I am writing this article on my return flight home from VeeCon #1. VeeCon, the brainchild of Gary Vaynerchuk, was a four-day super-conference that combined tech and culture and was centered on how Web 3.0 is just beginning to change the entire landscape.

Gary Vaynerchuk started the star-studded event.

The list of speakers was exhaustive and the evening’s musical acts were numerous and notable. Everyone from Mila Kunis and Eva Longoria to Chuck Liddell and Logan Paul were in attendance. Musical performances included Wyclef Jean to appearances from Snoop Dogg. It was a full schedule over the four days.

While it is fresh in my mind, I want to share three things I learned at VeeCon #1 that I think can benefit your business in 2022 and beyond.

1. Building a Lasting Business Takes Time—While we all hear the stories of a business that nearly appeared overnight and erupted to wild success, that is typically the exception and not the rule. Building a business that makes it over the long haul and survives the ups and downs takes time and a lot of hard work. There are no “make it quick” strategies that will outperform steady, thoughtful progress and doing the right things over an extended period of time.

Stars like Eva Longoria were on hand.

2. Don’t Fall in Love With What Worked For You Yesterday—As a business grows, it is imperative to guard against putting current practices in cruise control. You cannot—and should not—expect what worked in the past to get you to the point you are now and continue to work forever. Things are changing fast and Web 3.0 is going to accelerate that change. You must be willing to keep one eye on the work of the moment and one eye on the horizon to see what’s coming next.

3. Web 3.0 is Going to Create New Opportunities That Never Existed—We are still very early in the Web 3.0 era but things like the blockchain, cryptocurrency and non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are going to be as disruptive to the current way of life as wide access to the internet was in the mid-late 90s. While it is still early, it makes a great deal of sense to begin educating yourself now about this space to prepare your business for these upcoming changes. They are going to happen with or without you. If you want your business to survive and thrive in this coming era, start preparing now.

Snoop Dogg (left) and Gary Vaynerchuk (right) chatting.

I hope these three objectives I am relaying from VeeCon will get you thinking about ways to improve and prepare your business. This is just a sliver of what I learned over these past four days. As with nearly any conference, the most valuable element was the time spent meeting and interacting with new people throughout the weekend. I already have some exciting things planned for the coming months based on things I learned from people I met at VeeCon.

Whether it is a conference like this or others, make time to attend events that will help educate you and expand your network of connections.