Thread by @The_ReadingApe

@Psycheout86 has a pretty interesting backstory. He was a competitive gamer, worked for the government, and then started up @AxieInfinity with his co-founders.

Learn about his story in this episode of the Zima Red podcast 👇

@Psycheout86 @AxieInfinity Origins

🔹Competitive gamer that represented Norway in Warcraft 3 and @DOTA2
🔹Went to 1 of the top business schools
🔹Dropped out to work for the gov
🔹Discovered crypto through his father
🔹Set up Axie Infinity with @trungfinity and @Jihoz_Axie

@Psycheout86 @AxieInfinity @DOTA2 @trungfinity @Jihoz_Axie Competitive Gaming

🎮 Loved playing games
🎮 Played Warcraft 3, which was tactical and micromanagement intensive
🎮 Evolved into Dota. Played for 10 years
🎮 Peak achievement was beating Sweden. Norway and Sweden had some rivalry in Dota

@Psycheout86 @AxieInfinity @DOTA2 @trungfinity @Jihoz_Axie Learning about Crypto

🔹Learned about crypto from his father
🔹Father traded Bitcoin and he thought it was dumb
🔹Looked into Ethereum when it came out
🔹Never believed that Bitcoin would change the currency of the world

@Psycheout86 @AxieInfinity @DOTA2 @trungfinity @Jihoz_Axie Attraction to @CryptoKitties

🐱 Reaching the peak of his Dota career and was burnt out
🐱 Came across crypto
🐱 Found out about CryptoKitties on Reddit
🐱 Thought it was expensive to mint/breed a new cat, but just went ahead and tried it out

@Psycheout86 @AxieInfinity @DOTA2 @trungfinity @Jihoz_Axie @CryptoKitties CryptoKitties Community

🐱 Many strong individuals and community builders in the community

"@Jihoz_Axie is a perfect example. I thought he had ADHD because he was everywhere. He was chatting so much to everyone. It was the perfect person to have as a community builder."

@Psycheout86 @AxieInfinity @DOTA2 @trungfinity @Jihoz_Axie @CryptoKitties Recognizing that the NFT market is going to be massive 👀

🔹Looked into the applications of NFTs when he bred his first cat
🔹People had the idea of making other games inside CryptoKitties
🔹Realized that NFTs are the perfect vehicle to travel from one game to another🛣️

@Psycheout86 @AxieInfinity @DOTA2 @trungfinity @Jihoz_Axie @CryptoKitties Meeting @trungfinity

🔹Trung sent him a message on Discord about making a new project. Wanted him to be a part of it🤝
🔹Joined as an advisor to Axie Infinity in the initial stages
🔹Eventually left his job and travelled to Vietnam
🔹Met Jiho in Vietnam as well🤝

@Psycheout86 @AxieInfinity @DOTA2 @trungfinity @Jihoz_Axie @CryptoKitties "So it's pretty magical. I mean, it was, yeah, so many interesting characters. I remember those days really strongly, because we had nothing, right. It's just the community of believers." - Aleksander Larsen

@Psycheout86 @AxieInfinity @DOTA2 @trungfinity @Jihoz_Axie @CryptoKitties Early Days Of Sky Mavis

🔹Talked about everything/got to know each other
🔹Focus was on how the MMR system was going to work⚔️
🔹As they grew, they created a company called Sky Mavis, with the company owning Axie Infinity
🔹Inspired by Steam and Epic Games

@Psycheout86 @AxieInfinity @DOTA2 @trungfinity @Jihoz_Axie @CryptoKitties Building customized products🏗️

🔹Generic products fail because they are too general
🔹Made a product package that is specific to their use case
🔹Ronin blockchain built using the EVM codebase
🔹Innovation can be shared between Ethereum ⬅️➡️ Ronin

@Psycheout86 @AxieInfinity @DOTA2 @trungfinity @Jihoz_Axie @CryptoKitties Mavis Hub

🔹Mavis Hub: A Steam (the game publisher/platform) concept for the Metaverse
🔹Pros➕ and cons➖ for game devs to build on Mavis Hub
🔹Platform can be monetized in various ways💰💰💰

@Psycheout86 @AxieInfinity @DOTA2 @trungfinity @Jihoz_Axie @CryptoKitties Early Days

🔹Trung made the algorithm to create Axies
🔹Designer designed the parts of the Axies
🔹1st iteration: on-chain battles
🔹2nd iteration: more centralized
🔹3rd version: card-based game
🔹Had to grind in the early days💪
🔹Incentivized community to create content💰

@Psycheout86 @AxieInfinity @DOTA2 @trungfinity @Jihoz_Axie @CryptoKitties Most difficult aspects

🔹Handle many new problems that pop up everyday
🔹Owing to their success in Philippines/other developing countries, they ended up being responsible for putting food on the table for thousands of players each day
🔹Smart contract security and possible hacks

@Psycheout86 @AxieInfinity @DOTA2 @trungfinity @Jihoz_Axie @CryptoKitties Play-to-earn

🔹Play-to-earn mechanics have to be integral to the core design of a play-to-earn game. It has to be done in a specific way
🔹If not done correctly, it will burn out fast
🔹The game/community👨‍👩‍👦‍👦 plays a significant role on the sustainability of play-to-earn mechanics

@Psycheout86 @AxieInfinity @DOTA2 @trungfinity @Jihoz_Axie @CryptoKitties Metaverse

🔹Believes in the Metaverse
🔹It is great that assets are not controlled by corporations
🔹Need to have games that breakout and draw in a lot of people into crypto
🔹Believes that the Metaverse has to be created by the community👨‍👩‍👦‍👦 for the community👨‍👩‍👦‍👦

@Psycheout86 @AxieInfinity @DOTA2 @trungfinity @Jihoz_Axie @CryptoKitties Favourite video game: Dota 2
Favourite NFT: Axie #69. First Bird🐦 Axie

@Psycheout86 @AxieInfinity @DOTA2 @trungfinity @Jihoz_Axie @CryptoKitties Most controversial thought

🔹Don't believe too much in interoperability/composability of assets
🔹Have been burned in the past by spending dev resources on things with no tangible biz impact
🔹Taking a pragmatic view as to whether an action would lead to onboarding of new users

@Psycheout86 @AxieInfinity @DOTA2 @trungfinity @Jihoz_Axie @CryptoKitties If You Could Improve One Thing In The Space

🔹A gallery to view all his NFTs, regardless of which chain they are on
🔹The gallery has to allow the display of the NFTs on the walls and allow viewers to walk in it
🔹Closest example is @oncyber_io

@Psycheout86 @AxieInfinity @DOTA2 @trungfinity @Jihoz_Axie @CryptoKitties @oncyber_io Links:

Substack article: thereadingape.substack.com/p/zima-red-ep-…

@Psycheout86 @AxieInfinity @DOTA2 @trungfinity @Jihoz_Axie @CryptoKitties @oncyber_io Links:

Podcast: anchor.fm/andrew-steinwo…

Thanks to @AndrewSteinwold for this episode

@Psycheout86 @AxieInfinity @DOTA2 @trungfinity @Jihoz_Axie @CryptoKitties @oncyber_io @AndrewSteinwold Like our work?

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~ End Thread