October 22, 2024 • 38 mins
Forbes is pioneering Web3 integration in legacy media through its Forbes Legacy Pass program, a soulbound NFT initiative led by VP of Web3 Mani Patel, offering valuable insights for the restaurant industry's digital evolution. By establishing a dedicated blockchain department and creating an exclusive, application-based digital membership system, Forbes demonstrates how traditional businesses can embrace Web3 technology while maintaining brand value and community engagement - a model particularly relevant for fine dining establishments looking to enhance their premium experiences with digital collectibles and blockchain-based features.
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Web3Innovation #FutureOfDining #DigitalTransformation
🫶 Subscribe NOW - Unlock a world of knowledge, innovation, and growth from the largest podcast network in food service! - https://savorfm.substack.com/
📈 Learn More ~ Restaurant Power Index featuring the top 50 brands' performance in consumer sentiment based on 12 performance markers in food, service, and overall brand consumer sentiment. The RPI features historical and current sentiment analysis for key brands based on the overall market sentiment data. Subscribe for weekly reports on the top brands in the restaurant industry. https://www.savor.fm/restaurant-power-index
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Turn off the volume and subscribe now to Rock My Restaurant,
the podcast setting your brand on fire, Come into you
live every week, branding, marketing, innovative tech, don't get left behind.
The future is now.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
Welcome back to another episode of of course, Rock My Restaurant,
and today we're going to be diving in, of course,
to the topics that everybody is always asking us about,
and that is loyalty and how web three and gamification
is connecting the dots for all of you guys out there.
Joining me, of course, is.
Speaker 3 (00:38):
Miss Leah Smith.
Speaker 4 (00:39):
How are you hi, Paul, You're stepping in for Shelley today.
Speaker 3 (00:42):
I like it.
Speaker 5 (00:43):
I am filling in.
Speaker 4 (00:44):
I like it.
Speaker 3 (00:45):
She said she was a little bit under the weather.
I hope she's okay.
Speaker 6 (00:48):
Yeah, she'll be better, but yes she wills up with
something so well, when.
Speaker 2 (00:52):
You're running a business, sometimes you forget about your own
wellbeing and you kind of just keep going, keep going,
And I know Shelley's kind of like that. So Shelley,
if you listen, get better. We need you back, all right, Leah.
So we've got a really special guest coming in today.
This is going to be a good one, and really
the concept about gamification and loyalty has been something we've
(01:15):
talked about here on the show quite a bit. And
one of the things that I think we haven't brought
in is the amount of credibility that many organizations are
bringing to the space. So our guest today, of course,
I think, does that in terms of bringing real credibility
to the space. When you look at that and you
(01:36):
kind of consider where Web three is today, Leah, and
how the restaurant space is kind of adapting to it
along with other retail Is there anything that you're watching
right now, Leah that you think is, hey, we got
to really get prepared for this.
Speaker 6 (01:54):
I think for myself being new to Web three, I
actually met Manny at NFTN I see earlier this year,
right when I was brand new to devour and to
see as a marketer Forbes investing in Web three, building
community and Web three and all of their efforts that
they've made, which we'll obviously hear more from Manny, but
(02:16):
really helped me to understand Web three as a marketer
in space.
Speaker 2 (02:21):
Well, I think that's the thing is you get a
lot of people who are just now getting into it,
and they sometimes are just a little afraid of jumping in,
and in reality, I think once you get in, much
like what you have done, is you start to see
the synergies and the similarities that kind of a line
up with traditional marketing and traditional community building all that stuff.
(02:42):
So it's not as scary as everybody puts it out
there to be. So it's going to be a going
Joining us today is Manny Patel, who is of course
coming over from Forbes as the VP of Web three.
Speaker 3 (02:55):
Many welcome to the show.
Speaker 5 (02:56):
Hi guys, so happy to be here. Thank you for
having me flip you around, so we've got you top left.
Speaker 3 (03:02):
So we always like.
Speaker 2 (03:02):
To have our guests top left and the ladies always
in a good you know right there.
Speaker 4 (03:08):
So there you go.
Speaker 2 (03:12):
Well it's you know, I always try to, you know,
put the pretty people in front and go that route
usually is good for video views, as they say. But Manny,
we let's dive into what Forbes is doing a little
bout what you and your role at Forbes is all
about give us the one on one here.
Speaker 7 (03:30):
No absolutely, I mean who Web three is an industry
that I think a lot of us when growing up,
we never imagine we'd be in because this industry really
didn't exist when we were figuring out, gay, what do
we want to do with our life? What career do
we want to go into? And I think that's why
when people even make introductions, whether at a conference or meeting,
some of the things that they always start with this one,
(03:50):
how long they've been in the industry, because that's how
new this industry is.
Speaker 5 (03:54):
And two, really, what were you doing before this?
Speaker 7 (03:57):
Because again, we have an industry where you can be
an engineer, you could be an artist, you could be
any background, and somehow you found this crazy world where
we're building in every day. And that's exactly what happened
to me. I grew up spending my whole life thinking
I'm going to be an engineer, and that was sort
of the life that I had planned for myself. I
(04:19):
grew up in Texas, and one thing that is very
prominent in Texas is the oil and gas industry, and
watching my father work in that industry for a very
long time, I thought, Okay, this is my world. I'm
going to do what my father does. I'm going to
be an oil and gas engineer. And I got my
bachelor's in chemical engineering, my master's in environmental engineering, I
can talk to you about oil and gas and water
(04:40):
at air four hours and like like some folks about
a year and I realized, Okay, this isn't for me,
Like I'm a good engineer, but I think I could
be great at something else. And I kind of went
on this like just personal mission of figuring out engineering
was average. What am I above average? Out that just
comes naturally that I need to follow. And the business
(05:02):
was something that I was always very interested in. Really
fun fact, when I was an undergrad to study for
an engineering exam, I would need to study two weeks
in advance, three weeks in advance and hope for a
B at best. But I would go into these business
pitch competitions by the College of Business at my undergrad
and I would prep like a day in advance, and
(05:25):
humbly I would score in like the top three. And
that's like a quick queue to anyone in the audience,
like just look at what is very.
Speaker 5 (05:34):
Natural to you.
Speaker 7 (05:35):
And at the time I ignored those signs, but I decided
to follow that track. Postgrad, I started my own business
with my business partner, Michael, and we focused on digital art.
This was during the time where E commace was really booming.
This was just a couple of years before Covid, Facebook,
advertisingstry really well, Google SEO. This new industry was getting
(05:56):
another level in this space, and we.
Speaker 5 (06:00):
Thought, hey, let's do it.
Speaker 7 (06:01):
We each put in a five hundred bucks from our
savings accounts as broke college kids right out of school,
and before you knew it, we had a full flush company.
After a few years, we had fifty plus employees around
the world.
Speaker 5 (06:15):
We were not profitable. This was in the art space.
Speaker 7 (06:17):
So people would come to our website, they would submit
photos of their loved ones themselves. On the back end,
we had a team of artists and they would take
these personal images and turn them into digital art forms,
so we could turn you into realism. We could turn
you into anime, and and it was. It was a
full suite. And just those few years of being a
(06:39):
co founder I think taught me more than what I
think ten years of experience could have. And I'm very,
very grateful for the years I had before I officially
joined web three.
Speaker 2 (06:51):
Well, the cool thing about that is that, you know,
it's the entrepreneurial spirit that we see. We see it
a lot in the you know, in the food service
space with a lot of restaurant startups, and with tech
being so front and center these days, you know, we
find more it's more I think attractive now to people
coming out of either young startups or people even coming
(07:11):
out of college trying to get into the space, which
to me is cool. But I think we're close to
entering a new layer. Much like what you were talking
about is people not realizing what we are about to
see in a technological shift around Web three blockchain. It's
(07:32):
kind of writing underneath the current right now. Nobody really
understands completely what it means, but I think it's just,
you know, a heartbeat away from really taking off for sure.
Speaker 3 (07:41):
So thanks for that story.
Speaker 4 (07:43):
I love it.
Speaker 7 (07:44):
No, absolutely, Paul. And yeah, you know, because we were
already in the art space and fts were kind of
this easy transition because this was I mean ate I
remember this as well. This was like twenty seventeen, twenty eighteen,
Twitter didn't really exist. This was all around reddit it
and this is where the community was being built. And
because we were already in the art space, and he
(08:05):
was just like this natural thing that is natural exactly.
Speaker 2 (08:09):
Did you have any any collections that you launched or
tell me about your early launches on the NFT side.
Speaker 1 (08:15):
Yeah.
Speaker 7 (08:15):
I mean at the beginning, I didn't believe in it
too much.
Speaker 5 (08:17):
I was like, what is this?
Speaker 7 (08:18):
I have digital art, I have a PNG saved in
my computer drive or my Google drive. Why do I
need this on the blockchain? But my business partner really
pushed me for it. He was buying people's at a dollar,
crypto punks at a few thousand bucks, and he really
believed in it. And it was when I read the
Bitcoin White Paper that it all started to make sense.
Whenever any of my friends in the traditional world asked like,
(08:41):
how do I just get consumed into this ecosystem? The
Bitcoin White Paper is really where I encouraged him to start.
Speaker 5 (08:48):
Because you can get lost.
Speaker 7 (08:49):
On crypto, Twitter and form and the latest job. But
if you understand the fundamentals of why blockchain and cryptocurrency
was created, that that's a really beautiful place to start.
Speaker 2 (09:01):
It is, and I think the key there is once
that you find the right mix with businesses, much like
for you it was art, and then you apply that
to certain industries out there, much like what you guys
are doing with forb was it a hard sell for
Forbes and to kind of forge a web three entity
(09:21):
in the beginning, because obviously most companies are new somewhat
new to this, even if they're two or three years old,
that's early. But what were your wins and losses there?
Speaker 7 (09:32):
No, I love this question, and really I wish I
could take credit for it, but it really goes to
Forbes's executive team. I mean, we're an old corporate legacy company.
We've been here for one hundred years. We've been here
since nineteen seventeen. We've seen the world transition and advanced
from a technological perspective. Right when we first started, we
were only magazine. We were print, and the world went digital.
(09:55):
So then we created Forbes dot com and not only
to be created, we ended up becoming a how sold
name through it. And now the world is going towards
the blockchain, and so of course we're going to be
where the world is moving.
Speaker 5 (10:07):
And this really goes.
Speaker 7 (10:09):
To the CEO and our executive team. Before I even joined,
they had all made the decision that Web three is
an official department that we are built in house inside
of the worms. Yeah, so you know, our team now
we have blockchain engineers, we have smart contract coders. We
have folks that used to work at other crypto native
companies like Japper Labs, and we've really built this from
(10:31):
the ground up, very grassroots.
Speaker 3 (10:33):
Wow, I think that's you guys questions.
Speaker 5 (10:36):
I was going to say, I think.
Speaker 6 (10:37):
It's so smart for Forbes to leverage all those years
of content and community building that you've done and turn
it into something that's truly Web three and bringing value
to the Web three community.
Speaker 5 (10:49):
Thanks. Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 7 (10:51):
We also understand we're not the first brand to enter
into this space, right, so we're also trying to figure
out what was done before us.
Speaker 5 (10:58):
What can we add more about you to and set
our own path?
Speaker 2 (11:02):
What is your I mean because obviously Forbes a media
company and education format, you guys launched programs in the space.
Right now, You've got the Forbes Legacy program. Explain that
to us and to our because it seems like it's
a community building model, which is very similar to what
restaurants and other businesses try to do. Explain a little
(11:23):
bit more about that.
Speaker 7 (11:25):
Yeah, I mean, I think now more than ever, especially
what the newer generations are looking for is more of
like this brand loyalty, and when you look at it,
from the Web three ecosystem.
Speaker 5 (11:36):
One of the easiest ways to.
Speaker 7 (11:37):
Build this loyalty is through a collection, is through a
digital assets collection, a digital collectible, and so the Legacy
Pass is really our take on it. The Legacy Pass
is different than like your typical digital asset collection. It
is a soul bound token, and so what that means
is you can't trade it on the secondary market. It
is going to be in your wallet, in your hands forever.
(11:58):
And it is application so in Forbes fashion, to even
get access to it, to get invited to access it,
it is through an application process, and I think we've
got about one hundred and twenty thousand waitless members and
then we've reviewed over fifty thousand applications so far, and
very much like a loyalty program that you would see
at restaurants or at bars and clubs, we have our.
Speaker 5 (12:21):
Own suite of benefits.
Speaker 7 (12:23):
My personal favorite one is we are printing every single
holder's name in the physical Forbes magazine that is being
released in a couple of months. We are backing some
of the projects that we're very excited about.
Speaker 5 (12:33):
And events.
Speaker 7 (12:34):
Everything in Web three is it's all around events and
just beautiful experiences. So we have a number of events
around the world to offer to our members as well.
Speaker 2 (12:43):
So that's one thing that I've seen a lot of
companies and we've seen this, Leah, you and I and Shelley,
I've talked about this a lot with the restaurant space.
Is these community components where there's brand IP being attached
to these communities, obviously putting it into an NFT format
hence writing on the blockchain. But I think a lot
of people get lost in the crypto connection. Are you
(13:04):
finding that today to be the case? They're like, oh,
well that's crypto, you know, I don't want to be
involved in anything like that.
Speaker 3 (13:10):
Is it's confusing to me?
Speaker 2 (13:12):
I got to buy a token or do something weird
around cryptocurrency. Are you finding that people who are coming
into the space get lost in that minutia or have
they opened up their eyes to what this really is yet?
Speaker 7 (13:28):
Yeah, Man's that's a really good question.
Speaker 5 (13:30):
I think it depends on the person.
Speaker 7 (13:33):
This is what I will admit is this is an
industry that if you are just entering in without any
sort of like guidance, it can be very overwhelming because
even within this industry there's so many mini industries. You
have defied, you have gaming, you have infrastructure. Do you
want to focus more on the metaverse and fashion? Like
there are even like to this day, there's all these
new clubs and groups and organizations that I wasn't even
(13:56):
aware of that I've heard of and now I'm like
learning myself more about it. And so I think one
thing that we must do a better job with is
like the onboarding process or so that is from the
traditional world, because it is it can be a lot.
It is the wild wild West here. But what is
exciting is we are now starting to see, like these
niches and the restaurant niche, that the food and beverage
(14:18):
industry is now becoming it's its own thing. Like we
have fly Fish Club, we have Clubout, we have Apollo,
a brand that focuses only on New York City restaurants,
and now they are incorporating cryptocurrencies as a method of
payment for those restaurants. So it's really cool that as
the industries evolving, also are these niches that come with
it well.
Speaker 2 (14:37):
And with that, you've seen suppliers starting to go in
this direct, most of them kind of on the edgy
side of Web three, but they are at least getting
into the food service side, coffee brands, soda brands, liquor brands,
which all kind of could easily connect to what's happening
with the restaurant space. But you're right, clubs I think
(14:57):
will be a big part of this with loyalty.
Speaker 3 (15:00):
Leah.
Speaker 2 (15:00):
On the loyalty side, if you look at and I
know you guys have had a chance to talk to
a lot of you know, mid range brands to big brands.
Are you Are you finally seeing at Devour the connection
of people starting to kind of understand the loyalty and
the community side of Web.
Speaker 6 (15:19):
Three, I definitely think so. I think there's also a
growing interest that to bridge the digital ownership to real
world benefits that we're.
Speaker 5 (15:29):
Seeing from restaurants, just you know, like the Legacy Pass.
Speaker 6 (15:32):
I think it's an exciting area of innovation for the
restaurant industry.
Speaker 4 (15:37):
Well, and I love this website too.
Speaker 2 (15:39):
Let me share this for our viewers because this is
a little segment here on the Legacy Pass.
Speaker 3 (15:45):
It's kind of cool. The inner circle.
Speaker 2 (15:49):
I know right well, there's Yat Sue, I know Yat Sue.
Oh my god, there's Ryan.
Speaker 4 (15:55):
Yeah, I love it. Okay, my gosh, there's Steve. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (15:59):
So I know most of these people. Sebastian I've interviewed
many times. There's a men from Avalanche. So these guys
are pretty much the Web three leaders. And if you
think we need one of these, Leah, for the restaurant space,
it would only be like six months right now, but
at least it would be a start.
Speaker 3 (16:20):
I feel like that would be a good one.
Speaker 2 (16:22):
We got to talk to some of these events to
try to do something like that, because I think if
you had enough of those, which is something that I
am seeing, Leah, is more of the events now are
wanting to talk about this.
Speaker 3 (16:36):
You know, a year ago, two.
Speaker 2 (16:37):
Years ago, they were worried that it was the negativity
of crypto and the NFT, you know, scare. Do you
think that's changing now, Leah?
Speaker 1 (16:48):
Yeah.
Speaker 6 (16:49):
I mean we were at Murtech earlier this year, Shelley
and I, which is a tech conference for the restaurant
industry held in Las Vegas every spring, and there was
definitely interest, a lot of questions from the operators who
are stopping by our booth, and then Shelley actually got
invited to the Hospitality Tech Conference, which is put on
by the same group coming up next month, and for
(17:10):
hotels and hotel operators. They're also interested in what Devour
is doing in blockchain and web three as well, so
there is definitely interest.
Speaker 2 (17:20):
Yeah, I think finally we're we're seeing a little bit
of a breakthrough, you know, in in the retail side
of things, and Mannie I wanted to kind of hit
on that when you look at just like what you
guys are doing within the inner circle, building that community,
which is going to obviously foster a lot of innovation potentially,
you know from I guess a benefit side of what
(17:42):
the legacy passes is being done or kind of pushed
down into what about how they are affecting What are
you seeing how these kinds of companies, these kinds of
innovators are affecting their own little niches.
Speaker 3 (17:55):
Because you mentioned.
Speaker 4 (17:56):
That is it's almost like you have niches.
Speaker 2 (18:00):
Kind of like how the Internet really got going. You
had niche after niche after niche that took off, whether
it was e commerce, this side of retail development, productivity,
all of them had little uniquenesses. Are you finding that
to be the case right now or are we still
really early What is your viewpoint.
Speaker 7 (18:20):
We're still extremely early in terms of how many people
we truly have on the blockchain and how many people
that are trading cryptocurrencies on a regular level. But what
I will say is that what the data shows us
is people are adopting to crypto and blockchain technology today
much faster than they have in any other technological advancements.
(18:40):
We have food, we have data that folks are adapting
more to cryptocurrencies faster than what they did to get
onboarded onto the Internet. And so even if we're early,
what I see is the slope is just going to
get higher and higher with time. What I also see is,
right now, there's almost like this philosophy that in order
to be Web three you have to be truly embedded
in Web three, like you have to live and read
(19:01):
this role.
Speaker 5 (19:02):
But simply book, that's not the case.
Speaker 7 (19:04):
You know, not every single one of us is going
to collect an NFT and that's okay. Not all of
us are going to play a Web three game, and
that's okay. The reality of mass adoption is going to
be when you and I, Paul and Leah, we we
are going to a restaurant, or we are going to
all these different experiences and we almost don't even realize.
Speaker 4 (19:22):
That it has been exactly, yes, a hundred percent. Well's
that's exactly how the web took off. You know, everybody
thought the Internet was this really bad word. Uh listen.
Speaker 2 (19:33):
I worked for Microsoft at the era in which we were.
They were assisting in building out what was the infrastructure
of the Internet, and you know, that was the big
problem that I think a lot so many of the
companies we were working with, they just did not understand
what that future looked like. They couldn't put their heads around.
And of course, obviously, you know, five years later two
(19:54):
thousand happened and the bomb happened, and then everybody understood
what was going on, kind of that next generation of innovation.
I always watch a couple of things, and that is
where are jobs being curated, much like you guys are
doing with your own role there at Forbes. But then
you look at things like this, This is kind of
(20:15):
an interesting website, which is the highest ping This is
Web three career in case anybody wants to know. But
look at the amount of jobs that are coming up
in the space right now. I'm just kind of if
you guys are listening in on our audio podcast. Go
over a saver FM on YouTube and you'll see what
we're showing you on screen. But I mean it's just
on and on and on of web three, engineering jobs,
(20:40):
marketing jobs, compliance. I mean, this is to me the
early signals that it has arrived, you know, for all
kinds of brands, doesn't matter, you know, all kinds of brands.
Do you think a regular entrepreneur? And I guess this
is kind of for you, Leah, because I know you're
(21:00):
talking to a lot of brand leaders right now. Do
you think they are starting to do like Forbes, where
they are building their teams that are more because remember
social media two thousand and seven, people started putting social
media people in their marketing department and now it kind
of runs the marketing department. What are you seeing out
(21:20):
there right now?
Speaker 5 (21:21):
Well, I'm so old.
Speaker 6 (21:22):
I remember building out a MySpace page for my hotel,
and that was at the advent of social media.
Speaker 5 (21:30):
To your point, but I think as.
Speaker 6 (21:32):
Marketers, you always have to evolve. Whether they're building out
dedicated people in house like Forbes, I don't know if
they're at that point yet, but I think typically marketers
have to take on and evolve new technologies, innovation, and
that typically falls in the marketer's lab.
Speaker 3 (21:50):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (21:50):
I think that's well hopefully for marketers that are out
there right now in space, whether you're in the food
side or in just a Web three enthusiast and you're
listening to or watching this podcast, understand if you're not
early on these kinds of cycles that And I think
blockchain has proved itself now, so it's not a risk
as much of a risk anymore than what it was
(22:11):
maybe five years ago really before Web three started becoming
a thing. But I think many when you consider the
concept behind Web three and the future, and people are
trying to understand what Web three is going to be,
whether it's collectibles using the blockchain for an exchange of
goods and services, which most likely will happen. Gaming comes
(22:34):
into the discussion very quickly. What is your opinion on
where gaming is because of the pushback that we've seen
from really traditional Web two gaming versus what we're seeing
in people that are trying to bring in the Web
three gaming components.
Speaker 7 (22:52):
For true gamers, they're assets that they have in these games,
whether it's their web is, whether it's they're potions, whether
it'sy're clothing. For many other gamers in the community, those
are extremely valuable, and right now there really isn't a
seamless place to be able to trade those, to engage
with it further, and watching tech fixes that. So I
think one of the reasons what we're gaming took off
so easily as a utility was because there's already challenges
(23:15):
we see the traditional world that this text happens to
fix quite quite.
Speaker 2 (23:19):
Easily well in the NFTs, plus with digital collectibles in
general now, much like what you guys are doing with
sole bound NFTs for some of our brand leaders, because
I think some brand people out there probably get bit
get NFTs confused and do I need to take this
out to Magic Eating or over to open see those
(23:39):
kind of marketplaces, explain what a sole bound NFT is
and why its value is related more to the brand ip.
Speaker 5 (23:48):
Yeah, love it, Paul.
Speaker 7 (23:50):
Majority of the time, when you have an NFT with
this digital asset token, you are able to trade it,
so you could take it to a marketplace, you could
take it to open ce or magic eat it and
you can trade it on the secondary market. So you
could then now sell this NFT to somebody else that
we wanted, but Forbes took a very different approach. The
(24:11):
approach that we took is we made this soul bound,
and what so bound essentially means is it is not transferable.
That means not trade it.
Speaker 5 (24:19):
You cannot get it on a secondary market.
Speaker 7 (24:21):
The only way that you would be able to get
it is through the primary market, which in this case
is Forbes. And the way that we really set it
up is the way to purchase it is through an
accepted application that allows us to get to know you
a bit more as well. We did this one to
focus on the people that we are bringing in so
we could grow with them. We can have all these
(24:42):
experiences with them, this pass wood and trade from one
person to another, like we want to focus on you
and position this really more as a membership club where
we are experiencing all these benefits and everything we have
to offer together.
Speaker 2 (24:56):
Well, I think you hit on a couple of things
that some people are probably concerned with. I know we've
had our friend Jeff Alexander on many times with Wolbow,
which is a brand that is starting to kind of
bump the boundaries on this for the retail food space,
and one of the things that everybody's kind of afraid of.
You look at some of the historical things, and many
people will know this if they've researched this much at all.
(25:18):
Stonercats ran into a bit of a problem with this
very kind of model. The difference was it was a
secondary market trade, so the sec pendem against the all
they settled. And now, of course we're seeing all sorts
of situations where NFTs most likely are not going to
be deemed securities because otherwise you'd have baseball cards to watch,
(25:39):
is to anything that you buy that could go up
in value could be deemed a security. So do you
think we are at a state right now from a
regulatory side of things where we might might be past
that now in that finally we're going to be dealing
with this like what it truly is and it's just
a collectible.
Speaker 7 (25:58):
Yeah, I mean we see, but the reality is is
every country it's just so different when it comes to
how they are embracing cryptocurrency. You know, we see countries
like like in the UAE and and this Singapore and
even in cities like Hong Kong where they're they're embracing
the technology more than maybe other countries are and and
(26:19):
and I think that's just a part of adoption, right,
like some will lead and others will sort of follow
that movement, at least in the US. Really, what we're
seeing is it's it's still very much kind of up
for play. I think there's still a lot that we
need information on for us to be able to make
that right decision. But in the meantime, I don't think
(26:40):
that should stop us from embracing this technology, especially as
we're looking towards how to really harness what the future
looks like in the US and beyond.
Speaker 2 (26:49):
Well, we did a story not too long ago in
reference to the growth in Web three infrastructure in Japan,
and the Japanese have now started to roll out a
Digital Minister that they actually have almost like a cabinet
member that's dedicated to growing that space with the Web
three space. This is just kind of showing some space growth.
(27:12):
Forty million users now growing in the Web three space,
so as you can see, this is just an example
of many of them, and to your point, a lot
of them are in regions like Africa, South Asia, which
is what we've seen there within that, but that means
that the US could be falling behind that's not a
good thing.
Speaker 3 (27:33):
You know, we need to be the leaders.
Speaker 4 (27:36):
I shouldn't say we need to be, but we should be.
Speaker 2 (27:38):
You know, we're one of the most advanced countries out there,
and I think if we can get regulatory alignment, we
will definitely be in there. Are you having any of that, Leahy,
any pushback from brands that are concerned with those kind
of issues.
Speaker 6 (27:51):
I just think there needs to more clarity overall. I
think the idea of digital collectibles in the restaurant industry
is fairly new. A lot of restaurants are exploring, you know,
how to create unique dining experiences or of access, and
I think we need to help shape and tell a
story of how NFTs have evolved beyond digital art for
(28:14):
those restaurant operators and people new to the space like myself.
Speaker 1 (28:18):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (28:18):
Well, I mean you've got Blackbird and a handful of
brands that you know that Manny mentioned that I've started
to you know, digitize to a certain extent access to
their restaurants from a reservation level all the way down
to something that's a club or group level, much like
what you know the Legacy pass is doing.
Speaker 4 (28:35):
Over at Forbes.
Speaker 2 (28:36):
My question is this Do you guys think this would
be for both of you? I want to get both
your opinions. Do you think that the industry because you
look at the layers of fine dining, which are most
likely reservation, exclusive club access to something like whiskey tastings, wine,
you know, chef dinners. Then you scale it down to
maybe the limited service, which could fall more into the
(28:58):
fast casual QSR range, which also could be like what
Jeff Alexander's doing at wabow where he's creating club there's
some benefits to it. Which category of the space do
you think lends better to where this tech is going.
Speaker 4 (29:15):
We'll start with you many.
Speaker 7 (29:16):
I'd actually love to hear your take first act.
Speaker 6 (29:21):
I think it can apply to almost all sectors of
the restaurant industry. I think blockchain technology offers some really
unique opportunities for creating more transparent and rewarding loyalty programs
where a lot of restaurants struggle, whether it's QSHR all
the way up to find dinings.
Speaker 2 (29:40):
So well, the shifts have I will say this, and
this is kind of an interesting point. You know, we
do a lot of consulting in the space right now
for brands mainly on just educating their executive teams, and
the ones that are asking more questions are coming from
the fine dining group, So it's it's the multi unit
(30:03):
change bigger chains that I won't mention names, but some
of them that have, you know, a couple hundred locations
four star above tip average check around one twenty, so
you kind of guess who those people are. But the
point is is that there I would say it's probably
six to one right now inquiries coming from that area
(30:24):
of the market versus QSR fast casual casual dining.
Speaker 3 (30:29):
So I don't know, it'd be.
Speaker 7 (30:31):
Yeah, Paul, you mentioned fine dining, and I think that's
exactly where the light bulb sort of hit me.
Speaker 5 (30:35):
Like I think fine.
Speaker 7 (30:37):
Dining is the easiest place where we see NFTs and
digital collectibles being a very easy, seamless spot. My husband
and I, for example, like one of the things that
we really enjoy doing is like when we're big foodies.
He's from South Asia, I'm from South Asia, he's from Singapore.
I'm from India. So like we just grew up around
like big feats and with family, and now that we're older,
we like to explore, like cities, and we'll even plan
(30:57):
trips just around a specific restaurant that like we were
able to get in on and were able to explore
and oftentimes and a lot of these fine dining establishments,
a lot of times you kind of take back like
some sort of some sort of goodie bag or something
that has like almost this.
Speaker 5 (31:11):
Like physical memorabilia.
Speaker 7 (31:12):
It could be like the menu, it could be just
anything that kind of makes a statement of you being
there in that moment. And unfortunately, at least in our
home with kids and all, we don't really have a
place to keep those and even like kind of go
back and reminisce. But if I could now have this
in my wall, is something that has a stamp that yes,
I was here, I was in this moment, I experience this,
(31:34):
that is incredible. Think about even if you go on
Google Maps on your app phone and you are sharing
with your loved one, your friends, your partner, like the
places you want to go, or you can even share
in folders now on Google Maps of like restaurants that
you have been to together. How can that look in
the digital world, make it just more beautiful, more more
(31:57):
nice to look at and to remember. I think that's
something that especially in fine dining, people are going to want.
Speaker 5 (32:03):
To look for more often.
Speaker 2 (32:05):
Well, there's already a lot of you know, digital payment
solutions out there. If you look at what Toast is doing,
Apple Pay, many of which.
Speaker 3 (32:13):
Have I got.
Speaker 2 (32:14):
I think the consumer ingrained to using their mobile device
to kind of interact with the restaurant. So it's I
would think it's an easier pull to just say, oh,
by the way, you're in our you know, let's just
use someone like you know who is it? Coopers Hawk.
Coopers Hawk has this massive wine club. That would be
(32:35):
so easy to just create an NFT project around that,
build something into devours platform lea, and then have that
on my device when I'm at a Cooper's Hawk and
I'm on the VIP club and I get that top shelf,
you know, Cabernet, Sauvagnon, you know. So why are we
not seeing more of that? I just hopefully it's going
(32:55):
to come faster, that's for sure. Last question to you, Manny,
when you look at about the challenges to the industry,
A lot of people have looked at NFT's kind of
bad word, but maybe that's changing now. Is there anything
you guys are seeing that you think needs to happen
before we see that early mass adoption curve up, before
(33:16):
we get on that bill curve cycle.
Speaker 5 (33:18):
I think.
Speaker 7 (33:20):
I think unfamiliarity and fear just kind of go hand
in hand, which is like human instinct. I mean, even
thinking about when the Internet was first created, there was
a lot of fear around with this takeover, with this
hack into all of our systems in our homes, Like
is this now going to be a thing where it's
you know.
Speaker 5 (33:35):
Like computers versus humans.
Speaker 7 (33:37):
And we can look at human history and we know
for a fact that new technology or just any new
concept can it can be a lot. And this transition
for your period that I see us in right now,
where half of us are sort of overwhelmed, we may
be a little worried about what the future looks like.
I think it's just a part of natural progression. It'd
be weird if this period didn't even exist, because we
(33:59):
know that this naturally just does just from a perspective
of how we think and how we live. And what
what I do know is I think it's going to
be technologies that make it so easy to get onboarded
that's going to help us move this much faster. I'll
give you a quick example, at least on the media side, Right,
we put the under thirty list on the blockchain, and
I believe you were the first media brand to ever
(34:20):
do this. And so all the data of the twenty
twenty four under thirty listed name, the profile, the description,
all that information we have put on the blockchain. And
in fact, if you go on forms dot com and
search up thirty under thirty and you click on that list,
you're able to see even a button that says view
on blockchain, and we take the user to the blockchain
explore where they can kind of experience well, hey, here's
(34:41):
how Forbes is using the technology for data verification, data validation.
Speaker 5 (34:46):
We use this as an easy case study.
Speaker 7 (34:48):
Right.
Speaker 5 (34:48):
We also added.
Speaker 7 (34:49):
Wallet login to Forbes dot com, so now you can
use your email address to log in, or alternatively, you
could connect your wallet. And it's going to be these
seamless things that that I think is really going to
help us towards mass adoption. And I think when it
comes to even everyday experience is embracing it, like your
favorite restaurant is now experiencing your favorite bar is now
(35:11):
experiencing it before you know it, you're already onboarded and
you probably didn't even realize it exactly.
Speaker 2 (35:17):
I think that's happening more now because we have started
to see and I know Shelley is trying to implement
it that way to feel like it's, you know, really
where web three is not even you know, it's an
underlying technology that's driving on this, but really the goal
is community ip you know, from a brand standpoint, and
I think that that's the perfect example. So this has
(35:40):
been a good interview, man, and we definitely got to
get you back on the show to talk a little
bit more about media. I'd love to have you on
one of our other shows because we get into a
lot of this around decentralized opportunities, and I think with brands,
this is just a whole new.
Speaker 4 (35:56):
Era of growth.
Speaker 2 (35:57):
We haven't even we don't even know what, we don't
know yet. It's just that much in terms of opportunity.
But thanks for coming in on the show today. We
really appreciate it.
Speaker 5 (36:06):
Oh so super fun. Thank you, Paul, Thank you Leah.
Speaker 4 (36:08):
Saying standy so wow.
Speaker 2 (36:11):
That was an excellent one with Manny coming in over
from Forbes and of course you guys should check out
the website and check out the Legacy Pass if you're
even if you're in the restaurant space. Jeff Alexander, I
know you're listening to this right.
Speaker 3 (36:23):
Now, so.
Speaker 2 (36:26):
Make sure and go over and get in on the
Forbes Legacy Past. You should be there because he's one
of the leaders in the in the restaurant space for
I think for this area. Anybody else in the space
right now, Leah, that you feel is kind of kind
of cutting the trail right now.
Speaker 6 (36:40):
I mean, the large QSRs are all dabbling, they've done
campaigns and stuff, but Jeff is really, I think probably
one of the biggest innovators.
Speaker 2 (36:48):
Yeah, leading a charge well his integration to Rowblocks and
we've had him on this show. We probably it's about
time to probably get him back here for a twenty
twenty five outlook video.
Speaker 3 (36:59):
Yeah, because that's.
Speaker 2 (37:01):
I think twenty twenty five is going to be a
big year for restaurant brands going in this direction. But anyway, Leah,
always good to have you stepping in for the infamous
Shelley Rupel as our co host.
Speaker 3 (37:11):
But thanks again for coming in.
Speaker 5 (37:13):
Thanks Paul Yep.
Speaker 2 (37:14):
We'll catch you guys later. Make sure if you're not watching.
If you are watching this and you're doing it on YouTube,
all you have to do is click the like button
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know a lot of you guys get this video in
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(37:38):
a comment. And did you know that we are already
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Unrock my restaurant
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The future is now.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
Welcome back to another episode of of course, Rock My Restaurant,
and today we're going to be diving in, of course,
to the topics that everybody is always asking us about,
and that is loyalty and how web three and gamification
is connecting the dots for all of you guys out there.
Joining me, of course, is.
Speaker 3 (00:38):
Miss Leah Smith.
Speaker 4 (00:39):
How are you hi, Paul, You're stepping in for Shelley today.
Speaker 3 (00:42):
I like it.
Speaker 5 (00:43):
I am filling in.
Speaker 4 (00:44):
I like it.
Speaker 3 (00:45):
She said she was a little bit under the weather.
I hope she's okay.
Speaker 6 (00:48):
Yeah, she'll be better, but yes she wills up with
something so well, when.
Speaker 2 (00:52):
You're running a business, sometimes you forget about your own
wellbeing and you kind of just keep going, keep going,
And I know Shelley's kind of like that. So Shelley,
if you listen, get better. We need you back, all right, Leah.
So we've got a really special guest coming in today.
This is going to be a good one, and really
the concept about gamification and loyalty has been something we've
(01:15):
talked about here on the show quite a bit. And
one of the things that I think we haven't brought
in is the amount of credibility that many organizations are
bringing to the space. So our guest today, of course,
I think, does that in terms of bringing real credibility
to the space. When you look at that and you
(01:36):
kind of consider where Web three is today, Leah, and
how the restaurant space is kind of adapting to it
along with other retail Is there anything that you're watching
right now, Leah that you think is, hey, we got
to really get prepared for this.
Speaker 6 (01:54):
I think for myself being new to Web three, I
actually met Manny at NFTN I see earlier this year,
right when I was brand new to devour and to
see as a marketer Forbes investing in Web three, building
community and Web three and all of their efforts that
they've made, which we'll obviously hear more from Manny, but
(02:16):
really helped me to understand Web three as a marketer
in space.
Speaker 2 (02:21):
Well, I think that's the thing is you get a
lot of people who are just now getting into it,
and they sometimes are just a little afraid of jumping in,
and in reality, I think once you get in, much
like what you have done, is you start to see
the synergies and the similarities that kind of a line
up with traditional marketing and traditional community building all that stuff.
(02:42):
So it's not as scary as everybody puts it out
there to be. So it's going to be a going
Joining us today is Manny Patel, who is of course
coming over from Forbes as the VP of Web three.
Speaker 3 (02:55):
Many welcome to the show.
Speaker 5 (02:56):
Hi guys, so happy to be here. Thank you for
having me flip you around, so we've got you top left.
Speaker 3 (03:02):
So we always like.
Speaker 2 (03:02):
To have our guests top left and the ladies always
in a good you know right there.
Speaker 4 (03:08):
So there you go.
Speaker 2 (03:12):
Well it's you know, I always try to, you know,
put the pretty people in front and go that route
usually is good for video views, as they say. But Manny,
we let's dive into what Forbes is doing a little
bout what you and your role at Forbes is all
about give us the one on one here.
Speaker 7 (03:30):
No absolutely, I mean who Web three is an industry
that I think a lot of us when growing up,
we never imagine we'd be in because this industry really
didn't exist when we were figuring out, gay, what do
we want to do with our life? What career do
we want to go into? And I think that's why
when people even make introductions, whether at a conference or meeting,
some of the things that they always start with this one,
(03:50):
how long they've been in the industry, because that's how
new this industry is.
Speaker 5 (03:54):
And two, really, what were you doing before this?
Speaker 7 (03:57):
Because again, we have an industry where you can be
an engineer, you could be an artist, you could be
any background, and somehow you found this crazy world where
we're building in every day. And that's exactly what happened
to me. I grew up spending my whole life thinking
I'm going to be an engineer, and that was sort
of the life that I had planned for myself. I
(04:19):
grew up in Texas, and one thing that is very
prominent in Texas is the oil and gas industry, and
watching my father work in that industry for a very
long time, I thought, Okay, this is my world. I'm
going to do what my father does. I'm going to
be an oil and gas engineer. And I got my
bachelor's in chemical engineering, my master's in environmental engineering, I
can talk to you about oil and gas and water
(04:40):
at air four hours and like like some folks about
a year and I realized, Okay, this isn't for me,
Like I'm a good engineer, but I think I could
be great at something else. And I kind of went
on this like just personal mission of figuring out engineering
was average. What am I above average? Out that just
comes naturally that I need to follow. And the business
(05:02):
was something that I was always very interested in. Really
fun fact, when I was an undergrad to study for
an engineering exam, I would need to study two weeks
in advance, three weeks in advance and hope for a
B at best. But I would go into these business
pitch competitions by the College of Business at my undergrad
and I would prep like a day in advance, and
(05:25):
humbly I would score in like the top three. And
that's like a quick queue to anyone in the audience,
like just look at what is very.
Speaker 5 (05:34):
Natural to you.
Speaker 7 (05:35):
And at the time I ignored those signs, but I decided
to follow that track. Postgrad, I started my own business
with my business partner, Michael, and we focused on digital art.
This was during the time where E commace was really booming.
This was just a couple of years before Covid, Facebook,
advertisingstry really well, Google SEO. This new industry was getting
(05:56):
another level in this space, and we.
Speaker 5 (06:00):
Thought, hey, let's do it.
Speaker 7 (06:01):
We each put in a five hundred bucks from our
savings accounts as broke college kids right out of school,
and before you knew it, we had a full flush company.
After a few years, we had fifty plus employees around
the world.
Speaker 5 (06:15):
We were not profitable. This was in the art space.
Speaker 7 (06:17):
So people would come to our website, they would submit
photos of their loved ones themselves. On the back end,
we had a team of artists and they would take
these personal images and turn them into digital art forms,
so we could turn you into realism. We could turn
you into anime, and and it was. It was a
full suite. And just those few years of being a
(06:39):
co founder I think taught me more than what I
think ten years of experience could have. And I'm very,
very grateful for the years I had before I officially
joined web three.
Speaker 2 (06:51):
Well, the cool thing about that is that, you know,
it's the entrepreneurial spirit that we see. We see it
a lot in the you know, in the food service
space with a lot of restaurant startups, and with tech
being so front and center these days, you know, we
find more it's more I think attractive now to people
coming out of either young startups or people even coming
(07:11):
out of college trying to get into the space, which
to me is cool. But I think we're close to
entering a new layer. Much like what you were talking
about is people not realizing what we are about to
see in a technological shift around Web three blockchain. It's
(07:32):
kind of writing underneath the current right now. Nobody really
understands completely what it means, but I think it's just,
you know, a heartbeat away from really taking off for sure.
Speaker 3 (07:41):
So thanks for that story.
Speaker 4 (07:43):
I love it.
Speaker 7 (07:44):
No, absolutely, Paul. And yeah, you know, because we were
already in the art space and fts were kind of
this easy transition because this was I mean ate I
remember this as well. This was like twenty seventeen, twenty eighteen,
Twitter didn't really exist. This was all around reddit it
and this is where the community was being built. And
because we were already in the art space, and he
(08:05):
was just like this natural thing that is natural exactly.
Speaker 2 (08:09):
Did you have any any collections that you launched or
tell me about your early launches on the NFT side.
Speaker 1 (08:15):
Yeah.
Speaker 7 (08:15):
I mean at the beginning, I didn't believe in it
too much.
Speaker 5 (08:17):
I was like, what is this?
Speaker 7 (08:18):
I have digital art, I have a PNG saved in
my computer drive or my Google drive. Why do I
need this on the blockchain? But my business partner really
pushed me for it. He was buying people's at a dollar,
crypto punks at a few thousand bucks, and he really
believed in it. And it was when I read the
Bitcoin White Paper that it all started to make sense.
Whenever any of my friends in the traditional world asked like,
(08:41):
how do I just get consumed into this ecosystem? The
Bitcoin White Paper is really where I encouraged him to start.
Speaker 5 (08:48):
Because you can get lost.
Speaker 7 (08:49):
On crypto, Twitter and form and the latest job. But
if you understand the fundamentals of why blockchain and cryptocurrency
was created, that that's a really beautiful place to start.
Speaker 2 (09:01):
It is, and I think the key there is once
that you find the right mix with businesses, much like
for you it was art, and then you apply that
to certain industries out there, much like what you guys
are doing with forb was it a hard sell for
Forbes and to kind of forge a web three entity
(09:21):
in the beginning, because obviously most companies are new somewhat
new to this, even if they're two or three years old,
that's early. But what were your wins and losses there?
Speaker 7 (09:32):
No, I love this question, and really I wish I
could take credit for it, but it really goes to
Forbes's executive team. I mean, we're an old corporate legacy company.
We've been here for one hundred years. We've been here
since nineteen seventeen. We've seen the world transition and advanced
from a technological perspective. Right when we first started, we
were only magazine. We were print, and the world went digital.
(09:55):
So then we created Forbes dot com and not only
to be created, we ended up becoming a how sold
name through it. And now the world is going towards
the blockchain, and so of course we're going to be
where the world is moving.
Speaker 5 (10:07):
And this really goes.
Speaker 7 (10:09):
To the CEO and our executive team. Before I even joined,
they had all made the decision that Web three is
an official department that we are built in house inside
of the worms. Yeah, so you know, our team now
we have blockchain engineers, we have smart contract coders. We
have folks that used to work at other crypto native
companies like Japper Labs, and we've really built this from
(10:31):
the ground up, very grassroots.
Speaker 3 (10:33):
Wow, I think that's you guys questions.
Speaker 5 (10:36):
I was going to say, I think.
Speaker 6 (10:37):
It's so smart for Forbes to leverage all those years
of content and community building that you've done and turn
it into something that's truly Web three and bringing value
to the Web three community.
Speaker 5 (10:49):
Thanks. Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 7 (10:51):
We also understand we're not the first brand to enter
into this space, right, so we're also trying to figure
out what was done before us.
Speaker 5 (10:58):
What can we add more about you to and set
our own path?
Speaker 2 (11:02):
What is your I mean because obviously Forbes a media
company and education format, you guys launched programs in the space.
Right now, You've got the Forbes Legacy program. Explain that
to us and to our because it seems like it's
a community building model, which is very similar to what
restaurants and other businesses try to do. Explain a little
(11:23):
bit more about that.
Speaker 7 (11:25):
Yeah, I mean, I think now more than ever, especially
what the newer generations are looking for is more of
like this brand loyalty, and when you look at it,
from the Web three ecosystem.
Speaker 5 (11:36):
One of the easiest ways to.
Speaker 7 (11:37):
Build this loyalty is through a collection, is through a
digital assets collection, a digital collectible, and so the Legacy
Pass is really our take on it. The Legacy Pass
is different than like your typical digital asset collection. It
is a soul bound token, and so what that means
is you can't trade it on the secondary market. It
is going to be in your wallet, in your hands forever.
(11:58):
And it is application so in Forbes fashion, to even
get access to it, to get invited to access it,
it is through an application process, and I think we've
got about one hundred and twenty thousand waitless members and
then we've reviewed over fifty thousand applications so far, and
very much like a loyalty program that you would see
at restaurants or at bars and clubs, we have our.
Speaker 5 (12:21):
Own suite of benefits.
Speaker 7 (12:23):
My personal favorite one is we are printing every single
holder's name in the physical Forbes magazine that is being
released in a couple of months. We are backing some
of the projects that we're very excited about.
Speaker 5 (12:33):
And events.
Speaker 7 (12:34):
Everything in Web three is it's all around events and
just beautiful experiences. So we have a number of events
around the world to offer to our members as well.
Speaker 2 (12:43):
So that's one thing that I've seen a lot of
companies and we've seen this, Leah, you and I and Shelley,
I've talked about this a lot with the restaurant space.
Is these community components where there's brand IP being attached
to these communities, obviously putting it into an NFT format
hence writing on the blockchain. But I think a lot
of people get lost in the crypto connection. Are you
(13:04):
finding that today to be the case? They're like, oh,
well that's crypto, you know, I don't want to be
involved in anything like that.
Speaker 3 (13:10):
Is it's confusing to me?
Speaker 2 (13:12):
I got to buy a token or do something weird
around cryptocurrency. Are you finding that people who are coming
into the space get lost in that minutia or have
they opened up their eyes to what this really is yet?
Speaker 7 (13:28):
Yeah, Man's that's a really good question.
Speaker 5 (13:30):
I think it depends on the person.
Speaker 7 (13:33):
This is what I will admit is this is an
industry that if you are just entering in without any
sort of like guidance, it can be very overwhelming because
even within this industry there's so many mini industries. You
have defied, you have gaming, you have infrastructure. Do you
want to focus more on the metaverse and fashion? Like
there are even like to this day, there's all these
new clubs and groups and organizations that I wasn't even
(13:56):
aware of that I've heard of and now I'm like
learning myself more about it. And so I think one
thing that we must do a better job with is
like the onboarding process or so that is from the
traditional world, because it is it can be a lot.
It is the wild wild West here. But what is
exciting is we are now starting to see, like these
niches and the restaurant niche, that the food and beverage
(14:18):
industry is now becoming it's its own thing. Like we
have fly Fish Club, we have Clubout, we have Apollo,
a brand that focuses only on New York City restaurants,
and now they are incorporating cryptocurrencies as a method of
payment for those restaurants. So it's really cool that as
the industries evolving, also are these niches that come with
it well.
Speaker 2 (14:37):
And with that, you've seen suppliers starting to go in
this direct, most of them kind of on the edgy
side of Web three, but they are at least getting
into the food service side, coffee brands, soda brands, liquor brands,
which all kind of could easily connect to what's happening
with the restaurant space. But you're right, clubs I think
(14:57):
will be a big part of this with loyalty.
Speaker 3 (15:00):
Leah.
Speaker 2 (15:00):
On the loyalty side, if you look at and I
know you guys have had a chance to talk to
a lot of you know, mid range brands to big brands.
Are you Are you finally seeing at Devour the connection
of people starting to kind of understand the loyalty and
the community side of Web.
Speaker 6 (15:19):
Three, I definitely think so. I think there's also a
growing interest that to bridge the digital ownership to real
world benefits that we're.
Speaker 5 (15:29):
Seeing from restaurants, just you know, like the Legacy Pass.
Speaker 6 (15:32):
I think it's an exciting area of innovation for the
restaurant industry.
Speaker 4 (15:37):
Well, and I love this website too.
Speaker 2 (15:39):
Let me share this for our viewers because this is
a little segment here on the Legacy Pass.
Speaker 3 (15:45):
It's kind of cool. The inner circle.
Speaker 2 (15:49):
I know right well, there's Yat Sue, I know Yat Sue.
Oh my god, there's Ryan.
Speaker 4 (15:55):
Yeah, I love it. Okay, my gosh, there's Steve. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (15:59):
So I know most of these people. Sebastian I've interviewed
many times. There's a men from Avalanche. So these guys
are pretty much the Web three leaders. And if you
think we need one of these, Leah, for the restaurant space,
it would only be like six months right now, but
at least it would be a start.
Speaker 3 (16:20):
I feel like that would be a good one.
Speaker 2 (16:22):
We got to talk to some of these events to
try to do something like that, because I think if
you had enough of those, which is something that I
am seeing, Leah, is more of the events now are
wanting to talk about this.
Speaker 3 (16:36):
You know, a year ago, two.
Speaker 2 (16:37):
Years ago, they were worried that it was the negativity
of crypto and the NFT, you know, scare. Do you
think that's changing now, Leah?
Speaker 1 (16:48):
Yeah.
Speaker 6 (16:49):
I mean we were at Murtech earlier this year, Shelley
and I, which is a tech conference for the restaurant
industry held in Las Vegas every spring, and there was
definitely interest, a lot of questions from the operators who
are stopping by our booth, and then Shelley actually got
invited to the Hospitality Tech Conference, which is put on
by the same group coming up next month, and for
(17:10):
hotels and hotel operators. They're also interested in what Devour
is doing in blockchain and web three as well, so
there is definitely interest.
Speaker 2 (17:20):
Yeah, I think finally we're we're seeing a little bit
of a breakthrough, you know, in in the retail side
of things, and Mannie I wanted to kind of hit
on that when you look at just like what you
guys are doing within the inner circle, building that community,
which is going to obviously foster a lot of innovation potentially,
you know from I guess a benefit side of what
(17:42):
the legacy passes is being done or kind of pushed
down into what about how they are affecting What are
you seeing how these kinds of companies, these kinds of
innovators are affecting their own little niches.
Speaker 3 (17:55):
Because you mentioned.
Speaker 4 (17:56):
That is it's almost like you have niches.
Speaker 2 (18:00):
Kind of like how the Internet really got going. You
had niche after niche after niche that took off, whether
it was e commerce, this side of retail development, productivity,
all of them had little uniquenesses. Are you finding that
to be the case right now or are we still
really early What is your viewpoint.
Speaker 7 (18:20):
We're still extremely early in terms of how many people
we truly have on the blockchain and how many people
that are trading cryptocurrencies on a regular level. But what
I will say is that what the data shows us
is people are adopting to crypto and blockchain technology today
much faster than they have in any other technological advancements.
(18:40):
We have food, we have data that folks are adapting
more to cryptocurrencies faster than what they did to get
onboarded onto the Internet. And so even if we're early,
what I see is the slope is just going to
get higher and higher with time. What I also see is,
right now, there's almost like this philosophy that in order
to be Web three you have to be truly embedded
in Web three, like you have to live and read
(19:01):
this role.
Speaker 5 (19:02):
But simply book, that's not the case.
Speaker 7 (19:04):
You know, not every single one of us is going
to collect an NFT and that's okay. Not all of
us are going to play a Web three game, and
that's okay. The reality of mass adoption is going to
be when you and I, Paul and Leah, we we
are going to a restaurant, or we are going to
all these different experiences and we almost don't even realize.
Speaker 4 (19:22):
That it has been exactly, yes, a hundred percent. Well's
that's exactly how the web took off. You know, everybody
thought the Internet was this really bad word. Uh listen.
Speaker 2 (19:33):
I worked for Microsoft at the era in which we were.
They were assisting in building out what was the infrastructure
of the Internet, and you know, that was the big
problem that I think a lot so many of the
companies we were working with, they just did not understand
what that future looked like. They couldn't put their heads around.
And of course, obviously, you know, five years later two
(19:54):
thousand happened and the bomb happened, and then everybody understood
what was going on, kind of that next generation of innovation.
I always watch a couple of things, and that is
where are jobs being curated, much like you guys are
doing with your own role there at Forbes. But then
you look at things like this, This is kind of
(20:15):
an interesting website, which is the highest ping This is
Web three career in case anybody wants to know. But
look at the amount of jobs that are coming up
in the space right now. I'm just kind of if
you guys are listening in on our audio podcast. Go
over a saver FM on YouTube and you'll see what
we're showing you on screen. But I mean it's just
on and on and on of web three, engineering jobs,
(20:40):
marketing jobs, compliance. I mean, this is to me the
early signals that it has arrived, you know, for all
kinds of brands, doesn't matter, you know, all kinds of brands.
Do you think a regular entrepreneur? And I guess this
is kind of for you, Leah, because I know you're
(21:00):
talking to a lot of brand leaders right now. Do
you think they are starting to do like Forbes, where
they are building their teams that are more because remember
social media two thousand and seven, people started putting social
media people in their marketing department and now it kind
of runs the marketing department. What are you seeing out
(21:20):
there right now?
Speaker 5 (21:21):
Well, I'm so old.
Speaker 6 (21:22):
I remember building out a MySpace page for my hotel,
and that was at the advent of social media.
Speaker 5 (21:30):
To your point, but I think as.
Speaker 6 (21:32):
Marketers, you always have to evolve. Whether they're building out
dedicated people in house like Forbes, I don't know if
they're at that point yet, but I think typically marketers
have to take on and evolve new technologies, innovation, and
that typically falls in the marketer's lab.
Speaker 3 (21:50):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (21:50):
I think that's well hopefully for marketers that are out
there right now in space, whether you're in the food
side or in just a Web three enthusiast and you're
listening to or watching this podcast, understand if you're not
early on these kinds of cycles that And I think
blockchain has proved itself now, so it's not a risk
as much of a risk anymore than what it was
(22:11):
maybe five years ago really before Web three started becoming
a thing. But I think many when you consider the
concept behind Web three and the future, and people are
trying to understand what Web three is going to be,
whether it's collectibles using the blockchain for an exchange of
goods and services, which most likely will happen. Gaming comes
(22:34):
into the discussion very quickly. What is your opinion on
where gaming is because of the pushback that we've seen
from really traditional Web two gaming versus what we're seeing
in people that are trying to bring in the Web
three gaming components.
Speaker 7 (22:52):
For true gamers, they're assets that they have in these games,
whether it's their web is, whether it's they're potions, whether
it'sy're clothing. For many other gamers in the community, those
are extremely valuable, and right now there really isn't a
seamless place to be able to trade those, to engage
with it further, and watching tech fixes that. So I
think one of the reasons what we're gaming took off
so easily as a utility was because there's already challenges
(23:15):
we see the traditional world that this text happens to
fix quite quite.
Speaker 2 (23:19):
Easily well in the NFTs, plus with digital collectibles in
general now, much like what you guys are doing with
sole bound NFTs for some of our brand leaders, because
I think some brand people out there probably get bit
get NFTs confused and do I need to take this
out to Magic Eating or over to open see those
(23:39):
kind of marketplaces, explain what a sole bound NFT is
and why its value is related more to the brand ip.
Speaker 5 (23:48):
Yeah, love it, Paul.
Speaker 7 (23:50):
Majority of the time, when you have an NFT with
this digital asset token, you are able to trade it,
so you could take it to a marketplace, you could
take it to open ce or magic eat it and
you can trade it on the secondary market. So you
could then now sell this NFT to somebody else that
we wanted, but Forbes took a very different approach. The
(24:11):
approach that we took is we made this soul bound,
and what so bound essentially means is it is not transferable.
That means not trade it.
Speaker 5 (24:19):
You cannot get it on a secondary market.
Speaker 7 (24:21):
The only way that you would be able to get
it is through the primary market, which in this case
is Forbes. And the way that we really set it
up is the way to purchase it is through an
accepted application that allows us to get to know you
a bit more as well. We did this one to
focus on the people that we are bringing in so
we could grow with them. We can have all these
(24:42):
experiences with them, this pass wood and trade from one
person to another, like we want to focus on you
and position this really more as a membership club where
we are experiencing all these benefits and everything we have
to offer together.
Speaker 2 (24:56):
Well, I think you hit on a couple of things
that some people are probably concerned with. I know we've
had our friend Jeff Alexander on many times with Wolbow,
which is a brand that is starting to kind of
bump the boundaries on this for the retail food space,
and one of the things that everybody's kind of afraid of.
You look at some of the historical things, and many
people will know this if they've researched this much at all.
(25:18):
Stonercats ran into a bit of a problem with this
very kind of model. The difference was it was a
secondary market trade, so the sec pendem against the all
they settled. And now, of course we're seeing all sorts
of situations where NFTs most likely are not going to
be deemed securities because otherwise you'd have baseball cards to watch,
(25:39):
is to anything that you buy that could go up
in value could be deemed a security. So do you
think we are at a state right now from a
regulatory side of things where we might might be past
that now in that finally we're going to be dealing
with this like what it truly is and it's just
a collectible.
Speaker 7 (25:58):
Yeah, I mean we see, but the reality is is
every country it's just so different when it comes to
how they are embracing cryptocurrency. You know, we see countries
like like in the UAE and and this Singapore and
even in cities like Hong Kong where they're they're embracing
the technology more than maybe other countries are and and
(26:19):
and I think that's just a part of adoption, right,
like some will lead and others will sort of follow
that movement, at least in the US. Really, what we're
seeing is it's it's still very much kind of up
for play. I think there's still a lot that we
need information on for us to be able to make
that right decision. But in the meantime, I don't think
(26:40):
that should stop us from embracing this technology, especially as
we're looking towards how to really harness what the future
looks like in the US and beyond.
Speaker 2 (26:49):
Well, we did a story not too long ago in
reference to the growth in Web three infrastructure in Japan,
and the Japanese have now started to roll out a
Digital Minister that they actually have almost like a cabinet
member that's dedicated to growing that space with the Web
three space. This is just kind of showing some space growth.
(27:12):
Forty million users now growing in the Web three space,
so as you can see, this is just an example
of many of them, and to your point, a lot
of them are in regions like Africa, South Asia, which
is what we've seen there within that, but that means
that the US could be falling behind that's not a
good thing.
Speaker 3 (27:33):
You know, we need to be the leaders.
Speaker 4 (27:36):
I shouldn't say we need to be, but we should be.
Speaker 2 (27:38):
You know, we're one of the most advanced countries out there,
and I think if we can get regulatory alignment, we
will definitely be in there. Are you having any of that, Leahy,
any pushback from brands that are concerned with those kind
of issues.
Speaker 6 (27:51):
I just think there needs to more clarity overall. I
think the idea of digital collectibles in the restaurant industry
is fairly new. A lot of restaurants are exploring, you know,
how to create unique dining experiences or of access, and
I think we need to help shape and tell a
story of how NFTs have evolved beyond digital art for
(28:14):
those restaurant operators and people new to the space like myself.
Speaker 1 (28:18):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (28:18):
Well, I mean you've got Blackbird and a handful of
brands that you know that Manny mentioned that I've started
to you know, digitize to a certain extent access to
their restaurants from a reservation level all the way down
to something that's a club or group level, much like
what you know the Legacy pass is doing.
Speaker 4 (28:35):
Over at Forbes.
Speaker 2 (28:36):
My question is this Do you guys think this would
be for both of you? I want to get both
your opinions. Do you think that the industry because you
look at the layers of fine dining, which are most
likely reservation, exclusive club access to something like whiskey tastings, wine,
you know, chef dinners. Then you scale it down to
maybe the limited service, which could fall more into the
(28:58):
fast casual QSR range, which also could be like what
Jeff Alexander's doing at wabow where he's creating club there's
some benefits to it. Which category of the space do
you think lends better to where this tech is going.
Speaker 4 (29:15):
We'll start with you many.
Speaker 7 (29:16):
I'd actually love to hear your take first act.
Speaker 6 (29:21):
I think it can apply to almost all sectors of
the restaurant industry. I think blockchain technology offers some really
unique opportunities for creating more transparent and rewarding loyalty programs
where a lot of restaurants struggle, whether it's QSHR all
the way up to find dinings.
Speaker 2 (29:40):
So well, the shifts have I will say this, and
this is kind of an interesting point. You know, we
do a lot of consulting in the space right now
for brands mainly on just educating their executive teams, and
the ones that are asking more questions are coming from
the fine dining group, So it's it's the multi unit
(30:03):
change bigger chains that I won't mention names, but some
of them that have, you know, a couple hundred locations
four star above tip average check around one twenty, so
you kind of guess who those people are. But the
point is is that there I would say it's probably
six to one right now inquiries coming from that area
(30:24):
of the market versus QSR fast casual casual dining.
Speaker 3 (30:29):
So I don't know, it'd be.
Speaker 7 (30:31):
Yeah, Paul, you mentioned fine dining, and I think that's
exactly where the light bulb sort of hit me.
Speaker 5 (30:35):
Like I think fine.
Speaker 7 (30:37):
Dining is the easiest place where we see NFTs and
digital collectibles being a very easy, seamless spot. My husband
and I, for example, like one of the things that
we really enjoy doing is like when we're big foodies.
He's from South Asia, I'm from South Asia, he's from Singapore.
I'm from India. So like we just grew up around
like big feats and with family, and now that we're older,
we like to explore, like cities, and we'll even plan
(30:57):
trips just around a specific restaurant that like we were
able to get in on and were able to explore
and oftentimes and a lot of these fine dining establishments,
a lot of times you kind of take back like
some sort of some sort of goodie bag or something
that has like almost this.
Speaker 5 (31:11):
Like physical memorabilia.
Speaker 7 (31:12):
It could be like the menu, it could be just
anything that kind of makes a statement of you being
there in that moment. And unfortunately, at least in our
home with kids and all, we don't really have a
place to keep those and even like kind of go
back and reminisce. But if I could now have this
in my wall, is something that has a stamp that yes,
I was here, I was in this moment, I experience this,
(31:34):
that is incredible. Think about even if you go on
Google Maps on your app phone and you are sharing
with your loved one, your friends, your partner, like the
places you want to go, or you can even share
in folders now on Google Maps of like restaurants that
you have been to together. How can that look in
the digital world, make it just more beautiful, more more
(31:57):
nice to look at and to remember. I think that's
something that especially in fine dining, people are going to want.
Speaker 5 (32:03):
To look for more often.
Speaker 2 (32:05):
Well, there's already a lot of you know, digital payment
solutions out there. If you look at what Toast is doing,
Apple Pay, many of which.
Speaker 3 (32:13):
Have I got.
Speaker 2 (32:14):
I think the consumer ingrained to using their mobile device
to kind of interact with the restaurant. So it's I
would think it's an easier pull to just say, oh,
by the way, you're in our you know, let's just
use someone like you know who is it? Coopers Hawk.
Coopers Hawk has this massive wine club. That would be
(32:35):
so easy to just create an NFT project around that,
build something into devours platform lea, and then have that
on my device when I'm at a Cooper's Hawk and
I'm on the VIP club and I get that top shelf,
you know, Cabernet, Sauvagnon, you know. So why are we
not seeing more of that? I just hopefully it's going
(32:55):
to come faster, that's for sure. Last question to you, Manny,
when you look at about the challenges to the industry,
A lot of people have looked at NFT's kind of
bad word, but maybe that's changing now. Is there anything
you guys are seeing that you think needs to happen
before we see that early mass adoption curve up, before
(33:16):
we get on that bill curve cycle.
Speaker 5 (33:18):
I think.
Speaker 7 (33:20):
I think unfamiliarity and fear just kind of go hand
in hand, which is like human instinct. I mean, even
thinking about when the Internet was first created, there was
a lot of fear around with this takeover, with this
hack into all of our systems in our homes, Like
is this now going to be a thing where it's
you know.
Speaker 5 (33:35):
Like computers versus humans.
Speaker 7 (33:37):
And we can look at human history and we know
for a fact that new technology or just any new
concept can it can be a lot. And this transition
for your period that I see us in right now,
where half of us are sort of overwhelmed, we may
be a little worried about what the future looks like.
I think it's just a part of natural progression. It'd
be weird if this period didn't even exist, because we
(33:59):
know that this naturally just does just from a perspective
of how we think and how we live. And what
what I do know is I think it's going to
be technologies that make it so easy to get onboarded
that's going to help us move this much faster. I'll
give you a quick example, at least on the media side, Right,
we put the under thirty list on the blockchain, and
I believe you were the first media brand to ever
(34:20):
do this. And so all the data of the twenty
twenty four under thirty listed name, the profile, the description,
all that information we have put on the blockchain. And
in fact, if you go on forms dot com and
search up thirty under thirty and you click on that list,
you're able to see even a button that says view
on blockchain, and we take the user to the blockchain
explore where they can kind of experience well, hey, here's
(34:41):
how Forbes is using the technology for data verification, data validation.
Speaker 5 (34:46):
We use this as an easy case study.
Speaker 7 (34:48):
Right.
Speaker 5 (34:48):
We also added.
Speaker 7 (34:49):
Wallet login to Forbes dot com, so now you can
use your email address to log in, or alternatively, you
could connect your wallet. And it's going to be these
seamless things that that I think is really going to
help us towards mass adoption. And I think when it
comes to even everyday experience is embracing it, like your
favorite restaurant is now experiencing your favorite bar is now
(35:11):
experiencing it before you know it, you're already onboarded and
you probably didn't even realize it exactly.
Speaker 2 (35:17):
I think that's happening more now because we have started
to see and I know Shelley is trying to implement
it that way to feel like it's, you know, really
where web three is not even you know, it's an
underlying technology that's driving on this, but really the goal
is community ip you know, from a brand standpoint, and
I think that that's the perfect example. So this has
(35:40):
been a good interview, man, and we definitely got to
get you back on the show to talk a little
bit more about media. I'd love to have you on
one of our other shows because we get into a
lot of this around decentralized opportunities, and I think with brands,
this is just a whole new.
Speaker 4 (35:56):
Era of growth.
Speaker 2 (35:57):
We haven't even we don't even know what, we don't
know yet. It's just that much in terms of opportunity.
But thanks for coming in on the show today. We
really appreciate it.
Speaker 5 (36:06):
Oh so super fun. Thank you, Paul, Thank you Leah.
Speaker 4 (36:08):
Saying standy so wow.
Speaker 2 (36:11):
That was an excellent one with Manny coming in over
from Forbes and of course you guys should check out
the website and check out the Legacy Pass if you're
even if you're in the restaurant space. Jeff Alexander, I
know you're listening to this right.
Speaker 3 (36:23):
Now, so.
Speaker 2 (36:26):
Make sure and go over and get in on the
Forbes Legacy Past. You should be there because he's one
of the leaders in the in the restaurant space for
I think for this area. Anybody else in the space
right now, Leah, that you feel is kind of kind
of cutting the trail right now.
Speaker 6 (36:40):
I mean, the large QSRs are all dabbling, they've done
campaigns and stuff, but Jeff is really, I think probably
one of the biggest innovators.
Speaker 2 (36:48):
Yeah, leading a charge well his integration to Rowblocks and
we've had him on this show. We probably it's about
time to probably get him back here for a twenty
twenty five outlook video.
Speaker 3 (36:59):
Yeah, because that's.
Speaker 2 (37:01):
I think twenty twenty five is going to be a
big year for restaurant brands going in this direction. But anyway, Leah,
always good to have you stepping in for the infamous
Shelley Rupel as our co host.
Speaker 3 (37:11):
But thanks again for coming in.
Speaker 5 (37:13):
Thanks Paul Yep.
Speaker 2 (37:14):
We'll catch you guys later. Make sure if you're not watching.
If you are watching this and you're doing it on YouTube,
all you have to do is click the like button
right now and subscribe if you're not already there. I
know a lot of you guys get this video in
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(37:38):
a comment. And did you know that we are already
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Unrock my restaurant
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My Favorite Murder is a true crime comedy podcast hosted by Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark. Each week, Karen and Georgia share compelling true crimes and hometown stories from friends and listeners. Since MFM launched in January of 2016, Karen and Georgia have shared their lifelong interest in true crime and have covered stories of infamous serial killers like the Night Stalker, mysterious cold cases, captivating cults, incredible survivor stories and important events from history like the Tulsa race massacre of 1921. My Favorite Murder is part of the Exactly Right podcast network that provides a platform for bold, creative voices to bring to life provocative, entertaining and relatable stories for audiences everywhere. The Exactly Right roster of podcasts covers a variety of topics including historic true crime, comedic interviews and news, science, pop culture and more. Podcasts on the network include Buried Bones with Kate Winkler Dawson and Paul Holes, That's Messed Up: An SVU Podcast, This Podcast Will Kill You, Bananas and more.
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Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com