The story that we are about to share with you is truly an interesting one. It is about an individual who bounces back after a tragic event to reach greater heights.
Let’s meet Mr. Sanz Teoh, Chief Executive Officer and Founder of Jumix and his inspiring story below.
Smart Investor: Thanks for taking the time to talk to Smart Investor. Can you tell us a little bit about yourself, about Jumix, and what makes you started the company?
Sanz Teoh: Hi, I’m founder and CEO of Jumix. In 2014, I was almost murdered by a local gangster group. That inexperienced me was trying to work a side hustle while having a full-time digital marketing job.
It was at that moment, I decided that I have to fully commit my time, effort, and energy to my own business. I promised myself that no one else in this world should go through the same experience as I did, and I set out to make this my business mission.
Combining my educational knowledge in marketing and my personal passion in creating digital products, I founded Jumix. It started off as a web design & digital marketing agency, now we also do Branding and NFTs for businesses.
Smart Investor: We heard about your recent foray into the NFT scene with BeU, care to elaborate on that?
Sanz Teoh: Yes, and I’m very excited about this. There’s a story behind why we are doing NFT. Previously during the MCO, we have a long discussion with a creative agency to come out with a ‘Virtual Influencer’ that is set for a launch in late 2020.
My entire team put a lot of effort and commitment into that project. But due to some contractual dispute, the plan didn’t work out. It is then we decide to take things into our own hands, and is determined that we are going to create something new all by our own instead of working with another agency.
This is why we decided to dive into the NFT scene. Being a seasonal cryptocurrency investor and familiar with blockchain technology myself, I proposed to my team that we can use utilize our creativity to create characters, which will then be a set of collectibles on the blockchain.
Starting from scratch, my team brainstorm, sketch, draw, produce and code the entire BeU NFT project. Throughout the entire journey, we learnt a lot more about NFTs and how NFTs can really help brands and creators to bring a lot more to the table.
People who are interested in an NFT project can ‘own’ it and enjoy the benefits or utilities that the NFT project gives.
For example, people who own BeU NFT will get another NFT for free, which is the ‘egg’ of the original character, which will ‘hatch’ and revealed later on. It would remain a mystery for now.
All owners will also get to involve in the roadmap of BeU project, which include deciding on which charity foundation that we will donate our money to, getting access to exclusive BeU merchandise, stand a chance to win life-size BeU figurine, and ultimately, be the first to access the virtual world that BeU created – BeUtopia.
Smart Investor: How big is the NFT industry in Malaysia and are Malaysians ready to get on board the NFT phenomena?
Sanz Teoh: I would say that the NFT industry in Malaysia is still pretty new. But so far I’ve already seen quite a number of artists, creators and brands that have dived into NFTs.
Things are just going to get more interesting for Malaysians, but just like any other market, there’s always a stigma when it comes to adopting or investing into something new.
I believe with more brands and creators embracing NFT with more following suit, this is why Jumix is going to bring more both brands and creators into this industry, and drive the growth of Malaysia’s market together.
Smart Investor: With the recent crash of the crypto market, does it have an effect on the NFT market?
Sanz Teoh: Crypto market has its ups and downs over the years. While I’m not talking about cryptocurrencies trading, the price crash of crypto does affect the NFT market as well.
When prices of crypto drops, it actually makes NFTs more appealing, as you can now purchase NFTs at a much lower price. This makes collecting or investing in NFTs much more approachable to the public.
Smart Investor: Can you share with us your plans for the future?
Sanz Teoh: BeU is only the first NFT project that Jumix pushes out, we’ll have more NFT projects in collaboration with other brands, which would include more utilities, features and more creative concepts.
For the next 6-12 months, other than growing the BeU community, I’m also looking to work with brands who are interested in NFT to build new projects with them.
Smart Investor: What is your advice to Malaysians out there who wants to get involved with NFT?
Sanz Teoh: There will be two groups of people here. The first ones are the brands and creators.
For brands and creators, my advice is to get involved as soon as possible, as the trend is rising rapidly and the attention in this space is high. But please do not take this opportunity as a money grab, NFT is still very community-driven and it should be created for the community, not for your own profit’s sake.
The second group of people are the owners and investors. For investors, don’t take this as a get-rich-quick investment, but something more like a long-term investment. But before putting in your hard-earned money, make sure that you believe in a particular NFT project and do your own due diligence.
For smaller NFT owners, go ahead and support your favourite creators and brands while enjoying the benefits that the NFTs provides, experience how blockchain and cryptocurrency work, and have fun at the same time.
Smart Investor: Can we really make money from NFT, is NFT a good investment to venture into?
Sanz Teoh: I’m not one to tell people that we can ‘earn money’ from NFT. I would tell them to first, truly understand as to what, why and how cryptocurrency, blockchain and NFT exists.
Once you fully understand the benefits of blockchain and NFT, then, like any venture or business, you have to be creative, committed, and create something that people want, or of interest, to be able to ‘make money’ from it.
For the general public, some NFTs project are really good, and has good utilities, visionary founders, responsible project team and for a good cause. These are NFT projects that you can invest into.
For brand and business owners, investing in creating NFTs is a good way to differentiate your brand and business, raise funds, or to offer additional utilities and benefits to your fans or loyal customers.
The potential of NFT is vast. With proper strategy and ethical purpose, NFT is definitely the way to go.
