Training the Metaverse Workforce: Why we built Republic Realm Academy

By Janine Yorio & Cathy Hackl

The way that we interact with technology is undergoing a revolution--into a paradigm known as the metaverse. The metaverse is being defined and built and is often referred to as the successor to today's mobile internet. It will impact where and how people socialize, work, play, and transact. Some virtual worlds will be built on the blockchain are self-contained virtual cities and economies that simulate real-world interactions, others will parallel our physical world with some level of augmentation. Many believe that the metaverse presents the greatest business opportunity of our generation.?

While the term “metaverse” has spiked in popularity, most people still cannot explain what the metaverse is and what the business opportunities for their companies are in the era of web 3.0. The need for metaverse experts is growing explosively (even Vogue has posed the question of whether it’s time to hire a chief metaverse officer). But the truth is, there aren’t enough experienced metaverse professionals to fill the new roles that companies are starting to recruit for.

The last time we saw a boom like this was in crypto in the mid-2010s. People who jumped on the crypto bandwagon during those early days — think Mike Novogratz , Joseph Lubin , Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss ,? and Anthony Pompliano — are now considered to be true experts on the topic. They have also made tremendous fortunes by acting quickly when they first spotted the opportunity.

That’s because new industries can unearth massive opportunities for people who are creative and agile enough to identify new niches and reinvent themselves. Now is the time for the adventurous and ambitious to plant a flag in the parcels of the nascent metaverse industry, as today’s metaverse startups will be some of tomorrow’s Fortune 500 companies. While that might sound a bit far-fetched, consider that Coinbase — now valued at more than $54 billion — was founded in 2012 when 1 Bitcoin (BTC ) sold for about $12 and was something hackers messed around within their dorm rooms.

?It is at this point when an industry is taking shape that opportunities are greatest, and not just for economic gain but also for personal brand-building. When you join a company at the earliest stages in a new industry, you become not only a company co-founder but also an industry pioneer. Those early employees lay the foundation for the entire industry, shape its trajectory, and set the ethos and ground rules. Around the Metaverse, a new generation of leaders will emerge. It’s an exciting time to consider becoming one of them.

?Janine Yorio , Julia Schwartz and I all work in metaverse-related jobs, and we’ve seen firsthand how difficult it can be to infiltrate an industry guarded by blockchain engineers, game developers, and lots and lots of jargon. It doesn’t have to be that way. Not everybody who contributes to the iPhone ecosystem is an industrial engineer who can re-engineer an iPhone, and that holds true in the metaverse.

Metaverse jobs will span between everything from blockchain and gaming programmers to animators, designers, marketers, and even accountants, recruiters, and lawyers. Small businesses in the real world could become big businesses in the metaverse, where business owners are not burdened by the perils of the retail brick and mortar. Amazon stores and Etsy shops can become metaverse goldmines, where customers can interact with products in 3D and transact seamlessly due to the expediency of blockchain technology.

?In order to grow the community of people who understand the metaverse enough to jump in more deeply, we’ve assembled some of the greatest academic minds on the subject and brought them together so that you can level up your knowledge.

We’ve created Republic Realm Academy , a virtual educational institution designed with an immersive campus-like community to promote executive and continuing education about the metaverse, web 3.0, and NFTs. It is a school for the metaverse, about the metaverse, in the metaverse.

I will serve as Republic Realm Academy’s first dean and will preside over the curriculum and faculty for its digital academic campus.?

Courses will be taught by educational luminaries from some of the top universities in the world, as well as top industry professionals working in Web 3.0 technologies, focusing on blockchain fundamentals, world-building, the technologies driving the metaverse, the foundation of decentralized technologies, and more. The goal of enrollment is a well-rounded education and an ability to identify future opportunities in the metaverse taught by a multi-disciplinary faculty. Republic Realm Academy seeks to lower the entry barrier to the next computing platform by integrating both technical and broad perspectives giving professionals insight into opportunities the metaverse can have for their core market.

Republic Realm Academy will be led by a world-class, multi-disciplinary faculty and maintain a commitment to building a strong alumni network, akin to top accredited universities in the real world.

Registration is now open, but spots are limited: https://www.republicrealm.com/realm-academy