GM frens,

In today's edition of The Ground Floor we will be breaking down Ledger's recent product collaboration with one of the greatest designers of all time.

NFTs iPhone Moment?

Breaking down Ledgers recent product announcement...

To understand the present, and to predict the future, study the past.

The level of skepticism we are witnessing surrounding Web3 today is by no means a new phenomenon — in fact it exemplifies how history repeats itself.

Today, it's undeniable that the internet has positively impacted the lives of billions of people around the world, however, 25 years ago people such as Bill Gates were laughed at for suggesting the internet would one day impact the lives of millions of people.

Such a development would not have been made possible if not for the vast investment of intellectual capital made by some of the brightest minds in the world, who transformed the internet from a protocol that had found favor amongst thousands of computer scientists, into a protocol that is now loved by billions of people.

Once again, history is repeating itself, made clear by Ledger's announcement this week that they will be releasing what appears to be a stunning product designed by one of the most iconic designers of our era, the co-creator of the iPhone & designer of the iPod; Tony Fadell.

Who is Tony Fadell?

Born in 1969, Tony Fadell is widely considered to be one of the most successful product designers in history whose contributions have laid the foundation for some of the most successful consumer products created in our lifetime.

Prior to authoring more than 300 patents, leading the design of the iPhone; a device that has been sold more than 2.2 billion times in the last 15 years, and selling Nest for $3.2 billion to Google, Fadell studied computer science at the University of Michigan in 1991.

Today, Fadell is the creator of Build — a company that advises many of the most successful startups in the world ranging from AirBnB, Firebase, and Flutter, and with a billion+ net worth, Fadell is extremely selective with where he invests his time.

What Web3 Needs

The Web3 World doesn't need additional dollars.

Instead, what the Web3 World needs in 2022 is an additional influx of talented people who are willing to invest their time to solve the problems that are preventing consumers from adopting this new & improved protocol.

One such problem blocking consumers from unlocking the value of Web3 is the ability to self custody their digital assets — a process that currently requires consumers to overcome a steep learning curve to successfully navigate the imperfect products that exist today.

Ledger Leads The Way

Ledger, founded in 2014, has led the way when it comes to simplifying this process for consumers to self custody their digital assets, however, as an active user of Ledger's most up to date model — the product leaves a lot left to be desired.

Thankfully, it appears these imperfections will soon be a distant memory, with Ledger releasing Ledger Stax in 7 weeks time (demo here).

While we haven't had the opportunity to review the product, based on the track records of the people who are building Ledger Stax, we are very bullish on the improvements Ledger Stax will make to remove the friction consumers currently face to self custody digital assets.

📡 Looking Forward

The Web3 World continues to see an influx of talented entrepreneurs with backgrounds in design (Tony Fadell) successful mobile app developers (Gabriel Leydon) & successful B2B entrepreneurs (Chris Maddern) seeking to solve the biggest problems in this space.

Such an investment of time from anyone of these individuals far from guarantees that the Web3 World will realize its full potential, however, each entrepreneur the Web3 world attracts incrementally increases the odds of history repeating itself once again.

🔊 The Best Quotes

✔️ The Lessons Learned

1) History has a clear habit of repeating itself — particularly when it comes to the adoption cycles of new technology.

2) It's easy to empathize with the people who are Web3 skeptics & the onus is on builders to create valuable products that change their minds.

3) The Web3 World continues to see an influx of talented entrepreneurs with backgrounds in design, successful mobile apps & successful B2B businesses.

Web3 Roundup

1) $540,000 in profit: One lucky collector that minted this BAYC grail in May 2021 decided to cash in this week, netting over $500,000 USD.

2) The under the radar NFT game? On the back of building a $300 million game, one developer now has his eyes on NFTs.

3) What Vitalik is most excited about: Check out this amazing thread that breaks down what Vitalik is most excited about in the ETH eco-system today.

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See you next time! — OB1