Non-Fungible Tokens: Matt Wurst of Mint On The 5 Things You Need To Know To Create a Highly Successful Career In The NFT Industry

There is not going to be an “NFT industry.” You can ease yourself in, or jump into this in a number of different ways. We’ll see a number of different existing and new professional spheres emerge or evolve that are connected by NFTs in different ways. Marketing, art, creative, finance, sports… they’re all overlapping and connected, but will have their own objectives, strategies, and metrics for success. Who “owns” this at each brand or agency may be very different, just like in the early days of social media marketing.

Many have observed that we are at the cusp of an NFT boom. The thing is, it’s so cutting edge, that many people don’t know what it is. What exactly is an NFT and how can one create a lucrative career out of selling them? To address this, as a part of our interview series called “5 Things You Need To Know To Create a Highly Successful Career In The NFT Industry”, we had the pleasure of interviewing Matt Wurst, CMO of Mint.

Mint is the white-label NFT technology platform that simplifies building, buying and sharing NFTs for brands and collectors. Mint provides leading brands, sports leagues and teams and art galleries with customizable storefront, branded wallet and secondary marketplace tools designed to help brands better engage with customers, build community and monetize NFT applications. Matt previously served as Global Client Vice President at Jellyfish and Managing Director at Revelation, and is responsible for building Mint’s business development and partnership approach that drives the next generation of NFTs for brands, marketers and agencies.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit. Can you tell us a bit about your backstory and how you grew up?

I was raised in a household that embraced culture and technology. My earliest memories are of my sister playing Eric Clapton and Beatles songs on her guitar, while my father traveled the country selling the first personal computers to companies and businesses in the 1970’s and 80’s. We had the first model of a laser printer in our house, which made my homework and book reports always look better than everyone else’s. That love for technology and innovation is in my blood, but I was also a die-hard sports fan. I grew up playing competitive soccer and baseball, also reading the box scores in the newspaper every morning. I memorized player stats, regurgitating them to my friends at recess as well as to the athletes, themselves, when I met them at autograph signings and baseball card shows on the weekends.

Is there a particular book, film, or podcast that made a significant impact on you? Can you share a story or explain why it resonated with you so much?

I’m usually reading two or three different books at a time to satisfy the different parts of my brain. That is usually a mix of historical biographies (I once read a definitive biography of every U.S. President in order), a work of fiction, and some sort of management or leadership book. I enjoyed Charles Duhigg’s Smarter Faster Better and just finished Andrew Chen’s The Cold Start Problem about successful start-ups. But the book that has most resonated with me over the past decade is probably Grit, by Angela Duckworth. Grit is about talent, effort, and skill. Passion plus perseverance. Talent is how quickly your skills improve with effort. Achievement is what happens when you apply and use out acquired skills. So effort is worth double on the “Grit scale.” When we overemphasize talent, we underemphasize everything else.

Is there a particular story that inspired you to pursue a career in this new industry? We’d love to hear it.

Having spent the last 13 or so years building, managing, and leading digital marketing agencies, I’ve been fascinated by the dynamic between brands, agencies and technology platforms. Social media sites and marketplace applications have grown massively in the Web 2.0 era, but Web3 opened up my eyes to yet another convergence of content, creativity and marketing. The first NFTs I purchased were NBATopShot moments from Dapper Labs in late 2020. The speculative buzz enabled me to turn a profit quickly, but also see the long-term potential of NFTs beyond the cash grabs. Once that light bulb went on in my head, there was no looking back.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began this fascinating career?

In 2008, I left a great role at the NBA to help build a youth sports-focused social network and community. We had investors such as Derek Jeter, Peyton Manning, Jennie Finch and Lebron James, all of whom took an active role in the community. I was ghost-writing their blog posts and shooting fun videos with them. Kids could connect with, learn from, and share their own highlights with their heroes. Ultimately, the site had to transition to more of a utility for coaches and adults once the government passed laws limiting what children were able to do online. But I still have a hard drive with hundreds of hours of their personal home movies and youth sports highlights that have never seen the light of day.

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

When agencies were first experimenting with social media, I was responsible for a team that managed literally hundreds of branded social feeds. I accidentally tweeted a personal tweet to the Coca-Cola Twitter feed. And it took 15 minutes before I realized it and deleted it. By then, there were already thousands of comments on the post. Fifteen minutes in social media time can feel like a month when you’ve made a mistake like that, but these were the early days of social media, probably 12-plus years ago. My company then invested in social media management and publishing software so no one was posting from their personal devices.

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?

I’ve had the great fortune to have a number of incredible mentors, supporters and colleagues over the past two decades. Sarah Hofstetter was the VP of Emerging Media when I joined 360i back in 2009. She invited me to join a digital agency, to build a new capability, knowing full well that I did not have agency experience, but gave me the freedom and opportunity to be myself and grow as a thought leader, a team leader, a company leader and a human being. She inspired me to see big ideas AND get things done. In her own path to agency CEO, she favored achievement over activity, and led our agency to unparalleled success over a decade working together.

Are you working on any exciting new projects now? How do you think that will help people?

In addition to a number of projects that have already launched, for professional sports leagues like the NBA, or art galleries such as MISA in Europe, we have a number of upcoming drops, campaigns and projects for well-known brands. The Mint mission — as personified by our product roadmap and development timeline — is to lower the barrier of entry for brands, marketers and creators, as well as their fans and consumers — the collectors. We are building a more inclusive, accessible NFT community thanks to easy credit card purchasing, low fees, and eco-friendly transactions. No clunky wallets, cryptocurrency or blockchain knowledge is required.

Ok super. Thank you for all that. Let’s now shift to the main focus of our interview. I’m sure you get this question all the time. But for the benefit of our readers, can you explain in your own words what an NFT is, and why people are spending so much money on them?

An NFT is a unique digital token that is uniquely identifiable and has a non-interchangeable record on the blockchain. Every NFT is assigned a unique ID, is owned by a single wallet, and stores some metadata. The token is both a literal and a figurative symbol of ownership, but it can be anything: an image, a video clip, a 3-D rendering, even a piece of music. Over time, the community experiences that tokens can unlock will be more important than the actual collectible. Mint’s founder, Joseph Djenandji, was inspired by the notion of tokens from his childhood in coming up with the Mint logo. The circles carved out the letters are symbolic of the holes punched out of the city bus tickets he used to ride to school in Montreal as a child. A token that unlocks an experience.

The NFT industry seems so exciting right now. What are the 3 things in particular that most excite you about the industry? If you can, please share a story or example for each.

The revolution sparked by NFTs is rooted in some basic concepts: scarcity and ownership in the digital world. Previously, digital items could be duplicated and shared infinitely. Although every NFT’s metadata is publicly legible, the ownership of NFTs is guaranteed and cannot be forged. Therefore, NFTs can become a form of certification, proof of purchase or attendance or participation, even a new form of identity that token holders can carry in the digital ecosystem.

The opportunity to operate somewhat independently from the existing power players and platforms in the space is quite compelling. Since NFT ownership can be publicly read on the blockchain, brands, companies, creators and other third parties can easily create applications to cater to specific NFT holders.The token becomes a key to access that experience. I’m truly excited about what Mint has created — a white-label, end-to-end technology platform for marketers, brands, agencies, and creators to deliver immersive digital experiences to their community.

But the opportunity to educate and innovate with open-minded creators and markets is what excites me most. Demonstrating how marketing can work as a profit center, not just a cost center, is a remarkable paradigm shift in our industry. Will NFTs ever be a top line in the P&L for major brands? Probably not. But when the costs of investment in brand-building can be offset, it frees us up to have a lot more fun.

What are the 3 things that concern you about the industry? Can you explain? What can be done to address those concerns?

Concern is probably a strong term, but an awareness that borders on a healthy paranoia has always been my comfort zone. The first issue is a lack of strategic planning with respect to NFTs and marketing. Some brands and marketers are cautious and waiting to follow others’ lead, while others are jumping in without applying the same playbook that has served them well with other platforms and periods of innovation. Understand audience insights from various data inputs, determine where digital tokens fit into the marketing mix and can help build a better community and relationship with consumers. The right equation for NFT strategy balances the inclusive/exclusive question, is built with long-term utility, has strong IP and a solid marketing and communications plan.

The extreme side of decentralization is also a concern for brands. Large corporations cannot just enter an unsafe space or engage on risky platforms. Some degree of control and security must remain in place, with assurances that their consumers or users are also protected. Engaging on open marketplaces and platforms where identities can be cloaked and transactions are not easily reversed in the case of human error remains a risk.

But the biggest concern with NFTs at the moment are the people who are in it for the wrong reasons: A large portion of NFT 1.0 enthusiasts are in it to make money and to get rich in this ecosystem. And fast. Those looking for an immediate impact devalue the overall opportunity that digital tokens and NFTs represent and can unlock.

What are the “myths” that you would like to dispel about NFTs? Can you explain what you mean?

The biggest myth with NFTs and Web3 at the moment is that it’s “all a scam,” “not safe” or too “confusing.” NFTs are not inherently dangerous or scammy. New platforms for innovation invite the best and worst of people, and like other technology platforms, they can be used to do good, but can also be leveraged to do wrong. NFTs are here to stay, and for a long time to come. Collectors and investors see these small tokens as a long-term investment and have no desire to see them disappear. NFTs also represent a way for creators, merchants, brands and merchants to quantify what has been previously unquantifiable. But the biggest potential here is not the art itself, but in the smart contract. There is a lot of emotion and passion on all sides of the conversation about the present (and future) of NFTs, but we must create space for discussion to reduce the risks and lower barriers to entry in a safe, smart, simplified, streamlined way.

What are the most common mistakes you have seen people make when they enter the NFT industry. What can be done to avoid that?

From a brand and marketing perspective, the biggest mistake is jumping right to tactics and execution without a proper framework. NFTs provide brands with an opportunity to provide meaningful experiences and lasting relationships with consumers and fans. But the same marketing playbook applies to NFTs as it does social media platforms, television commercials or out-of-home billboards. Audience insights and data must inform a strategy, and must be tied to achievable KPIs. Dropping NFTs, no matter how beautiful or creative, is a short-term play without the right plan.

How do you think NFTs have the potential to help society in the future?

The blockchain and smart contract uses are already being applied to improve operational, legal, financial, and other practical applications across every industry, from healthcare to entertainment. Can NFTs cure cancer? Probably not. At least not yet. But proof-of-stake ownership is a powerful concept that can protect creators and IP holders in incredible ways, as well. DAOs (decentralized autonomous ownership entities) have the power to transform how businesses are built and run with tokens as the new stock. Even the potential use cases for non-profit fundraising are astounding and virtually limitless.

Ok, fantastic. Here is the main question of our interview. What are your “5 Things You Need To Know To Create a Highly Successful Career In The NFT Industry?” (Please share a story or example for each.)

1. There is not going to be an “NFT industry.” You can ease yourself in, or jump into this in a number of different ways. We’ll see a number of different existing and new professional spheres emerge or evolve that are connected by NFTs in different ways. Marketing, art, creative, finance, sports… they’re all overlapping and connected, but will have their own objectives, strategies, and metrics for success. Who “owns” this at each brand or agency may be very different, just like in the early days of social media marketing.
2. The community is bigger than the collectible. NFTs are still about the experiences they unlock. Digital assets are the next phase in identity, ways of communicating who we are in a shared ecosystem.
3. Understand why people want and value NFTs: People have questioned the value of cultural artifacts throughout recent memory — physical art, fashion, sports cards. Defining and providing a value exchange is a critical first step, and then the market will decide what has value. The question of value in an increasingly digital landscape is not a matter of if, but what and how much.
4. Start simple. As more global companies and brands consider NFT-based campaigns, find tools, partners, and platforms that can simplify the experience to sell NFTs, launch branded marketplaces, and provide seamless transactions, interactions, and utility.
5. Develop a thick skin, and don’t be scared off by the negativity: Critics and detractors fight change and progress at every step. Out think, outprepare, outwork them. This is not going anywhere but up. Trial and error is still going to be the norm for a while, and fear of failure cannot be a barrier to entry. Lead, follow, or get out of the way.

You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. :-)

What a very Kantian question… and one that my high school philosophy teacher, Mr. Marrett, would probably read with great interest. Given that I’m a huge believer in the power of blockchain, I’d love to see a faster, more inclusive approach to blockchain and crypto-focused sustainability. The environmental impact of certain blockchains is a barrier to entry. Mint works on eco-friendly blockchains, but we all can and should be making this a priority.

We are very blessed that very prominent leaders read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would like to have a private breakfast or lunch, and why? He or she might just see this if we tag them :-)

For anyone who knows me, the obvious answer is Bruce Springsteen, who I have seen perform live in concert over 70 times, and for whom I have great respect for his willingness to speak up and speak out for those without a voice or a platform as large as his. And while I’d probably embarrass myself or come off too much like a crazy fan, I think it would be fun to write music and lyrics together at lunch over a couple of burgers or ice cream cones at the Jersey Freeze in Freehold.

Thank you so much for these excellent stories and insights. We wish you continued success on your great work!