Episode 9

NFTs, Megapont Ape Club, and Making Crypto Accessible with Mark McKenzie (Ep. 9)

It’s not uncommon to hear of rogue tech engineers throwing in the towel at their 9 to 5 and diving head first into founding a successful startup but for Mark McKenzie, that narrative got flipped on its head when he left the startup world as a new dad for the stability of being an employee. While some might think it a backward step, for Mark this move connected him with a brand new community and paved the way for him to embed himself into the crypto space in the early days, grow with it and eventually find his way back to founder with Megapont Ape Club, an NFT membership club for pioneers built on Stacks.

I sat down with Mark to talk about his trajectory from engineer to employee to founder, his work with Weasly the artist behind Megapont Ape Club, shared about their upcoming women focused collection, and why diversity and making the NFT and crypto more accessible is the way to creating real world impact.

Meet Our Guest

Mark is the co-founder of Megapont and a chain agnostic crypto maxi.

Connect with Mark on Twitter

What We Unraveled

* Mark’s background as an engineer, working in the tech art world, and how becoming a dad and a traditional tech job ended up being the catalyst for finding his way into crypto, and eventually, NFTs

* The unexpected value in moving to a traditional 9-5 job after being embedded in startups, and the freedom in having stability at the right time

* The origins of the Megapont Ape Club NFT membership community, and why it serves as an artist launch pad

* The importance of being able to articulate your vision and dream as a founder

* Why diversity and accessibility is important to Megapont Ape Club and with NFTs generally

* The early days of Megapont Ape Club, how growth changed the way they managed their community, and how much the community itself means to them now

* How being at the right place at the right time can change someone's life with crypto and NFTs

* The first steps Mark would suggest to anyone who wanted to break into the space, and why he recommends people’s starting investment be no more than their entertainment budget

* Megapont Ape Club’s upcoming female focused NFT collection, and the thought process behind it as a male-led team who are deeply committed to hitting the mark on female representation

Unravel Further

Megapont Ape Club on Web

Megapont Ape Club on Twitter