Sarina Charugundla is not one to shy away from hard work. As VP of Marketing at ConsenSys Mesh and Co-Founder of TreeTrunk, she’s helping to build the future of the Metaverse and web3 to empower artists and creators through technology. Passionate about joining people and creating collaborative work environments, Sarina believes that technology thrives when more people are allied and work together.
“The Metaverse will enable us to break down barriers and unify people as a whole within specific communities,” Sarina believes. “As a creative thinker with a background in mechanical engineering, machine learning, marketing, research, telecoms and business, I look forward to seeing how the technology changes through the various global lenses that exist.”
Sarina thrives at the intersections of art and technology. Fostering relationships is at her core, and she’s worked to uplift communities in NFT, art, and STEM through student entrepreneurship opportunities, art events, and grants for technological advancement.
WOM E N O F T H E F U T U R E TreeTrunk, a ConsenSys Mesh business, is a new NFT marketplace platform that puts NFTs under zero knowledge to give creators and collectors the ability to build a royalties empire. This enables artists to not only develop royalty streams from their NFTs but allows them to sell their digital art anywhere.
Sarina believes community development and support are integral to advancing NFTs and the Ethereum ecosystem – and the underlying technology. Due to the industry being so nascent, those involved are a small group of individuals who are very connected and tightly knit. The Metaverse and web3 have created communities that have fostered unexpected relationships worldwide.
“Everything in this industry revolves around community. While the word itself is overused, the community is the basis for growth in this space. Community allows transparency and collaboration to happen in web3 and the Metaverse. It is very open to anyone and welcoming to newcomers. We are all learning together.”
What excites Sarina about the next five years isn’t specifically web3 or the Metaverse, but rather the underlying applications of technology upon which they rely. She believes many more use cases for these technologies have not yet been implemented in less technically advanced industries.
The web3 community, an all-inclusive space, will benefit directly from the work Sarina does, while TreeTunk focuses specifically on artists, collectors, investors, and aesthetes. As one of the leading companies in web3 and the Metaverse, her work will also indirectly influence the wider space.
For Sarina, her interest in web3 and the Metaverse was first sparked in 2011 when she attended the world’s first Bitcoin event. She was too young at the time to buy Bitcoin, but she immediately recognized the future impact of blockchain technology and its applications, such as the Metaverse. “I knew that web3 was what I wanted to work on when my affinity for technology, art, and business came together in one industry,” shared Sarina.
Speaking of the Metaverse’s impact on society, she remarks: “The technology has been in the works for years. It was only in the past year that the media pushed both of these into the mainstream. Unfortunately, what always does well in the media is excitement and failure. Meta pushed this forward and brought awareness to the Metaverse, but unfortunately, the technology was still not ready for the mainstream audience.”
“Secondly, NFTs have increased awareness of web3 among the general public, which has done a great deal for the space. But, when only the negatives are portrayed, we lose sight of the amazing technological strides that are being made in web3. I am looking forward to the next year when builders will propel web3 and the Metaverse forward in a way that we haven’t yet seen. This is what excites me about the space.”
Her mechanical engineering background means Sarina is pragmatic. She believes that for mass adoption to happen, the technology needs to be at a place where it is ready for that type of volume. She doesn’t foresee this materializing in the near future, especially based on its trajectory thus far. She implores: “We must be realistic about what is possible and strategic about how new users are brought in. Setting unrealistic expectations creates disappointment, doubt and fear within the community. Focusing on the strengths that are fortified through this technology will propel us into the future and create a foundation that we can build on as we onboard more people slowly.”
As the industry and technology grow, Sarina identifies more and more future use cases for the underlying technology, and she’s excited to share the space with more people. She is most excited about the future of the problem-solving capabilities for the space.
For creativity and artists, the IRL industry isn’t conducive to artists. Web3, believes Sarina, opens up opportunities to change that by creating ways for artists to earn stable income streams from their art.
That’s not all. The underlying technology will solve the problems of the future today: “I can’t wait to find other solutions throughout various industries, and I implore others to seek out these answers as well.
SARINA CHARUGUNDLA’S METAVERSE & WEB3 TIPS
Start. Join Twitter Spaces and Clubhouse Rooms to learn, and don’t be afraid to ask questions. Build your network based on those in the space with whom you have similar interests. Attend events: there are so many meetups, conferences, satellite events, etc., that are available. Become involved to learn.
Website: sarinacharugundla.com
