2023年クリプト・web3最大の注目プロジェクトSui！そのインフラ構築を行うMysten LabsのCEO Evan Chengインタビュー！

Summary

In this interview, Evan Cheng, the tech entrepreneur behind Sui, discusses his journey from Apple and Meta to founding Mysten Labs. He outlines Sui's mission to create internet infrastructure that empowers developers and consumers, contrasting it with existing blockchain models. Cheng emphasizes the importance of building a community and ecosystem that prioritizes real-world applications and consumer benefits, highlighting upcoming projects in gaming, finance, and social products that leverage Sui's unique design.

Takeaways

• 😀 Evan, the tech business veteran with 26 years of experience, is the founder of Mysten Labs and has a mission to build infrastructure for the internet.
• 🌟 Evan's career includes 10 years at Apple and 6.5 years at Meta, where he focused on solving complex technical and product problems.
• 🚀 Mysten Labs' first project, Sui, aims to solve the 'ownership layer problem' for the internet, offering a different approach from existing blockchains.
• 🔍 Sui is designed to be a public blockchain that is open and decentralized, with efforts being made to establish the Sui Foundation to support the community.
• 💡 Evan's interest in crypto was sparked by the potential he saw in blockchain to address centralization issues in the internet, empowering developers and consumers.
• 🏦 Centralization in the internet is problematic as it leads to big companies controlling distribution and profit, squeezing out smaller creators and businesses.
• 🛠 The goal of Sui is to enable developers to create new types of products that benefit consumers by facilitating direct relationships and cutting out middlemen.
• 🌐 Evan emphasizes that Sui's approach is different from other blockchains, even though they use the same programming language, Move, which was designed to be cross-platform.
• 🤝 Mysten Labs is engaging with brands and companies across various sectors to build trust and showcase the potential of Sui for real-world applications.
• 🌍 Evan sees Japan as a unique market with a culture of thoughtfulness and sophistication, which aligns well with the careful and innovative approach of Sui.
• 🔮 Upcoming developments for Sui include a vibrant gaming ecosystem, DeFi innovations, and unique consumer products that leverage the platform's design to solve real problems.

Q & A

What is the background of Evan and what led him to the blockchain and crypto space?

Evan has been in the tech and business industry for 26 years, with a focus on solving complex technical and product problems. He spent 10 years at Apple and 6.5 years at Meta. His interest in blockchain and crypto was sparked around 2016-2018, leading him to work on the Libra/Diem project at Facebook before eventually co-founding Mysten Labs.

What is the mission of Mysten Labs and what problem are they trying to solve?

Mysten Labs aims to build infrastructure that could become the fabric of the internet. Their first project, Sui, is focused on solving the ownership layer problem for the internet, offering a different approach from existing blockchains.

What is the relationship between Mysten Labs and the Sui Foundation?

Mysten Labs is developing the Sui blockchain, while the Sui Foundation, a separate organization, is focused on growing and supporting the community. Evan is the only personnel overlap between the two entities, serving at the board level.

Why did Evan and his co-founders decide to leave Meta to start Mysten Labs?

Evan and his co-founders left Meta because they wanted to build something significant in the blockchain space and believed they could do it better outside the constraints of a large corporation.

What is unique about Sui compared to other blockchains in the market today?

Sui is designed to be very different from existing blockchains, with a unique programming model, data model, and approach to tokenization that aims to be more efficient and suitable for a wide range of applications.

How does Evan view the current state of the internet and its centralization?

Evan sees the centralization of the internet as a significant problem, with large platforms controlling distribution and profit, leading to a lack of transparency and fairness for content creators and consumers.

What is the potential impact of Sui on the gaming industry according to Evan?

Sui could enable gaming companies to engage with customers in new ways, ensuring that their efforts are not wasted and allowing them to retain loyalty beyond individual games.

How does Evan perceive the role of blockchain in commerce and finance?

Evan believes that blockchain can offer a more efficient and flexible approach to commerce and finance by cutting out middlemen and replacing them with trusted code.

What is Evan's perspective on the importance of building products for the mass market in the blockchain space?

Evan emphasizes the need for developers to think beyond building products for existing enthusiasts in the space, to create products that can be adopted by the mass market and solve real consumer problems.

What are some of the upcoming developments in the Sui ecosystem that Evan is excited about?

Evan is excited about the development of a vibrant gaming ecosystem, innovative commerce products, and unique designs that leverage the unique capabilities of Sui, aiming to solve real problems for both developers and consumers.

What message does Evan have for the audience interested in Mysten Labs and Sui?

Evan encourages the audience to look deeper into the technology and consider building products for the mass market, emphasizing the importance of solving real problems and not just catering to those already in the blockchain space.

Outlines

00:00

😀 Introduction to Evan and Sui's Mission

Evan introduces himself as a tech and business professional with 26 years of experience, including tenures at Apple and Meta. He expresses his interest in solving complex problems and his journey into the blockchain space after discovering crypto. The mission of Sui, a project initiated by Evan and his co-founders, is to build internet infrastructure with a focus on solving the ownership layer problem. Sui aims to be different from existing blockchains, with a public blockchain that is decentralized and not controlled by any single entity. The Sui Foundation is established to support and grow the community around the Sui ecosystem.

05:01

🤔 Centralization Issues in the Internet and Sui's Role

Evan discusses the centralization problem in the current internet landscape, where large companies control distribution and profit, leaving little transparency or earnings for content creators. He highlights the impact of platform policies on businesses and consumers, using examples like Apple's App Store policies affecting companies like Epic Games. Sui's goal is to empower developers to create a more coordinated internet, replacing middlemen with trusted code, thus facilitating transactions between creators and consumers directly.

10:01

🛠️ Sui's Technical Philosophy and Differentiation

Evan explains Sui's technical approach, emphasizing the differences between Sui and other blockchains, despite similarities in programming language. He criticizes the general architecture of blockchain, including data models and token primitives, as not making sense for efficient storage and development. Sui is being built from the ground up with a different programming model and use of the Move language, designed to be cross-platform and support the unique vision of Sui.

15:03

🎯 Sui's Vision and Impact on Various Industries

The conversation turns to Sui's vision for impacting various industries like gaming, commerce, and finance. Evan outlines how Sui can enable new types of products beneficial to consumers and developers by facilitating direct relationships and cutting out middlemen. He stresses the importance of showcasing Sui's capabilities through innovative products that can demonstrate its value to a broader audience.

20:03

🌏 Evan's Visit to Tokyo and Sui's Global Outreach

Evan shares his reasons for visiting Tokyo, highlighting the opportunity to meet with brands and companies interested in Sui. He discusses the importance of building relationships and trust with potential partners and the role of the Sui Foundation in supporting the growth of the ecosystem. Evan also touches on the uniqueness of the Japanese market and its potential for embracing Sui's technology, considering the cultural and business environment.

25:06

🚀 Sui's Upcoming Developments and Message to the Community

Evan anticipates a vibrant gaming ecosystem and the development of innovative financial products on Sui. He emphasizes the importance of building consumer-oriented products and providing developers with the tools to create without worrying about the complexities of smart contract development. Evan encourages the community to look deeper into Sui's technology and to think beyond building products only for the existing crypto audience, aiming for broader market appeal.

🙏 Closing Remarks and Thanks

The conversation concludes with thanks and well-wishes for Evan's work on Sui and the upcoming launch of the ecosystem. There is an expression of hope for future meetings and collaborations.

Keywords

💡Evan

Evan is the individual being interviewed in the video. He is a tech entrepreneur with a rich background in solving complex technical and product problems, having worked for major companies like Apple and Meta. His journey and insights are central to the video's narrative, as he discusses his current project, Sui, and its mission.

💡Sui

Sui is a blockchain project that aims to solve the 'ownership layer problem' for the internet. It is a public blockchain designed to be open and decentralized, with the goal of becoming a fundamental part of the internet's infrastructure. The term 'Sui' is repeatedly mentioned throughout the script.

Highlights

Evan introduces himself as a tech business professional with 26 years of experience, including 10 years at Apple and 6.5 years at Meta.

Mission of Sui is to build infrastructure that could become the fabric of the internet, starting with solving the ownership layer problem for the internet.

Sui's approach is different from existing blockchains, aiming to provide a unique solution to the market.

Evan's interest in crypto was sparked by the potential he saw in blockchain to solve centralization issues in the internet.

Centralization of the internet is problematic for consumers and stifles the original intent of the internet as an open platform.

Sui's mission is to empower developers to create products that benefit consumers by reducing the role of middlemen.

Evan explains the difference between Sui and other blockchains, emphasizing the unique use of the Move programming language.

Sui's vision includes a vibrant gaming ecosystem and innovative commerce products that leverage blockchain technology.

The Sui Foundation is being established to support and grow the community, separate from Mission Labs.

Evan discusses the challenges and opportunities of running a blockchain company during a period of high demand and attention.

The importance of building trust and relationships with potential partners in the blockchain space.

Evan's visit to Tokyo is for meeting potential partners and discussing the future of Sui in the Japanese market.

Cultural insights into the Japanese market and how it differs from other Asian regions in terms of brand dominance and approach to innovation.

Evan sees potential in Japan's conservative approach to web3, as it aligns with Sui's focus on solving real problems for consumers.

Upcoming expectations for the Sui ecosystem include unique gaming and social products that leverage Sui's distinct design.

A message to the audience to look deeper into Sui's technology and to think beyond building products only for existing crypto enthusiasts.

Transcripts

uh thank you so much Evan for this

opportunity I'm so happy to have you in

my channel I'm so glad thank you so much

thank you for having me thank you so um

today we want to go over just a brief

introduction about yourself Mr love sui

and what the mission of sui what are you

guys doing and roadmap ahead and

something alongside

um of those stories that I want to ask

you is that okay yeah sounds good okay

so um the first of all can you briefly

introduce about yourself Mr lab and Tsui

yeah so I'm Evans uh being the tech

business for 26 years uh always kind of

a you know interesting solving complex

technical problems and product problems

spent 10 years at Apple followed by six

and a half years in meta during my

career I've done a lot of different

things but mostly wrong program language

and some of the complex you know sort of

system software has some recognition by

you know in the space before probably

build software that runs out every

phones out there and every desktop

before so

um you know kingly interest in kind of

the the sort of the interface between

developers and software and how they

impact consumers so fast forward a few

years

um you know so

2016 17 18 there was a time so when I

discovered you know kind of blockchain

crypto and always had an interest in

building kind of building something

significant in their space decided to

stay inside Facebook to kind of

basically things on R D efforts for the

Libra slash DM kind of project that's

sort of my

professional career started my

professional career in this website in

crypto

um

fast forward to

2021 uh you know so the DM project was

running down the team were very very

interested in sort of like kind of you

know Flex what they can build and so

that's where I decided if I want

something done right I maybe I have to

do it myself so I left along with my

co-founders who started missing lab so

Mission lab is a software company our

job is to build infrastructure that you

know kind of we hope they will become

the fabric of the internet yeah um you

know so we the first project we take on

the big big thing we take on first is

solving the ownership layer problem for

the internet that that's the Genesis of

Suite right that's how we start kind of

thinking about what um kind of you know

what that should look like right that's

going to be very different to the the

blockchain that exists on the Block on

the on the market today and and so that

you know we we in the process of

building three you know getting close to

mainnet three is a

kind of public blockchain is open

network you know in the spirit of

decentralization you certainly cannot be

controlled by a mission lab or any

commercial entities so we're already

taking the efforts to help establish the

free Foundation which is now a

completely different organization

um you know with no overlap of personnel

yeah except at the board level one

person that's me

um you know so you know so that's the

sort of relationship so going forward

the three Foundation is you know we'll

be kind of focusing on growing the

community supporting the community

handling a lot of the

sort of the various programs relatives

we you know we believe over time there

will be like like an internet any kind

of open software infrastructure will be

lots and lots of different organizations

different entities would contribute to

the growth of three okay ecosystem so

that's sort of a you know a quick tier

of Dr thank you oh sweet how what made

you interested in crypto yeah it's a

good question so you know early on just

a lot of curious curiosity you know what

is this concept can do over the years

when I kind of looking at the you know

thinking about it talking to developers

understand the potential we kind of come

to a thesis right so

um

you know I'll say people probably don't

recognize you know how important Webster

is and what problem is solving right so

the centralization internet is really

real right if you look at around the big

big major platforms the big companies in

web 2 today from Google YouTube to you

know Instagram Tick Tock to the app

stores right it's basically uh big

companies the middlemen essentially uh

squeezing all the profit they're

controlling distribution and that's the

way to for them to make money right so

um user generate contents are probably

what part YouTube everybody know the

story but very very few really have made

you know kind of there's very little

transparency the very few sort of

creators have actually made a you know a

business a living out of it and the num

you know you're probably seeing a lot

hear lots of stories like that right you

know very popular video ended up making

very little money for the Creator right

tick tock or whatnot uh so that's the

example right and and today these days

is even more jarring right because all

these platform themselves or this

implications itself are sort of being

squeezed by

you know Apple which load over them

right by the app store right Apple can

basically penalize like epic game right

by removing them for right disagreement

disagreeing with sun right they tell you

what to do how much you charge right

what payment you you do they take 30

right

um so and they uh and their policy

changes have a major impact on the

business such as Facebook which in turn

have major impact on small medium

business in how they require customers

so the centralization of the internet is

actually really really bad for consumers

that is very very far away from where

the internet start out to be

um so so that's the problem we're trying

to solve we're not the one solving

ourselves we are hoping to empower

developer to solve this okay right so

because we want to get the internet back

to more of a coordination right creators

consumers and you have a platform in

between you know you have a sort of

facilitator right the third party to

help you facilitate the transaction

between them and that is the power of

blockchain web3 is about this

intermediation right replacing the

middleman with some with code that you

trust right so that that's the theory

that's the philosophy behind it and we

believe that's really worth solving and

now a lot of people compare

because the

the language you guys both use yeah but

um I believe a lot of people kind of

misunderstand

um some concept different concept and

also can you explain

um so yes right I mean it's kind of

silly people equating the blockchains to

be the same just based on the

programming language that you use right

you know uh the the concepts are

actually quite different right so the

app testing you know some of the

colleagues we had back at meta you know

it's a you know it's a reasonable

approach to commercialize open source

software you know that's building big

tech companies there's tons of tons of

examples out there

um yeah completely cool we my co-founder

and I when we left we consider that

option for about half second and you

know it was not really ever serious

considered right because the reason we

want to leave meta to do something

yourself and want to solve problem is

also recognition that we don't believe

the blockchain the general architecture

um makes sense yeah right we think the

data model doesn't make sense right

token is a primitive makes very little

sense right the programming model where

you throw away dependency information

you're now capturing information makes

no sense

uh you know data that's in in the global

states that makes no sense right it's

going to make storage very very

expensive so all those things to us

doesn't make sense right so we want to

build something different from the

ground up yes we use move where I move

was con you know designed by my

co-founder Sam and it's meant to be

cross-platform so obviously we use move

but even the language the program model

the way you use move it's going to be

very different so

and I think I think you know for people

who haven't had the chance to re look

deeply into the technology it's probably

a reasonable assumption right both teams

come out meta and there's some

similarities in terms of language

but you know I think we're starting to

get very very clear indication from the

developer Community they recognize uh

the the power of our platform and so

we're really really happy with how

things are shaping up okay thank you

um you already briefly touched up on

this but um what's the really the big

mission what's the things that you guys

want to accomplish through this project

yeah so that's a good question right and

and to answer the question properly you

really have to

you know talk about the results while

we're envisioning

um so if you think about people ask

often us ask what vertical we're going

after right because the things we think

about it really is not per vertical it's

really vertical it's really you know

how they impact the consumer right and

what are the impact the developers so if

you look at gaming which is a big part

of the early launch of sui you know a

lot of gaming partners are you know kind

of utilizing blockchain web Suite to for

customer engagement to them is very very

important how do they ensure the gamers

their efforts are not going to waste

right how can we they retain the royalty

loyalty beyond the game right

um so that that's one right in Commerce

it's slightly different right it's it's

also engagement but in very different

way right so now brands are looking

around and say Hey you know acquiring

customers become very expensive

engagement becomes very difficult

because

the advertising model the data is a lot

worse than before because all the

privacy policy changes around that so

they're looking at this opportunity to

have a direct relationship with consumer

right you know brand and consumer

directly bypassing middlemen right and

then in the financial world it's all

about

this intermediation for efficiency right

if you create a new kind of Capital

Market new kind of financial product if

you cut up the middleman replacing with

programs you're going to have a more

efficient product uh may be more

flexible or for different kind of

service so everyone is different but

ultimately the the sheer common thing

that is new type of product that's going

to be beneficial to the consumers that's

going to allow developer

different ways to you know sort of

interact with their customer it's going

to be a very different relationship

between so again the triangle you know

consumer creator

and the platform distribution platform

so that's what it's about right that's

what we were trying to enable uh and to

do that right we need partner that sort

of build or showcase yeah right the

examples which people

sort of like

couldn't recognize the value right

because very similar to what's happening

in the generative AI space right it took

the technology has been there for a

while and but it took chat gbt to get

everybody excited because you actually

can see the the benefit you can see the

result right so that's what we're

looking for

um so long answer to your question is

that's where we're looking for those

showcase example yeah that that sort of

give us a pass forward this whole Space

a path forward to you know create more

value for consumers okay thank you

um how do you feel how is it like

running a web through company or

blockchain company in this type of

period of time

it's exhilarating because there's a lot

of opportunity and exhilarating also

because we believe in what we're doing

we're building and it's really really

great to see it coming

together it's really great to see the

community

the excitement from the developers the

partners we work with it's also very

challenging this is very demanding you

know

with attention

you know there's a lot of Demand on time

or energy so so that's that's

challenging part fortunately we have a

great team right uh and the street

Foundation also have a great team so so

that you know sort of the sheer

responsibility Among Us

um

well before you work for the Apple meta

big companies but they also have

shareholders

um and then now you have rather a

community is it different yeah it's very

different right when you work for a big

company especially my real back then is

focused more on Building Technology you

kind of insulate the phone all that

right right who cares right you know

there are people you know deal with

investor relation you know uh it's very

very different than in webstery when

you're building first of all

completely different position than I was

before

um you know so there is that part right

there's a lot of expectation

um you know and there's we also in a way

how we behave shapes so the culture of

the community yeah right if you're

professional the community is going to

be more professional uh if we care about

developers and a lot of focus more on on

the developers so you know we're setting

examples so so that all the eyes on us

and the Empire is very very different

okay let's um go to the east Tokyo this

week

um what made you come to Dubai I mean

what made you come to Tokyo

um yeah the timing is actually you know

I came this week not because it is Tokyo

because we know a lot of the people

going to be here a lot of people want to

make meet uh you know we have a lot of

conversation with you know Brands and

big companies in all different sectors

they're interesting website right as you

know Japan is open for business right

and that's that's really exciting

um you know so I have a lot of friends

and a lot of partners that that's

excited about exploring the space three

so I'm here to share my thoughts within

answer the questions see how we can work

together

oh that's Premier units um you know I

know there's a lot of events and parties

but you know that's that's not for me

right but yeah but have you guys been

speaking to like Japanese companies or

you just started or how is the situation

um there's been some conversation for a

while now you know it's it's a you know

first you you really use

you know sort of we've been building

right it's great to you know sort of

share our progress with these potential

Partners to to ensure so they understand

what we're about can show them progress

and result uh building a relationship is

really important build trust

um and you can imagine a lot of these

companies are when when thinking about

kind of doing something very very

different

the amount of effort they have goes

through about thinking they have to to

go you know put into these products so

so we're just here to help them right

our partners are essential to the

long-term to the success of this

platform so we just want to offer them

the best support the only way we're

going to be successful is is if they are

successful right so that's priming it

right we've been having some

conversation with a number of Japanese

firms

um you know it's just it's just really

exciting to see

this relationship will come to something

some some fruition real real products

the benefit consumer will come out okay

yeah do you see any

um uniqueness in Japan market and then

something similar to other Asian region

or like something in common yeah

Japan is a very unique

um you know I think

culturally

as well as sort of you know well first

of all culturally is more

very thoughtful you know in Japanese has

always been very thoughtful they care

about their value to society to the

world

potentially even before their own

benefit profit right so that's very

unique that reflects in in the products

it's very sophisticated right as well

very detailed so those are all great and

also you know sort of more dominant by

bigger established Brands

biggest IP

kind of creation country in the world

right some of the big big IP so lots and

lots of unique elements about Japan

which is very very different from

let's say

you know a lot of the chinese-speaking

countries some of the country that have

you know sort of more of a startup you

know kind of vibe to it quite different

even in gaming I think the approach you

know is the Japanese gaming

company is taking is quite different

than say you know the Korean gaming

companies yeah very unique okay and then

do you see

um potentials because now Japanese

government try to not just open to

abroad but they're specifically

targeting on what three and then the

culture wise web3 and Japanese a little

bit conservative culture kind of sees

contradiction maybe potentially but what

do you think

any of the

yes or no right and I think I think you

know I think again right Webster really

is not about

speculations you know airdrops party

Vibes

um it's actually about solving a real

problem right so so if you think from

that angle the conservative approach the

Japanese company are taking is actually

quite compatible right how do you offer

you know some you know to let consumer

control their own asset but in a way

provide them with scar rails safety net

that's actually really really important

and I think Japan has Market has an

opportunity to set example how it's been

how can it be done right so again I'm

using this example I've I shared a

number of times is well you think what

happened with aft market right the

concept is great give Creator another

way to reach the consumer

but what we see is

the centralized Marketplace are

controlling whether they pay royalty

right that if you can't even protect the

Creator in that way how you're going to

protect the consumer so uh these

products really require different design

different thinking uh you know this is

one example right roti's for example

what about kyc ml for payments for other

kind of use cases for security for

financial products what about copyright

infringement problem how do you ensure

people creating the asset on chain asset

actually have the rights to create them

how do you verify how do you where do

you store the test station what's the

equivalent of a baseball card and the

baseball card which is authenticated

signature what's equivalent in that how

do you attach more information to the

asset so you know this is actually very

compatible with the Way Suite think

about you know sort of the the building

block

so so yeah we're actually extremely

excited about that opportunity okay

um going back to the silly ecosystem

what's the

um something that we can expect from you

know you guys for this maybe summer or

something this year and a little bit

like maybe too early to talk but like

early next year or something like that

well

um

we're going to have a very vibrant

gaming kind of ecosystem even from the

beginning

we are seeing a lot of the sort of the

D5 on-chem you know Finance how we want

to call it starting to develop uh for

example we're we're partnering with with

a startup building a debug which is an

Unchained order book the difference here

is it's public utility it's probably

good and then we want

you know it's about laying the

groundwork laying out all the

infrastructure for consumer product to

be built in the right way so it's pretty

exciting

um

you know gaming is exciting some

Commerce products we're going to see is

on the social product that they're

clearly are coming are very exciting and

very Innovative they use a lot of the

unique design of our suite so

again I think at this point a lot of

most of everybody's experimenting yeah

right in Webster you can point into this

example that example uh just do what

that product done you have a chance

you're going to be successful it's about

discovering that right so

um we're going to see a lot of also

unique product and that's that's a great

starting point a lot more product with

at least consumers in mind solving real

problems a lot of products that with

developers in mind solving their pain

point over time you know we want three

to be almost abstract away from the

product Builder right they always have

to think about only thing that I should

think about is like well do I want to

give control the asset in their product

to to be controlled by the consumer then

they build use three they may not need

to think too much about the complexity

of smart contract development there will

be different tools and integration kind

of middleware that help then solve those

kind of problems so right now we're

basically starting from the ground right

ground layer and and we'll see expect to

see that build up so

you know you know the time is running

out so lastly can you please give some

message to the audience maybe Japanese

audience or audience just in general

who's looking forward to your product

um so I would say

you know really look a little bit deeper

uh for for you know the consumers right

and I think I think

um if you are

excited about web's really excited about

the different blockchain technology look

deeper uh what we see is really really

very different uh

um like pretty much every aspect so you

know how the pipeline Works through the

programming model everything is very

different if you are a developer totally

do that but also think about building

product for Mass market and I think

that's a message I want to convey too

often we see developer in the space uh

only thinking about sort of building

products for the DJs for people already

in the space that that ultimately limits

not just your audience but also your

creativity

so so think beyond that

um yeah those are will be the message I

have to convey thank you so much thank

you so much so much for your time

despite your busy schedule and hopefully

um I can see some somewhere else and

also

we wish you for the big success thank

you launch and ecosystem thank you thank

you thank you so much for having me yeah