How the metaverse mirror the real world - according to TerraZero CEO Dan Reitzik
There has been a lot of discussion lately about Facebook’s push for the metaverse. Besides Facebook’s big public push into virtual worlds, there’s a whole host of infrastructure being built that mimics much of what we have in the physical world.
I interviewed Dan Reitzik, CEO of TerraZero to learn more about the state of the metaverse, how brands are viewing the opportunity to build in virtual environments and what types of infrastructure needs to be built for the metaverse to succeed.
TerraZero recently made headlines for offering mortgages for virtual land in the metaverse and for building the Miller Lite “Meta Lite Bar” in Decentraland for a Super Bowl promotion.
The interview
Where do you see the big vision/promise for the metaverse?
I previously ran DMG Blockchain, one of the largest mining companies. When I was there, I saw a lot of people trying to create solutions for problems that didn't exist. Then when I came across the metaverse; I realized that every building, every stage, every concert hall, every storefront, every item is an NFT that is managed by a blockchain.
So the very first thing we realized when we started this company was that you have to be able to buy some land. And so I said to my partner, I said, well, how do we buy land? Which world do we buy land in? Where in that world do we buy land? So we started building tools to tackle that problem.
What are the biggest challenges for mainstream adoption of the metaverse?
It's a chicken and egg situation, just like the internet was. You have to have content and stuff for them to do. That’s one of the reasons why we’re providing financing to game developers, entrepreneurs, content creators, etc. so they can build more stuff to do in the metaverse - then more people will go.
I can’t tell you how many hundreds of emails we’ve had from people saying “Hey I’ve got this idea, but we can’t afford to build in the metaverse.” We need the same tools available to entrepreneurs in the real world need to be made available to them in the metaverse. That means financing, loans, mortgages - all the same kind of things a store owner would need in the physical world.
The concept of the metaverse is in such an early stage, what do you think the end state looks like?
I think that the future of the metaverse is going to be hundreds of different worlds, and those are gonna cater to different things. Some will be like Decentraland, which is for socializing and watching concerts and e-commerce. And some will be like Sandbox which will be primarily for gaming. Some will be closed, like maybe Facebook's metaverse or a Fortnight - but they will be able to exist alongside each other and have different purposes. Interoperability will be key and it doesn't just mean avatar and your assets can be cross-world. It means tools that are agnostic to the metaverse world.
I want to understand how brands are thinking about the metaverse right now. What are the objectives and metrics they’re focused on - particularly for something like the Miller Meta Lite Bar project.
Miller wanted to be a progressive brand and they wanted to create an experience beyond just having a 15-second interaction. So what we did was build a replica of a rundown bar and have fun stuff for people to do during the Super Bowl. People were able to pour their own beer, participate in scavenger hunts, get a wearable t-shirt and watch a band play.
The results of this were many thousands of avatars that interacted with the Miller brand. But what was really important was it was over 20 minutes that each person would stay inside of the Miller bar and be interacting with different Miller things. That type of brand engagement is unheard.
About TerraZero
TerraZero develops, acquires and finances innovative Metaverse projects, companies, entrepreneurs and developers
Location: Vancouver, Los Angeles, In the Metaverse
Employees: < 10
Fundraising: $15m
Open Roles: https://terrazero.com/careers
Recent press:
As Virtual Real Estate Gets Pricey Terrazero Technologies Provides Metaverse Mortgages
Miller Lite opens Meta Lite Bar in Decentraland
How to get in touch: https://terrazero.com/contact-map