The Expanding Metaverse
Creator Mode, Activated
Fifteen months ago, I announced my departure from Unity to explore the broader Metaverse landscape beyond the four walls of a company — and also to more fully focus on my creative pursuits, in particular my lifelong work in music, which had been on the back burner for three decades.
But the Lord had other plans for me. I was unemployed for approximately a week when Neal Stephenson tapped me on the shoulder to join the executive team at Lamina1 to build the blockchain foundation of an open Metaverse for all. It was an offer I couldn’t refuse, so I jumped in. I’ve been overseeing product there since then, and we are just about ready to launch the beta of our network. But I have to admit that for the last few months my heart has been elsewhere…
During this same fifteen-month span I have gotten to know an incredible group of independent musicians making their way in web3: taking control of their careers, making a living by selling directly to their fans without the rapacious take rates of web2 streaming platforms, and changing the game in the music industry. Some of these amazing artists are now my dear friends and family. I have collected their work, and now they’re starting to collect mine as I have now begun to drop my music NFTs on the Ethereum blockchain. We heartily support each others’ projects and careers. I am about ready to launch a big NFT collection around Judgment Day, my first musical. So I have decided that, after a brief interruption in the agenda, it’s time to finally go all-in on my art.
With mixed feelings but mostly unbridled excitement for the future, I am sharing today that I have moved on from my full-time position as Chief Product Officer at Lamina1. I will continue as an advisor and consultant, with a particular focus on music and entertainment uses of the Lamina1 blockchain. I’m a huge fan of the team and, of course, the mission — it’s the same one that has defined my entire career in tech. We need a Metaverse for all — without boundaries, without limits, without gatekeepers.
But I need to drive it from a different vantage point, as a creator. The stakes are high. web3 music platforms are emerging that both promise to enable creators to succeed and threaten to duplicate the mistakes and overreaches of web2; AI is looming as a new tool of liberation, subjugation, or maybe both. The Metaverse is bigger than just tech: it’s design, ethics, science, art, education, business — and it should be about making the world a better place. Most importantly, the Metaverse is nothing without creators. Creators are in open revolt, taking the power back — and we mean to keep it this time. And now I’m finally, really, joining the fight.
Let’s fucking go.
