In this episode of Blocklayer Podcast, Kenzi Takahashi, Sachi Shiokava, and Diksha Desai speak with Jeff Zirlin (“Jiho”) about his early days in Web3, building Sky Mavis, and launching Axie Infinity alongside Trung Nguyen, Tu Doan, Aleksander Larsen, and Andy Ho.

Jiho talks about what it’s like building deep in a bear market — being “small and unrecognized,” but still stubbornly confident in the founding team, the long-term vision, and the community they were assembling. A core goal from the beginning was to create a Web3 community that rewards both technical contributors and people willing to learn. His founding principle captures it perfectly: childhood nostalgia can be one of the most compelling on-ramps to educate people about Web3.

The conversation also  ...