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Decentralization is the future, and you on Braintrust are already living in it.
That’s abundantly clear after a riveting discussion led by Braintrust Co-Founders Adam Jackson and Gabe Luna-Ostaseski. In a recent Twitter AMA, the pair were joined by three of Braintrust’s backers, who are some of the greatest minds thinking about decentralization today: Volt Capital founder Soona Amhaz, Variant Fund investor Jesse Walden, and Atelier Ventures founder Li Jin, who recently merged her firm with Variant Fund.
After decades of experience building traditional web-enabled marketplaces, Adam and Gabe became convinced there was a better way. A way that better served the interests of top Talent and enterprises alike, not just middlemen network operators and anonymous investors.
That better way is made possible by the emergence of Web3 technologies, such as crypto, which allow ownership of the online platforms we use to be more equitably distributed to the people who bring value to them.
During the Twitter AMA, the five crypto enthusiasts discussed the future of Web3 networks like Braintrust, and what makes them different from outdated, extractive Web2 models.
Read on for some of the key insights from that illuminating conversation. And if you want to stay updated on this and other topics, subscribe to the Braintrust newsletter.
1. What’s the difference between Web2 and Web3?
Web 1.0 = readable web 📚
— Adam Jackson (@adamjacksonsf) September 29, 2021
Web 2.0 = interactive web 🤝
Web 3.0 = user owned web (users keep the value, not a company in the middle)💰 https://t.co/OZBUqkjTlR
Truthfully, Web 3 should be called Web 0. It's the original vision of the internet, restored. The primary goal is to give denizens of the internet more control over their digital footprint.
— Soona (@soona) September 29, 2021
Crypto is a vehicle to do this, so they're often conflated. https://t.co/b920WnhtX4
Ownership.
— Jesse Walden (@jessewldn) September 29, 2021
In Web2, networks are owned by a select group of people who invest or work for the company.
In Web 3, the opportunity is to build networks owned by those that contribute—be it with code, machines, content or community building.
The users own the networks. https://t.co/BMlYZ9ZCoL
2. What makes something a Web3 network?
Decentralized
— Adam Jackson (@adamjacksonsf) September 29, 2021
User-owned
Peer to peer
Blockchain #beyondweb3 https://t.co/3sPyvC1Kfh
To me, a network qualifies as Web3 if the cashflows and ownership structure is controlled "on-chain" — meaning its controlled by software written by developers and running on a public blockchain (as opposed to legal contracts written and run by lawyers)#beyondweb3 https://t.co/GW8fu8RtIB
— Jesse Walden (@jessewldn) September 29, 2021
3. What are some examples of Web3 networks you’re watching?
Layer2 scaling @SKALEnetwork@audiusproject is a great example of a music-focused platform@Filecoin as a file storage protocol #beyondweb3 https://t.co/JSXFORRBaN
— Adam Jackson (@adamjacksonsf) September 29, 2021
On the consumer side: @viamirror @SuperRare @AxieInfinity @SyndicateDAO @YieldGuild and of course @usebraintrust!
— Li Jin (@ljin18) September 29, 2021
- ownership is part of the experience
- makes a new type of creation and participation possible among many more users https://t.co/sA6iZnmQU4
4. Why will Web3 networks grow faster and be more valuable to their users than Web2 networks?
✅ Tokens are a novel way to bootstrap network effects in a market/network. The users that build the network earn tokens for contributing.
— Gabe Luna Ostaseski (@gabelunao) September 29, 2021
❌NO rent seeking middle men extracting value from the users.#beyondweb3 https://t.co/AiBj5ZLAPY
Aligned incentives.
— Jesse Walden (@jessewldn) September 29, 2021
Silicon Valley has known for years that to get the best talent to work for your company you've got to give ownership (in the form of stock options)
Crypto tokens move ownership at the speed of information—to a global market of talent aligned w growth. https://t.co/w1edRQnWT6
Typically architected in a way that optimizes for shared upside as opposed to the Web 2 model of digital serfdom. https://t.co/PApakg6A2w
— Soona (@soona) September 29, 2021
5. What will happen to Web2 networks?
2/3 Is there a way to adapt without being a crypto project? Time will tell. People are stubborn, so you can be sure they'll try to adapt the existing model, before creating a new one.#beyondweb3
— Adam Jackson (@adamjacksonsf) September 29, 2021
3/3 but in the not-that-distant future, users of crypto networks (that also control them) likely won't even know they are using crypto#beyondweb3
— Adam Jackson (@adamjacksonsf) September 29, 2021
6. Which industry or sector will Web3 disrupt the most?
A lot has been said about ride sharing and delivery apps, and how they disenfranchise workers. Having already been outed so to speak, I expect they are RIPE for disruption if they don't somehow adapt. #beyondweb3 https://t.co/O9KXdcBLfV
— Adam Jackson (@adamjacksonsf) September 29, 2021
2/
— Gabe Luna Ostaseski (@gabelunao) September 29, 2021
There were people at Siebel Systems who looked at Salesforce and thought "we're fine."
These massive companies aren't going to be completely wiped off the face of the earth, mind you.
3/But some significant chunks of their businesses are going to be threatened and in some cases, completely stripped.
— Gabe Luna Ostaseski (@gabelunao) September 29, 2021
7. Will all marketplaces someday be owned by their users?
a rare example of a web2 marketplace that gives more value than it extracts (imo) is @Airbnb ...#beyondweb3
— Adam Jackson (@adamjacksonsf) September 29, 2021
"The ones that want to survive, yeah." - @Bill_Pair https://t.co/YinopPrAcT
— Soona (@soona) September 29, 2021