“I think the people that are building a brand are going to do well, and the people who aren’t will fail.”

At the ripe old age of 24, Luca Schnetzler is a seasoned entrepreneur and speaks like a veteran of the business world. He dropped out of high school to pursue his early entrepreneurial endeavors and has been marching to the beat of his own drum ever since.

He talks brand building and value propositions but is committed to authenticity in everything he does. He talks about his own community and about the need for people to find theirs – their own ecosystem. “People can see right through how genuine you are when it comes to community building,” he says with a wisdom that belies his age.

Currently, he’s CEO of Pudgy Penguins, a consumer-driven business and one that he was bold enough to take over after it was covered in controversy. In addition to the NFT Penguin series, they have launched a range of real merch, including toys and children’s books. On social media, Pudgy Penguins pushes messages of positivity and nothing about NFTs. Luca hopes that attracting people in that way will make NFTs more accessible.

His interest in NFTs is its capacity for authentication and all the backend capability. He goes back to his marketing expertise and says: “I think as they become more adoptable, more people will integrate with them. I think it’s really just going to be about who’s building a brand and who isn’t. And I think the people that are building a brand are going to do well, and the people who aren’t will fail.”

You definitely get the impression that failure is not an option for Luca. And what advice does a 24-year-old have for anyone looking to get into the NFT space? “There’s a lot of opportunity in being a cog in a machine, and so whether you’re a marketing person or a discord moderator or an artist for hire, just getting your feet wet before you jump in is really the way to go.”

Take it from someone who has taken the plunge multiple times and come up smiling every time.