The first round is not the last round! (Summer 2024)
My brothers and I are launching MaNgo on the Metaverse. It doesn’t seem straightforward or simple for us either, but like every innovative project, it just has to start. During meetings to release Version γ, I realized that I had to answer three major questions; Questions I wasn’t prepared for, but I think I managed to answer them fairly well in the short time I had to think. Initially, I thought they were biased, but as I worked through the answers, I realized their importance. These are questions anyone might ask, especially if they hear the name MaNgo for the first time.
- Why is it necessary to develop an NGO on the Metaverse?
The questioner implied that since MaNgo already has a website, there’s no need to expand it onto the Metaverse. Being fully aware of MaNgo’s background, he even considered developing an organization on a decentralized platform as contradictory to the philosophy of the Metaverse. At first, this question seemed quite challenging to me, as it involved two unfamiliar and lesser-known concepts: the “Metaverse” and “NGO.” At first glance, it seemed the questioner was right, but after some thought and recounting the history of the Metaverse, even I didn’t expect the answer to be so brief.
“At the start of the Metaverse revolution, the main competition among buyers was over specific parcels of land. The pioneers and the sharpest individuals in the cryptocurrency community were only trading land with prime addresses. Does this remind you of anything?” That was enough to make me feel that no further explanation was needed for the questioner.
This sentence perfectly reveals the essence of the confusing and ambiguous Metaverse technology. To users, the Metaverse still seems like a platform of the future. However, amid the noise of this modern and strange world, there is a simple and familiar concept. Metaverse lands are exactly like World Wide Web domains. In the early days of the internet, pioneers did the same. The domain cars.com was sold for about $1 billion, and business.com ranked second with a value of approximately $400 million. Musk still owns one of them; X.com is so catchy and cool that he could confuse us all by rebranding that little blue bird! You, like me, probably don’t know whether to say X or Twitter, right?! Haha.
- Why NGO?
He meant that MaNgo is essentially a charity, and the NGO label is only for promotional purposes to better describe MaNgo. My explanation was that any NGO can be considered a charity, but the reverse is not true. I continued my explanation by relying on the R&D department. I told him that charities don’t have this department, but it’s unimaginable for something to work on a novel technology like the Metaverse without one. Additionally, the scope of an NGO’s activities extends beyond just a charity. An NGO allocates resources to education and awareness-raising just as much as it does to direct financial aid. To conclude, I said that NGO is actually the best structure to describe MaNgo, although I have no problem if people want to call it a charity.
3. Was choosing Shiba Inu as a mascot a copycat move?
MaNgo, a Shiba Inu dog, is our organizational mascot. Considering it a copycat move is entirely subjective. But, the main reason for choosing it as the symbol of our NGO was to leverage the unparalleled power of the Shiba Inu community. Moreover, it was necessary for the NGO to have a story to tell, and that was made possible by centering it around this playful and thoughtful animal. Although I had several attempts to rebrand it with a cat, I always faced resistance from the co-founders, and I now believe it was a good decision.
I hope these answers are helpful. At the end of the blog, I want to mention:
This summer, MaNgo’s first round of financial aid was awarded to Behrouz Keshvari. On MaNgo’s page, we introduced him as a national hero. The text of the post is as follows:
Sometimes we think we should see their statues in city squares, or their names should be put on the city’s streets and avenues. Or perhaps our children should read about their bravery and sacrifices in textbooks. But we forget that they might be around us, the ones we pass by without notice—the neighborhood baker, builder, child, spouse, uncle, sister, brother, etc.
Behrouz Keshvari is a sweeper from Boroujerd who, upon hearing a dog’s cries for her puppies trapped in a canal, couldn’t bear it. He didn’t wait for the fire department’s siren and heroically threw himself into the raging flood to return the helpless puppies to their mother’s embrace. But our hero is now recovering after surgery. Due to the contaminated water and a leg injury, this brave man had to have some of his toes amputated. Now, MaNgo is very proud to award its first round of financial aid to such a hero. Best wishes!
I’ll post MaNgo’s humanitarian plans here on METAVERSE TO UNIVERSE from this new version.
