Overnight Success

Today, I sit down with Yat Siu, founder and executive chairman of Animoca Brands—one of the driving forces behind Web3 gaming and digital property rights. We trace Yat’s journey from hacking together 3D software with ex-Atari developers, to launching some of Asia’s first ISPs and now ultimately defining the future of blockchain-based gaming with Animoca Brands.
Yat unpacks the waves of innovation he’s lived through—dotcom busts, pandemics, mobile booms—and the lessons that shaped his vision for Animoca Brands. We dive into the philosophy of digital ownership, the fight for user rights in the internet age, and why Web3 isn’t just about technology—it’s a movement.

About Our Guest
Yat Siu is the founder and executive chairman of Animoca Brands, a global leader in Web3 gaming and digital property rights. Animoca Brands is pioneering the use of blockchain technology to empower users with true ownership of digital assets, driving innovation across gaming, culture, and finance. Through investments in projects like The Sandbox, Axie Infinity, and OpenSea, Animoca has become a key architect of the open metaverse.
Before founding Animoca Brands, Yat was a tech entrepreneur who helped build some of Asia’s earliest Internet ventures, including Hong Kong Online and Outblaze. With deep roots in software, gaming, and internet infrastructure, Yat is a passionate advocate for digital freedom, financial literacy, and the belief that users—not platforms—should own the future of the internet.

Episode Highlights with Timestamps:
[00:00] Overnight Success: Intro
[01:00] Childhood entrepreneurial influences: Compuserve, living in Austria & Hong Kong, extreme communism vs extreme capitalism.
[03:37] Atari’s heyday, losing the gaming wars and building his first business with ex-Atari team members.
[10:41] Finding product market fit in the 90s. Building ISPs (Hong Kong Online), ASPs (Outblaze)
[15:21] Surviving the dotcom downturn, building on Linux, selling in Asia vs the West.
[18:25] Biggest learnings: growing a business during SARS, dealing with blackmail and the importance of staying true to your principles as a founder.
[23:06] Building Animoca brands, the boom of mobile game development and getting deplatformed
[28:12] The opportunity in Web3, NFTs and becoming an early investor in Web3 projects.
[31:46] Web3 “aha moment”: Challenging the dominance of internet conglomerates
[34:30] The philosophy behind Web3 - digital capitalism, digital property rights, financial literacy
[41:30] Crypto X Politics
[44:24] Web3 meets AI: attribution for original work, building into the network.

Resources & Links Mentioned:
Yat Siu’s Twitter/X [⁠https://x.com/ysiu⁠]
Animoca Brands Twitter/X [⁠https://x.com/animocabrands⁠]
Animoca Brands [⁠https://www.animocabrands.com/⁠]