In this episode of Ventures, my guest Josh Vitulli (https://www.linkedin.com/in/josh-vitulli-71926415/) returns to the show to not only reflect on the last six months of the metaverse space, but how DAOs and NFTs can help humans flourish IRL (in real life). We talk about his recent article “Beyond Beeple and Bored Apes” (https://longtalestudios.substack.com/p/beyond-beeple-and-bored-apes), soul-bound NFTs, his leadership of Project Starling within BanyanDAO, a number of practical use cases for NFTs beyond what is normal today, and how all these technologies can (and should) be designed to tangibly make the world a better place.

You can watch this episode below or listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts (search for “Ventures”).

1:40 - Tee-up for the episode, with an eye toward how all the Web3 things can (and should) promote human flourishing globally.

2:25 - Introduction to Josh’s article of Beyond Beeple and Bored Apes → https://longtalestudios.substack.com/p/beyond-beeple-and-bored-apes // Different expressions of NFTs.

3:42 - Soul-bound NFTs (see also https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4105763 )

4:15 - The past of NFTs - clearly driven by greed and financial gain - but there are hints of something more.

5:10 - Bored Apes transitioned into a community play (token, metaverse, etc..) – and ape conservation efforts → https://redapes.org/bored-in-borneo/ 

7:00 - BanyanDAO https://www.banyandao.xyz - more details, April 29th training day, how to get access, more details about Josh’s project within BanyanDAO → “Starling”

10:36 - What has the process been like to seed the Starling idea in BanyanDAO and organize a group of people around the world through the DAO across multiple time zones.

15:20 - Previous episode (Ep74) Josh was on around Metaverses (https://satchel.works/@wclittle/ventures-episode-74) // What has changed since then in the space?

17:54 - Gaming community is pushing the first wave of the metaverses. How can metaverses help us IRL?

21:59 - Walmart training their workers via VR → https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/hr-topics/technology/pages/virtual-reality-revolutionizes-walmart-training.aspx

22:27 - Coming back to Project Starling, how does Josh see the project helping people URL?

25:50 - Example of the algos pairing up teams to determine the best possible way/approach to accomplish something awesome IRL.

26:48 - How is Josh thinking about the authenticity of the trust network needed for Project Starling?

28:30 - How trust and trustlessness - trust in humans and trust in math - can affect positive change IRL. Walking through the various sections of Josh’s recent “Beyond Beeple and Bored Apes” article – https://longtalestudios.substack.com/p/beyond-beeple-and-bored-apes.

32:29 - Final words from Josh on the overall theme of this episode. Hopes and aspirations of this technology. Tying it back to Project Starling. Bringing communities into Web3 / better inclusiveness. A cooperative marketplace vs. a competitive platform.

34:02 - Where can people get a hold of Josh to continue the conversation? Best place → https://www.linkedin.com/in/josh-vitulli-71926415/