Sneakers to the Metaverse

Ryan Mullins and Jacques Slade wax philosophical about the origins of Jacques' career in music, media and sneakers. Ryan poses some questions about the state of the sneaker union: Where are we right now? Why are there so many retros? What's this constant fascination with the past do to us when we're also looking for new sneakers to celebrate? Seems like we've reached a plateau in terms of the growth and hype of sneakers, so what's next? Virgil Abloh said recently that streetwear is dead. If so, what resurrects it? What's next in this ever-evolving, innovative sub-culture that's not so sub- anymore? We discuss too "the metaverse" "NFTs" gaming, AR, VR, etc. It's good fun with a smart dude. Think you'll dig it!

We continue our explorations with Ben Cousens of Lakestar Ventures. In this episode, Ben and I explore our history with BTC and the many ways in which Bitcoin can not only integrate into Games but how BTC is the money of "onlife." We discuss a number of cool games and companies that have integrated BTC into their games and virtual worlds and where the space can go from here. Hope you enjoy! Here are some references from the show: Nik Bhatia's book Layered Money: https://www.amazon.com/Layered-Money-Dollars-Bitcoin-Currencies/dp/1736110527/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=Layered+Money&qid=1617638337&sr=8-1 Zebedee: https://zebedee.io Here's the Bitcoin Whitepaper for those of you new to the space: https://bitcoin.org/bitcoin.pdf Lightning Network was also mentioned many times: http://lightning.network We talked a lot about Petrodollars and these particular articles are exceptional reads from Lyn Alden https://www.lynalden.com/ethereum-analysis/ https://www.lynalden.com/fraying-petrodollar-system/ Ryan

Ben Cousens is an investor at Lakestar Ventures. He follows the worlds of gaming and crypto very closely and has backed a number of very exciting companies working at the intersection of the two. In this episode, we touch on a number of threads: Investing Framework, Gaming, Crypto, Aglet, , Cloud Computing, Hardware for the Metaverse, and Books. Ben is a top-rate thinker with some very compelling views to share about the future of innovation. Don't miss this one!

In this week's episode Ryan interviews Ryan Mullins to discuss the Philosophy of Abloh. It's an improvised love letter to Virgil Abloh. Discussion ranges from Marcel Duchamp's “Fountain” urinal submission to an art exhibit in 1917; “ready made” art from Duchamp and Warhol; what counts as “art”; Virgil Abloh and “Virgil Abloh”; Modernism/Postmodernism/Metamodernism; what's next in streetwear?; onlife world; next generation content and design platforms; etc. So, wide ranging and all influenced by the enigma that is Virgil.

Tune into episode 2 of the Aglet community podcast! Our hosts Lucy Crivelli & MikeVWal dive into a conversation with Discord friends Will & Zee on their sneakers of the year & more.

Take a listen to Azeem speaking to a true sneaker OG in Nick Engvall. You get a chance to listen how Nick got to where he is today, his thoughts on things at this time, and where he sees them going in the future. Enjoy!

DJ, speaker, and investor Mick Batyske (p/k/a MICK) has his feet planted at the intersection of culture and entrepreneurship. Having spun private parties for the Obamas, Lebron James, Jay Z, Will Smith, and Kanye West, he started dabbling in the startup world making investments and being an advisor. After having gotten his start in music with his first set of turntables that he got in high school by selling his Michael Jordan rookie card, Mick has done quite well for himself. The Mick Show: https://t.co/vqpuQlpowi?amp=1 Twitter: https://twitter.com/iamMICK?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor IG: https://www.instagram.com/mick/?hl=en

Kevin Kelly is Senior Maverick at Wired magazine. He co-founded Wired in 1993, and served as its Executive Editor for its first 7 years. His most recent book is The Inevitable, which is a New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestseller. His other books include the best-selling New Rules for the New Economy, the classic Out of Control, and his summary theory of technology in What Technology Wants. From 1984-1990 Kelly was publisher and editor of the Whole Earth Catalogs. He co-founded the Hackers' Conference, and was involved with the launch of the WELL, a pioneering online service started in 1985. He also founded the popular Cool Tools website in 2003.

Benjamin Charbit is CEO and Co-Founder at Darewise, creator of new open-world game “Life Beyond”. He's a multi-dimensional thinker, bringing his experience in finance and economics into world building and game design. He served as Creator Director on Assassin's Creed, among other Creative Direction gigs. Ryan and Benjamin explore Science Fiction and Gaming, Politics and Game Characters, Metaverse, Chicago School Economics in Games, among other interesting topics. Go check out Life Beyond if you're on a PC. It's a great game!

Our first Aglet Community episode!

AGLET ONE COLORWAY COMPETITION: Here's your chance to have your own Aglet One High dropped into the Aglet Sneaker Shop! How To Enter: Download the Aglet One High Tech Pack from: http://techpack.aglet.app Get creative and design your own colorway Entries must include a sneaker story explaining the design Submit your design via email to mydesign@aglet.app by 11:59PM Hawaiian Time on November 16th. Only 1 entry per person! Our judges will choose a total of 15 shoes to be dropped in the Aglet Sneaker Shop. The judges will also pick 1 overall winner who will also receive 1000 Gold Aglet added to their Aglet Player Account.

Lucy Crivelli sits down for a deep dive conversation with Dianne Halloway on her first virtual collaboration with Aglet! Dianne Halloway x Aglet dropping November 7th! Don't sleep download the Aglet App now

Eric Peckham is one of the smartest and insightful writers out there on the future of the consumer internet. We came to know of his work during his time at TechCrunch. In particular, his excellent series on the metaverse where he takes a different view of the typical Science Fiction view, i.e. The Oasis. Eric posits not a metaverse but a multi-verse of virtual worlds. Ryan and Eric explore a number of related concepts like gaming, governance, social capital, SHIT, STENK, etc. It's a whirlwind of fun! See whether you can keep up.

Ryan interviews David Sheldon-Hicks. David is the CEO and Creative Director of Territory Studios. Territory is one of the leading motion graphics, animation, and interface design companies in the world. They've worked on many of our favorite films and shows: The Martian, Mr. Robot, Avengers, Blade Runner 2049, Ex Machina, etc. Plus, some other amazing projects coming soon that we weren't able to discuss. Ryan and David talk about storytelling, spatial computing, the future of Hollywood and film, game engines, etc. If you love the way technology impacts storytelling and the future of storytelling, then give this a listen.

Jordy "Jordation" Frish is an Australian Overwatch player that currently plays for Dire Wolves. Considering Aglet is doing a special drop with the Dire Wolves, we thought it only made sense to bring on one of their players to talk to us about his journey to where he is now. We hope you enjoy it.

On this episode Ryan talks to Leslie Shannon of Nokia where she's currently Head of Ecosystem and Trend Scouting. Her interests include 5G, Augmented/Virtual/Mixed Reality, Visual Analytics, Next-Gen Gaming, Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, and on and on, which means you know she has a great conversation with our own Ryan. We hope you enjoy this one as much as we did!

Ryan talks with thought-leader and explorer, ROBERT SCOBLE, of all things emerging technology. Robert has authored four books the last of which prompted this discussion. Here's his website: https://scobleizer.blog You can follow him on Twitter at @scobleizer It's called Infinite Retina and you can find it on Amazon here: https://www.amazon.com/Infinite-Retina-Computing-technologies-revolution/dp/1838824049/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=Infinite+Retina&qid=1600094965&sr=8-1 We mention a number of people, companies, books and concepts during the conversation. Matt Miesnieks, founder and CEO of 6D.ai. They were recently acquired by Niantic Labs. Tim O'Reilly's book WTF: What's the Future and Why It's Up to Us https://www.amazon.com/WTF-Whats-Future-Why-Its/dp/0062565710/ref=sr_1_fkmr1_1?dchild=1&keywords=Tim+O%27Reily+WTF&qid=1600095092&sr=8-1-fkmr1 We also talk a lot about VR and Burning Man in VR. The app we're talking about is called Altspace. We also mentioned Rec Room. I VR in the Oculus Quest. Be aware that the updated version will be dropping here soon. So, wait if you want to get the latest and greatest. Also, again, mentioned a couple books that are core to our mission at Aglet and helped informed that from a pop culture perspective: Ready Player One by Ernest Cline Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson We also mentioned on more than one occasion the release of Apple's AR glasses. Obviously, nothing has been officially announced by Apple but, as per usual, we have leaks. Here are a couple articles to explore: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-06-19/apple-team-working-on-vr-and-ar-headset-and-ar-glasses https://www.tomsguide.com/news/apple-glasses Epic Games, creator of Fortnite, has a powerful creation and game engine called the Unreal Engine. Here you can learn more about it from Matthew Ball's wonderful essay. Thanks!!! Ryan

Join our very own @lucycrivelli & special guest @_ajgirard, for a conversation on the Aglet One ‘BLM' and the deeper meaning rooted within this sneaker. Special shout out to @killgxxd for the music

With the women's drop coming up this week we decided it only made sense to give you a podcast with the person who's putting that drop together. Our very own Lucy Crivelli, who's been interning with Aglet for months now. As always, would love your thoughts because this is an idea we're thinking about doing with any sponsored drops moving forward. Hope you enjoy!

Muhib Yusufi aka Mocha Muhib aka Baba Mocha aka CEO of ASTAGHFIRULLAH joined us for an episode of "Sneakers To The Metaverse" this week. We talked about everything from how he got started in putting out content to how he built up a following up close to 200k on Tik Tok with over 100m views all the way to what he sees as trends coming for the streetwear space in the future. Make sure to give him a follow on TikTok, Instagram, and Twitter to check out some of his content/to learn more about him. As always, if you like what you hear then push the subscribe button and be sure to leave us some love in the reviews page. You can find us at our Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn. If you don't have the app download it here!

Thanks for listening! Dan Freebairn (@kickposters) and Ryan touched on a number of topics, themes, references during the show. Wanted to list here links for you to explore further should anything tickle your fancy. Teen Wolf 2 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p2XVkDTO0UY Adidas Future Loop https://www.fastcompany.com/90428959/exclusive-the-second-generation-of-adidass-loop-shoe-is-here Run DMC “It's Like That” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_hN1SKVx31s Walter Benjamin “Aura” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Work_of_Art_in_the_Age_of_Mechanical_Reproduction Five Chimp Theory http://www.killingbuddha.co/blog/2016/2/19/naval-ravikant-on-who-he-admires HighSnobiety The New Luxury https://www.amazon.com/New-Luxury-Defining-Aspirational-Hype/dp/3899559835/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=highsnobiety+new+luxury&qid=1589986598&sr=8-1 Dan's Poster Illustrations https://kickposters.com “Quotoole” video that Dan mentioned https://youtu.be/7LGqf2wvqb8 Go to Bed, Sneakerhead Book https://www.instagram.com/p/BveyjWLFaG5/?igshid=pforec5co4v5

In episode 2, Ryan and Azeem decided to do something a bit different. Last week Ryan spoke a bit about how what we're doing is related to the metaverse, and as promised we wanted to deliver an in depth episode on exactly what that means because it's what we intend to build. During this episode, Ryan references quite a lot of people and quite a lot of papers, articles, etc. If you'd like to dig deeper, he's created a list of links for you to pursue at your own leisure. Mark Weiser. The Computer for the 21st Century https://www.ics.uci.edu/~corps/phaseii/Weiser-Computer21stCentury-SciAm.pdf Kevin Kelly. Mirror Worlds https://www.wired.com/story/mirrorworld-ar-next-big-tech-platform/ Vannevar Bush, As We May Think https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1945/07/as-we-may-think/303881/ Ted Nelson, Project Xanadu and Hypertext https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Xanadu Neal Stephenson, Snow Crash and Cryptonomicon Matthew Ball, Metaverse and Who Will Build It Marc Andreessen, “Software is Eating the World” https://a16z.com/2011/08/20/why-software-is-eating-the-world/ Ernest Cline, Ready Player One https://www.amazon.com/Ready-Player-One-Ernest-Cline/dp/0307887448/ref=sr_1_2?dchild=1&keywords=ready+player+one&qid=1589828717&sr=8-2 Magic Leap https://www.magicleap.com/en-us Niantic Labs https://nianticlabs.com Improbable https://improbable.io 6D.ai https://www.6d.ai How Close are we to achieving the Metaverse https://venturebeat.com/2020/05/05/just-how-close-are-we-to-achieving-the-metaverse/ The Metaverse, Spatial Computing and 5G https://www.lbbonline.com/news/the-metaverse-spatial-computing-and-5g

Here in this introductory Episode of Sneakers To The Metaverse, Ryan and Azeem touch on their backgrounds, reasons Aglet was started, their feelings about the streetwear/sneaker industry at this time, what you can expect from the show, and more.