March 13, 2025 • 24 mins
Pravijn takes us on a fascinating journey through his evolution in the NFT space, revealing the moment digital ownership finally "clicked" for him. As someone who had always been bothered by purchasing digital books, movies, and music without truly owning them, the blockchain's promise of verifiable ownership resonated deeply once he understood it.
Beyond just collecting, Pravijn shares how Web3 has given him something his previous tech career couldn't – genuine community. "I never really had a social community that much," he reflects, contrasting the forced interactions of traditional workplaces with the chosen connections of crypto communities. These relationships extend beyond digital interactions, culminating in real-world connections over "burgers and beers."
The conversation takes an unexpected turn when Pravijn reveals his double life – maintaining complete separation between his Web3 identity and his "normie world" existence. When family and friends mention crypto, he playfully feigns ignorance: "Is that like Bitcoin? Is Minecraft an NFT?" This compartmentalization offers him freedom to explore his digital identity without the judgment often directed at crypto enthusiasts.
Perhaps most thought-provoking is Pravijn's insight into language barriers within the NFT space. Despite the visual nature of digital art, he notes how our communities remain English-centric, potentially missing incredible artistic voices. "There are artists who won't join Twitter Spaces because they use language translators for all their tweets and DMs," he explains, highlighting an accessibility challenge that AI and translation tools might eventually overcome.
As a DECA advocate, Pravijn continues to build bridges within the space, whether through thoughtful art collection philosophies (where he argues editions deserve the same quality as one-of-ones) or through finding unexpected connections via memes, anime references, and literary quotes. His journey reminds us that in Web3, we're not just collecting assets – we're building new ways of connecting, creating, and defining ourselves.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
NorCal Guy (00:00):
Who is this?
Who is this guy?
Who is this guy?
Who is this guy?
Who is this guy?
Who is this guy?
Norcal guy.
Norcal guy.
Norcal guy.
Norcal guy.
Norcal guy.
Norcal guy.
Norcal guy NorCal guy.
Norcal and chill podcast Showwith chill time.
Norcal and chill podcast.
(00:21):
What the sh?
What the sh?
Norcal and Shill.
Today's guest is Pravin.
Pravin is a renowned advocateof DECA.
(00:44):
Pravin is a renowned advocateof DECA, deeply immersed in the
fascinating world of the cryptoart community.
With his innate understandingof this landscape's dynamics, he
has positioned himself as asupporter of all artists
venturing into this novelintersection of technology and
creativity.
(01:05):
In his journey, he hasdisplayed an extraordinary
commitment to aiding others,often sharing his insights and
resources to support aspiringand established artists.
His kindness, coupled with hisprofound knowledge of the crypto
art community, has cemented hisreputation as a trusted and
(01:27):
admired figure in the digitalsphere.
Beyond his professionalaccomplishments, pravin's
friends know him as anindividual who treasures the
simple pleasures of life, likeenjoying a good beer and a
burger.
His vibrant personality andrelaxed demeanor make him a
(01:47):
cherished friend.
Whether it's discussing thenuances of the latest NFT trends
or reminiscing about oldmemories, a conversation with
Pravin is always an enrichingand memorable experience.
Everybody.
Please welcome Pravin.
Hey, pravin, welcome to thepodcast.
(02:11):
How are you doing today?
Good, good, thanks for havingme, gm.
Gm, it is a good morning and,man, I'm glad to have you Like
so much good energy with you andI enjoy our time together, our
chats together, and, man, I wantto go to Southern California so
(02:33):
bad, just so I can hang out andlike grab dinner and a beer or
something Burger and a beer,like we did last time.
Pravijn (02:38):
Anytime.
Definitely up for it.
NorCal Guy (02:42):
Might happen sooner than well, who knows knows, but
hopefully sooner than later.
So what were your firstthoughts when you heard about
nfts?
Pravijn (02:54):
well, it took me a while for it to click because,
um, I hadn't really heard muchabout it, but I'd always been
fascinated with, like peoplespending so much money on Roblox
and Minecraft.
And then I can't remember whereI heard about it first, or one
of my friends, and theymentioned like buying NFTs.
(03:14):
And I was like, are you justbuying the picture?
Are you just saying that youhave a picture?
Is it like a copyright?
I didn't understand that.
It's like enforceable on theblockchain, right.
So that was completely new tome, and before that I was always
thinking, like you know, Ibought all these things like
books and movies and music.
(03:35):
I say that I bought them, but Idon't own them.
And then I realized these areall digital assets that I don't
really own, but NFT was adigital asset that you actually
own.
You can actually give it tosomebody else.
You could sell it.
Then it finally clicked.
NorCal Guy (03:52):
Yeah, no, that makes sense.
Yeah, especially like this nextgeneration.
Pravijn (03:57):
You're just like thinking like, because they're
buying all these digital assetsthat they don't own, but it
means so much to them and youjust coming, it's coming yeah, I
mean, I once, uh, I thought itwas a splurge when I spent uh 19
on some starcraft skins and Iwas like, oh man, I'm playing,
I'm buying skins.
(04:19):
That doesn't change myperformance in game at all, it
just.
It just looked cool and I'mlike wow.
People are spending way morethan this on either in-game
assets that are just aestheticsor actually have a performance
advantage in games.
NorCal Guy (04:35):
And then it stopped.
Pravijn (04:36):
It took a while for it to click.
NorCal Guy (04:38):
Right, if you could live or move anywhere, where
would you live and why?
Pravijn (04:45):
I definitely love SoCal , like for like with kids and
the family and having theoutdoors.
But of all the places I'velived in the world, definitely
for me I've only felt at home inNew York.
I don't know how things havechanged after the pandemic.
I've heard a lot of differentstories.
Things have changed after thepandemic.
I've heard a lot of differentstories.
(05:07):
But, yeah, if I could liveanywhere where it wasn't a
matter of all the otherinconveniences, of whether the
weather or dealing with havingno limited outdoor spaces, it
would be New York, okay.
NorCal Guy (05:19):
No, that's a solid place.
I mean I enjoy the visits thatI go there for nft nyc yeah what
is the best piece of advice youhave been given?
Pravijn (05:32):
so it's very interesting, like I think a lot
of people with an asianbackground especially um, we
have a very critical inner voice, and it took me only recently,
did uh, somebody say to me likebe careful of what you're saying
to yourself, like it's not whatyou say openly, but it's what?
How harsh you are internallywith your own inner voice.
(05:54):
And I've realized likesometimes your inner voice can
be more critical and lesshelpful than it should be, like
you kind of of keep on going onabout your mistakes rather than
thinking of like hey, what, whathave I done?
NorCal Guy (06:08):
Well, Right, right.
No, that's a good one.
Good one.
Did you collect art or anythingelse before?
Pravijn (06:18):
I actually had like a few small piece of art that I
bought for like 25 or $35 fromart puzzle Miami, you know 10,
15 years ago, and I was like,why am I buying art?
Like I'm just like I'll justsome you know young guy and like
somebody's like hey, buy thisphotograph.
I'm like, okay, it looked kindof cool.
(06:39):
But other than art, I had onlycollected books.
I'd collected a lot of physicalbooks, always just more like
thinking of it, as you know,literature being art, that kind
of a thing.
But then, of course, whenthings went digital, I stopped
collecting books, physical booksas much.
So really NFT has kind of got meback into that and I had a very
(07:03):
nomadic lifestyle, so I kept onlike trimming things that I
used to collect and, yeah, hey,you can live anywhere in the
world and take your NFTs withyou.
Your 100 NFTs and your 1,000hidden NFTs in your hidden
folder.
NorCal Guy (07:20):
Right, right, right.
What are the best things aboutWeb3 today?
Pravijn (07:27):
So you know, I've been in tech for a while and it
always felt like you were.
I felt personally that I wastrying to like, find people I
could connect with and I neverhad really, you know, joined any
particular like Reddit group,linkedin group or anything like
that.
I never really had a socialcommunity that much.
It was more just likeco-workers and it's more like
(07:49):
you're forced into thatsituation, like you don't really
get to choose who you get towork with, right, right.
But I feel like with web3 youkind of build these smaller
communities that you get youchoose to decide how much time
you want to engage with somebodyor continue your conversation,
right?
So I've, so I've really enjoyedthat and, you know, whether
it's discussions about art ormemes or meme coins or even
(08:12):
animates, it just feels likeit's all part of like myself as
a person, not just like if I'mcoding, if I was working for,
you know, oracle or working forany consulting firm.
It doesn't feel like that's myidentity that's awesome.
NorCal Guy (08:27):
No, I definitely.
Yeah, it's been um a good, agood transition to to meet some
of these people and have thislike common strong bond, which
is interesting, that you builtonline and when you're in person
, you, you're like what's up,yeah, and then you meet these
(08:49):
people in real life and it'slike you still want to have a
beer and burger, right.
Pravijn (08:52):
As much as you chat online about things, there are
some still things you want to doin person.
NorCal Guy (08:58):
True.
Where do you see digital artand NFTs in five years and do
you have any concerns as thespace expands?
Pravijn (09:09):
So I did feel you know over the last two years that
I've been in NFTs that it justmade more and more sense, Like
there is digital assets increasein value, just like digital
companies are worth more thanphysical companies, right, just.
But what was very interestingto me is where will AI affect
(09:31):
all these things People havebeen talking about, like what if
AI decides the art for you orthe music for you?
then, what happens to the artand artists that will be created
.
I think that things that weredone I think somebody mentioned
it like art that had beencreated before this version of
AI, will be seen in a differentlight.
But how much will all thatvalue?
(09:53):
So I think this seems to be themost disruptive unknown that
has been on my mind Until thisversion of AI had come about.
I felt a bit more secure ofwhere the the parts might seem
to be going, but I think itcould be way more disruptive now
yeah, it's crazy.
NorCal Guy (10:13):
It it really is crazy to see what it can do.
And then when you hear someonesaying something about it,
you're like, oh shoot, I didn'teven think about it like that
and you just, yeah, it almostfeels like an unknown for sure
yeah, like, um, you know there'sthis whole thing.
Pravijn (10:29):
You know, I think like 20 years ago, uh, netflix was
spending so much money trying tofind these algorithms of like
what's the best movie to choosefor somebody?
But then they realize that it'soften the sequence that you
watch it.
So you might like Godfathermore before you watch Toy Story
or after you watch Toy Story.
So all these kind of thingsthat you could not predict.
(10:51):
But with that much information,ai could choose the kind of
music or the kind of movies youwatch or the kind of content you
consume, or even adjust thecontent you consume based on how
you're responding to things.
Right, change your mood, foryou.
NorCal Guy (11:09):
It's kind of scary.
What makes you to decide?
What makes you decide to buy apiece?
Do you watch the artists for awhile, get to know them, or is
there sometimes just like man?
I need to get that right now.
Pravijn (11:30):
Yeah, initially it's interesting, there's, uh, when I
first got into it I thought alot of artists from the
traditional world.
It mattered how much theirdominance in the traditional
world.
And then I I started trying todecide on art based on what you
know, because I was so new I wastrying to decide what if my
taste was correct, um, and thenI realized, you know, it doesn't
matter, sometimes it's justwhat you really like.
Um, yeah, it's sometimes easierwith just, uh, you know just
(11:55):
cheers, prices, you know piecesthat are not too expensive to
just buy it and be like, hey, I,I do like this art.
Uh, it's, it's great.
But some of these you're like, Iwant this artist, even if it's
just a small piece.
It might not.
I don't look at it as aninvestment.
It's more that my collectionfeels more complete by adding
that artist to what I have got.
And, yeah, of course there's alot of artists I haven't
(12:19):
collected Not saying that mycollection is in any way
complete, but it just feelsnicer that I can buy things for
cheaper now, with less of thestress of like or that something
I'm buying just because I see alot of people buying it.
NorCal Guy (12:35):
Yeah, Now, sorry there's a little bit of a curve
ball because it's not a questionon the plan questions.
I am curious your thoughts onadditions versus one of ones.
Pravijn (12:49):
Yeah.
So I saw a few people talkabout this, where you know, if
the additions like another onething, looking at it from a
financial aspect, of saying,okay, the sum of the additions
should be more than the one ofone, otherwise that artists, the
market is unbalanced.
But I think sometimes havingthose additions help get the
(13:13):
artists have a bigger audience.
The one thing I feel that someartists make the mistake is
saying the quality of youraddition should be less than the
quality of your one-of-one.
So my thing is the only thingthat affects the price should
not be the quality of the work.
You shouldn't say, oh, I'mgoing to give something that I
haven't put my heart and soulinto and so, okay, I'm going to
(13:35):
make an addition.
It should just be the supply,that the supply just decide the
price of it.
But not like saying that, oh,my best work has to be a
one-of-one, your best work couldbe a one-of-one as well.
And like to give an example,rick Ostenbrook, I'm not going
to pronounce his name correctly.
But it doesn't matter if he doesa one-of-one or if he does an
(13:56):
edition.
He keeps.
He's obsessive about hisattention to detail to it and I
don't think you'd ever look athis one-of-one or look at his
edition and say, oh, that's anedition, that's a one-of-one.
You have no idea unless youlook at the actual supply, and I
feel like that's a better wayfor an artist to treat their
work and their collectors.
NorCal Guy (14:15):
Yeah, no, I like that approach.
I definitely feel that as well.
I mean, I personally loveeditions.
You know your one-of-onecollectors aren't going to, in
my eyes, spread the love as muchas your edition collectors,
because there's not as manypeople.
(14:37):
I mean there's more voices foryou.
Pravijn (14:39):
Yeah, and definitely, you see it with collectors of
editions definitely seem torally around the artist just as
much as the one-of-onecollectors.
I mean, x-copy has the biggestrange right from one-of-one
collectors.
Uh, I mean x copy has thebiggest range right from
one-of-ones to addition, uh.
And then I feel, and there'snothing wrong with artists who
decide to do only one-of-ones,there's nothing wrong with the
(15:01):
artists who want to do additions, it's all up to you, uh.
But yeah, I don't think thatadditions take away from the art
in any way.
NorCal Guy (15:10):
Yeah, what is your favorite movie quote?
Pravijn (15:14):
So this was really interesting to me because, like
you know, some people alwaystalk about movie quotes that
inspire them.
Oddly enough, I don't evenremember this movie.
It's this cheesy movie calledPeaceful Warrior or something,
and I wrote it in my calendar onApril 14th 2001 2001 and I have
(15:35):
it repeating every three weeksfor some random reason, and it
was something that said um, awarrior does not give up what he
loves.
He finds the love in what hedoes.
And I think it was justsomething that I was like.
I was always constantly tryingto find where I fit in with
things.
Did I love the work that I wasdoing or did I like the hobbies
(15:59):
or activities that I would have?
So it was just something that Ihad it in my calendar.
It pops up every three weeks.
I don't know why I chose threeweeks.
It's been in there since 2001.
It's just something thatsometimes I just dismiss it, I
just ignore it.
Like months go by, I keep onignoring it and then once in a
while, I look at it and go, huh,okay, interesting.
So I don't even remember whatthat movie is about.
(16:20):
I just like that one phrase.
NorCal Guy (16:23):
Awesome, that's really cool.
I like that little backstory.
What would you like to see moreof in the nft space?
Pravijn (16:33):
so this is interesting because we are so stuck in
twitter bubbles, and especiallyafter that, um, after elon uh
shared the source code about itand the way it creates bubbles,
like you know, community bubblesof like, like there's a
bollywood community, for example, or language bubbles.
Right, it's really interestingthat we've got so much of our
art based around the Englishlanguage, and it'll be
(16:58):
interesting if things like AI ortranslation tools help surmount
that, because we're dealingwith NFTs and there's visual and
audiovisual stuff, but it's sofunny that there's a language
barrier, whereas I know a lot ofpeople are collecting artists
from Japan and Brazil.
But, you know, luckily forthose artists, they are able to
use English as a medium onTwitter, but there are so many
(17:22):
other artists that don't.
So it would be something Iwould love to see how that
somehow expands where the art isnot gated by the language.
NorCal Guy (17:37):
Right, that's a good point, very good point.
That'll be interesting.
I mean, I think it'll happenpretty shortly.
Pravijn (17:46):
Yeah, and there's a couple of artists who I've
chatted with and they say, justI can't do Twitter spaces
because I use a languagetranslator to do all my replies.
And I was like, wow, I didn'teven realize you're doing all
your tweets and DMs withtranslators, like using a Google
Translate.
That's how they're having theirconversations, so they won't
(18:07):
join on the Twitter spacesbecause they can't actually
converse that way.
But I do feel that there couldbe much more we would be exposed
to if it wasn't for thatlanguage barriers Right.
NorCal Guy (18:19):
What is the best thing and the silliest thing
you've spent money on?
Pravijn (18:25):
Well, the best thing it was like getting a gym trainer,
because I spent years doingrehab for things and then going
you're going to doctors andgetting rehab.
Then finally like forget it,let me just get a trainer.
And like just getting a trainerreally helped me like get past
any using any medication oranything, which was kind of
(18:46):
surprising the silliest thing Idid was I went blonde.
I decided to go blonde.
People like me don't usually goblonde.
It was fun.
It was very interesting.
I had a lot of comparisons toWesley Snipes from Demolition
(19:08):
man.
I don't know how to take it but, yeah, I should try to go red
like my punk pfp mohawk.
Now that should be my nextthing to do.
But yeah, just did that once.
It was silly, it was fun, itshocked my family.
It was worth the laugh nice,nice.
NorCal Guy (19:27):
Was this, like I don't know how long ago this was
, was Was this?
Because, like I remember, I hada few friends that did it
because of Justin Timberlake andlike, wow, the band NZNK, oh,
okay, okay.
Pravijn (19:46):
No, it was not inspired by Justin Timberlake.
It was like a mix of ChrisTucker from Fifth Element.
It was like a mix of ChrisTucker from Fifth Element and
Wesley Snipes from Demolitionman.
NorCal Guy (20:01):
It was a mess.
If you could commission a pieceand have two artists
collaborate on it, which twoartists would it be?
Pravijn (20:14):
so can I cheat and have three different answers?
okay, okay, so one uh, one onewould be east war and pia, who I
?
I don't know if I'm pronouncingpia's name correctly, but I do
like both their.
Another two would be Ahad,a-h-a-d and TGO.
They both have very dark.
(20:35):
Ahad has a way with creatingcharacters in the shadows which
are very interesting.
And another combination for mewould be Photon and Aleqth
A-L-E-Q-T-H.
I think he pronounces Aleqthwith a lisp.
Okay, okay, those are the threecollabs that I'm like.
(20:59):
I can't choose between one ofthem.
I kind of like all their stylesand how they could possibly
work together.
NorCal Guy (21:05):
All right, fair, that's fair.
Pravijn (21:07):
Good choices, I'm stealing up all the choices for
the next guest that you have.
NorCal Guy (21:13):
Fair, fair, but they won't know.
They won't know because thiswill be a couple weeks out Right
right.
So I haven't had any overlapsyet, but I'm interested to see
any come.
What is one interesting factabout you that people might not
be aware of?
Pravijn (21:31):
I'm such an open book Well, I'm an open book in web
three I guess but it's just thatI've um, I've really kept my
web 2 identity separate.
So it's kind of funny that inuh, my family and friends from
the normie world still think I'mdoing the old stuff I used to
(21:52):
do.
So it's like I still have anold LinkedIn profile.
I still have an identity thathas nothing to do with crypto
and Web3.
Whenever I meet people, myfamily and friends and they say
something about crypto, I'm likeoh yeah, is that like Bitcoin?
NorCal Guy (22:08):
You just play it off .
Pravijn (22:09):
I'm like I don't even know.
Is Minecraft an NFT?
Oh, you're terrible, you justplay it off.
I just I'm like I don't evenknow.
Is minecraft an nft?
You?
know, so you're terrible likeI'm absolutely clueless about
web3.
Uh, I just one.
I don't want to get intoarguments with people and what
and I do like to keep this ident.
I really like having this likealter ego, alter identity.
(22:30):
What is your favorite way toconnect with people in this
space?
So it's really odd, but I gotinto Web3 and it was all the
silly memes that people would dowith anime.
So it was like it was memeslike you know, and then, of
course, your memes are on awhole nother level.
So it was like it was memeslike you know, and then, of
course, your memes are on awhole nother level, but like,
(22:54):
but memes somehow, like you, Idon't know what it is about
connecting with people withmemes or anime.
And then randomly, there's beena couple of people I've
connected to because they putquotes about authors I've read,
like Italo Calvino.
So it's like it's just, it'sjust funny that I've been
connecting with people on somethings that I think in the
(23:15):
traditional world we would neverhave had those conversations.
You would not be having adinner conversation and pull out
a meme about biscuits.
It's just something thathappens to this space.
It's kind of interesting.
NorCal Guy (23:31):
Okay, are there any projects you're working on and
would like to discuss, or anyshout outs?
Pravijn (23:39):
uh, you know, I think uh quite a few people might know
that I I joined deca threemonths ago.
I am really enjoying workingwith them.
Uh, we definitely have a lot ofthings planned, um, and and
we're always open to chattingwith people about it and getting
more ideas.
So that's something I willshout out for what I'm doing
(24:00):
with Deco right now.
NorCal Guy (24:01):
All right, Nice, I love it and I can't wait to see,
or you know, as it all developsand use it Awesome.
Well, Pravin, thank you so muchfor your time today and this
enjoyable chat.
I really had a good time.
Same here.
Thanks a lot.
Okay, well, you have a good dayand we'll talk soon.
(24:24):
Who is this guy?
Who is this guy?
Who is this guy?
Who is this guy?
Who is this guy?
North Calgary, North Calgary.
Norcal guy.
Norcal guy.
Norcal guy.
Norcal guy.
Norcal guy.
Norcal guy.
Norcal guy.
Norcal and chill podcast.
So it's chill time.
Norcal and chill podcast.
(24:45):
What the what the Chill?
Norcal and chill podcast.
So it's chill time, NorCal.
Who is this?
Who is this guy?
Who is this guy?
Who is this guy?
Who is this guy?
Who is this guy?
Norcal guy.
Norcal guy.
Norcal guy.
Norcal guy.
Norcal guy.
Norcal guy.
Norcal guy NorCal guy.
Norcal and chill podcast Showwith chill time.
Norcal and chill podcast.
(00:21):
What the sh?
What the sh?
Norcal and Shill.
Today's guest is Pravin.
Pravin is a renowned advocateof DECA.
(00:44):
Pravin is a renowned advocateof DECA, deeply immersed in the
fascinating world of the cryptoart community.
With his innate understandingof this landscape's dynamics, he
has positioned himself as asupporter of all artists
venturing into this novelintersection of technology and
creativity.
(01:05):
In his journey, he hasdisplayed an extraordinary
commitment to aiding others,often sharing his insights and
resources to support aspiringand established artists.
His kindness, coupled with hisprofound knowledge of the crypto
art community, has cemented hisreputation as a trusted and
(01:27):
admired figure in the digitalsphere.
Beyond his professionalaccomplishments, pravin's
friends know him as anindividual who treasures the
simple pleasures of life, likeenjoying a good beer and a
burger.
His vibrant personality andrelaxed demeanor make him a
(01:47):
cherished friend.
Whether it's discussing thenuances of the latest NFT trends
or reminiscing about oldmemories, a conversation with
Pravin is always an enrichingand memorable experience.
Everybody.
Please welcome Pravin.
Hey, pravin, welcome to thepodcast.
(02:11):
How are you doing today?
Good, good, thanks for havingme, gm.
Gm, it is a good morning and,man, I'm glad to have you Like
so much good energy with you andI enjoy our time together, our
chats together, and, man, I wantto go to Southern California so
(02:33):
bad, just so I can hang out andlike grab dinner and a beer or
something Burger and a beer,like we did last time.
Pravijn (02:38):
Anytime.
Definitely up for it.
NorCal Guy (02:42):
Might happen sooner than well, who knows knows, but
hopefully sooner than later.
So what were your firstthoughts when you heard about
nfts?
Pravijn (02:54):
well, it took me a while for it to click because,
um, I hadn't really heard muchabout it, but I'd always been
fascinated with, like peoplespending so much money on Roblox
and Minecraft.
And then I can't remember whereI heard about it first, or one
of my friends, and theymentioned like buying NFTs.
(03:14):
And I was like, are you justbuying the picture?
Are you just saying that youhave a picture?
Is it like a copyright?
I didn't understand that.
It's like enforceable on theblockchain, right.
So that was completely new tome, and before that I was always
thinking, like you know, Ibought all these things like
books and movies and music.
(03:35):
I say that I bought them, but Idon't own them.
And then I realized these areall digital assets that I don't
really own, but NFT was adigital asset that you actually
own.
You can actually give it tosomebody else.
You could sell it.
Then it finally clicked.
NorCal Guy (03:52):
Yeah, no, that makes sense.
Yeah, especially like this nextgeneration.
Pravijn (03:57):
You're just like thinking like, because they're
buying all these digital assetsthat they don't own, but it
means so much to them and youjust coming, it's coming yeah, I
mean, I once, uh, I thought itwas a splurge when I spent uh 19
on some starcraft skins and Iwas like, oh man, I'm playing,
I'm buying skins.
(04:19):
That doesn't change myperformance in game at all, it
just.
It just looked cool and I'mlike wow.
People are spending way morethan this on either in-game
assets that are just aestheticsor actually have a performance
advantage in games.
NorCal Guy (04:35):
And then it stopped.
Pravijn (04:36):
It took a while for it to click.
NorCal Guy (04:38):
Right, if you could live or move anywhere, where
would you live and why?
Pravijn (04:45):
I definitely love SoCal , like for like with kids and
the family and having theoutdoors.
But of all the places I'velived in the world, definitely
for me I've only felt at home inNew York.
I don't know how things havechanged after the pandemic.
I've heard a lot of differentstories.
Things have changed after thepandemic.
I've heard a lot of differentstories.
(05:07):
But, yeah, if I could liveanywhere where it wasn't a
matter of all the otherinconveniences, of whether the
weather or dealing with havingno limited outdoor spaces, it
would be New York, okay.
NorCal Guy (05:19):
No, that's a solid place.
I mean I enjoy the visits thatI go there for nft nyc yeah what
is the best piece of advice youhave been given?
Pravijn (05:32):
so it's very interesting, like I think a lot
of people with an asianbackground especially um, we
have a very critical inner voice, and it took me only recently,
did uh, somebody say to me likebe careful of what you're saying
to yourself, like it's not whatyou say openly, but it's what?
How harsh you are internallywith your own inner voice.
(05:54):
And I've realized likesometimes your inner voice can
be more critical and lesshelpful than it should be, like
you kind of of keep on going onabout your mistakes rather than
thinking of like hey, what, whathave I done?
NorCal Guy (06:08):
Well, Right, right.
No, that's a good one.
Good one.
Did you collect art or anythingelse before?
Pravijn (06:18):
I actually had like a few small piece of art that I
bought for like 25 or $35 fromart puzzle Miami, you know 10,
15 years ago, and I was like,why am I buying art?
Like I'm just like I'll justsome you know young guy and like
somebody's like hey, buy thisphotograph.
I'm like, okay, it looked kindof cool.
(06:39):
But other than art, I had onlycollected books.
I'd collected a lot of physicalbooks, always just more like
thinking of it, as you know,literature being art, that kind
of a thing.
But then, of course, whenthings went digital, I stopped
collecting books, physical booksas much.
So really NFT has kind of got meback into that and I had a very
(07:03):
nomadic lifestyle, so I kept onlike trimming things that I
used to collect and, yeah, hey,you can live anywhere in the
world and take your NFTs withyou.
Your 100 NFTs and your 1,000hidden NFTs in your hidden
folder.
NorCal Guy (07:20):
Right, right, right.
What are the best things aboutWeb3 today?
Pravijn (07:27):
So you know, I've been in tech for a while and it
always felt like you were.
I felt personally that I wastrying to like, find people I
could connect with and I neverhad really, you know, joined any
particular like Reddit group,linkedin group or anything like
that.
I never really had a socialcommunity that much.
It was more just likeco-workers and it's more like
(07:49):
you're forced into thatsituation, like you don't really
get to choose who you get towork with, right, right.
But I feel like with web3 youkind of build these smaller
communities that you get youchoose to decide how much time
you want to engage with somebodyor continue your conversation,
right?
So I've, so I've really enjoyedthat and, you know, whether
it's discussions about art ormemes or meme coins or even
(08:12):
animates, it just feels likeit's all part of like myself as
a person, not just like if I'mcoding, if I was working for,
you know, oracle or working forany consulting firm.
It doesn't feel like that's myidentity that's awesome.
NorCal Guy (08:27):
No, I definitely.
Yeah, it's been um a good, agood transition to to meet some
of these people and have thislike common strong bond, which
is interesting, that you builtonline and when you're in person
, you, you're like what's up,yeah, and then you meet these
(08:49):
people in real life and it'slike you still want to have a
beer and burger, right.
Pravijn (08:52):
As much as you chat online about things, there are
some still things you want to doin person.
NorCal Guy (08:58):
True.
Where do you see digital artand NFTs in five years and do
you have any concerns as thespace expands?
Pravijn (09:09):
So I did feel you know over the last two years that
I've been in NFTs that it justmade more and more sense, Like
there is digital assets increasein value, just like digital
companies are worth more thanphysical companies, right, just.
But what was very interestingto me is where will AI affect
(09:31):
all these things People havebeen talking about, like what if
AI decides the art for you orthe music for you?
then, what happens to the artand artists that will be created
.
I think that things that weredone I think somebody mentioned
it like art that had beencreated before this version of
AI, will be seen in a differentlight.
But how much will all thatvalue?
(09:53):
So I think this seems to be themost disruptive unknown that
has been on my mind Until thisversion of AI had come about.
I felt a bit more secure ofwhere the the parts might seem
to be going, but I think itcould be way more disruptive now
yeah, it's crazy.
NorCal Guy (10:13):
It it really is crazy to see what it can do.
And then when you hear someonesaying something about it,
you're like, oh shoot, I didn'teven think about it like that
and you just, yeah, it almostfeels like an unknown for sure
yeah, like, um, you know there'sthis whole thing.
Pravijn (10:29):
You know, I think like 20 years ago, uh, netflix was
spending so much money trying tofind these algorithms of like
what's the best movie to choosefor somebody?
But then they realize that it'soften the sequence that you
watch it.
So you might like Godfathermore before you watch Toy Story
or after you watch Toy Story.
So all these kind of thingsthat you could not predict.
(10:51):
But with that much information,ai could choose the kind of
music or the kind of movies youwatch or the kind of content you
consume, or even adjust thecontent you consume based on how
you're responding to things.
Right, change your mood, foryou.
NorCal Guy (11:09):
It's kind of scary.
What makes you to decide?
What makes you decide to buy apiece?
Do you watch the artists for awhile, get to know them, or is
there sometimes just like man?
I need to get that right now.
Pravijn (11:30):
Yeah, initially it's interesting, there's, uh, when I
first got into it I thought alot of artists from the
traditional world.
It mattered how much theirdominance in the traditional
world.
And then I I started trying todecide on art based on what you
know, because I was so new I wastrying to decide what if my
taste was correct, um, and thenI realized, you know, it doesn't
matter, sometimes it's justwhat you really like.
Um, yeah, it's sometimes easierwith just, uh, you know just
(11:55):
cheers, prices, you know piecesthat are not too expensive to
just buy it and be like, hey, I,I do like this art.
Uh, it's, it's great.
But some of these you're like, Iwant this artist, even if it's
just a small piece.
It might not.
I don't look at it as aninvestment.
It's more that my collectionfeels more complete by adding
that artist to what I have got.
And, yeah, of course there's alot of artists I haven't
(12:19):
collected Not saying that mycollection is in any way
complete, but it just feelsnicer that I can buy things for
cheaper now, with less of thestress of like or that something
I'm buying just because I see alot of people buying it.
NorCal Guy (12:35):
Yeah, Now, sorry there's a little bit of a curve
ball because it's not a questionon the plan questions.
I am curious your thoughts onadditions versus one of ones.
Pravijn (12:49):
Yeah.
So I saw a few people talkabout this, where you know, if
the additions like another onething, looking at it from a
financial aspect, of saying,okay, the sum of the additions
should be more than the one ofone, otherwise that artists, the
market is unbalanced.
But I think sometimes havingthose additions help get the
(13:13):
artists have a bigger audience.
The one thing I feel that someartists make the mistake is
saying the quality of youraddition should be less than the
quality of your one-of-one.
So my thing is the only thingthat affects the price should
not be the quality of the work.
You shouldn't say, oh, I'mgoing to give something that I
haven't put my heart and soulinto and so, okay, I'm going to
(13:35):
make an addition.
It should just be the supply,that the supply just decide the
price of it.
But not like saying that, oh,my best work has to be a
one-of-one, your best work couldbe a one-of-one as well.
And like to give an example,rick Ostenbrook, I'm not going
to pronounce his name correctly.
But it doesn't matter if he doesa one-of-one or if he does an
(13:56):
edition.
He keeps.
He's obsessive about hisattention to detail to it and I
don't think you'd ever look athis one-of-one or look at his
edition and say, oh, that's anedition, that's a one-of-one.
You have no idea unless youlook at the actual supply, and I
feel like that's a better wayfor an artist to treat their
work and their collectors.
NorCal Guy (14:15):
Yeah, no, I like that approach.
I definitely feel that as well.
I mean, I personally loveeditions.
You know your one-of-onecollectors aren't going to, in
my eyes, spread the love as muchas your edition collectors,
because there's not as manypeople.
(14:37):
I mean there's more voices foryou.
Pravijn (14:39):
Yeah, and definitely, you see it with collectors of
editions definitely seem torally around the artist just as
much as the one-of-onecollectors.
I mean, x-copy has the biggestrange right from one-of-one
collectors.
Uh, I mean x copy has thebiggest range right from
one-of-ones to addition, uh.
And then I feel, and there'snothing wrong with artists who
decide to do only one-of-ones,there's nothing wrong with the
(15:01):
artists who want to do additions, it's all up to you, uh.
But yeah, I don't think thatadditions take away from the art
in any way.
NorCal Guy (15:10):
Yeah, what is your favorite movie quote?
Pravijn (15:14):
So this was really interesting to me because, like
you know, some people alwaystalk about movie quotes that
inspire them.
Oddly enough, I don't evenremember this movie.
It's this cheesy movie calledPeaceful Warrior or something,
and I wrote it in my calendar onApril 14th 2001 2001 and I have
(15:35):
it repeating every three weeksfor some random reason, and it
was something that said um, awarrior does not give up what he
loves.
He finds the love in what hedoes.
And I think it was justsomething that I was like.
I was always constantly tryingto find where I fit in with
things.
Did I love the work that I wasdoing or did I like the hobbies
(15:59):
or activities that I would have?
So it was just something that Ihad it in my calendar.
It pops up every three weeks.
I don't know why I chose threeweeks.
It's been in there since 2001.
It's just something thatsometimes I just dismiss it, I
just ignore it.
Like months go by, I keep onignoring it and then once in a
while, I look at it and go, huh,okay, interesting.
So I don't even remember whatthat movie is about.
(16:20):
I just like that one phrase.
NorCal Guy (16:23):
Awesome, that's really cool.
I like that little backstory.
What would you like to see moreof in the nft space?
Pravijn (16:33):
so this is interesting because we are so stuck in
twitter bubbles, and especiallyafter that, um, after elon uh
shared the source code about itand the way it creates bubbles,
like you know, community bubblesof like, like there's a
bollywood community, for example, or language bubbles.
Right, it's really interestingthat we've got so much of our
art based around the Englishlanguage, and it'll be
(16:58):
interesting if things like AI ortranslation tools help surmount
that, because we're dealingwith NFTs and there's visual and
audiovisual stuff, but it's sofunny that there's a language
barrier, whereas I know a lot ofpeople are collecting artists
from Japan and Brazil.
But, you know, luckily forthose artists, they are able to
use English as a medium onTwitter, but there are so many
(17:22):
other artists that don't.
So it would be something Iwould love to see how that
somehow expands where the art isnot gated by the language.
NorCal Guy (17:37):
Right, that's a good point, very good point.
That'll be interesting.
I mean, I think it'll happenpretty shortly.
Pravijn (17:46):
Yeah, and there's a couple of artists who I've
chatted with and they say, justI can't do Twitter spaces
because I use a languagetranslator to do all my replies.
And I was like, wow, I didn'teven realize you're doing all
your tweets and DMs withtranslators, like using a Google
Translate.
That's how they're having theirconversations, so they won't
(18:07):
join on the Twitter spacesbecause they can't actually
converse that way.
But I do feel that there couldbe much more we would be exposed
to if it wasn't for thatlanguage barriers Right.
NorCal Guy (18:19):
What is the best thing and the silliest thing
you've spent money on?
Pravijn (18:25):
Well, the best thing it was like getting a gym trainer,
because I spent years doingrehab for things and then going
you're going to doctors andgetting rehab.
Then finally like forget it,let me just get a trainer.
And like just getting a trainerreally helped me like get past
any using any medication oranything, which was kind of
(18:46):
surprising the silliest thing Idid was I went blonde.
I decided to go blonde.
People like me don't usually goblonde.
It was fun.
It was very interesting.
I had a lot of comparisons toWesley Snipes from Demolition
(19:08):
man.
I don't know how to take it but, yeah, I should try to go red
like my punk pfp mohawk.
Now that should be my nextthing to do.
But yeah, just did that once.
It was silly, it was fun, itshocked my family.
It was worth the laugh nice,nice.
NorCal Guy (19:27):
Was this, like I don't know how long ago this was
, was Was this?
Because, like I remember, I hada few friends that did it
because of Justin Timberlake andlike, wow, the band NZNK, oh,
okay, okay.
Pravijn (19:46):
No, it was not inspired by Justin Timberlake.
It was like a mix of ChrisTucker from Fifth Element.
It was like a mix of ChrisTucker from Fifth Element and
Wesley Snipes from Demolitionman.
NorCal Guy (20:01):
It was a mess.
If you could commission a pieceand have two artists
collaborate on it, which twoartists would it be?
Pravijn (20:14):
so can I cheat and have three different answers?
okay, okay, so one uh, one onewould be east war and pia, who I
?
I don't know if I'm pronouncingpia's name correctly, but I do
like both their.
Another two would be Ahad,a-h-a-d and TGO.
They both have very dark.
(20:35):
Ahad has a way with creatingcharacters in the shadows which
are very interesting.
And another combination for mewould be Photon and Aleqth
A-L-E-Q-T-H.
I think he pronounces Aleqthwith a lisp.
Okay, okay, those are the threecollabs that I'm like.
(20:59):
I can't choose between one ofthem.
I kind of like all their stylesand how they could possibly
work together.
NorCal Guy (21:05):
All right, fair, that's fair.
Pravijn (21:07):
Good choices, I'm stealing up all the choices for
the next guest that you have.
NorCal Guy (21:13):
Fair, fair, but they won't know.
They won't know because thiswill be a couple weeks out Right
right.
So I haven't had any overlapsyet, but I'm interested to see
any come.
What is one interesting factabout you that people might not
be aware of?
Pravijn (21:31):
I'm such an open book Well, I'm an open book in web
three I guess but it's just thatI've um, I've really kept my
web 2 identity separate.
So it's kind of funny that inuh, my family and friends from
the normie world still think I'mdoing the old stuff I used to
(21:52):
do.
So it's like I still have anold LinkedIn profile.
I still have an identity thathas nothing to do with crypto
and Web3.
Whenever I meet people, myfamily and friends and they say
something about crypto, I'm likeoh yeah, is that like Bitcoin?
NorCal Guy (22:08):
You just play it off .
Pravijn (22:09):
I'm like I don't even know.
Is Minecraft an NFT?
Oh, you're terrible, you justplay it off.
I just I'm like I don't evenknow.
Is minecraft an nft?
You?
know, so you're terrible likeI'm absolutely clueless about
web3.
Uh, I just one.
I don't want to get intoarguments with people and what
and I do like to keep this ident.
I really like having this likealter ego, alter identity.
(22:30):
What is your favorite way toconnect with people in this
space?
So it's really odd, but I gotinto Web3 and it was all the
silly memes that people would dowith anime.
So it was like it was memeslike you know, and then, of
course, your memes are on awhole nother level.
So it was like it was memeslike you know, and then, of
course, your memes are on awhole nother level, but like,
(22:54):
but memes somehow, like you, Idon't know what it is about
connecting with people withmemes or anime.
And then randomly, there's beena couple of people I've
connected to because they putquotes about authors I've read,
like Italo Calvino.
So it's like it's just, it'sjust funny that I've been
connecting with people on somethings that I think in the
(23:15):
traditional world we would neverhave had those conversations.
You would not be having adinner conversation and pull out
a meme about biscuits.
It's just something thathappens to this space.
It's kind of interesting.
NorCal Guy (23:31):
Okay, are there any projects you're working on and
would like to discuss, or anyshout outs?
Pravijn (23:39):
uh, you know, I think uh quite a few people might know
that I I joined deca threemonths ago.
I am really enjoying workingwith them.
Uh, we definitely have a lot ofthings planned, um, and and
we're always open to chattingwith people about it and getting
more ideas.
So that's something I willshout out for what I'm doing
(24:00):
with Deco right now.
NorCal Guy (24:01):
All right, Nice, I love it and I can't wait to see,
or you know, as it all developsand use it Awesome.
Well, Pravin, thank you so muchfor your time today and this
enjoyable chat.
I really had a good time.
Same here.
Thanks a lot.
Okay, well, you have a good dayand we'll talk soon.
(24:24):
Who is this guy?
Who is this guy?
Who is this guy?
Who is this guy?
Who is this guy?
North Calgary, North Calgary.
Norcal guy.
Norcal guy.
Norcal guy.
Norcal guy.
Norcal guy.
Norcal guy.
Norcal guy.
Norcal and chill podcast.
So it's chill time.
Norcal and chill podcast.
(24:45):
What the what the Chill?
Norcal and chill podcast.
So it's chill time, NorCal.
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