“Taking the Cryptic out of Crypto” - AMA Highlights | Jason Rosenstein from Portion

Last Thursday we successfully held our special AMA session with Jason Rosenstein, CEO and Co-founder of Portion, collaborating with The Creative Crypto Magazine - the first magazine powered by Steem blockchain that brings a new wave of crypto creativity.

Everyone was invited to ask Jason about his career background, vision and challenges of the blockchain technology, entrepreneurship, and more. We were greatly inspired by all the thought-provoking questions raised by our amazing community. And again, we appreciate Jason for taking the time to share his truthful and valuable thoughts on all these topics. Thank you for your insights!

Here are the highlights of the AMA in case you missed it.

What does Portion do?

Portion, as simply as I can put it, is a decentralized exchange for art & collectibles. Users can place bids & ask just like one would on any crypto exchange. This is meant to be a 'stock market' for art. We make a profit by taking a fee on physical assets that are bought and sold on the exchange. Additionally, with Portion Drops users will soon pay to play a skill-based game to win high-value goods at a very low cost.
 

Let’s talk about entrepreneurship first.

What inspired you to start your own businesses while still in college?

My mother is a professional artist, so growing up I had always been exposed to the art world. I've always had a knack and excitement for creativity and have sold some art pieces that I've made myself. The art world seemed to be an area that technology hadn't disrupted yet. Meanwhile, the rest of the world was becoming digitized. I loved Bitcoin, I loved art, and the concept to link the two to solve the problem of authentication and provenance was extremely exciting!
 

I was inspired to start a business in college because many people were complaining that they wouldn't have jobs and those that did hate their day to day lives. The creation of my own business was a method to experience what I perceived as complete freedom.

My first company was 'Coinographer' in 2013. We sold turn-key mining machines for people who wished to mine cryptocurrencies such as Litecoin. We never sold but made most of the profit from mining ourselves in 4 locations on the East Coast. The second company I co-founded is the 'Blockchain of Things'. This company is still in operation since I left in 2016. Wishing them the best of luck.
 

What have been the biggest challenges in building Portion and getting it off the ground? Any tips you’d like to share with other entrepreneurs?

The biggest challenge in building Portion was the typical startup struggle. You're going to make so many pivots that at the very end when funding finally comes in, it may seem like a completely different company. The best tip I can share is not to become too attached to any particular concept and always let the flow take you to the next alteration. It's literally like mining. You'll eventually crack the code and find tremendous success.

The Future = Art + Blockchain?

What is the art experience that crypto art may bring to the owner and the creator？

Blockchain and the secondary art market is one of the best use-cases for distributed technology that I've personally seen. The art experience that crypto art brings to the owner is that they may carry their entire collection with them in their pocket and continually collect and experience it on the go. The creator is liberated in a certain way that lets them monetize their creativity by instantly putting work up for sale on the blockchain!
 

What's the best way to educate people about crypto art or ask artists to put their work on chain?

We are offering various avenues for collectors to get involved. For instance, Portion drops allows collectors to solve word games to win prizes. We are adding other methods of purchase such as various cryptocurrencies, fiat, and will continue to host giveaways in some fashion!

Crypto art gives artists a new way to express their creativity. The pieces themselves that are created are new statements that conform new technology with art. We take a 0% fee for crypto art, so artists now have a platform where no middle-man can take advantage of them!
 

What are the barriers to entry the bigger art market and have more people on board to create and trade the art on portion?

The major barrier to entry is 'taking the cryptic out of crypto". Right now there are as many cryptocurrency users as internet users in the year 1994. For the rest of the population to trade art on Portion we must obfuscate blockchain as much as possible (while still keeping it decentralized).
 

Do you think blockchain does provide useful things that benefit the industry as well as your company?

The blockchain benefits the art & collectibles space very well. This industry is currently the most unregulated space after drugs. Major centralized auction houses and much of the art world rely on this to continue operating with high profits. Portion uses blockchain technology to verify authenticity, track provenance, and execute seamless payments to all parties. When successful, this will disrupt the world of art & collectibles.

Supreme and other large brands are beginning to get interested in the concept of tokenizing their products to verify authenticity and track provenance. There is a future world where I believe many luxury and high-end brands will tokenize their goods.
 

Dapp.

Someone says "the goal of a smart contract isn't to accrue a million DAUs, it's to accrue a billion dollars". What do you think of that?

Very good question. Smart contracts allow many processes to be made autonomous and trustless, with a goal to give power back to the people. The goal of a smart contract is, of course, to decentralize processes and cater to the major population by liberating them from the incumbent, centralized, and usually unfair system.

What does a dapp require to be successful and a hit with the mainstream audience?

A dapp must obfuscate as much cryptography and blockchain technology to hit the mainstream audience. In the future people won't need to know they're using blockchain because it will be incredibly seamless. (Just like when I send you an email many people don't know about the TCP/IP protocol)

Finally, your personal goal for 2019-2020.

My personal goal for 2019-2020 is to be empowered and at peace in every single 'now' moment.

Thank you Jason for joining us and delivering such an inspiring AMA session. Stay tuned for more!

Check out previous AMAs here.