As the Vice President of Growth and General Manager of NBA and WNBA Top Shot − a revolutionary web3 experience where sports fans can buy, sell and trade officially licensed digital collectibles of the best moments in NBA and WNBA history −Jayne Peressini has been passionate about sports since childhood.
Growing up in Silicon Valley, it’s also not surprising that this proud Californian’s interest in mobile began at an early age, when she first started porting mobile games to Nokia devices.
“In those pre-app store days, Snake was still the number one game, and no one could have imagined mobile gaming would become part of our daily lives.”
Recognizing the early potential, Jayne stayed in gaming through her career, working at Reddit, sports-tech and betting company DraftKings and gaming giant Electronic Arts (EA).
Nowadays, she’s at Dapper Labs, named the No.1 gaming company of 2022. Its website states it’s in the ‘serious business of fun and games on the blockchain,’ using the power of play to drive mainstream adoption of decentralized technologies.
With Jayne’s assertion that ‘web3 is the natural progression of a digital-first consumer driven world,’ she’s helping drive mass adoption of NFTs and other digital collectibles through blockchain technology and new forms of digital engagement to revolutionize the fan experience. This, she remarks, is ‘paving the way to a more open and inclusive digital world starting with games and entertainment.’
For those not familiar with basketball or digital collectibles of the NBA and WNBA’s greatest plays and players, Jayne explains her role as GM allows her to ‘shape how sports fans and web3 enthusiasts collect what they love, show off their fandom, and connect with other fans of the sport in ways that were not possible before.’
Launched in 2020, NBA Top Shot is a partnership between the NBA, NBPA and Dapper Labs, attracting high-profile investors including NBA legends Michael Jordan and Kevin Durrant. Top players to partner with the platform include Magic Johnson, Klay Thompson, Sue Bird and Sylvia Fowles.
Jayne values her Top Shot community, because they ‘feel so invested and passionate about seeing the product succeed.’
With a penchant for stylish black hats, living life in leather and loving good cigars, − especially hand rolled Cuban Hoyo de Monterrey Epicure 2 ones − Jayne displays an endearing honesty and humor in many tweets. She quips that as a child, the ‘original wallet for collectibles’ was her mom’s attic; for her, it was Beanie Babies, pellet-stuffed toy animals.
Growing up collecting trading cards, she remarks, “While I understood the concept of scarcity, the idea of owning something purely digital was new to me, as was the idea of buying a NFT. My job is to highlight how digital collectibles can bring fans closer to their favorite players and teams than ever before.”
The Metaverse for her, is whatever you want it to be, without limitation.
“If web2 was the rise of social media and construction of walled gardens (Facebook, Google, Twitter, Snap), then the Metaverse is the breakdown of walled gardens and rise of total connection and exploration.”
As for the growth of the spaces this past year, she remarks it’s growing up, with more substance and less hype – where products that are focused on long-term value are succeeding and speculative products are shaking out. Within five years, Jayne envisages ‘physical ownership authentication via the blockchain for homes, cars, and high value shoes.’
For her, the biggest barriers to mass adoption ‘is the way we speak about web3, because it immediately turns consumers off when we lead with NFTs/DeFi/Blockchain and other unrecognized jargon.’
She believes in getting consumers curious and being patient as they transition from a web2 world into web3. “Just because we have the capabilities to create fully immersive experiences for consumers doesn’t mean we should bolt out of the gate. We need to show people how these products can really enhance their experience as a fan, both digitally and in person.”
Jayne encourages others in a tweet to reach out to a friend, family member, coworker to help them set up a Dapper wallet, adding ‘it’s the easiest and most accessible gateway to all things web3, whether that be crypto, digital collectibles or other experiences.’
She reveals her family-oriented mindset on Twitter, when she confesses that ‘one of the harsh realities of being a working parent is missing your kid’s milestones’ − like two of her three kids’ first steps. She’s also a dog lover, calling an adorable, wrinkly brown pup named Kobe Bryant her “fourth child.” Outside of sports, Jayne loves drag queens, spending time with her family at the beach, walking ‘for mental health,’ and getting back into writing poetry, which she stopped for a long time ‘when life happened.’
Jayne’s future hope? To be one of the women that truly shapes the industry − especially coming from Silicon Valley, where ‘people become legends in spaces that others wouldn’t tread first.’ And following her own simple advice to ‘just keep going,’ she’ll undoubtedly achieve her ambition to see the space succeed.
JAYNE PERESSINI’S METAVERSE & WEB3 TIPS AND RESOURCES
