“You have no choice now—being a Swiss army knife and being able to learn on the fly. It's such an underrated skill. Everybody is so much of a specialist now, but I'd like to be a generalist. It isn't always a bad thing when you can deliver.” – Rob Petrozzo
In this episode of Outliers, I’m talking with Rob Petrozzo (@robpetrozzo) about the past, present, and future of digital collectibles. We discuss the highs and lows of building a marketplace from the ground up, how ownership has become the new status symbol, and buying and selling in a world where time is currency.
Rob Petrozzo is Co-Founder and Chief Product Officer at Rally, a marketplace for buying and selling equity shares in ultra-rare, collectible assets. Rob’s background in design led him to consult for Kanye West’s G.O.O.D. Music imprint under Sony BMG before he moved into the world of product design. He led design at ScrollMotion and KeyMe before creating Rally.
Chapters in this interview:
- 00:00:08 – Rob’s background in design and the music industry
- 00:08:32 – Digital collectibles, and ownership as a status symbol
- 00:11:40 – Investing in history, whether past, present or future
- 00:19:17 – The asset allocation model and investment priorities of the next generation
- 00:27:31 – The insights, trends, and legislation that led to the creation of Rally
- 00:33:44 – Changes in Rally in 2020
- 00:36:11 – The process of bringing museum-quality assets to the Rally platform
- 00:40:46 – Rally’s primary vs. secondary markets
- 00:45:35 – Handling physical assets in Rally’s retail store and warehouse
- 00:51:07 – Learnings through building a marketplace, and defining PSA
- 00:57:11 – The long-term approach to business building
- 01:03:28 – Rob’s own collectibles and personal mentors
For more explore the transcript of this episode.
Links from the Episode
- Connect with Rob Petrozzo: Twitter |Instagram | LinkedIn
- Rally Website | Rally Twitter
- Photoshop
- Kanye West’s G.O.O.D. Music imprint under Sony BMG
- John Legend
- Common
- Christopher Bruno, Co-Founder of Rally
- Max Niederste-Ostholt, Co-Founder of Rally
- DJ Drama
- Lil Uzi Vert
- Jack Harlow
- PNC Bank Arts Center
- Supreme
- Bike Week in Florida
- Harley Davidson
- Shore Club in Miami
- Sotheby's
- Christie's
- NBA Top Shot moments
- Robinhood
- Coinbase
- Vanguard
- Airbnb
- DoorDash
- E*TRADE
- CNBC
- Gamestop
- Discord
- Telegram
- SubReddit
- Barclay's
- KeyMe
- Kickstarter
- Indiegogo
- ICO boom of 2016
- Provenance in collectibles
- Pokemon set collections
- PSA grading
- Logan Paul with 1st Edition Pokemon Box
- Aston Martin
- Harry Potter books
- Mickey Mantle rookie card
- Indiana Jones
- Goldin Auctions
- eBay
- Collectors Universe
- Porsche
- Clubhouse
- Square
- Nirvana
- Maurice Sendak, author of Where the Wild Things Are
- Darren Rovell
-
Investment Terms
- NFTs (Non Fungible Tokens) and digital collectibles
- Crypto tokens
- YOLO trades
- Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act (JOBS)
- Buy the Dips
- REITs (Real Estate Investment Trusts)
- Utility token vs. security token
Key Takeaway
Rally is a platform for buying and selling equity in high value assets with real historical or cultural significance—and ones that will be significant in the future. Today, everyone wants to be perceived as a futurist. NFTs and other digital collectibles present an opportunity to jump ahead and really see around that turn. The preferred status symbol these days is ownership. Rally brings together people, the things they care about, the moments that are most important to them, and allows them to purchase and own a portion of that.
We are now seeing that traditional equities, cryptocurrencies, and rare collectibles are blending together into a new type of modern diversified portfolio—one where the asset allocation is unexpectedly split to really reflect what the investor finds valuable and significant in their life.
