In the 63rd episode of Colors of Web3 and Entrepreneurship, Lam sits down with Marco van den Heuvel, co-founder of Beam Labs, to discuss the evolving landscape of Web3 gaming. Marco shares his fascinating journey—from discovering Bitcoin during college to co-founding Beam Labs—and highlights the incredible innovations driving the future of gaming and blockchain integration.Together, they dive into the challenges and breakthroughs in Web3, including building decentralized gaming infrastructures, fostering vibrant communities, and creating ecosystems that empower developers and gamers alike. Marco also unveils exciting announcements for 2025: Beam Layer 1 upgrades, Beam Ventures, and the role of AI in gaming.Whether you're a Web3 enthusiast, an entrepreneur, or simply curious about the intersection of gaming and blockchain, this episode is packed with insights you won't want to miss!⌛ Timestamps:00:00:00 Episode trailer00:00:28 Introduction and self-introduction of Marco van den Heuvel00:02:00 Marco’s journey into Web3 and early Bitcoin discovery00:03:06 Building communities in Web3 and lessons learned00:09:05 How Marco discovered about Bitcoin00:10:59 Marco's fascination with terrarium00:16:32 Background of Beam Labs from Merit Circle days00:20:00 What Beam does: a 360-degree overview00:23:55 The significance of Beam Nodes and validator rewards00:26:00 Origin of the name Merit Circle and the rebrand to Beam00:31:04 Transition from an Avalanche subnet to Beam’s Layer 1 blockchain00:36:24 Web3 tech requirements for games00:39:05 Beam’s tech stack: NFT marketplace, wallet, and SDK00:40:59 Beam Ventures: $150M gaming and AI investment fund in Abu Dhabi00:44:31 Marco discusses competition and Beam’s unique approach00:46:05 Beam's business models00:50:24 Challenges facing Beam Labs00:52:46 Evolution of Web3 gaming and the need for mainstream adoption00:54:45 The people behind Beam Labs00:59:30 Marco's take on a multi-chain world01:01:30 How Web3 gaming will evolve in the future01:04:16 Marco's favorite Web3 games01:08:02 Marco’s advice for Web3 founders building gaming infrastructure01:09:57 Where to follow Marco and stay updated on Beam Labs01:11:01 Episode outro and final thoughtsFollow Marco and Beam: Beam Labs X/Twitter: https://x.com/buildonbeam Beam Foundation X/Twitter: https://x.com/BeamFDN Marco's X/Twitter: https://x.com/Marco_Beam Beam website: https://onbeam.com/ Beam telegram: t.dot/buildonbeam My social media: Twitter/X: ⁠https://www.twitter.com/LamWeb3⁠ LinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/lamweb3/⁠Website: ⁠https://lamtrinh.xyz⁠My old article about the 2-3 prevailing narratives of 2024-2025: https://substack.com/home/post/p-143541984 If you enjoy this episode, please subscribe to stay updated on our upcoming episodes with industry experts and innovators in the Web3 and Entrepreneurship spaces. Thank you for listening!