Viewpoints Podcast #4–Towards an Open Metaverse
By: Dave Haynes
Tags: Podcast, Metaverse, Startup, Spatial Computing

Viewpoints Podcast #4–Towards an Open Metaverse

Viewpoints Podcast #4–Towards an Open Metaverse w/ Ryan Gill (Crucible) and Jamie Burke (Outlier Ventures)

Welcome to the fourth episode of Viewpoints, the virtual podcast where we talk to the founders, entrepreneurs and investors who are building the category defining companies in the Metaverse and Spatial Computing. Your Viewpoint hosts are Dave Haynes and Petri Rajahalme. And in Episode #4 we talk with our guests Ryan Gill, the CEO of Crucible and Jamie Burke, founder of Outlier Ventures.

Crucible is a startup whose mission is to lay down the ‘Blueprints for the Open Metaverse’: a set of tools for builders, developers and creators to give their players a portable, digital identity. They’ve started doing this through their Emergence SDK which is currently in alpha. Ryan is one of the best people I know at translating lofty concepts such as ‘Metaverse’, ‘Web 3.0’ and ‘NFT’s to non-technical creators and business leaders. You can read more about Crucible’s vision here.

Outlier Ventures is an accelerator and early-stage investor that has been investing in web 3.0, crypto and blockchain since 2013, seeing many cycles in that space, and with a portfolio of over 70 startups now. You can read their vision for the open Metaverse here. And if you’re a founder working on related topics then you can find out more information about their Basecamp accelerator here.

Our general discussion revolves around how Ryan and Jamie both view the oncoming Metaverse. What is it? Why they both believe it should be both open and decentralized? And how this fits in with Web 3.0 and the work Outlier does in blockchain, crypto and de-fi. We also touch upon everything from NFT’s, ‘Direct To Avatar’ and Metaverse first brands. It’s quite a dense episode and we could have spent at least another hour unpacking many of the concepts and viewpoints discussed. I can sense a part 2 coming at some point in the future!

For this episode we recorded inside the Engage platform. We’re still perfecting how to best capture the best possible quality and Ryan suffered a few technical hitches that resulted in him disappearing for a few minutes. But it’s still a great episode, so please enjoy! Below are the show notes if you want to dive in at certain parts of the conversation.

Show Notes

0:20 — Welcome to Viewpoints and intros from Dave and Petri.

1:38 — Jamie tells us how he defines the Open Metaverse and why blockchain and de-fi are important to its development

5:43 — Ryan tells us more about Crucible and its role in building out an open metaverse and bridging the worlds of crypto and gaming.

8:07 — Jamie goes on to define Web 3.0 and how it contrasts to Web 2.0

10:02 — We go back to discuss the various different definitions that people have placed on the word ‘Metaverse’. And the fact that it has not yet been defined yet.

14:48 — Ryan talks about decentralised identity, why it matters and how that differs to the current state of identity in the gaming industry.

18:20 — Ryan highlights some of the early partnerships that Crucible have with companies such as Ubisoft

19:42 — We ask Jamie to tell us more about how Outlier started, how they differ to other investors and accelerators and what attracted Outlier to become an early backer in Crucible

25:26 — Jamie talks about some of the different funding routes open to startups working in the Web 3.0 space

30:24 — Is the hype around Metaverse and NFTs a help or a hindrance to startups in this space?

34:43 — Ryan re-enters the episode!

34:55 — Ryan talks about what he means by ‘Direct To Avatar’ and why he started using that term

39:15 — We discuss whether we will see the rise of ‘Metaverse-first’ brands and how they might leverage NFTs?

44:32 — What is the role of AR/VR in the Metaverse?

47:30 — Jamie argues that Web 3.0, greater interoperability and more open systems will lead to an accelerated pace of innovation in this space

51:10 — Dave brings together some of the key themes from this episode’s conversation

52:05 — Ryan gives his final thought on the importance of developing the language around Metaverse and Web 3.0 to translate these concepts for the business and investor community.

56:20 — Jamie gives us more info on how to find Outlier Ventures and what opportunities are currently open through their Basecamp and Ascent programs.

58:30 — Ryan gives us more info on where to find Crucible on the web and on Telegram.

Stay tuned for more episodes of Viewpoints. Subscribe to this Medium publication or our YouTube page for news and updates.