Web3 with Sam Kamani

• 322: Finding Real Talent in AI & Web3: Insightful hiring tips with Ian Brunner from IPTS.ai

  In this episode I chat with Ian Brunner, co‑founder and CEO of IPTS - Interplanetary Talent Services, about how recruiting in Web3 and AI safety is changing — and how founders and job‑seekers alike can win. Ian shares how he pivoted from ad‑tech and Facebook into Web3, helped build recruiting at Protocol Labs, then spun out to form IPTS and now supports over a hundred companies placing talent across complex, frontier tech roles. We dig into real tactics for hiring: spotting fake AI‑written resumes, structuring hybrid roles, and mapping the cycles of the talent market. Whether you’re a founder scaling a startup, or a candidate trying to break into Web3/AI, you’ll pick up actionable advice you can use now. Key Learnings[00:03:00] How Ian made the jump from Facebook recruiting to Web3, and why direct access to leadership mattered for his decision.[00:06:00] The origin story of IPTS: how the recruiting team at Protocol Labs shifted into an agency model and spun out.[00:08:00] What sets IPTS apart: mission‑alignment, success‑based models, network depth, and a hands‑on operations mindset.[00:12:00] How IPTS acquires new clients and the power of referrals in this talent market.[00:13:00] Two major hiring trends in Web3/AI: the lack of entry‑level roles, and the rise of "Frankenstein roles" combining multiple functions.[00:20:00] How AI is disrupting recruiting: job descriptions created by AI, applications written by AI, and the challenge of verifying authenticity.[00:22:00] Real tactics for vetting candidates: ask about team structure, who managed them, who they interacted with — questions scammers/bots struggle with.[00:23:00] The resurgence of reference and background checks: what was ignored in hiring booms now is mandatory.[00:24:00] Global hiring in Web3: remote first, equitable pay across locations, and the attractiveness of arbitrage (talent anywhere).[00:38:00] Advice for founders: spend time upfront clarifying what you’re hiring for; understand the hiring cycles of the year; and define what carrot you’re offering if you need hires in tight windows.[00:31:00] The highest‑demand roles right now: senior to staff engineering; marketing/ecosystem/community growth; and BD/sales in Web3/AI contexts.DisclaimerNothing mentioned in this podcast is investment or financial advice and please do your own research.Connecthttps://ipts.ai/https://www.linkedin.com/company/ipts/https://x.com/iptsaihttps://www.linkedin.com/in/ianbrunner/It would mean a lot if you can leave a review of this podcast on Apple Podcasts or Spotify and share this podcast with a friend. Be a guest on the podcast or contact us ‑ https://www.web3pod.xyz/

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• 321: Building Community with Stickers on Telegram - A conversation with Alex and Andrew form Stickerpack

  In this episode I chat with Alex (CMO) and Andrew (CPO) of Sticker Pack about how they’re turning something as simple as a sticker on Telegram into a Web3‑community powerhouse. We trace their journeys back to early crypto days, uncover how they saw the gaps in traditional NFTs, and why they believe Telegram’s built‑in ecosystem offers a unique route for mass adoption. The podcast dives into what drives Sticker Pack’s growth, how they secure IP rights, how they onboard creators and users, and what’s next for them in the next 12 months. Whether you’re a creator, collector, or just curious about where Web2 meets Web3, you’ll find plenty of practical insight here.Key Learnings[00:00:30] Alex shares how he got into crypto in 2012‑13, left during the cold years, then returned when Telegram and TON showed potential.[00:02:00] Andrew describes his parallel journey: IT consulting, dabbling in crypto, and eventually co‑founding Sticker Pack to build something new in the Telegram/TON ecosystem.[00:04:00] They identify a key problem with traditional NFTs: yes you own something, but it often sits unseen and un‑validated in your wallet.[00:05:30] Sticker Pack aims to give “flexible ownership”: visible, usable assets inside Telegram (stickers, status, anonymous numbers) that let you show you own something.[00:11:00] Traction: ~172 sticker packs launched with ~40 collections; total sales around US$11‑12 million; some rare stickers traded for thousands of dollars.[00:13:00] Business model: IP owners partner with Sticker Pack; Sticker Pack takes a revenue share + contract fees; secondary royalties also built‑in.[00:15:30] Primary customer: The community/user first, then IP/partners. Building belonging, utility, gated chats, and community meet‑ups matter more than just launches.[00:17:00] IP rights: They only launch sticker packs after verifying the IP owner or decision‑maker. If they can’t verify it, they won’t proceed.[00:19:00] Undiscovered market: Alumni associations, tight‑knit communities (like universities) are strong opportunities — people already buy merch etc for identity.[00:20:00] Telegram features many don’t know: Gifts and anonymous numbers (NFT‑numbers) within Telegram are becoming real status and utility items. Andrew highlights a use‑case: owning an NFT number means you can log into Telegram independent of your mobile SIM.[00:24:30] Onboarding web2 users: Though user base is large, the uptake of Web3 features is still low; but Sticker Pack and Telegram are trying to make things “normie‑friendly”.[00:26:00] Product vision for next 12 months: A self‑service portal so any artist can launch their own sticker pack; community votes determine which packs get featured. Equal opportunity for creators worldwide.[00:29:30] Their ask: Looking for strong IP partnerships + builders who want utility around stickers. They emphasise that this ecosystem is collaborative.[00:30:20] Future of Telegram/TON over next year: More utilities, easier fiat payments, simplified onboarding of non‑crypto users — more mass adoption features.[00:31:40] Magic‑wand question: Alex would mandate banks to use stablecoins and governments to stop treating crypto as enemy; Andrew emphasised user safety and trustworthy onboarding for non‑deep‑tech users.DisclaimerNothing mentioned in this podcast is investment advice and please do your own research.Connecthttps://t.me/sticker_bothttps://t.me/sticker_communityhttps://x.com/stickers_tgAlex:https://x.com/alexcrypto_buzzhttps://t.me/coinfessional_boothAndrew:https://t.me/andrew_is_thinkingDune dashboardhttps://dune.com/telegram/stickersA tool to analyse sticker performance https://stickers.tools/It would mean a lot if you can leave a review of this podcast on Apple Podcasts or Spotify and share this podcast with a friend.Be a guest on the podcast or contact us - https://www.web3pod.xyz/

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• 320: Parallel Settlement, Unlimited Speed — Inside Pi Squared with Grigore Rosu

  In this episode I sit down with Grigore Roșu (Grigore Rosu), former NASA researcher and computer‑science professor, now building the Pi Squared Network. We dive into what Web3 really means (hint: it isn’t just blockchains). Grigore explains why the conventional blockchain model is inefficient, how his team is creating a parallel settlement network that scales, and what this could mean for everything from payments to gaming to AI‑agent economies. Whether you’re a founder, developer, or curious about the next wave of crypto infrastructure—you’ll get fresh insights plus a roadmap of what’s coming next.Key Learnings[00:00:00] The common idea that Web3 = blockchain is flawed — blockchains are one implementation, not the only way.[00:05:00] How good academic ideas at university can migrate into startup innovations (Rosu’s lab → Runtime Verification → Pi Squared).[00:06:00] The core scalability problem in Web3: transaction throughput and cost. Why traditional chains struggle.[00:08:00] The paradigm shift: dropping “total order” of transactions across the network and moving to parallel, independent settlement.[00:09:00] How the original blockchain design (chain + blocks + ordering) addressed double‑spending, but introduces a scalability ceiling.[00:12:00] The potential: with massive parallelism, transaction cost could fall to “a hundredth of a cent” and throughput could reach millions per second.[00:15:00] What this means for layers: If the infrastructure supports massive parallelism, the whole stack changes (Layer 1, Layer 2, app chains).[00:21:00] Why the language ecosystem matters: restrictive smart‑contract languages (e.g., Solidity) limit developer adoption.[00:30:00] Why it’s taken a decade for this to shift: new scientific results, protocol research, and building the infrastructure take time.[00:36:00] Pi  Squared’s roadmap: upcoming network launch, opening to validators, then expanding languages, reaching decentralization at scale.[00:40:00] The “north star” metric: 1 million organic transactions per second. Makes everything else fall into place.[00:43:00] Real use‑cases unlocked: Web3 gaming, AI agents interacting at speed, truly low‑cost settlement for mass‑market.DisclaimerNothing mentioned in this podcast is investment advice and please do your own research. It would mean a lot if you can leave a review of this podcast on Apple Podcasts or Spotify and share this podcast with a friend.Connecthttps://x.com/Pi_Squared_Pi2https://www.linkedin.com/company/pi-squared-inc/posts/https://pi2.network/Be a guest on the podcast or contact us – https://www.web3pod.xyz/

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• 318: Beyond Bridges: Disrupting DEX with PactSwap with guest speaker - Toby Gilbert

  I sat down with Toby  Gilbert, co‑founder of Pact Swap, to dig into how he went from years in telecoms to building infrastructure for the Web3 era. We talk about the problems in decentralized exchanges, why cross‑chain and native Bitcoin support matter, and how Pact Swap is positioning itself to offer DEX functionality at central‑exchange price levels — without KYC and heavy overheads. If you’ve ever wondered how innovation in DEX infrastructure happens behind the scenes, this episode is for you.Key Learnings[00:01:00] Toby’s entry into blockchain came via a deep infrastructure dev friend who highlighted the scaling pain‑points of incompatible chains.[00:02:00] Unlike many who start with Bitcoin or Ethereum apps, Toby started “far further upstream” building infrastructure.[00:03:00] Pact Swap is a cross‑chain DEX that supports native Bitcoin — tackling usability and cost issues with current solutions.[00:04:00] The architecture: Rather than locking hundreds of millions in validator collateral, Pact Swap uses per‑trade collateral and reactive smart‑contracts — making swaps ~95% cheaper than some competitors.[00:05:00] Their go‑to‑market is B2C + B2B (gaming companies, gateways, merchants) — enabling non‑crypto businesses to accept a variety of tokens and instantly swap to stable tokens without KYC overhead.[00:11:00] They’re launching a governance & utility token: holders will access fee‑pools, burn tokens to unlock collateral — adding a “gamified” arbitrage model.[00:13:00] Misconception: “Are cross‑chain DEXs safe?” Toby explains how Pact Swap avoids bridges and uses a new architecture to keep it secure.[00:17:00] Big benchmark: Toby expects $0.5 billion/day of trade volume by end‑2026 — scaling to centralized‑exchange levels.[00:18:00] Advice for founders: Be ready to pivot, understand regulation, budget accordingly, and build team culture with open conversation.[00:21:00] On DeFi’s next phase: User experience must evolve to bring in non‑crypto users and expand liquidity sources.[00:24:00] On raising: “Build product first, not just a pitch deck” — traction matters more than buzzwords.DisclaimerNothing mentioned in this podcast is investment advice and please do your own research.It would mean a lot if you can leave a review of this podcast on Apple Podcasts or Spotify and share this podcast with a friend.Connecthttps://pactswap.io/https://x.com/Pact_Swaphttps://x.com/TobyCoinwebhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/toby-gilbert-64909855/ Be featured on this podcastBe a guest on the podcast or contact us - https://www.web3pod.xyz/

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• 317: Smart Agents, Smart Future: David Johnston on AI x Web3

  Imagine owning your own AI. That’s exactly what David Johnston, core contributor at Morpheus believes is not just possible, but inevitable. In this episode, we go deep on smart agents, how they’re the next evolution after smart contracts, and why decentralized AI will reshape how we use intelligence. David shares why the world has now officially crossed the line where AI has more brainpower than all humans combined,and what that means for builders, entrepreneurs, and anyone online.We cover how Morpheus is building a platform for smart agents just like Ethereum did for smart contracts, why LLMs still matter, and how tools like x402 and onchain identity are solving major AI risks. This is the future of AI, Web3, and ownership, all in one.Key Learnings & Time Stamps[00:00] - AI brainpower now exceeds human brainpower, what that really means.[03:00] - The origin story of DApps and why decentralized software must pay for its own hardware.[05:30] - How Web3 evolved from protocol to user-friendly applications.[08:00] - What smart agents are and why they’re the natural next step after smart contracts.[10:00] - How Morpheus provides infrastructure and incentives for agent builders.[17:00] - Current limitations of autonomous agents and how intent-based agents solve real problems.[20:00] - How ERC-8004 and agent reputation registries change the AI trust layer.[22:00] - What x402 is and why it's a game-changer for onchain payments.[26:00] - Why rewarding developers directly makes Morpheus similar to early Ethereum.[32:00] - The shift from office space to data centers, what AI is really doing to work.[38:00] - LLMs are not enough, here’s how personal AI agents will evolve.[43:00] - The idea behind the Morpheus Virtual Machine.[47:00] - Roadmap: What’s next for Morpheus and its community-led infrastructure.DisclaimerNothing mentioned in this podcast is investment advice and please do your own research.Connecthttps://mor.orghttps://www.linkedin.com/company/morpheusais/https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidajohnston/https://x.com/DJohnstonECBe featured on this podcastBe a guest on the podcast or contact us - https://www.web3pod.xyz/

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