VeVe Business UPDATE - A NEW Chapter Begins!

Summary

In this business update, the leadership team at Viv's Business introduces Ben Rose as the new co-CEO. Co-founders David and Dan reflect on the company's journey since its 2017 launch, emphasizing the growth and community engagement. They discuss the importance of expanding the team to support future growth, with Ben bringing valuable experience from his role at Binance. The team shares their passion for digital collectibles and outlines plans for the company's future, including increased transparency and community involvement.

Takeaways

• 😀 The company was started in 2017 and has grown significantly since its launch.
• 🚀 The founders, David and Dan, are passionate collectors and have built a strong community around their platform.
• 📈 The company is focused on growth and expansion, aiming to be a market leader in the digital collectibles space.
• 👥 They have brought on a new co-CEO, Ben Rose, to help lead the company into its next phase of growth.
• 🌟 Ben Rose comes from a tech background, with experience at Binance as CEO for the Australian and New Zealand region.
• 🌐 The company is looking to expand into new markets and is excited about the potential of digital collecting.
• 🌟 Ben is a collector himself, with a passion for physical collectibles as well as digital ones.
• 📊 Collecting as a hobby is a massive industry, worth over $600 billion annually and growing.
• 🔄 The company is committed to transparency and will be providing more updates to the community about its roadmap and future plans.
• 🎉 They are looking forward to future events, such as the upcoming New York City meetup.

Q & A

What is the purpose of this business update video?

The purpose of the business update video is to introduce important announcements, including the introduction of a new co-CEO for the company, and to discuss the company's growth and future plans.

Who are the key speakers in the video?

The key speakers in the video are Aaron (community manager), Dan (co-founder), David (co-founder), and the new co-CEO, Ben Rose.

When was the company founded, and how long has it been in operation?

The company, referred to as Viv or VV, was founded in 2017, which means it has been in operation for around seven years.

What major change is announced in the video?

The major change announced is the appointment of a new co-CEO, Ben Rose, who will work alongside the existing leadership team to guide the company into its next phase of growth.

What is Ben Rose's background, and why was he chosen as co-CEO?

Ben Rose has a background in blockchain and tech, having previously worked as a CEO for Binance in the Australian and New Zealand region. His experience in scaling businesses and knowledge of blockchain technology made him a suitable candidate for co-CEO.

What are Ben Rose’s main priorities as the new co-CEO?

Ben Rose's main priorities as co-CEO include listening and learning about the company’s operations, engaging with the community, and working closely with the team to focus on executing plans and growing the business.

How does the leadership team envision the company's growth?

The leadership team envisions significant growth for the company through expanding into new markets, particularly in Asia, and bringing in new partnerships and intellectual properties (IPs). They aim to lead the digital collectibles market and enter new verticals.

What are some of Ben Rose’s personal collecting interests?

Ben Rose is passionate about collecting both digitally and in real life. His favorite digital collectibles include the Sesame Street set and the Back to the Future DeLorean. He also collects physical Funko Pops, WWE figures, and a royal family set.

How does the team plan to improve communication with the community?

The team recognizes the importance of transparency and plans to improve communication by keeping the community updated on the company’s progress and road map. Ben Rose has committed to being a key communicator with the community.

What is the significance of the digital collectibles market according to the speakers?

The digital collectibles market is growing rapidly, at a rate of 20-30% annually. The leadership team sees great potential for growth in this space and believes that VV, as a leader in the digital collectibles market, is well-positioned to capitalize on this trend.

Outlines

00:00

🎉 Exciting Business Update and Leadership Introduction

The video opens with Aaron, the community manager, introducing an exciting business update. He presents the leadership team: David Yu (co-founder), Dan (CRS co-founder), and himself. The discussion focuses on the company's history, where they are now, and future directions. Dan reflects on the company's journey since its founding in 2017, highlighting their growth and community engagement. He also hints at a major announcement of a new co-CEO.

05:03

🤝 Welcoming the New Co-CEO: Ben Rose

Dan and David announce Ben Rose as the new co-CEO of the company. They share how long it took to find the right candidate, highlighting Ben’s experience and his suitability for the role. Ben expresses his excitement about joining and looks forward to working with the team. His background in tech and leadership in blockchain, especially at Binance, makes him a strong addition to the leadership team.

10:05

📈 Ben's Background and His Role as Co-CEO

Ben Rose shares his background in the tech industry, specifically his leadership roles at Binance, where he launched and grew the New Zealand and Australian markets. He emphasizes his passion for blockchain and digital collectibles, which makes him excited about the company’s potential. Ben is a collector himself, with a personal interest in collectibles like Funko Pops and memorabilia, which aligns with the company’s focus on digital and physical collecting.

15:05

🌍 Growth and Vision for the Future

David and Dan discuss their excitement about Ben's appointment and the company’s ambitious plans for growth. They aim to scale the business, explore new verticals, and maintain their position as leaders in digital collectibles. They also express confidence in Ben’s ability to help them achieve 'hypergrowth' and expand into new markets, especially in Asia, while continuing to develop partnerships with major brands.

Keywords

💡Community Manager

A Community Manager is responsible for overseeing and engaging with a company's community, often online. In the video, the Community Manager, Aaron, is facilitating the discussion and announcements, highlighting the role's importance in maintaining a connection with the audience and driving the company's communication strategy.

💡Co-founder

A co-founder is one of the people who establish a company together. In the script, David and Dan are mentioned as co-founders of the company, emphasizing their integral roles in the establishment and growth of the business, as well as their vision for its future.

💡Digital Collectibles

Digital collectibles are items that are collected digitally, often in the form of non-fungible tokens (NFTs). The video discusses the company's focus on digital collectibles, indicating a niche market where collectors can engage with items such as digital art or virtual goods, as opposed to physical collectibles.

💡Growth

Growth in a business context refers to an increase in size, revenue, or market share. The video frequently mentions growth, indicating the company's ambition to expand and the addition of a new co-CEO to facilitate this expansion, suggesting a strategic move to enter new markets and increase user engagement.

💡Co-CEO

A co-CEO is a shared leadership role where two individuals share the responsibilities of a Chief Executive Officer. The announcement of a new co-CEO, Ben, in the video signifies a significant change in the company's leadership structure, aimed at driving growth and managing the company's expansion.

💡Blockchain

Blockchain is a decentralized digital ledger technology that underpins cryptocurrencies and NFTs. The script mentions Ben's background in blockchain from his time at Binance, suggesting that his expertise in this field will be leveraged to enhance the company's digital collectibles platform, possibly by incorporating blockchain technology to ensure the authenticity and scarcity of digital items.

💡Web3

Web3 refers to the next generation of the internet, often associated with decentralized applications and blockchain technology. The video mentions making web3 technology accessible, indicating the company's intention to simplify and integrate blockchain-based services for users, making digital collectibles more user-friendly and accessible.

💡Hypergrowth

Hypergrowth refers to a rapid and significant increase in a company's size or value. The term is used in the video to describe the company's aspirations under the new leadership, suggesting an aggressive expansion plan and a focus on quickly scaling the business to new heights.

💡Transparency

Transparency in a business context means being open and clear about operations, plans, and policies. The video emphasizes the importance of transparency, with the new co-CEO committing to keeping the community updated, which is crucial for building trust and maintaining a positive relationship with the company's audience.

💡Collecting

Collecting, as discussed in the video, refers to the hobby of acquiring items, which can range from physical memorabilia to digital assets. The script highlights the global value of collecting and the company's role in transitioning this traditional hobby into the digital realm, indicating a broad market and potential for growth in digital collectibles.

💡IP (Intellectual Property)

Intellectual property (IP) refers to creations of the mind, such as inventions, literary and artistic works, designs, symbols, names, and images used in commerce. The video mentions IPs like Sesame Street and Back to the Future, indicating partnerships with well-known brands to create digital collectibles, which can attract fans and collectors of these franchises.

Highlights

Introduction of Ben Rose as the new co-CEO of the company, joining Dan and Dave in leading the business.

Company started in 2017 and has grown significantly over the past seven years, expanding from a small team to 300 employees.

Dan and Dave emphasized the importance of community engagement and the loyal fanbase in the company's growth.

Digital collecting is growing rapidly, with Vivi positioned as the market leader in the space.

Ben Rose's background includes leadership roles in Binance, specifically in Australia and New Zealand, and experience in the tech and blockchain sectors.

Ben highlights the potential of blockchain technology for enforcing scarcity, which is crucial for the digital collectible market.

Ben is a passionate collector, particularly in Funko Pops, Sesame Street, and Back to the Future IPs, both digitally and physically.

The company plans to grow into new verticals and regions, with a focus on the Japanese IP market and physical-to-digital partnerships.

Vivi has worked with over 200 of the world’s best brands, but there are many more partnerships to come in the future.

Ben expresses excitement about the future of digital collecting, emphasizing that the industry is just at the beginning of its growth.

The community has called for more transparency, and Ben commits to improving communication between the leadership team and the fanbase.

Vivi's next major appearance will be at New York Comic-Con, with exciting announcements expected during the event.

Dan and Dave acknowledged the need for a strong leadership team to drive the company into its next phase of hypergrowth.

Ben sees significant opportunities for scaling the business, particularly in expanding the user base and tapping into new markets globally.

The digital collectibles market is growing by 20-30% annually, faster than the physical collectibles market, and offers immense potential for future growth.

Transcripts

hey everybody Welcome to viv's business

update today is super exciting we have

with us our amazing leadership team of

David you co-founder and Dan CRS our

co-founder and of course myself my

collectible as your community manager

big special announcements today and

we're going to dive into a whole bunch

of stuff but before we do that we want

to have Dan and Dave talk a little bit

about the history of the company where

we're at where we're going and

specifically Dan if you could start us

off I know you're super excited I am too

but let's get into it uh share with us

some of the thoughts about where we're

at where we're going and then we'll get

to our announcement obviously awesome

yeah thanks so much Aaron um you know as

many of you guys know who are uis that

have been around since the day the app

was launched V was started in 2017 um

book math what's that seven seven

something seven something years ago you

know and it's been a real journey a

roller coaster lots of UPS Downs

excitement also meeting amazing people

um and you know even in the community

you know people have made a lot of

friends

probably for life and really connected

uh on that on that collecting level yeah

we never in our wildest mind we thought

we have built such an engaging community

and it's all because your commitment and

the great partnership that we continue

to great I mean you remember the day

when we switched the app on um in in my

kitchen Pap you would go I hope someone

uh will want to buy a digital

collectible of a Batman and that started

to where we are um and you know as part

of that Journey we really recognize that

as a business we need to grow uh and and

expand the company to what is going to

be a very exciting future you know

obviously Dave and I are massive

collectors like a lot of you guys we

really really believe in this uh digital

collectible future and you know B right

now is really poised to uh Remain the

the market leader of that so recognizing

that growth and understanding you know

means that we need to ensure that our

team internally is uh you know up to par

and we have all the right kind of people

and everything in in place to take us uh

to that exciting future yeah we have a

lot of verticals we want to achieve and

a lot of new things we want to develop

and there's that thing we keep talking

about the first so and a lot of you will

probably heard from my past uh videos I

talk about you know how myself and Dan

as being the first employee in the

company and we're in that stage

transacting to the S Empire I remember

that day to the 17 and the 70 to the 300

as part of that grow Journey we as us we

are growing to learn and how we manage

our business and you know today we want

to do a massive announcement to share

some exciting news with all our fans so

today guys we are super pumped super

excited to introduce you to a new member

of the team that is going to be joining

BB uh he is a new co-ceo who's going to

be working alongside Dave um very very

talented individual and also loves the

space as well yeah this is absolutely

amazing I'm super excited I know the fam

is as well um Dan and Dave how long did

it take you to find uh our new person

that you're going to announce here and

uh can you just maybe talk a little bit

about how you'll be working together yes

um the the Journey of finding this uh

new co-ceo that will be working

alongside myself and then running the

business uh we kind of knew a few

quarters ago the the search was well

underway by finding someone who's

suitable to work with us in this high

performance culture understanding the

industry that we are in and the

technology and what really going to

drive us to that hyperth mode took a

long time as a lot of you will know that

VI wasn't built overnight Simons Rong

was not built an overnight thing so I

hope a lot of you guys will um in in a

way welcome the new leadership with me

and my team and and show him a lot of

support and the community life uh as

part of our journey going forward so

today guys we're very excited to

introduce you to the new

co-ceo um Mr Ben Rose welcome Ben hey

guys hey thanks for having me looking

forward to uh working with all of you

this is amazing Ben so great to see you

thank you so much for joining you guys I

mean this is great hey Ben this this is

for you just right off the bat before we

get into everything what how are you

doing today how you feeling sitting next

to our Founders it should be pretty fun

and pretty cool and then we'll get into

your background and your passions and

your history and what your role will be

but how are you feeling today hey look

I'm feeling great we're at the begin

beginning of an awesome Journey so uh

yeah look feeling fantastic so what is

your background and uh where did you

come from and uh you know maybe some of

your passions you could share with the

fam today as well so no worries look I

so you can detect there's a a British

accent I've actually lived in New

Zealand for over 20 years now um my uh

most recent role was at um crypto

exchange binance I come from uh Tech um

a tech background worked um there for a

few years running the Australian New

Zealand um region as a CEO there so

launched the New Zealand Market um for

binance and grew that that team and that

business and that customer base um and

also um ran and grew the Australian

business too so so I come from from the

world of you know of blockchain and tech

companies um which is which is part of

the reason I was so excited um about Viv

um prior to that my my roles have been

in you know leadership across a few

different categories but always focused

on that Community engagement and

business growth so um yeah that's that's

that's where I come from um personally

I'm a dad of uh three I've got three

lovely daughters and I've got two uh

also lovely dogs um and I've got uh one

very lovely wife so that's uh that's a

bit of about me as your role in uh

co-ceo uh let's get into that a little

bit you know and I'm going to ask David

and Dan as well to speak on this as well

but how is your role as Co going to

start out with right here what what is

your main thing that you're going to be

doing you think with the company yeah so

look the the team have been fantastic

and welcoming and so I've spent um the

last we while working with Dave and Dan

and the team just to get up speed on

things because obviously as you know VI

is an ambitious business with so much

going on um right now and into the

future so so get up to speed on what's

happening there um I've been just just

quietly listening in on the community

and um making sure I'm across the

sentiment in the community um you know

across all different channels over over

the last while so so like you know like

like any um any good CEO first of all

it's all about listening and learning um

right now um that's that's where we're

at working with the team on what the

future plans look like and there are

some really exciting things I got to

tell you some of which you know about

some of which you don't um so so right

now to listen and learning phase but

we're going to move pretty quickly into

execution because as you know um you

know that's it's all very well Happ with

plans but it's the execution that that

is what really defines us so we I'm

going to be really focused on working on

that with with Dave and Dan and the team

so uh yeah you'll see some pretty

exciting stuff coming soon that's super

exciting and Ben I know you're a

collector uh I mean we're going to find

the community is going to find out just

how far it goes I know all three of you

up there are like you know super

passionate you know maybe even more

passionate than I am but I don't know

know that well I think so just looking

behind you right look at the amazing

stuff behind you right there it's crazy

but Ben uh for yourself um what are some

of your favorite Collectibles you know

some of your favorite IPS that we

actually have on V you know just to uh

get a sense of where your fandoms at so

look my favorite set without a shadow of

a doubt right now is the Sesame Street

set so big big fan of Big Bird OS the

Grouch and and Cookie Monster um I'm I'm

also quite in on those in the physical

Physical Realm as well but on on

platform it's

um also a big fan of the Back to the

Future IP so I've had a DeLorean um in

augmented reality parked outside my car

for quite a while now um and I'm I'm I'm

pretty key on adding a few more as well

well that's awesome and I know you're a

big collector in IRL as well you know so

what are some of the physical stuff you

go after and uh you know are you willing

to share your top top collectible that

you might own totally so so look it

started off when I was really little um

with Toy Soldiers had uh lead painted

toy soldiers uh long time ago moved on

when I was slightly older weirdly to

drink cans from around the world uh my

particular favorite was a French drink

called um my parents unsurprisingly

made me get rid of that collection um

and now I'm into I'm into Funko Pops I'm

a real Funko tragic so um yeah every

every every time my uh my wife comes

into the house she spots another one

that she was pretty sure wasn't there

the day before um my favorite my

favorite funkos I think it's it's so

hard right my favorite would be I love

my Sesame Street set I'm not quite there

yet I've got a few few more grils to get

um also uh I'm pretty proud of my WWE

set as well I'm just waiting for

Goldberg to arrive so uh yeah got some

got some pretty cool ones but look it's

hard it's hard to pick a favorite in

fact my royal family set that's grown

too just need Princess Di in there so uh

yeah look there the that that that's the

opportunity and the challenge of

collecting right there is always

something else to get um and I'm I'm

really excited about how we are bringing

that into the digital realm and making

sure that all of those fans around the

world of the different fandoms they know

that there's the physical opportunity

but now their eyes open to the the

digital opportunity and and and let me

just say collecting I don't know if you

guys know this collecting around the

world is worth over $600 billion dollar

a year which is just mindblowing right

and it and it's growing 9 and a half%

every single year so this is a really

exciting space to be and Viv is the

leader um we need to make sure that we

are growing the industry as well as our

own business

um into those New Vertical so really

exciting time can't believe you know the

opportunity to work with you guys is

here really excited I know that vivv has

a nice you know uh niche market here

we're in the digital collecting space

and I know it's growing you know for

sure I know all of our fans and our you

know our collectors here are really

excited but what are your feelings about

the digital collecting space you know as

we like you know navigate through this

and kind of combine the two and how are

your feelings about that and are you are

you super you must be super passionate

about it as as well right yeah so so so

digital collecting is growing even

faster than uh physical collecting so so

digital collecting is growing um

depending on the year about 20 or 30%

year on year that's big right so so if

you think about collecting it's you know

yes it's it's pop culture but it's it's

it's everything from stamps to Wine to

cars to sneakers so all of those um

could work digitally too and and there

are you know there there are some

exciting things that we have done in the

past and some pilots and trials that

we've run in you know in the music world

with black pink and look at the stamp

stamp offerings with with with standy

gens there are so many more the fals I I

think what's exciting about this um as a

as an industry is that we are just at

the beginning of what's possible and Viv

over the last seven years has built a

foundation and a platform to really grow

into that space and and a community of

passionate collectors who really love

and deeply believe in in collecting so I

think you know think think of this as

not not as year seven but as day one I

think digital collecting has got a lot

of really exciting future and you know

VV is absolutely committed to being the

leader is it no that's fantastic I know

that vivv is a growth you know in a

growth area and digital collecting and

everything your experience in the in the

you know in the in binance and in our

web 3 space how is that experience

actually going to you know benefit the

company and uh what do you think you're

going to be bringing to uh to to this

this amazing you know app that we have I

think one of the key things in in in

blockchain and crypto is businesses are

really struggling to find that product

Market fit what's the use case and

actually you know when I when I when I

first met David and those of you who are

searching on YouTube will find me

interviewing him a little while back um

I I you know got to understand how the

nft technology is being used um to

enforce that scarcity and that's exactly

what it's meant to do that fungibility

is is what we're all about right so so

understanding the the use of blockchain

Technology not for its own sake but

actually for a real reason and and

that's you know or to what collectors

are looking for that excited me the

other thing that I think is is is

amazing that VB has done and we got a

build on is making web3 technology

accessible to people who actually aren't

um might might not be into holding

holding tokens opening wallets seed

phrases all that kind of thing just

making it easy it's all about ease of

use and so so I think those two things

combined are really exciting and then

you look at the IPS the 200 plus brands

that vivv works with the best in the

world and there are so many more to come

you know those things combined make for

a really powerful proposition so my my

background is leading teams building

cultures and helping businesses scale I

think what Dave and Dan have done is

absolutely amazing um I also think

there's there's a huge opportunity for

us as a community and as a business to

grow you know Dave used the word

hypergrowth and that's what it's all

about you you look at what vivv has done

think about how it might do that in

other verticals too in other parts of

the world there are so many

opportunities is to work with you the

community um and so look I'm I'm here um

to work help the team grow and scale to

help you the community grow and Thrive

and scale with us um really looking

forward to it that was great and this

question here is for David and Dan I

have one for you coming up as well this

is really exciting uh how excited are

you David that Ben's now joined the team

and uh as well you know maybe touch on

uh what you think the impact is going to

be you in the short term but as well as

in the long term as we talk about growth

as well yeah thank you thanks Aon so we

we you know number one is we at at the

management level we open up and we

coming Bend into this uh I mentioned

earlier on you know it's all about how

we scale and going through that grow

face in our business and it's basically

the right time um to to have them to

come on board uh in in the short terms

we basically we we ask our audience and

Community a little bit more time as we

restructured divisions to make the run

more efficient and for myself and then

can start focusing in more of our road

map what's going to be coming out and

making sure everything is on the road

and the long-term wise as we perceive

new fical and going through that hyper

growth B skills you know coming from

such a wealth of experience and growing

big bigger company and all

multinationals then will be leading us

into new exciting Horizons from here and

the idea is we have new markets that we

want to be in I think we talked about

you know we want to be in Asia we want

to bring more Japanese IP on board for

myself I will be more focused on around

new Partnerships new physicals driving

that digital we talked about so by our

existing partnership with some of the

biggest brands that we have and having

been on board just really helped me

juggle that I mean myself and then we

almost get no sleep already so having

another uh set of brains to help us lead

that in charge in our management and our

senior management team I think really uh

it's no brainer that we have someone who

is in that H hyper grow capability to

bring in and and Aron I think one of the

one of the signs of a great business is

when they they listen to their consumers

they listen to their customers and Dave

and Dan very early on um in our

conversations were saying look our you

know our users want to hear more from us

they want more openness and transparency

they want to understand more about the

road map and what it looks like so I'm

I'm committing to the V fam here that's

that's what I will be here to do we want

Dave and Dan to focus on the stuff that

makes this business great and is going

to take us into the future um I'm going

to make sure to keep you updated on that

um and so we're working with the team on

how that's going to look but you know we

we we hear you we're listening to you

and we're here for you hey I Know Dan

you guys are sitting right beside each

other but I know you guys are going to

be working close together maybe not that

close right I know you have your own

offices and stuff but maybe you could

just touch on like how you feel Ben's

experience in the space as well is

really going to help impact you know

Vivie and especially if how you guys

work together I know you just described

um you know kind of some of the dynamic

and uh I think that's really amazing

maybe from your perspective how you feel

this is going to really enhance things

and uh move forward your work in

relationship yeah I think to um just

what they said um you know this really

gives um both DAV and myself the

opportunity to really focus on those

areas of the business that that where

our real skill sets are um obviously

right now you know the past seven years

it's been a lot of me and da doing

everything obviously we have a lot of

other stuff in the company helping us

now but at that really high senior exact

level uh you know we recognize that you

know we need the skills in there to help

Propel this uh business uh into the

future that that we see for it um and

and secondly to Echo what being said

it's you know we really do understand

that the transparency in the community

is important uh I mean Ben is going to

be an amazing face keep you guys updated

he's committed to it it was here on

camera you heard it um and yeah just

means that we'll be able to knuckle down

and um you know really start delivering

some of these things that uh may not

have arrived yet but have been press

well this has been amazing thank you so

much all three of you for taking the

time today it's so so great to meet you

Ben as well I know we'll talk to you so

much more as time goes on um David maybe

you can uh you know help sign us off a

little bit right here get it started

just with some uh final thoughts about

today yeah we we're totally so happy to

announce this today with all of you and

share this great news as de we turn into

the next chapter our journey from here

you know the last seven years then I

just can't believe how how far we have

come along and I'm just so looking

forward to the next uh

seven years or another journey and the

new chapter the storytelling what we

always talked about and and continue to

bring you more uh great Partnerships new

IPS yeah absolutely um and yeah just

want to say you're a massive welcome and

intro obviously we B massive welcome to

you like and I are very much looking

forward to you know the future ahead um

and yeah next me to M for us is New York

um NYC so really seeing everybody there

thank you guys see you there