Tommaso Di Bartolo is a serial entrepreneur, author, investor, and philanthropist. Considered one of the leading minds in the web3 space, Tommaso is a professor at Republic Realm and faculty at the University of California Berkeley.
He is also the author of Navigating the Metaverse: A Guide to Limitless Possibilities in the web 3.0 era. In this exclusive interview, I had the pleasure of interviewing Tommaso about his new book and the future of web3.
Tommaso has an impressive background in cloud computing, having started his first cloud-based company in 2000:
“In the year 2000/2001, I started my first startup. I began before the word startup even existed, and the word entrepreneur existed. Fast forward, and I had two exits, three startups in cloud computing, and I was one of the pioneers in the business.”
Of course, as an early pioneer in cloud computing, Tommaso was ahead of the game, with web3 likely to utilize cloud technology.
He later created a mobile start-up and currently works as faculty at the University of California Berkeley, working with students in entrepreneurship and blockchain-related learning.
Likewise, he currently advises Upland, a virtual metaverse platform co-founded by Dirk Leuth. A project he is particularly fond of:
“Upland is a metaverse that focuses on mirroring planet Earth, unlike others that are more science fiction/fantasy worlds, our community engages in experiences through cities and neighborhoods that they already know,” said Tommaso
Intrigued by his upcoming book Navigating the Metaverse: A guide to limitless possibilities, authored by Tommaso, Dirk, and esteemed metaverse thought leader Cathy Hackl, I asked about the book’s origins:
“Dirk started to contact Kathy, and I said, ” Hey, guys, I’m working on a book, and we need more thought leadership in this space. Shouldn’t we write a book, maybe the three of us, and yeah, that’s how we kicked off Navigating the metaverse. This discussion started at the beginning of last year.”
“When October happened, and Mark Zuckerberg changed Facebook’s name to Meta, we all looked at each other. We knew this book would be something of value to people who might have questions.”
Tommaso continued:
“I would like to share here, Jack, that I don’t think I know what web 3 actually is, but I want to share what I know. That’s kind of me, you see. I’m saying that with authenticity when writing this book.
“As a matter of fact, last week, I sat down with our editor John. I said to John; we are publishing the book available in all renowned bookstores in the United States, you know, the Barnes and Nobles of the world, right? But if I had to start writing the book right now, I would have a different interpretation of the Metaverse and what I have learned.”
Of course, Tommaso is completely right; due to the sporadic nature of the web3 space, it is tricky to foresee what it may shape up to look like. Asked what the goal of writing the book was, Tommaso explained that the purpose of the book was to contribute and educate:
“So my mission was to contribute and educate. That was the goal. And then, the translation of education became the title of helping others navigate. Kathy is a thought leader, Dirk is a co-founder of one of the major metaverses, and I’m a serial entrepreneur. The book was fun to put together, and so we could share lessons.”
Bullish about the future of web3, Tommaso explained:
“For the first time, we will have a more democratized voice on the internet that is traceable; for the first time, we will have an economy driven by humankind, enabling the end-user to own things, which will reinvent how we think about our identity.”
Although Tommaso can’t share what he is working on in the near future, he does have some exciting projects coming up:
“In the second quarter of this year, something is coming onto the market from an academic standpoint. I’m part of a series of advisory boards focused on startups where I offer them strategic guidance on how to create value, and of course, my new book will be released soon. I will be humbly sharing content in any capacity to make a legacy and contribute to the world.”
You can check out Tommaso’s work here: Tommaso Di Bartolo
Likewise, you can preorder his upcoming book (Navigating the Metaverse: A guide to limitless possibilities in the web 3.0 era) here.
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