Toby “TobiWan” Dawson, world renowned Dota 2 commentator, recently launched a very interesting platform which allows esports content creators to be funded in a transparent and reliable manner by the community via the blockchain technology.

We had the privilege to talk to Tobiwan, and we discussed what the BestMeta platform is and how it will change the way crowd fundraising works in esports, or the gaming world in general.

Hello Tobi and thank you for taking the time to talk to us in between two trips to Dota Majors. I would like to start by asking when and how did you decide it’s time to marry the blockchain technology to funding esports related projects?

Like most things being built in the crypto world, they are trying to be ahead of their time & pioneer change. While a lot of these features already exist in separate pieces there isn’t a place where everything has been combined together and none of them utilize the possibility that blockchain provides.

If this is the time to have something like BestMeta, linking crypto and esport together…I believe this is the time to set it up and develop it to be fully functioning with a method to connect crypto and esports which is refined as we all understand the direction blockchain/crypto will take us.

Lately, cryptocurrencies have taken the financial world by storm. But not everybody has a clear understanding of the concept. For most, cryptocurrencies transactions might resemble the in-game virtual currencies, but they clearly have more depth than that. Can you point for us briefly how a gaming community member could make use of them?

The easiest way to explain crypto is as virtual currency, the difference is you have a currency whose value is dictated by supply & demand. Making it more complicated than that I don’t believe is necessary for a gaming community member, what they should understand outside of $$$ value is the system it is built on.

Smart contracts, decentralized network, security, a transparent environment these are the building blocks for the companies building inside the network. BestMeta in a lot of ways is the embodiment of the system, as we are an ICO (Initial Coin Offering), but our system enables everyone to launch their own ICO in a supporting environment.

Can you explain a little bit more in depth how is BestMeta working? How does it differ from a community fund raise via Patreon let’s say?

BestMeta is meant to be more than just a place to raise funds, the idea is you the creators are not just trying to raise money to build something it is the expectation that the projects give back to those who help them actualize. We have seen similar systems work with Valves compendiums, not just virtual items but community interactions which are only limited by the imagination of the project members.

So we enable these systems, we don’t lock it to one game/developer/network & then provide the support/connections to actualize the concept. This is what sets us apart, the fact that someone has an idea but they need service providers to move from idea to concept to creation, BestMeta is a catalogue not only for the creators projects but for the service provides/sponsors/community to connect and be involved in making the projects successful.

So, BestMeta seems the safest way for fans to actually see a project come to fruition, but how does BestMeta change the situation for the content creators?

Content creators always have the issue of getting people to see their ideas, and to have people judge their creations on the ideas and not just the people they work with. The best thing BestMeta does is allow content creators to be judged on their content, to be transparent in everything that goes into it so trust is developed between the community and the creators.

How do you guys decide which Talent projects will be part of BestMeta, will you have some sort of selection? Can anyone who has an idea just throw the project at you and it would be up for crowdfunding on the platform? How does this works exactly?

The platform is open for anyone and everyone to use, staying true to our vision of the project it is about enabling all ideas to have a platform to succeed.

Because you are one of the most popular Dota 2 personalities and the BestMeta Esports Director, I feel like I need to ask this to make it clearer; will the platform feature content creators from all esports, CS:GO, PUBG, LoL, Smash Bros, etc…?

Creators for any game will be accepted, and not limited to competitive games. The beautiful thing about the gaming market is you always have something new and different launching and a large community trying to work out what it is all about, making a huge market with ever evolving content to be created for consumers.

The BestMeta token (BMT) pre-sale will go live on the 15th of March. How much money do you guys expect to raise from the 40 million Tokens that will be issued?

I am personally remaining optimistic and hope we raise our full 22 million. With this money we can really launch the platform strongly and marketing/development budget can help us actualize more concepts people bring to our platform.

There are some perks for those who choose to invest in a Talent project, can you tell us more about that? What are the direct rewards the “investors” should expect?

Those who contribute to the talents projects know what they will receive before they ever put a cent into the idea. We did an actual physical example of this system working with my gaming panel show “Well Played” where those who would contribute have a list of rewards they can choose to receive. The more they put in, the more credits they have to spend on the rewards.

It isn’t just limited to this return of service, endorsement is also possible through direct contact. So say a company like Red Bull wants to sponsor the next season of my panel show. They can contact me directly on the BestMeta platform and we can negotiate what they want in return for BestMeta Tokens (BMT) that will help to fund the project.

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I’d like to talk a bit about the Well Played show which was released as the BestMeta pilot project. Do you have plans for a second season?

Yes, I 100% want to do a full season 1. I had so much fun creating the 4 pilot episodes, learnt a lot to improve the first official season. If we are capable of raising the money to get BestMeta off the ground then I can see myself funding many seasons to come through the platform.

Glad to hear that, I can’t wait to see all the BestaMeta project listings, and we wish you and the entire BestMeta crew the best of luck. One last question, Dota 2 related: Who do think will win the Bucharest Major, coming up in less than a week from now?

It would have to be Team Liquid, they just look amazingly powerful right now which is amplified by the fast paced meta DOTA 2 is experiencing.

Aright, again thanks for your time Tobi, and for your patience in explaining the BestMeta project for us, if you have any shout-outs or wise words to add at the end of our chat, please do.

Hahahahha wise words….enjoy what you do in life. For shout outs I will be selfish and say go check out my networks, I am doing more guide/educational videos on my YouTube channel and am pretty active on my Twitter & Facebook.