Why the former CEO of Rothman Furniture launched a startup seeking to shape the future of the internet

Jay Steinback doesn't seem an obvious candidate to lead a startup focused on ushering in the next iteration of the internet.

Instead, it's a surprising role for the former CEO of Rothman Furniture, the now defunct retailer founded by Steinback’s grandfather in 1927.

But Steinback says he's long been on the cutting-edge of technology. When he joined Rothman Furniture, Steinback served as its chief information officer, establishing the company’s e-commerce business. He first bought the cryptocurrency Bitcoin in 2010.

Today, Steinback is founder, chairman and CEO of yWhales Enterprises, a new startup seeking to advance technology focused on Web3, the term used to describe the next version of the internet. Web3 is expected to be blockchain-based and include "cryptocurrencies, non-fungible tokens (NFTs), decentralized autonomous organizations, decentralized finance and more,” according to Harvard Business Review.

YWhales wants to be a key player in helping businesses and startups use and deploy Web3 technology, describing itself as “gated forum comprised of CEOs, entrepreneurs, and executives from across the globe who are all centered around the belief that Web3 will shape the future of how we live, work, and play.” For yWhales, that will include creating communities focused Web3 education, investing in Web3 companies, helping brands utilize Web3 technology and launching its own Web3 products and companies.

YWhales publicly launched operations earlier this month, saying it has raised $5 million in a seed funding round that values the startup at $80 million. While it operates with a remote, global team, Steinback and other members of yWhales’ team are based in St. Louis. YWhales has 13 employees, five of whom are based locally.

YWhales got its start from its leaders’ participation in YPO, a professional group that includes young business leaders, and their desire to have a forum to discuss Web3. That led to Zoom calls and eventually a formal community that has staged events and conversation over the past year and a half.

“When you’re talking about investments and securities, you want a certain degree of security,” Steinback said. “What we figured out pretty quickly was that we needed to onboard and build a platform.”

Today, yWhales (which is not affiliated with YPO), has more than 1,300 members. Its membership has been crucial to the startup's growth ambition, as it says it raised the $5 million solely from community members. It didn't name them.

YWhales says its communities will be the “heart of the business,” offering Web3-focused events, podcasts and working groups for members. Steinback said he wants the company to be an education resource for business leaders to understand how best to use Web3 technology.

“We think of ourselves as more of a research center think tank more than anything else,” Steinback said.

The communities will be one of four key tenets of yWhales operations. It will also have three other divisions that will seek to advance Web3 technology:

While Web3 topics like cryptocurrency and NFTs have garnered much attention, Steinback said the scope of YWhales’ operations highlights how it will take a broad approach in regards to the technology it seeks to advance. He says the “future of Web3 will be written by global communities,” a key departure from his description of the first two iterations of the internet. He said Web1 allowed companies and publishers to provide information for users and that Web2 includes social media sites that allow users to create content. In Web3, users will be able to create and own their own content and communities, Steinback said.

“Traditional social media, whether it’s Facebook or any of the other ones, look at their users as the product — to be marketed to and extract value from,” Steinback said. “We look at it from a very different perspective. I come from the retail world, so I look at our members as the clients. Those are the people in which we need to serve."