at it right from the core? I think this is the question whether you are a project or whether you are an artist, because at the end of the day, really, the world is your oyster. It just depends on how much you can think outside of the box. Really, I think, as you highlighted with NFT art, it's not that the opportunity is dead. It's just that we move in cycles. Everything in the world moves in cycles, including this industry, including NFTs. One cycle has come and gone, and now we are going into another cycle. Be one of the early ones and just create things the way that you want to create it.

50:40

Nadja

Okay, onto the next question, which, ironically is, how can I become an NFT artist?

50:50

Cyber

You need to be an artist first. I didn't start creating art when I heard of NFTs. I was always making art. It's just that they got three likes on Facebook every time I posted them. Right. I was still consistently making art for five years. And then NFTs happened to me. Instead of putting them out on Facebook, I started minting them on wearable. If, for example, if you're a traditional artist, or if you are, for example, making paintings with your hand, probably just learn how to take better pictures of your artwork and tell your story, right. And you're good to go. Honestly, you don't need a lot of money to get started with. It's honestly a myth that NFT artists are not selling. Maybe they're not selling on Ethereum blockchain. Try looking at other blockchains where high rise works, but they are selling in volume.

52:07

Nadja

Brilliant. Thank you so much. I have a speaker request from Colleen. I hope I'm saying your name correctly. Colleen, you're up. Please ask Cyber Shakti your question.

52:19

Cyber

Hi.

52:19

Nadja

Yes, you did say it right.

52:21

Speaker

Thank you. I have two questions here. One is, I heard you mention about the NFT talent hunt, so I would like to know more about that. For Cyber Shakti, I would like to ask, does these kind of contests have a positive impact on NFT artists? Do they motivate them? Or what is impact of these kind of contests on the NFT artists? That is my question.

52:48

Cyber

Thank you. Right.

52:51

Nadja

Thanks, Colleen. Cyber Shakti, just to get you up to speed, I think Colleen was referring to AdLunam's non fungible talent competition, where we are inviting artists to create NFTs, and there are prizes and NFT judges who will be awarding these prizes. Her first question being telling us more about or telling the audience more about non fungible talent, which is something that I will perhaps do at the end of the show. Second, do you think that these kind of competitions are of value to NFT artists and you're really just what it brings to the table?

53:34

Cyber

Absolutely. One must keep participating.

53:36

Cyber

Hey, I keep participating.

53:38

Cyber

Just because of being around the block doesn't mean we shouldn't look for more opportunities. I think this is a brilliant way to show your work to more people. And, hey, if you win, there's also some prize money or bounty that comes your way. So always make use of these platforms.

54:03

Nadja

Yeah, I just want to echo that as well. I think ultimately, any opportunity that you get in whatever it is that you are pursuing, whether that's art, whether that's business or whatever your passion is, it's so helpful to, I think, something that Cyber Shakti shared earlier about this art community that she had stayed in touch with for years and years, even when she was not actively working primarily as an artist. It just highlights the importance of community, but also really that these opportunities come and go and a few people are able to participate. If you're one of those people, guaranteed you will get something out of it. Maybe not everyone can be number one, but anything that you will get out of it will be more and worth more than if you hadn't participated at all. Question Cyber Shakti about the name Cyber Shakti. Your online name, Shakti means power.

55:05

Nadja

What made you choose that name? Tell us that story.

55:12

Cyber

So the same thing. The power to believe in myself and seeing myself as having all the resources, capacity and energy I have within myself. Cyber meant bringing all this energy and power really in the cyberspace. I think it started out like that only because as a photographer, a lot of people kept telling me that, hey, when we look at your work, it makes us smile. That was the energy, the good energy that I put out in my work, which was traveling across cyberspace and somebody sitting in the other side of the world could actually feel warmth when they looked at my work. From that rationale came the pseudonym Cyber Shakti.

56:08

Nadja

Beautiful. I think we are almost out of time, so I'm going to try and squeeze in another one or two questions. What are you telling brands who want to get into the Metaverse but don't know how?

56:24

Cyber

Research and learn. There is no other shortcut to it in the sense like. Don’t get short sighted. Don't try to look for quick profit. That is like the most sure short way of failing. Don't go in there to sell, but rather try to create experiences in the Metaverse that are not created. It's like viral marketing, right?

56:56

Cyber

Like, everybody wants to do a viral marketing campaign, but nobody knows the secret formula of doing it. It's elusive. It just happens when you're just having fun with it, right? Same for Metaverse, I think.

57:09

Cyber

Don't be sure on ensuring that. I want to sell XYZ number of products in the Metaverse. That won't happen.

57:25

Cyber

A lot of people don't have the infrastructure or technology to access this right now. I think instead of focusing on volumes, try to start creating more and more experiences that people can take away and people will start locking your metaverse spaces.

57:46

Nadja

I see Metaverse is on people's minds today. I have another question. Are more companies from India looking to get into the Metaverse or is it just the large multinationals, everybody's wanting to get into the Metaverse?

58:01

Cyber

I think the funniest I've seen was, a pickle brand. So so Indian. Pickles are very traditionally Indian. These women led organizations from, say, like the lower startups, the income groups have all these women led organizations that make pickles. So we've had inquiries from those organizations. Also we've heard of Metaverse? How can we sell a pickle in the Metaverse?

58:43

Cyber

So It’s not just multinational, it's everybody wanting to bring their opportunities and bring their business to the Metaverse. So it's getting around.

59:06

Nadja

Brilliant. So, on that note, it's the top of the hour, unfortunately, and we've come to the end of another hour long deep dive into the world of NFT. To NFT artists and really thought leader Cyber Shakti founder of NFT studio House Of Shakti thank you so much for sharing with us today. Your time, your perspectives, your very valuable insight on this wonderfully wild world of NFT. Please be sure to follow Cyber Shakti on Twitter. Cyber Shakti, is there anywhere else where you would like people to reach you or follow you and to stay tuned to what this is your building.

59:49

Cyber

Twitter, discord, LinkedIn everywhere. Standard branding, Cyber Shakti, you'll find me.

59:56

Nadja

All right, awesome, folks. So there you have it. Just find Cyber Shakti. Anyway, to our listeners, thank you as always, for sharing your time with us.

:: 00:06

Nadja

I will catch you again next week, for another episode of The Future of NFT, brought to you by AdLunam. Cheers.

:: 00:15

Cyber

Thank you. Thank you for having me. And congratulations on the wedding. I will surely think of some ideas and send them to you.

:: 00:24

Nadja

Yes. On that note, guys, please do. If you did tune in at the beginning, you might want to go back if you didn't and listen to the recording. I had a very special announcement and I am inviting whoever wants to contribute to this wild, crazy idea that I have by tweeting to me, #Nftproposal, what I can do to bring NFTs into my proposal this upcoming weekend to my boyfriend. I will keep you guys updated in Cyber Shakti.

:: 00:57

Nadja

It's been a real, absolute pleasure. I am so happy that we got to speak today.

:: 01:01

Nadja

Thank you for being just an amazing, very authentic, real voice in the space. I think this is one of the greatest pleasures of my job, is to speak to people, brilliant minds in this space who are just pushing the boundaries in terms of what we've been seeing in the world and what's possible in terms of what's coming next.

:: 01:22

Nadja

I think you are really one of those voices that if you are not following Cyber Shakti after today, I can promise you that you will be missing out on some of the most on the ground things that are happening in the space. Because she's one of those voices that just have to listen to what it is she has to say. So thank you so much for sharing with our audience today, all of your really amazing insights and I look forward to what's next for you.

:: 01:52

Cyber

Thank you.

:: 01:53

Cyber

Have a great day.

:: 01:55

Nadja

Cheers, guys. See you next week.