In this edition of Coffee with Calyptus, we sit down with Richard Awoyemi, co-founder behind Nack's AI toolkit app and a founding engineer at HYTOPIA, the Minecraft-inspired platform for millions of players. Dive into his insights on the evolving role of AI in development, the challenges of blending creativity with tech, and why embracing innovation is the key to staying ahead.
Richard, your shift from scaling an InsureTech startup at RPC to co-founding Nack's AI toolkit app that hit 3000 users worldwide is inspiring. What was the spark that pulled you from finance into building accessible AI interfaces?
London is the financial capital of the world - and yet, across the board, finance has always seemed to lag when it comes to keeping up with technology. As someone who qualified as an actuary but specialised on the engineering side, I really felt that tension firsthand. Even working for an InsureTech startup, it was clear that many companies we spoke to suffered from real complacency with legacy systems, key man risk, poor version control, and bad user experience, among other issues. Wanting to operate at the forefront of the tech landscape, whether investing or building, became my passion.
As a founding engineer at HYTOPIA, crafting a Minecraft-inspired UGC platform for 1.2 million players. What challenges did you face in the AI-gaming innovations you're pioneering there?
There's a couple of key issues we’re facing.
- There's a real tension between the old world order and the new world order. On the one hand, we're seeing that some of our best games and experiences are being built by people who are passionate about gaming but have no background in development whatsoever. For them, AI has been amazing and a wonderful experience. On the other hand, you have existing game developers who struggle to build on the platform because it's a significant departure from what they're accustomed to. And because there's a natural aversion towards AI-related tooling.
- AI is an excellent catalyst for developers, but it should never replace personality. There's a big difference between using AI to enhance your workflow and using AI to do a shoddy job. Something as simple as a pristine, meme-like thumbnail versus "AI slop" speaks volumes. Anything that feels or seems low effort is really off-putting to end users.
Bootstrapping Ruby's NFT dashboard from hackathon wins to Axelar funding must have been a rollercoaster; what did the web3 space teach you about product management?
Marketing is more important than appreciated. In "Zero to One" by Peter Thiel, to paraphrase, he says that a bad product when marketed well can outperform a great product marketed poorly.
In Web3, there are genuinely many bad products, but that space has the best marketers. People study their audience and cater to them accordingly. They figure out what works well and what doesn't work, and they market in a really catered way. It's the most aggressive attention economy that exists, and yet the best marketers thrive.
You are obviously seeing similar things on the AI front now. And yet you still have companies like Cluely cutting through the noise, not because they have the best product, but because they're just the best marketers. It's a skill that's probably never been more valuable than it is right now.
With Nack and HYTOPIA at the AI forefront, how are you adopting large language models and generative AI in gaming and everyday tools, and what's one actionable tip for devs integrating them?
Well, I have parked Nack for now, but I use A.I. in every single area of life that it makes sense. Just like so many other things, it's a tool. And tools exist to accelerate us, make our lives easier and let us achieve more than we would be able to do otherwise. Even though AI feels like it can be really polarising at times, my advice would be not to shun it.
Figure out how it can serve you well. You may not use it in the same way someone else does. You may use it less, you may use it more. But being curious in this space will only be net positive. I think this will single-handedly be the biggest differentiator between what individuals are capable of going forward.
We hope you enjoyed this edition of Coffee with Calyptus. Stay curious, stay inspired, and keep building what matters. Explore more editions and insightful articles at .
.png)
