Web3 Trends & Opportunities ─ New Generation Innovators in Web3
Before the event came to a conclusion, there was a last roundtable discussion titled “Startups, VCs, and Grooming the Next Generation of Innovators” and featured (from left to right) co-founder and CEO at AsiaTokenFund Group Ken Nizam, Director of UKISS Tech Ben Chan, Director DeFi & Wallets at ConsenSys Marouen Zelleg, Zhao Chen, Legal Manager at Phemex Benjamin S., and Assistant Professor at the School of Computer Science And Engineering, Nanyang Technological University (NTU) Li Yi.
The roundtable discussion commenced with the rounding up of the project pitched by Han Wei Lun ─ all of them had varying opinions about what can be improved on like overall security of the system, but concurred that feasibility-wise is pretty good and the mission statement is spot on. It would be beneficial to have an education segment so users can be better informed about the types of fraud and how to minimise being a victim.
When it comes to why they think innovation in the Web3 space is important, Ken is a firm and strong believer of innovation and said that it should not be tied to trend; Ben explained that 99% of internet users are not in Web3 and only enter to speculate; Marouen said that Web3 brings new fundamental ways for people to act; Zhao Chen expressed that we cannot simply separate innovation from the market and that the market itself is the playground you put innovation in; Benjamin pointed out that Web3 is important because of the push it has on innovation; lastly, Prof. Li Yi concluded that there is a lot of innovation happening in the finance and DeFi market, and there is a need to know how to incentivise and encourage the community to build a better software, which is by integrating Web3 into it.
As to how to inspire the next generation of innovators in Web3, some felt that the next generation needs to fail and make mistakes in order to learn and grow; some expressed that being a crypto-native person will be beneficial; also, having vision is imperative.
Some felt that innovation will not reach a point of saturation in Web3 because innovation happens when you think outside the box and unique innovation is rarer than rare. They also brought up the point of a multitude of project duplication in the market.
When it comes to whether the attitudes and investment strategies of VCs and startups have changed in the bear market compared to the bull market, projects that are forced to mature will be better than those that just blow money. The local scene is more stringent and cautious, though in the bear market, you will see good builders.