Randi Zuckerberg and Nicole Junkermann are two extraordinary entrepreneurs. Their explanations are so clear that no one would say that they are two of the
female exponents of the new technological and economic revolution that the Internet is experiencing.
and economic revolution that the Internet is undergoing. Dubbed Web3, this revolution includes a whole new digital universe full of economic and business challenges: blockchain, cryptocurrencies, NFT and, of course, the metaverse.
"It's the defining technological phenomenon of our time," says Zuckerberg.
"Things change, and very fast," adds Nicole Junkermann. The two are now partners through Assemble, an entrepreneurial venture launched by Zuckerberg in which Junkermann has invested through NJF Capital, the investment fund she founded more than 10 years ago and which endorses her as one of the emerging figures in tech venture capital. "In 1999, 278 million people in the world were using the Internet worldwide, approximately four per cent of the world's population. And they did so "through conventional dial-up connections," says Junkermann. "Dial-up connections," he explains in English.
"A few years ago it took an hour to download an album of songs. Now, more than
two decades later, "there are 5.1 billion people using the internet every day, more than 60% of the world's population, and the speed has skyrocketed".
Both entrepreneurs agree that the new digital businesses emerging from the Internet are an "unstoppable phenomenon" that is "changing the way we do business".
Both entrepreneurs agree that the new digital businesses emerging from the Internet are an "unstoppable phenomenon" that are "changing the economy", although there is still "a long way to go".
They are "changing the economy", although there is still "a long way to go".
The most groundbreaking thing now "is the time to build the structure that allows global internet users to access the new technology", says Junkermann, explaining that what is really groundbreaking are not so much phenomena such as, for example
cryptocurrencies, for example, but the technology that makes them possible. That is, the
blockchain technology. Now "there are approximately 221 million cryptocurrency users worldwide, but that number will grow exponentially
thanks to technology," say the two entrepreneurs.
After the pandemic hiatus, Randi says, this is the biggest "technological revolution since the smartphone". Just as "we didn't go back to conventional dial-up once we invented broadband internet and fibre optics," recalls Junkermann. Both Zuckerberg and Junkermann are backed read more by their experience.
As an investor, Junkermann is at Blockchain.com and Consensys Software, parent company of Ethereum MetaMask, among other projects supporting the new Web3 trend. From Assemble, Zuckerberg launched in February this year The HUG, a platform to support entrepreneurs related to the Web3 universe, or what they call "creators" of "digital assets", based on NFTs, Non-Fungible Token. NFTs are units of value that are assigned to specific digital assets, such as cryptocurrencies. "The Internet startup economy is already worth more than $100 billion worldwide, with more than 50 million people self-describing themselves as such. as such", and yet we are at the beginning, "on the Web3 dial-up".