Mark Zuckerberg’s sister is a tech entrepreneur herself.
(Photo: Bloomberg)
London Anyone in the tech industry who believes in crypto technologies and also has the surname “Zuckerberg” is currently facing a lot of headwind. Crypto investors live on the roller coaster of falling and rising prices anyway. And Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg is struggling to convey his costly plans for the Metaverse to disappointed shareholders. The company’s stock has fallen nearly 70 percent since the beginning of the year.
Crypto entrepreneur Randi Zuckerberg, the big sister of the Facebook founder, is not discouraged by this, but does not deny the disillusionment in the tech industry: “My dream is that hundreds of millions of people use Web3. But at the same time I’m cautious about inviting these people at the moment because the user experience is not yet mature,” says the 40-year-old in an interview with the Handelsblatt.
The keyword “Web3” stands for a decentralized Internet of the third generation. This uses new technologies such as blockchain, cryptocurrencies and NFTs (Non-Fungible Tokens) to give power back to users in the form of property. At least that is the stated claim of the Web3 community.
Randi Zuckerberg thinks it’s “the next big thing” in the tech world and the future of the internet. For other declared crypto fans such as Tesla boss Elon Musk, Web3 is just a “marketing buzzword”.
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Zuckerberg knows the weaknesses: “It’s a seedy environment with a lot of scams and security issues. It’s not for the faint of heart,” she admits, referring to businesses that work with crypto or Web3 technologies. The entrepreneur advocates a middle way, “a kind of Web 2.7” as she says, which should have a minimum of rules and protection.
Randi Zuckerberg creates virtual marketplace for artists
“As soon as people have the feeling that they can deal with Web3 in a safe way, we will see explosive growth in the economy,” the American is certain. Zuckerberg doesn’t mind that she works in the shadow of her brother, who is two years younger. After her studies at the US elite university Harvard, she worked for Facebook for a long time, first in product development and later as a spokesperson.
Crypto and Web3’s technological “teething” reminded her of the network’s launch of live streaming, she says. “At the time, I dreamed of starting global live streaming, but the technology just wasn’t ready,” she says. It took almost seven years for everyone to be able to stream live.
“It’s not for the faint of heart,” says Randi Zuckerberg.
(Photo: dpa)
To make her tech dreams come true, she founded her own company, Zuckerberg Media. Her latest project is the Internet platform HUG, a virtual marketplace where artists and creative people can exhibit and exchange ideas and their works digitized as NFTs.
“We want to lay the foundation for a new creative economy,” says Zuckerberg. Artists could use their platform “for the first time to truly go directly to their fan bases, without galleries or intermediaries. Around 700 creative people are already making use of the offer.
“We’re seeing a whole new layer of influencers and creatives emerging as curators,” says Zuckerberg. “I really think we’re at the forefront of a whole new creator economy.” Artists are just the beginning for Web3- Platforms: “I think in the future almost all e-commerce will be done this way.”
Zuckerberg wants women in particular to get enthusiastic about the new technologies. Under the label “GroupHUG” she has created a virtual space for female entrepreneurs. “The culture of crypto and Web3 is very intimidating for a lot of people. It feels scary,” says Zuckerberg. That’s why she wants to make access friendly, inviting and a little funny. “Our community is about 60 percent women,” she says, compared to less than 10 percent in the Web3 community.
Serena Williams is one of the Web3 celebrities
Prominent pioneers like tennis player Serena Williams, who has invested in several Web3 activities, are all the more important. But Zuckerberg also beats the drum for her tech vision herself: she hosts her own podcast “Crypto Cafe” every week on US satellite radio Sirius XM. The US magazine “Forbes” therefore awarded it the title “Crypto Queen”.
Zuckerberg is also supported by German investor Nicole Junkermann. She estimates the potential market volume of the unspecified digital “creative economy” at 100 billion dollars and the number of interested parties worldwide at around 50 million. “I met Randi three years ago and she opened my eyes to Web3,” says Junkermann. “For me, this is a long-term investment.”
More: Elon Musk, an update and the Fed: the reasons behind the Bitcoin and Ether rally