Paul Dawalibi, CEO of Holodeck Ventures, is on a mission to make the future all about fun. Through his venture capital firm, he invests in technologies he believes will reshape the way people spend their time—and he argues that gaming will be central to this future. With his bold vision for immersive virtual worlds, Dawalibi envisions a time when people can step into holodeck-like experiences, where reality is whatever they want it to be. “Holodeck comes from Star Trek,” he explains, referencing the show’s futuristic technology. “In Star Trek, it was a room that could create any reality you wanted… humanity will invent holodecks, and this changes everything. Every industry gets disrupted by this.”
See Video Interview: https://youtu.be/FqeCTk2Aa8Y
Dawalibi sees holodeck technology as a future within reach, promising unprecedented changes in entertainment, travel, education, and even the adult industry. The challenge, he says, is a technological one: “It’s a tough technology problem to solve. You need hardware, software, and scientific breakthroughs, but I think it will happen in our lifetime, much faster than people think.”
Gaming: A Core Industry with Limitless Potential
For Dawalibi, gaming is the foundation of this vision. His belief in the power of gaming to transform industries is unwavering, and he expects the sector to grow exponentially. “If you define gaming as the creation of virtual worlds through things like holodecks, gaming becomes by far the biggest industry on the planet,” he says. “We’re talking about an industry that will be worth trillions, hundreds of trillions at some point.”
Despite its rapid growth, he believes the gaming industry is still underappreciated. People often misunderstand gaming, seeing it merely as entertainment for teenagers. But Dawalibi argues it’s much more than that; it’s a technology that has already begun transforming industries. “AI, for example, is powered by gaming technology,” he notes. Nvidia, the company behind powerful graphics cards for gaming, now powers the entire AI revolution. “People don’t realize that mass parallel computing was developed for gaming—to put pixels on a screen as fast as possible,” he says, highlighting the far-reaching impact of gaming technology.
Gamification: Fun as a Core Principle
Dawalibi has a simple yet powerful investment philosophy: the future is fun. He believes that as work becomes more automated and machines take over mundane tasks, people will have more time to fill with recreational activities. “AI will take all our jobs; it’s going to replace the work everyone’s doing,” he says. “So what does that mean for humanity? What do we fill our time with? Fun, recreation.”
This focus on fun also influences Dawalibi’s approach to Web3 and blockchain. He criticizes the current Web3 gaming landscape for missing the point. “Gaming is not about earning or owning,” he argues. “It’s about fun. If you go into these communities, they’re talking about token prices and diamond hands. But the transaction with a game is: you give me money, I give you fun.” He likens it to attending a concert; people don’t expect to be paid to enjoy it. In his view, Web3 games should focus less on monetization and more on delivering a genuinely entertaining experience.
Fun as the Ultimate Behavioral Driver
Dawalibi believes that fun is more than just a source of entertainment; it’s a powerful behavioral motivator. From marketing to technology adoption, he sees gamification as a way to engage users and drive change. “There’s nothing more powerful in terms of a killer app or a behavioral change agent than fun,” he says. For instance, in the banking industry—typically perceived as dull—he believes gamification could make financial interactions more engaging and enjoyable.
Dawalibi argues that the key to successful innovation is making experiences not only better but also significantly more enjoyable. “People resist change,” he points out, noting that for many, traditional systems like banking work well enough. To convince people to switch to new, more challenging systems, such as Web3 wallets, he says, the experience must be “100% better, so much more compelling.”
Predicting the Future: Patterns and Trends
Known for his ability to foresee trends, Dawalibi’s insights stem from his extensive experience in venture capital and technology. He explains, “When you’ve been doing something long enough, you see patterns emerge.” This ability to recognize patterns and project the impact of technologies has been at the heart of his success, including his work in building one of the few Canadian unicorns. His guiding question remains simple: “How does this make it better, more fun, more interesting for the end user?”
To Dawalibi, the future is clear: it’s a world where holodeck-like experiences allow people to live, learn, and explore in entirely new ways. As the CEO of Holodeck Ventures, he is committed to investing in companies that make these transformative experiences possible, leading the charge toward a world where the future is truly fun.
As Dawalibi puts it, “The future will be all about fun. Everything can be made more fun, and we make it far more compelling by making everything more fun.” With this philosophy, he’s betting that immersive technology and gaming will be at the heart of the next major revolution, reshaping industries and how we spend our time.
