Weekly Roundup — June 14th, 2021
Dear Lympo community,
A week with few announcements only means one thing: the team is working hard behind the scenes to deliver something exceptional. We have to bite our lips because we really can’t wait to tell you everything! But we’ll have to be just a little bit more patient 😉
Last week’s recap
Athlete Announcement
Lympo prides itself on partnering with unique and heroic athletes that forge their own path. No one embodies that more than Jean-Baptiste Alaize, who has turned his tragic childhood — having one of his legs amputated at just three years old — into an inspiring example for athletes worldwide.
“I’ve overcome many obstacles in my life, and it’s been fascinating to forge a career in sports when many people doubted it was possible. When Lympo approached me about joining their innovative platform — it was a very easy decision!”
If you want to see Alaize’s inspiring journey, check out Netflix’s Rising Phoenix documentary from 2020 where he has been featured among eight other paralympic athletes.
Read more about why Alaize decided to join the Lympo family here.
Some news from other Animoca Brands family members
Since Lympo is part of a huge ecosystem, it makes sense to look back on some news from the other companies. Who knows how this can tie in with Lympo’s bigger vision.
- Read all about Animoca Brands became Hong Kong’s latest Unicorn here. This article offers fantastic insights into the story of how Yat — Animoca Brands founder and chairman — was faced with a tough decision that played a pivotal role in the journey to become what Animoca Brands is today.
- Do you know someone who is interested in owning a piece of Olympic history? Well, this tweet from nWay might be a good start.
- Interested in knowing how the Play-to-Earn model can become a viable income stream? One of Animoca Brands’ F1 Delta Time players is making up to US$3900 per week with NFTs & REVV tokens. Find out more via this tweet. Just imagine the sheer possibilities with Lympo NFTs? 😎
Behind the scenes
There is this one person who’s available pretty much 24/7 in all Lympo community channels. Someone that doesn’t seem to need any sleep.. I’m sure you know who we’re talking about. 😉 That’s right, this week we’ll be putting a spotlight on Arvydas Tumalavičius, Lympo’s Head of Community. Let’s get to know him a bit better, shall we?
Who is Arvydas Tumalavičius?
Hey, everyone! I grew up in Vilnius, Lithuania. But as a boy from the capital, I’ve always loved nature, hiking, an active lifestyle, camping and other outdoor activities.
While I was studying international economics, I already started working because I understood that university wouldn’t teach me all about life. I’ve worked at retail and real estate companies, after which I turned to the restaurant business. Together with my previous team, we’ve opened a few restaurants that turned out to get quite popular in my home country.
But my true passion was always tech. If you ask my friends, they’ll tell you I’ve always been a bit of a geek when it comes to technology, and that’s really how my interest grew in the fields of blockchain, Artificial Intelligence and sustainable transportation.
I remember how — back in 2012 — one of my friends suggested to me to mine Bitcoin, and I said to him “are you crazy!”. If only I knew… 😅 Nevertheless, I’m super excited to work in the blockchain industry. My current role at Lympo is Head of Community, and we are building an AWESOME family here!
How were you involved in the early days at Lympo?
I started working at Lympo at the very start, which was the early days of the company around the end of 2017. To this date, we’ve had quite the journey! Just like any other start-up we’ve had our ups and downs, which have led us to what we are now. One thing is for sure, we are stronger than ever after last year when we have joined the Animoca Brands family. I’m still extremely proud of this achievement.
What does your day-to-day as Lympo’s Head of Community look like?
My goal is to ensure that we develop great and trustful customer relations while promoting loyalty and retention within the Lympo community. Most importantly, it’s my job to create a culture and an environment that’s built on trust, where users of the Lympo ecosystem feel like they’re part of the company. A typical day for me is all about back and forth communication with our international customers and investors while planning various activities and promotions that are on the roadmap. I’m continuously in touch with our Marketing department with regard to PR, branding and exposure, community feedback, user retention and so forth.
How has the acquisition of Lympo by Animoca Brands changed your role as Community Manager?
It improved Lympo’s internal and external communication efforts, and it has really helped us to achieve things we couldn’t achieve before. We’re now able to leverage the IP rights that Animoca owns, which attracts many new people to the platform and allows us to grow our community rapidly. We are now part of a much bigger structure, as Animoca Brands is one of the leaders in branded blockchain gaming worldwide. This means that we’re right in the center of what can be considered the future of gaming due to the “Play to Earn” model. At the same time, we’re still very flexible and decentralized as a team, which is definitely a strength if you ask me. So basically, it has had a profound positive impact on Lympo in general, not just the department I’m responsible for.
What do you find most rewarding in your job, and what do you find most challenging?
I really love my job, but sometimes it’s an emotional rollercoaster. It can be quite challenging because the crypto market fluctuates heavily based on cycles and waves, so people don’t really hold anything back when they’re very emotional or unhappy. I always try to make them zoom out and take a look at the bigger picture because we’re a company with a long-term focus.
At the same time, it can be highly rewarding to witness happy customers and happy community members, because the excitement that community members bring with them can be really infectious. It’s exactly that excitement, the success stories and the friendships we’ve built along the way, that make up the Lympo family that we are today, and it makes me even more optimistic for the future.
What’s the secret to successfully managing so many different community channels?
I believe that communities are the driving force for all companies and platforms, especially after our society as a whole will become more decentralized. I think that future companies will build platforms around exciting communities, rather than attracting people to new platforms. We can already see how communities over Reddit fight Wallstreet and are able to become such a powerful voice. We try to ensure that we have many brand ambassadors that are community members themselves. We find it really important not to give out empty commitments and expectations because we want to build a foundation of trust that forms powerful relationships. That — to me — is the most important thing when building a community.
What are you most excited about when it comes to Lympo’s potential?
Everyone knows that I’m probably one of the most optimistic people when it comes to Lympo’s future because I know very well how much effort is put in every day and how many nights of sleep are sacrificed for Lympo to become a success. We’ve kicked things off with a bang this year, but it’s really only the beginning of our new journey. We have many exciting announcements in development, new partnerships to publish, new athletes and superstars who will join the Lympo platform, and awesome things to implement with regard to the “Play to Earn” gamification model of the Lympo platform. I’m also very excited that Animoca Brands has a strategic partnership with Binance Smart Chain, which automatically opens many doors and opportunities for Lympo.
If you could dream about an athlete that you could add to the platform with his/her NFT, who would it be?
Not many international community members know, but Lithuanians are crazy about basketball. So I would probably add some well-known basketball player. We already had a partnership with NBA team Dallas Mavs back in the day, but I would most likely go for all-time stars such as Michael Jordan or one of the best-known Lithuanian basketball players out there — Arvydas Sabonis — who has played seven seasons in the NBA for the Portland Trail Blazers and is recognized as one of the best European players of all time.
Oh and now you probably understand where I got my name from, my mom was a huge fan.. 😂
What do you do outside of Lympo, when you’re not thinking about work?
Outside of Lympo, I actually still meet up with the Lympo team a lot. We don’t consider ourselves just colleagues, as we became very good friends over the last few years. Yesterday we even went bungee jumping together!
I prefer an active lifestyle, so sadly the lockdown has limited the ability to do things outside. But things are changing for the better again now. One year ago, I turned my life around. I started living a much healthier lifestyle and I took boxing classes, which I still highly enjoy to this day.
Being open to learning new things and keeping a strong focus is probably my strength. And like most, I love to travel and experience new cultures. You can probably call me a dreamer, but all my dreams came true so far and I strongly believe yours will too if you never stop believing in yourself. So enjoy the present and know that the best days are yet ahead of you!
Looking ahead
I’m sure you know that there is always a calm before a storm, which is exactly what you’re all waiting for. I know we’re repeating this over and over, but soon all pieces of the puzzle will align. Stay tuned!
Want to know more?
Visit the Lympo NFT minting platform.
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