In conversation with Meirav Harel, COO of XMANNA
Chosen for "100 most inspirational women in Blockchain 2020", chosen twice for "Women in Fintech Powerlist" by Innovate Finance UK, With 20+ years of experience in Finance, Technology, and creating award-winning Fintech Innovation, Meirav Harel is a world known FinTech, Blockchain, Digital Disruption, Future of Finance, Investment & Trading Interfaces expert. She is also the COO of XMANNA - XMANNA combines GameTech, AdTech and Fintech for a new type of fan engagement.
If you could be in a room with 4 entrepreneurs, who would they be and why?
Well, I’d start with Jack Ma, the founder of Alibaba - He seems to have great insight into the future of where the world is headed. Next I’d invite Sheryl Sandberg - who would probably "Lean In" (the name of her book) and give shortcuts into being an excellent COO. Steven Spielberg would probably be my next choice - his creativity and innovation is inspirational. Last, but very important would be Benjamin Franklin, both for his great mind, but also for his insight about liberty, education and free will - which are fields that are very close ideologically to Fintech, Crypto, NFts, Web3 and the creation of Metaverses.
What movie do you find inspiring?
The movie Gattaca left an impression, due to the way it portrayed that what people achieve in their life is mostly based on what they do and the effort they put in, rather than on the assets and privileges they are born with.
What are your thoughts on failure?
As Edison stated - there actually is no such thing as failure, because failures are just finding ways that don't lead to the result that was planned.
So, instead of giving up after a planned result is not reached, it would make the most sense to recalculate and rethink what the next approach should be to achieve the goal that was set.
What’s the most common problem your customers approach you with?
The world is changing, whether with the new technologies being created, including the recreation of the Internet, this time in 3D – with the Metaverse or with the ability to use NFTs to certify ownership of various assets.
Adapting to, or even adopting the innovative technologies, whether by creating NFTs, or Entering into the Metaverse, might seem like a bit of a challenge to almost everyone, including to companies, banks, investment bodies, regulators, government departments, tax authorities, and even private individuals. Some customers may approach, wanting to create a presence within these technologies, other may need assistance keeping up and understanding the constantly changing environment, while others need support in making the changes necessary in their business in order to adapt to the technological advancements. Through our different channels, we can assist all of the above to reach the position they want in the future that is being created by these technologies.
How does technological advancement speak to the strategic direction of your business?
Technological advancements can be an instigator to defining the strategy of a company, but at the same time could be utilized as a means to reaching the goals set for the company. These emerging advanced technologies are the backbone of the service we provide – whether entering the Metaverse, creating NFTs, better using or understanding Blockchain, or digital currencies - we give solutions both to end users and to Businesses that want to advance with these technologies.
What impact would you like to have on women around the world through your business?
One of the interesting things that we keep seeing is that these new technologies and solutions create equal opportunity to anyone willing to take the time to learn and educate themselves. Every single person in fintech, or crypto, or NFTs, or Metaverse was not born into it - they all learned, understood what the new technologies can enable, and started innovating. This means that this next version of Fintech, Retail and actually the Internet, are open for anyone that wants to create. I would love to see more women entering these new frontiers, and feeling comfortable learning, and advancing with these new technologies and implementations. The frustrating part though is that for some reason, the people that show up at lectures or seminars I lecture at - are mostly men, and that is a pity. Everyone entering these fields is new, which means that the field is open and equal to all genders.
Therefore a special emphasis on educating women in these new technologies is important, and through my participation in women professional networks, including being an ambassador to EWPN, and through our global workshops, lectures and seminars at www.MHfintechs.com, I try to spread the knowledge and empower women to enter these fields.
Does your company help the community that you’re located in?
In today’s small, and connected world, “Communities” can actually be diverse – so in an essence, our community includes ‘Women’, and more specifically ‘Women in Tech’, or in ‘Fintech’, but our community also includes the International ‘Crypto Community’, or the ‘NFT Community’. In addition, being geographically located in a country, specifically in Israel, means that part of our community also includes Israeli Companies, Regulators, and Academic institutions.
To all of the communities mentioned above, we provide services and offer solutions that enable them to best adapt to the constantly changing technological advancements.
How do you believe the evolution of tech will impact your industry over the next 10 years?
There are a few areas of evolving tech, which can alter basic paradigms that have to do with finance, ownership and retail - specifically by using NFTs, and with the move into the metaverse (which is best explained as the re-creation of the internet, only in 3D).
Assuming things continue in the direction they are going today, we will be seeing some very interesting developments:
a. NFTs - The ability to technologically create solutions that enable companies and individuals to own and protect their assets, while gaining revenue based on these assets (through NFTs for instance), is a game changer. Today, the ownership of assets is mostly kept by centralized entities (Government offices keep track of physical assets like cars and houses, Financial institutions keep track of money & investments, while Tech Giants keep track of the data collected about individuals behaviors). With the creation of Blockchain based NFTs, the ownership of these assets could be kept outside the hands of the centralized entities, and instead be stored in the hands of the owners of the assets themselves.
b. Web3 - Creates solutions that aim to eliminate the hold the tech giants and centralized entities have on the internet. Assuming that the solutions that are now created in web3 succeed in solving these issues, we will be seeing end users getting ownership and monetization of the assets that they generate on the internet. This can create new revenue streams for individuals, and companies, and change the current power dynamics.
c. The Metaverse - Re-creating the internet in 3D, enables the creation of a more experience-based interaction. This means that the next version of the internet will enable people to experience 3D online shopping for instance, while stepping into an event on the internet, or going into a 3D stadium to watch a sports match - these are all part of the experiences the XMANNA Metaverse is creating. If Metaverse solutions will reach their full potential to move the internet into 3D, many new opportunities will be created, both for businesses and also for individuals.
d. Now combine the above together, and you get an ownership-based internet, which enables each user to monetize the data they create while owning NFTs on assets in the Metaverse, and interacting in new and experience based ways - which is very exciting
These are just some of the ways technology is expected to affect the financial and retail industry in the coming years.
Where do you draw your inspiration from to continue pursuing and innovating in the tech space?
Mostly ideology, combined with the realization that the responsibility of creating the future, is in our own hands. People in tech are a vital part of creating the future - for better or for worse, so its important to stop and think about what kind of world we want to be creating. The technologies existing today can shape the way future generations will be living, creating and sustaining themselves. Therefore, if we believe in a value system that is here to empower people, and to create more opportunities for them to monetize their creations - that is what we should be focusing on. NFTS, web3, crypto, fintech and the metaverse are exactly the fields that will be enabling these developments, so these are very interesting sectors to be in.
Why are NFTs important? How do they take advantage of blockchain?
To simplify things - NFTs can be seen as certificates of ownership, that could be used to keep track of ownership of Digital or Physical goods. These “ownership records” are kept on a blockchain-based database - which means that they are kept in many locations simultaneously, therefore are very hard to breach.
This technology can be used in many ways, although currently, we are seeing mostly a very basic type of usage which is to keep track of ownership of digital creations.
But this is not necessarily the only way NFTs can be used, because they can be used to keep track of ownership of actually anything - whether a house, a car, or even a person's data. The moment we start using NFTs to keep track of ownership of valuable assets, we could be witnessing a shift in the current power dynamics and paradigms in the world. For instance, imagine that each person had multiple NFTs, each one containing the data regarding that person. For example, one NFT would store the person's medical records, and another NFT would store the personal retail data. What would then happen, if every time the persons personal data is used, the owner of the NFT would receive royalties? What if the owner could decide whether or not to permit the usage of this data?
Solutions like these could create new monetization solutions for people, simply from their ability to keep track and receive royalties based on their own data.
What advice would you give some looking to enter the fintech industry as an entrepreneur?
First of all - educate yourself. Understand what already exists, where the gaps are, who the players are, and what they are creating. In addition, put a special emphasis on understanding the power dynamics in this area. It is important to note that the players in this field are a combination of very established companies, including banks, in addition to newer startups, with backing of much funding in the background. In addition, the regulation in this field is vast, and at the very core - this field deals with one of the most valuable assets - money. So the stakes are high, and the interests are diverse.
Only after realising all of the above, the next step can be to decide what to create that can give value in this very exciting field.
