An interview series spotlighting global tech influencers, disruptors, visionaries, and of course, innovators.
Over the next few weeks the Innovators series will focus on Paris Blockchain Week 2023.
“This year’s Paris Blockchain Week exceeded expectations. The numbers speak for themselves with a record 8,500 people attending. The quality of the attendees does as well,” recapped Paris Blockchain Week CEO Emmanuel Fenet. “Many c-suite individuals (61.3% of the audience) from the world’s most important institutions, such as the French government, Reddit, Reuters, Harvard, Google, the EU Commission, Goldman Sachs, Abrdn, sat beside blockchain natives like Coinbase, Binance, and Ripple and had productive conversations. The interest and progress in the space was electric and could be felt throughout the week—the industry is maturing and that was on display. I can’t wait to see what the conversations are like next year.”
Today we catch up with MetaJuice Web3 Partnerships + Strategy Peg Samuel. A digital pioneer in the tech space since the '90s, Peg Samuel continues to trailblaze as a founder, NYU professor, entrepreneur, strategic consultant, international author, advisor… and surfer. She has worked on NFTs, Metaverse and DEFI since 2017 and currently works within MetaJuice’s Web3 Partnerships + Strategy. A communications expert across all platforms, Samuel always moves in advance of the current trends in marketing technology, taking complex concepts and breaking them down for mass consumer adoption.
Silicon Valley-based Together Labs, named to TIME’s list of “The 100 Most Influential Companies of 2022” and Wunderman Thompson’s “The Future 100 Trends to Watch in 2022.” Founded in 2004, today Together Labs’ portfolio includes: IMVU, the world’s largest Web3 social metaverse platform, and MetaJuice, which builds blockchain-driven assets, such as NFTs and meta-tokens that unlock the value of the metaverse where everyone can earn, play, own and create the future metaverse.
I had the pleasure to meet Peg at PBW23 to discuss breaking-edge technologies, learn more about her multi-sector expertise, discover mass adoption opportunities, listen to her enlightening experience as a women in tech, and brainstorm ways to engage and empower women in the metaverse. Our interview follows.
EKMH: When you are the only woman at the table…
Peg Samuel: Invite your friends. When I first got into crypto I saw the opportunity for women to demand a spot. It became very clear to me quickly that we were at the precipice of a new tech and finance revolution and we needed to be represented. The good news is that once it is pointed out people followed suit, I am not going to say the boys club and crypto bros have gone away, but within the six years I’ve been in blockchain the diversity has been evolving at a more rapid speed than ever before.
EKMH: Please give me the kindergarten overview of Together Labs and MetaJuice and why 750K daily customers use your service.
Peg Samuel: Together Labs launched the IMVU metaverse in 2004 and built its way to being one of the world’s largest metaverses by building a massive creator community. Two years ago, Together Labs launched a blockchain subsidiary, MetaJuice, which helps utilize web3 technology as a way for IMVU users to have ownership over their digital items. This was wildly successful with users creating over 1 million on-platform crypto wallets, and NFT drops that have been incredibly popular; most have sold out in minutes. If we think about 750K people that is about as big as the population of San Francisco – all being social in our metaverse!
EKMH: How can you move the daily active users -- 67% women -- to 1M+? How does MetaJuice’s model revolutionize attract and empower women to connect in the metaverse?
Peg Samuel: Having 67% female-identifying users on the platform is what excites me most about IMVU. Tech and gaming have mostly been male-dominated industries. We’ve had the opportunity to onboard more women than anyone else. We believe that it’s because we are a social metaverse, and that’s what attracts women to our platform, as well as the fantastically detailed avatars that all people use for self-expression. We are actively working on partnerships to expose more of the web3 community to IMVU and the broader demographic to the metaverse. For me ‘metaverse’ used to feel like some almost indescribable, ethereal place. In reality, it’s a cool spot to hang out and experience things with people from all over the globe without physically traveling.
Fashion is a huge part of the metaverse; closets are expanding in terms of wearables. It's a fun place to experiment, enjoy and have fun. If you think about it, we aren’t bound to the real-world in terms of gravity, material or fit. In the metaverse, everything fits, looks great, and is comfortable! It’s a fantastic place for self-expression. It’s also easier for users to create their own fashion, and explore new ideas without having to worry about the cost of materials, or learning all the skills needed to make clothing that looks good and lasts. And it’s way more environmentally friendly than fast-fashion.
EKMH: While introducing web3 to IMVU metaverse, which specific challenges and setbacks has MetaJuice overcome in terms of centralization, scalability, interoperability, development and/ or accessibility?
Peg Samuel: I would love a wardrobe that can follow me into every metaverse, but the interoperability of metaverses is really technical. I remember back in the day with web1, I was working in digital advertising. In the early 90s there was an organization that came to be called “IAB: Interactive Marketing Association”. They standardized ad sizes so ad salespeople could sell large campaigns across all sites. They are generally the same ad sizes you see today. The tech for interoperability of metaverses isn’t quite that easy; however, we are a part of the OMA3™ which is a collaboration of Web3 metaverse platform creators. I believe working together – which is the spirit of web3 – will help us go much further than we ever could in the past.
“When I first got into crypto I saw the opportunity for women to demand a spot. It became very clear to me quickly that we were at the precipice of a new tech and finance revolution and we needed to be represented…”
EKMH: As a digital pioneer and sought-after advisor, please share advice regarding expanding tech and mass adoption while heightening profitability.
Peg Samuel: Faster, smarter, better – tech has to make life easier. If it’s something that people could use, need, and want and is easy to use, that's a recipe for scale. To put things in perspective, I love thinking about the web1 evolution. I was talking to a friend yesterday and he said, “Where is all of this crypto/nfts at?” I thought about it and explained, if we were to compare where we are now to web1, I think we are at the phase where we had multiple search engines. We are getting it, it’s flying fast, but Google still hasn’t come on the scene. Hence, it’s still early!
In the 90s I ordered my first plane ticket online and it was FedExed to me; look where we are now. We are still in the early stages of disruption in banking, collecting, buying, communicating and socializing. It’s a great time in tech, the best part is how quickly we needed diversity in this new economy.
EKMH: What do “awareness” and “better economy” mean to you in terms of thought leadership and diversity?
Peg Samuel: When many cultures get together there can be more equanimity in innovation. It’s exciting to have many minds, voices and ideas. When I speak with people already deep in web3 we are able to level up the conversation to ideate on some really cool stuff.
The other exciting part of tech and web3 is the creator economy. In many ways tech is not as expensive as it was in the ‘90s or 2000s to be able to start your own business and earn. For example, on IMVU there are influencers, fashion designers and DJs on there having fun and earning. The metaverse opens up a borderless creator economy where creators can do anything.
“I believe working together – which is the spirit of web3 – will help us go much further than we ever could in the past.” Photo credit: Steven Wargo
EKMH: A risk that you don’t regret...
Peg Samuel: Off topic? I learned how to DJ and surf in my 40s. I don’t know why I had it in my head that it was too late to do either of those things. I managed to DJ at many hot spots in New York City, I have two house music albums that I worked on with a major house label, Strictly Rhythm, and even spun at SXSW.
Surfing is everything to me, I wrote an article on it called “Surfing the spiritual sport”. For me it’s the time to put away all of the electronics and just focus and be present.
EKMH: What are your thoughts on AI’s (imminent and future) influence in the sector?
Peg Samuel: Our blockchain team keeps us updated about cool developments in technology. It’s one of my favorite meetings, AI, ERC4337, everything. When I look at AI from the lens of how can this make our job easier? It’s revolutionary.
I used to be an Adjunct Professor at NYU teaching “Media Relations: Present and Future.” AI could be a real problem with deep fakes and spreading misinformation. When photo images are made that are not real and the speed of this information, people aren’t going to stop and research to question, is this real or AI? I also see some issues with rights, music and more. It is very cool tech, but I can definitely see issues already.
I am actually fascinated by the call for pause in this innovation – that it’s possibly growing too fast. Elon Musk, Steve Wozniak, and 1,100 others who signed an open letter calling for a 6-month ban on creating powerful AI. I have never seen this type of oversight. At the same time, I am in Blockchain so I am skeptical of these big media moves.
EKMH: Finally, which films and/or podcasts top your list?
Peg Samuel: I very much enjoyed Archetypes, a podcast hosted by Meghan, Duchess of Sussex. She went deep with noteworthies talking about the history of stereotypes that get leveled against women. A very important conversation for all people to hear. I generally like most Documentaries and Docuseries, and am currently watching Pretty Baby: Brooke Shields, seeing how Shields was over-sexualized as a child actor and model. I also recommend She Said about the #metoo movement and the downfall of Harvey Weinstein. On a lighter note, I love White Lotus, the dark comedy about wealth and privilege, as well as SNL: Saturday Night Live’s hysterical riff on it, The Black Lotus.
*Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this series are those of the interviewees and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of any entities they represent.
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