Blockchain, Metaverse, and Content Creation with Hendrik Hey

I personally believe that the metaverse development and everything that comes along with that like blockchain and artificial intelligence, that's a new paradigm change. It's an opportunity for us to get rid of those centralized things. I don't blame Google or Facebook or others, but it's a completely centralized system right now. The internet belongs to five companies, that's it. But it shouldn't belong only to five companies. The last version of technology wasn't supporting that. Anyone can do whatever you want, but only if you have a massive influence and you're controlling it. The new system means, yeah, it's still good that Google is around and Facebook is around. They should do whatever they do, but there will be alternatives. Even a little kid in Southern Africa could decide, I'm going to do something and I have the opportunity to become successful. And nobody's blocking me. I don't have to go through this gate. I don't have to go to Facebook in order to become a big influencer or to Instagram. And do it in a decentralized way. The metaverse doesn't know those closed shop infrastructures anymore. It's basically a cooperation of many expressions of what a metaverse is. Many metaverse apps. And you slip from one to the other and do whatever you want. And here's a marketplace for you. Just go ahead. Promote your podcast if you want. From where you want. Welcome to Super Entrepreneur's Podcast. Today we have with us Hendrik. Hi. Hendrik is the founder of MILC. Media Industry Licensing Content. A blockchain-based content licensing company aimed at democratizing the content media buying and distribution industry. MILC is a sister company of European media giant Welt der Wunder. Welcome to our show, Hendrik. Thank you. This is a real exciting event here. So can you tell us more? Can you dumb it down for us, for some of the audience members, myself? Yeah, absolutely. So my name is Hendrik, as you said. I'm a producer, TV producer, since all of my life. This is how I started my career. Founded a couple of production companies. Produced national content, international content. Most of the time in the area of documentary science, popular science orientated. A couple of years ago, I decided to transform my business into my own TV network. So I'm running a nationwide TV network here in Germany and in Switzerland. And again, a couple of years ago, I decided that the time of TV slowly is over. We have to transform that system somehow. That's why I went into that wonderful blockchain technology space, which is really a beautiful technology. It's not only about cryptocurrencies. It's about the technology, actually. And we decided to generate a licensing platform, a little bit like Netflix for professionals, where the professional producers can deal with professional buyers like TV networks or streaming platforms. And we decided to do this. Then we came up with the idea to invite the audience a little bit more into our fantastic media and entertainment world. Right now, whatever we do, we do it for the audience anyway, but we're not really connected. Our viewers, our audience cannot really interact with us. So we said that has to be changed as well. So we developed a social community platform, a little bit the best of Facebook, TikTok, Instagram, all that stuff. Pretty traditional, but it's a communication tool. Everybody can join. It's the big platform. And as we have done this, we said, okay, now we need to go into that really new space called Metaverse. Basically, there's a technology behind that. To make it simple, it's the idea of making the internet become three-dimensional, more than it is right now. To develop an experience that is a little bit like you know it from the real world. That is the technology behind Metaverse. While we were developing this, suddenly Mark Zuckerberg came along with a media company and gave that industry the name Metaverse. Before that, we didn't know what the name of that technology actually is. So we went live with our first Metaverse already November last year. Then we came up with a second Metaverse version in May. The first Metaverse was November 21 already. And the second Metaverse came out in May last year. And it's based on a very sophisticated technology called Unreal Engine 5. That is a game engine. Lots of computer games are developed on that technology in order to generate a nice three-dimensional infrastructure or Metaverse. And that went live in May last year. The meaning of our Metaverse is to become again a streaming platform in the third dimension. A place where you can go, can consume content. Whether it's video, whether it's music, whether it's art, whether it's gaming content. But it's all happening in the third dimension. So everything is three-dimensional. And of course you have an additional experience which is interactivity. Wow, that's incredible. So do you have background in technology as well? Yeah, actually I'm not an IT developer by myself. But I've used those fancy technologies all of my life. I was one of the first producers here in the German-speaking territories who used 3D for films, for movies, for documentaries. That was in the early 90s already. I had my own visual effects department once. So I was always involved in those things. And as my main content specialty is science and technology anyway. I'm always in contact with robots and see things that are out there. And my company is always happy to try whatever is new on the market. But most of the time we're concentrating on those things where we think, okay, that has an impact on the society. And as we came across the metaverse development, we right away saw this is a massive impact on whatever we will do in the next 30, 40 years. It's so seductive. It has so many opportunities. It's so user-friendly. It really reflects our demands. Actually, it's not a technology. It's based on technology, but it's more a social revolution. And many things that you will do in metaverses in the upcoming future. And we are happy that we have started with the development very early. Actually, quality-wise, if you go into the webpage, it's www.milk.global. You can enter our metaverse. It's already live and that the quality is even better than whatever Facebook has so far or Microsoft has. And in our background, we have lots of PhDs, standard German engineers, universities. So it's really an initiative. Where good developers come together with good content guys. I want to reflect a little bit both. I'm more of a content-driven person. I want to know what is the user experience. But in order to provide the user with good experience, I need great developers to make that possible. It sounds complex, but exciting. And bringing on those geniuses to do the work. It's only complex for the developers. It's not for the user. It's fairly easy. Can you share with the user experience? Can you just run it down for us? If you enter our metaverse, it's basically a three-dimensional city with some buildings. And if you walk through the city, you see a lot of screens on the walls. A little bit like Piccadilly Circus in London or Times Square in New York. LED screens. Yeah, those screens. And this gives you already an idea of what the whole platform is about to become. On those screens, content. And if you want, you can just push one screen and you see maybe some videos there. Or a library of films that you can purchase. Or that are for free. The good thing is that it's not only one screen. There are many of those screens. So you walk around and you just click on screens and see the content. Absolutely. Sorry to interrupt. I'm just a little excited. When you click on the screen, is the screen three-dimensional as well? Or is that just like a video? No, there's a certain transition. So it appears in front of you. It comes from the tower. It appears in front of you. Then you have a certain menu. Then you can make a decision whether you want to watch the movie or the content like that. Or whether you go full screen. Then you are watching TV, more or less. And then you might have a drop-down menu in each screen where it says, on this screen you have, let's say, documentary content. Options. The options. On this screen you have maybe the whole Netflix library. On that screen you have the whole Amazon Prime library. Over there is the ABC library. Over there is the Discovery library. So basically the meaning of that, it's not another network or a studio. It's an infrastructure more or less open for any content provider that exists. Open source. We said it's better if we come up with an infrastructure that is open for everyone. Otherwise, anyone is doing his own thing. You have the BBC Mediaverse, the NBC Mediaverse, the Disney Mediaverse. And we, as users, get lost. We said, okay, if it's an open infrastructure and everybody can join, it's the best for the user. Then he goes right on that corner. You have Discovery. You go next. There's ABC. Over there is Disney. They're all part of it. They're all part of that. Already. No, they're not already. It's the offer to the market. It's fairly new development. So we're getting the message out. That's basically the message to the industry. But we have talked a lot to the industry already. And they all welcome that because they see that it's not another blocking marketplace. It's Amazon Prime or Netflix. If you're not on a marketplace, you're more or less on no marketplace. And it's not like iTunes. If you want to be on my marketplace, I charge you 30% of whatever you earn. It's completely the opposite. You said it's a free marketplace. It's your business that you're running. If you sell something, please provide the infrastructure with a small city tax. I understand, like property tax. Yeah, like in a real city. You have your shop in New York. Somebody is taking away the garbage. You get electricity. You have hot water. So this is what the city does for you. And you pay something for that service. But they don't interact with your business. They don't tell you how many t-shirts you have to sell. Whenever you sell a t-shirt, give me 50%. So that's what I mean. That metaverse city is exactly what a city in real world is. It provides certain services. And it makes life easy for you. But it's your business. And you should be the one who participates in your own business as much as you can. But don't forget the development. That's your right if you're providing such a service. You do deserve to earn because you're creating a platform of such standard. So let me just step back. So the decentralized aspect of it is basically a content creator comes on. He uploads his content. Basically, it becomes decentralized. So it's unique to that person. No one can take it from them for life. It has more weight to it now. It has more power, more backing. It has more value, the content. Once the content is up, that content creator can create a channel, for example. And on that channel, for example, let's just take this show for this example, right? Super Entrepreneurs Podcast. So if I create a channel there, I upload all my episodes onto that platform. It gets decentralized. Now, the users will basically come in the city, walk around. I might have an ad on the TV that will say, Super Entrepreneurs' newest episode with Hendrik. Hi. And then you go click on it. That episode will start playing. Right? For example. And now they can also share that. Or if they wanted to buy something, for example, we don't have anything for sale. But if it was that aspect to it, they could actually continue to check out like they would in a store, for example. Correct? Yeah, absolutely correct. But it's even more. Basically, it's more than just uploading content. You are right away connected to the main income source of the overall platform, which is advertising. What you do is you also each… Sorry to interrupt, Hendrik. So each user becomes automatic. Not user. Content creator becomes part of the overall advertising opportunity? Absolutely. And we share. We will start with the share of 50%. So whenever the platform earns something, we share with the content provider 50%. And then it all depends on how much traffic are you generating. If it's only one user, your share will be quite low. Got it. Understood. If you make a million users, it could be substantial. And then it doesn't matter what kind of content it is. So actually, we want to motivate you to do quality content. Quality content always sells better than non-quality content. But even if you have a funny cat video and it receives a million views and gets viral, it really can mean, let's say, 50,000, 60,000 euros in advertising. That's the reality. Because all the advertisers want to be combined with that funny cat video. This is the future. Our perspective is completely fair that the guy who uploaded that funny content and made the users happy should receive at least 50% of the revenues on his account. Over the time, actually, the money the content providers receive will increase instead of decreasing. So we start with 50% because we still have to do some adjustments and we need some money as well in order to keep all things developed properly. But over the time, we say it's going to be 60% for the content providers, 70%, 80%, 90%. Because what is the platform? The platform is as good as the content that is on the platform. That is what's generating users. So basically, for semi-professional producers or producers, it means finally they have an income source. Right now, if you place content on Facebook, you don't get a dime. If you place content on TikTok… This is the future, Hendrik. I see it like that because I'm a content provider as well. I never put professional content on those social media platforms because I don't get anything for that. And it's very expensive to produce professional content, as we all know. So one system is you get connected with the advertising system and it's pretty much automized. Nobody has to do anything. It's like bang, bang, money comes in, money goes out. Is there charges? No, it's for free. Sorry, how many members are in the community right now? Not that much because we haven't been loud yet. Right now, we are working together with something like 10,000 to 20,000 users. And those users are the very, very loyal community we have around our project and they're helping us to fix bugs, give us information of what is going on, what we should do better, and so on. But actually, right now, we're in the situation that we will start to promote the platform way louder and invite everyone to join just to be part of the system. How can someone be part of this, a content creator? What are the next steps? So in order to be part of the system, all you have to do is go to our website, www.mid.global. There is the partition which says social community and there you subscribe yourself. And then we know who you are. And if you are uploading content, then it's automatically connected to the advertising system and traffic your content does is going to be measured and the platform is measuring whether you have advertising on your content or not. As soon as advertising, let's say a video pre-roll, mid-roll, post-roll, things is connected to your content, if you agree that it's open for advertising, you have to give us the permission. It counts, again, the traffic and the budget is automized and then it's going to be shared with you. So basically, it means for semi-professional users that at least they have a potential income source. And our philosophy is if they have, if you have a potential income source, you might be interested in producing better quality, get more people. Yes, of course. Improve the quality. Yeah, yeah. And this is what we want to achieve on the platform. As I said, the platform is as good as the content and the content provider. That's one thing. But even as a pure member, you are part of the system as well because the philosophy is with our web, we philosophy is that right now you are a digital product. You're using social media platforms and you're a product and everybody does money on you, on your existence. But nobody shares. Let's say a company, a Facebook media does $90 billion revenue on 3 billion users. But they don't share. But it's actually you who generates the revenue. Yes. In our philosophy is we don't treat you like a product anymore. We call you a digital personality. You are a partner. And because you are a partner, you are a little bit like a raw material. Love it. Without you, no revenues are possible. If you are a raw material, I have to buy that source. I cannot just take it and use it. I have to buy it. I can't do it in advance, but I can do it through a revenue share. So even a standard member who does no content, who's just there having fun on the platform, participate 50% on the advertising revenue as well, whether he want or not. He has nothing to do. Got it. Love it. Doesn't have to invest. He doesn't have to pay for something. Amazing. It's just as he's there. And the meaning for that is if you are participating on advertising directly, it's good for the advertisers because the money goes into your pocket, at least part of that. This is where they want the money. Otherwise, you can't buy their sneakers. And you might be a little bit more open to interact with, for example, brands. Because if they pay you, then you might be willing to give them a few information that you usually wouldn't give them. So basically, it means more transparency between the user and everyone who does money on them. And the way it works comes back to our blockchain origin and our own cryptocurrency. We have our own cryptocurrency, the MLT. It's the utility token that sits on the platform because I can't share money with you by making a transmission of $1.20 or $100.80 or €10.90. It wouldn't be possible. So it only can happen through a token. So we use the utility token. This happens automatically. If you have your account, okay, there are more MLTs than we had yesterday for some reasons. And it goes instantly. It costs us a millisecond, and it's there. The only problem is that you have to take those tokens and bring it to some exchange where you can make $1 out of that. So this is the only thing you have to do. But you can stake them. You can keep them, see what's happening with the platform, get more value over the time. I don't know. That's how we do it. So it's the new circulation, new definition. Quantum providers, new definition of users, new definition of what a token utility could really be. Nobody has to invest in order to participate. It's only the platform who gives away the token. And, of course, we need to buy it. And it's a new experience too, right? Because they're going into a three-dimensional area, and they're actually experiencing online in a different way. In a completely different way. Completely different way. We start with film and TV. That's our content origin. But we're reflecting more or less the four big columns of media and entertainment, which is TV, film, music, art, and game. How about podcasts? Audio is like video. Actually, my very old origins. I'm from radio originally. I love radio. Great. I love podcasts. I was there when it all started. It took many years before it became really popular. Right now, it's very strong. So audio is content as well. Okay. There will be something like Milk Radio is going to be integrated, where you can place all those interesting podcast things. But it's a real place for DJs as well, aggregating them, excelling their art. How about products and stuff? Yeah. Of course, when they say it's… Like e-comm. Yeah. Media and entertainment means, okay, we're reflecting already the largest industry globally. That's good. It has a high use case. That's good as well. But what belongs to media and entertainment is lifestyle. And lifestyle includes everything which has to do with e-commerce. Of course… Sneakers, whatever it is. Clothing. But again, it's you. It's not us. We provide… Got it. There's going to be… It's not there yet, but it will be there. There's a giant shopping mall, three-dimensional shopping mall. Basically, any retailer in the world, doesn't matter who you are, where you are, can be there by just adding… That's the future. It's linked. Yeah. Is it there right now or is it coming? Right now, it's going to be something we integrate in, let's say, in the second quarter of this year. Okay. That's coming pretty soon. But Hendrik, can you share with us what you feel your innermost superpower is that got you to this point in your life? Actually, when I was… I decided very early to go into media. I wanted to become a journalist when I was 16. I said, that's my job. I want to be that. I became a journalist. I did all whatever a journalist does, investigative stuff, global stuff, and so on. Then I realized how powerful is what I tell the people. Journalism or content providing means a certain responsibility. You cannot just say something. It has to be true. In these days or in the last few years, I became a critic, criticism of my own industry because once in a while, I think the whole content industry is, especially when it comes to news and all those kind of things, is very audience-driven, applause-driven, click-driven, and so on. As we have experienced in the last couple of years, all those kind of things which we call fake news, everybody can tell whatever he does, and it's going to be transported in a minute through many channels and so on and so on. Suddenly, for people, that becomes the reality, even though it isn't. I think our responsibility is to generate platforms where actually content providers are motivated, really motivated to tell the truth or to do really a serious job. In order to do that, you have to give them another financial freedom. Right now, a journalist who writes for an article for, let's say, the New York Times, once in a while, he has to do that silly head in order to generate clicks. Otherwise, he's not going to be hired anymore. He needs to feed his family. He needs to pay his rent. Give them freedom to generate alternatives for him, more easy access to different sources. Let them interact with the user directly. Suddenly, the more he receives out of that, the more free he is. The more free he is, the less influential he is. That's one vision that I foresee that is going to happen. The competition of quality content, this is going to happen. When you do bad content, nobody's going to watch it. Nobody's going to read it. Authentic as well. The other thing which was happening in Web 2, I'm a little older, I'm already 58, so I discovered Web 1. I was there when the internet actually didn't exist. I was there when the World Wide Web came up. I was there when the dot-com period came up. Once in a while, you have those paradigm changes. I personally believe that the metaverse development and everything that comes along with that, like blockchain and artificial intelligence, that's a new paradigm change. It's an opportunity for us to get rid of those centralized things. I don't blame Google or Facebook or others, but it's a completely centralized system right now. The internet belongs to five companies, that's it. But it shouldn't belong only to five companies. It belongs to many more. To everyone. The last version of technology wasn't supporting that. Anyone can do whatever you want, but only if you have a massive influence and you're controlling it. The new system means, yeah, it's still good that Google is around and Facebook is around. They should do whatever they do, but there will be alternatives. A little kid in Southern Africa could decide, I'm going to do something, and I have the opportunity to become successful. And nobody's blocking me. I don't have to go through this gate. I don't have to go to Facebook in order to become a big influencer. Or to Instagram. And do it in a decentralized way. The metaverse doesn't know those closed shop infrastructures anymore. It's basically a corporation of many expressions of what a metaverse is. Many metaverse apps. And you slip from one to the other and do whatever you want. And here's a marketplace for you. Just go ahead. Promote your podcast if you want. From where you want. Yeah, this is really good. Because in the future, I think our environment and what we do as businesses will be all inclusive. Very transparent. Very open. That's how I envision it. I actually even envision no borders kind of thing. Because we're all one at the end of the day. We shouldn't have anything different and separate. The metaverse is the first expression of no borders. Yeah, I love it. Yeah, Hendrik, I wish you all the best. I appreciate you coming on this show to spread your message. And we're going to do our best to bring it out to more and more people. To become aware of this. Because I know the entrepreneurs that are looking in the future are looking for inclusivity, right? They're looking for ideas and ways to bring everyone on board so it's fair. For example, what I do is I want everyone to win. I don't want to win. It's just me winning. I want everyone to win with me. And that's what your platform is doing. And I love that. I appreciate you for what you're doing. And I'm definitely going to be checking it out to see what we can do for our podcast as well. And again, if there's any final words you want to share with the audience, please go ahead. Yeah, if you're interested, visit our platform. Become a member of the community. It's the right starting point for everyone. I think it will become big. Be there in an early stage and see what's happening. And for you as well, become a podcast partner. There's room and space for exactly that. Yeah, I'll definitely look at it. Yeah, great. And the Metaverse. I know. That would be awesome. And I was very much attracted when people were talking about Metaverse. I believe last year was really getting a lot of attention, a lot of entrepreneurs were talking about it. I kept thinking, how can we decentralize and how can we make it into that world, like create malls that are three-dimensional and shop? A lot of people were talking about it, right? So you created that and I'm definitely going to check it out. Again, thank you. Thank you so much for your time. Wish you all the best. And audience, no problem. Sorry for my broken English. No, you did wonderful. Audience, thanks again for joining us. You heard Hendrik, you heard what he's doing, what he's providing here. Definitely worth checking out. If you're an entrepreneur looking for an edge, looking for something that you want to do for the future, where it brings in more people together rather than away, this might be a great way to expand your business. Definitely worth checking out. We love the fact that you guys help us grow. Please continue to be part of our show, share with friends and family, and we'll see you next time. Thank you, Hendrik. Thank you, audience. Thank you.