Founders Space Spotlight 🎙️ Kotaro | From NFT Drop to Sui Powerhouse

The Spaces profiles Ben (aka “Kataro”), cofounder of Studio Mirai, in a candid, two‑plus hour founder’s journey. Ben traces his path from a shy Hong Kong–born, Boston‑raised pianist and schoolyard hustler (iPhone cases, jailbreaks, snacks) to college marketer/filmmaker and performer, to pandemic‑forced reinvention that led to NFTs. A vivid dream birthed Nozomi/Tamashi; early mints were slow until he and brother Brian (BL) built deep community via daily Discord events for two years, culminating in a 32‑hour Tamashi auction. Mirai evolved from “project” to “brand” with Prime and Enforcer as on‑chain tech demos, then migrated to Sui after BD grind at ETHDenver and beyond. Momentum at Sui Basecamp, a Mysten round, and validator/infra revenue let Mirai reject a TGE and reward loyal holders while incubating Coda, a six‑year music protocol vision. Ben unpacks destination events (Mirai Bali/Dubai, Bajo), culture as moat, founder marketing, and networking tactics (befriend, don’t just meet). He closes with lessons on consistency, transparency, personal branding, and shipping in the bear.

Founder Space Spotlight: Studio Mirai — The Builder Behind the Robots and CODA

Who Spoke and Who They Are

• Mike (Host): Curates Founder Space Spotlight; focuses on stories of builders beyond tokens/tech.
• Ben (alias “Kotaro/Kataro/Qataro” in the space): Co-founder and public face of Studio Mirai; community architect, creative director, event producer, BD lead. Originally from Hong Kong; grew up near Boston; based in Japan.
• Brian (“BL”; Ben’s brother): Co-founder; deeply technical and structured; the core engineer behind Mirai’s on-chain/NFT mechanics and the upcoming CODA protocol.
• Community voices: Coach, Amon, Theo, Exclusive (questions on background, networking, performance, family, and US event context).

Studio Mirai at a Glance

• Evolved from a story-driven NFT concept into a culture-led, global brand on Sui spanning collectibles, IRL destination events, creative collabs, infra (validators), and soon a music protocol (CODA).
• Known for: Robots (core identity), Tamashi (story-first 1/1 series), Prime/Enforcer (tech-forward, on-chain dynamic NFTs), unforgettable IRL experiences (Bali, Dubai, and the upcoming Bajo), and a fiercely loyal community built through relentless, personal engagement.

Personal Origins and Early Entrepreneurial DNA

• Upbringing: Ben and Brian grew up in a traditional Asian household with high academic expectations. Ben struggled in school, gravitated to creativity, performance, and “doing things his own way.” Brian excelled academically then pivoted to music and later code.
• Early hustles (middle school–high school):
  • Imported iPod/iPhone cases in bulk; sold with tiered pricing (friends vs. bullies), learned pricing, segmentation, and customer relationship effects.
  • Jailbreaking iPods and selling base packages plus premium custom themes (sports-themed UI); early productized service model.
  • Snack arbitrage (Asian candy, koala biscuits) in a “no soda” school; logistics via oversized band lockers; demand creation in constrained markets.
  • Sold study guides (shut down by a teacher), then iterated to new offerings. Reinvested profits across ventures; meaningful lessons in scarcity, margin, and reinvestment.
• Collector mindset: Meticulous card care, display for personal joy (not performative), and deep appreciation for scarcity. This ethos later informed Mirai’s drops: limited runs, meaningful scarcity, and “if you miss it, you miss it” experiences that create cultural capital and long-term desire rather than commodity hype.

Music, Performance, and Personality Contrast

• Piano training from childhood; intense private schooling and concerto performance. Ben thrived in improvisation/jazz and composition-by-ear; Brian excelled in sight-reading and theory. This maps directly to their founder archetypes: Ben (creative/chaotic/do-it-my-way), Brian (technical/logical/precision).
• Performance as transformation: On stage, Ben became confident, communicative, and social — a state he later channeled into live community building on Discord and in IRL events.

College, Skills, and Early Career

• University of Massachusetts Amherst (social/behavioral economics route due to GPA barrier to business school). Found purpose building the Asian American Student Association from a small club into 1–2k-person events through media, marketing, and production.
• Video production: Taught himself cameras and editing, bartered films for kombucha and dining credits; 50–60 dance films in a year.
• First jobs: Ballet studio pianist (paid above minimum wage, improvised pop into 3/4), on-campus cafeteria; blended creativity with practical work.
• Post-grad: Built a video business (universities, real estate, music videos). COVID erased in-person clients; pivoted to video editing; burned out.

Entry Into Web3 and The Dream That Sparked Mirai

• Crypto exposure pre-NFTs was mixed (e.g., SHIB in/out at wrong times). In 2021, Brian pulled Ben into NFTs, seeing on-chain potential (vs. Ben’s skepticism about paying for picture-JPEGs).
• The spark: Ben’s vivid, dark COVID-era dream — TV-headed characters all “plugged into” idealized digital worlds while the real world burned; one unplugged figure stood among buried TV heads with “HOPE” above. This emotional anchor birthed the character/world concept (Nozomi = hope), becoming the narrative soul of Tamashi.
• Assembled early team: Ben (creative/vision/production), Brian (engineering), Mike Ellis (creative writing), and an artist friend. Goal: bootstrap a community around story and characters; longer-term ambition to create an anime-grade IP.

Tamashi: 100 Days That Built a Core

• Format: 100 unique Tamashi minted over 100 days (1/day), priced around 150 ICX ($200–300 then). Early pieces sat for weeks; the first was eventually given away during a chain upgrade livestream and held forever after (Big Floater) — becoming a mythic provenance event.
• Growth: From sluggish sales to half-block sellouts; Ben and Brian leaned into Discord — talk about life, create games, host “fireside” sessions, troll, and bond. For ~2 years, Ben hosted daily Discord events, took no salary, moved home to cut costs, and built routines of real presence.
• Cultural inflection: Holders didn’t flip; Tamashi became status. Later valuations soared (hundreds of thousands of ICX), cementing the collection as a cultural trophy.
• The 32-hour auction (Tamashi # 100 “Takahashi”): Sold for ~$18k. Ben streamed the whole auction, then collapsed from exhaustion/dehydration and was hospitalized. That single sale funded 8–9 months of operations (no founder salaries; funds went to artists and ROI-positive activities). Pivotal proof of concept.

From Project to Brand: Prime, Enforcer, and Purposeful Tech

• Philosophy: Mirai’s collections are R&D to showcase Sui-native capabilities — not gimmick monetization. Two founding reasons for launches: (1) bootstrap community and (2) demonstrate tech used in CODA.
• Prime (aka “Prime Machine”/“Primations” in the chat): Priced low single-digit dollars on earlier chain; reissued on Sui. Purpose: showcase 4K on-chain rendering and dynamic color.
• Enforcer: Demonstrates on-chain NFT swapping and dynamic composability — another foundational component for CODA.
• Design rule: Each collection must introduce a genuinely new interaction or capability. This habituates users to the on-chain primitives central to CODA.

Sui Migration: From Awkward Pitches to Ecosystem Pillar

• Why Sui: Brian read Sui’s object model/account abstraction and immediately saw it remove CODA’s technical blockers. Decision: move and build.
• First BD steps: Ben forced himself into BD despite being introverted. At ETHDenver, his first pitch to Kostas (Mysten Labs) was clumsy (he even commented on a napkin with the Sui logo); then pivoted to creating value — filming/editing interviews of builders to seed relationships.
• BD playbook that worked:
  • Offer value upfront (media/interviews) rather than ask for favors.
  • Show up repeatedly (Denver, Hong Kong, Japan, Vietnam, Singapore). Befriend the Foundation and the same builders over multiple events.
  • Convert contacts into real relationships (meals on your dime; help their launches; share networks) until their networks become yours.
• The Prime mint-out on Sui: Ben boarded a plane as the mint went live; offline 6 hours; landed to find Prime sold out in ~100 seconds and the ecosystem buzzing again about NFTs. He was mobbed at Base Camp after months of being ignored pre-migration — Mirai had momentum and used it.
• Capital and infra: Secured a private round from Mysten Labs; launched a Sui validator (and additional infra roles, including with partners like Eka/Walrus). This infra revenue plus disciplined spending lets Mirai avoid selling tokens or relying on a TGE.

Community-Building Method: The Secret Sauce

• Mission and clarity:
  • Be transparent from day one: you’re buying into a story and a culture that may grow into much more.
  • Consistency > everything: daily presence becomes a norm, not a chore.
  • Keep “when token/airdrop” culture out; new members demanding quick gains are corrected by peer culture.
• Personal connection at scale:
  • Nicknames with origin stories (e.g., Big Floater as “Prime Machine” from a misspelling). Ben remembers who joined when, what they hold, and why they matter.
  • Generational waves: cohorts arrive together, form identity, and onboard the next wave (e.g., Mirajun/Patrick; Clean Water/Mike; Drag Nipper; RFL; UID; Dark Side; etc.). Airdrops like “Wars” catalyzed new-holder cohorts.
• IRL matters:
  • Deep, shared experiences beat noisy party-hopping. Design events that require presence and reward it with meaningful connection, not transactional airdrops.
  • Ambassadors emerge organically (e.g., GE, Fido, Halo Cows, Big Floater), mirroring Mirai’s vibe and multiplying it.

Destination Events: From Proof to Powerhouse

• Why: Most crypto events are loud, transactional, and forgettable. Mirai builds curated, cultural experiences where people really meet, create, and remember.
• Milestones:
  • Mirai Bali: First major destination; ~34 attendees flew in specifically for Mirai. Intimate trading by the pool; deep bonding across builders and holders (e.g., life-changing trip for Mike).
  • Marisol dinner (Vietnam): Temple-like venue, 2 hours outside the city, designed for full attendance and presence. Notable anecdote: rejecting a +1 who wasn’t a robot holder (later learned it was Mert).
  • Singapore Tamashi Dinners: Annual tradition, growing year over year; people fly in for the dinner itself.
  • Mirai Dubai: 4–5 months of planning; raised ~140k; high-production media and ecosystem impact.
  • Bajo (next): Planned for a year, with larger partner support than Dubai; a culmination of the “tokenized vacations” concept first explored with Linda (Nakabuzuki) — expect Mirai’s most ambitious IRL to date.

Operations, Office, and Team

• Japan base: New office interior designed from concrete shell — Mirai merch everywhere, samples, a 3D printer. “Bougie” AI/voice toilet became a running joke. The team works onsite for velocity; Cosmonaut runs Japan events (sponsors, ambassador roles, schedules, Ben’s speaking slots).
• Admin: Ben finalizing GK (business registration/visa), constant Asia travel cadence (Japan–Korea–Singapore–Bali, etc.).
• Team structure: Ben scaled from “do everything” to creative director with a creative team (4–5). Still self-sufficient across marketing, community, BD, graphic design, event ops when needed.

CODA: The Music Protocol Era (Positioning, Not Spoilers)

• Six-year vision: CODA is the endgame product; Mirai’s collections were always about building the right community and proving the on-chain tech CODA depends on.
• Transition strategy: No jarring “switch” — a natural progression. Holders, stickers, and long-time participants are central to value distribution. Specific tokenomics were shared in a prior (non-recorded) space.
• No TGE pressure: Thanks to funding/infra and conservative spend, Mirai doesn’t need to sell tokens or force TGEs — avoiding common “one-bad-TGE-and-you’re-dead” pitfalls.

Partnerships and Ecosystem Positioning

• Intentional collabs (e.g., Lofi, NS, Eka, Walrus) are woven into Mirai’s narrative — not random hype. The goal is to sit at Sui’s cultural core through authentic integration, not opportunistic sponsorships.
• Foundation relationship: Built through repeated presence and value creation, leading to high-quality intros and stronger ecosystem leverage.

Challenges, Risks, and Uncomfortable Truths

• US event absence: Ben avoided US appearances after receiving serious threats from US-based community members when he planned to attend a Sui event. Safety first.
• Health cost: The 32-hour Tamashi auction ended with Ben collapsing from overwork/dehydration and hospitalization — a stark reminder about founder limits.
• Bear-market bootstrapping: Building a community from zero in a bear market is infinitely harder — Mirai did it through sheer consistency and personality.

Family, Support, and Turning Points

• Mother’s ultimatum: One year to make Mirai work or return to a 9–5 finance job. Ben went all-in: the brand took off, events went global, and the family now celebrates the outcome.
• Parents now: Mom bought robots early, still holds (doesn’t know how to sell), dollar-cost-averages into Sui daily. Dad, a creative, checks Mirai’s validator stats every day and dreams of a Porsche 911 for Ben to buy him “when it really makes it.”

Live Q&A Highlights

• Amon: Asked about US “sour taste” (Ben cited credible threats), and his relationship with Alex — who gave Mirai their first big stage in Estonia and mentored on ops/presence. Bajo will be “craziest” event yet.
• Coach: Family arc — Mom pushed traditional path, later supported after Mirai’s breakout; she still holds NFTs and DCAs Sui; Dad’s SHIB buy at ATH is a family meme; he’s Mirai’s biggest validator fan.
• Theo: On switching from performance to Discord-building — Ben missed performing; tries to keep music alive (studio sessions in Japan; dreamed of playing grand piano on a Bajo yacht).
• Exclusive: On networking when out of the loop — Ben’s advice: show up repeatedly, offer tangible value first, convert contacts into friendships (shared meals), then grow via their networks. Expect negative ROI on events early; the long-term compounding is in credibility and introductions.

What Ben Learned About Himself

• He’s not as passive as he thought; he can stretch into BD, marketing, and community leadership when survival and mission demand it. If you must, you can learn it. Consistency compounds; skills accrete under pressure.

Advice for Founders

• Build in public with founder marketing: Be active, accessible, and authentic; document the journey; let people ask you about your work rather than shilling at them.
• Your personal brand reflects on the project: Behaviors and friendships compound reputation risk — choose collaborators carefully.
• Do it yourself, especially at the start: Don’t stall because you “lack” a role — wear the hat until you can hire it or a friend can fill it.
• Design around passion, not payouts: Community longevity comes from mission, transparency, and belonging — not “when token.”
• IRL beats noise: Curate experiences where people must be present; this is where true loyalty and ambassadors are forged.

Notable Anecdotes and Touchstones

• Tamashi # 1 giveaway during a chain upgrade livestream; Big Floater’s legendary diamond-hands hold.
• 32-hour Tamashi # 100 auction; Ben hospitalized from exhaustion — the cost of commitment.
• Prime mint on Sui sold out in ~100 seconds while Ben was offline mid-flight; Mirai’s Base Camp “arrival moment.”
• The napkin pitch: Early awkward intro to Mysten’s Kostas — a lesson in preparation (and humility).
• The “Mert” dinner story: Guardrails on access (robot holders first) produce a culture of meaningful belonging.
• The office toilet: Humor, humanity, and the joy of building a space that reflects the team’s tastes and culture.

What’s Next

• Bajo destination event: One year in the making; larger partner support than Dubai; designed as the apex Mirai experience.
• CODA: Gradual rollout aligned with Mirai’s on-chain tech heritage; a music protocol long ideated, now feasible on Sui’s object model.
• Continued IRL, infra, and brand-building: Mirai to stay at the cultural core of Sui while deepening cross-ecosystem creative and infra ties.