Mugur Frunzetti’s mother was an actress in the theater. His father was a director in the theater. But for his entire adult life, Mugur has been a serial entrepreneur.
Speaking of his family, he said, “Everybody was an artist. I was the only guy with business ideas.” He continued, “I’m a businessman, I’m a serial entrepreneur in several verticals, from insurance and ecommerce to software development.”
That combination of the arts and entrepreneurship set the stage for what could be described as Mugur’s most creative startup to date. MetaStudio is a metaverse, blockchain platform where content creators—artists and influencers—can showcase their artistry, videos and brands; sell content, products and services; license content; and generate revenue without being restricted by silos.
There will be no “fees” or “commissions”, all income from sold, rented creations, streaming and subscriptions, and minus expenses approved by DAO of users will be paid to creators.
“The idea is to build a platform that content creators can use for every need they have,” Mugur said. “At the moment, there are several platforms doing different things.
“But MetaStudio is one platform where content creators can sell online pictures and videos, business courses, paintings, yoga classes. It can be music. It can be design or fashion. Influencers can monetize their celebrity, regardless of how famous they are.”
MetaStudio also allows content creators to bundle services together.
Maybe a chef creates an instructional video on cooking, then meets one-on-one via video chat with a subscriber to discuss the recipe. Perhaps an artist sells a piece of artwork on the platform, then meets one-on-one with a customer through video chat, for a demonstration at a canvas, or on the potter’s wheel. Or a business coach rents courses but also sells subscriptions to a once-a-week group streaming workshop.
With blockchain technology, content creators and influencers can harness democratization in this corner of the World Wide Web and combat issues that Mugur said he has heard plenty about. These include a lack of moderation and arbitrary decisions—including rule changes and fee increases—implemented by those who operate various platforms.
“And nobody is asking the content creator if they agree with the rules or not. Democratizing the MetaStudio platform through blockchain will resolve these and many other issues, like privacy. We believe in the decentralized future of content creation”, Mugur said.
MetaStudio’s tech infrastructure is being developed in partnership with some of the world’s top blockchain development companies, with support from Polygon Labs but will be available on other blockchains as well, like BNB or MultiversX.
“We’re building a platform that’s very flexible,” he said. “Instead of making decisions based on what we think the content creators and influencers want to do, we’re building a platform that everybody can use the way they want. I’m sure this very large group of content creators and influencers is much smarter than I am, or my team is.”
The blockchain model means that revenue is earned through tokens, and Mugur said this model encourages transparency.
“When you tell people, ‘We’re giving you the power to decide what you do with this platform that we’re building for you,’ it’s very hard for them not to be enthusiastic about the idea,” he said. “This will be a DAO on blockchain, it’s transparent, no one can be cheated. That’s why we went with the blockchain. Everyone on the platform is going to have the right to vote.”
And Mugur is confident that content creators and influencers will direct their audiences to MetaStudio.
“If you build the perfect platform that content creators and influencers want to use, they will bring their friends, their customers,” he said. “They have their own database.”
The origins of this platform can be traced back to 2017, when Mugur and his team first had the idea for what would become MetaStudio. But the blockchain wasn’t as advanced as it is today.
Mugur and his team authored a white paper on MetaStudio, but didn’t launch it until 2022, after the pandemic had changed the way we worked, socialized, used the Internet and enjoyed the arts. Also, the content creator market had grown dramatically.
Now, Mugur can see the finish line for the first phase of MetaStudio. His plan is to release MetaStudio V1 as a mobile app in September 2023; and ramp up the platform in 2024 before turning his sights on the metaverse. Mugur’s goal for 2024 is to reach at least 10 percent of the billions of people who use crypto wallets and sell/buy content weekly.
“What we’re really hoping for is continued growth of blockchain adoption in the market,” he said. “So we can reach more and more people with this amazing opportunity.”
Visit metastudio.land for more information.
