From selling items with my father in a garage to leading an innovative collectibles platform, Andrea Miele ultimately co-founded Beezie, rooted in her lifelong passion for exploration and connection. Beezie initially started as a smart contract experiment during the NFT craze, and it has now evolved into a comprehensive infrastructure platform that helps brands and collectors put their items on-chain.
We sat down with Andrea to discuss how Beezie bridges the gap between traditional collectibles and blockchain, the gamification strategies that drive its development, and the bold vision shaping its next chapter.
Note: This record has been edited for brevity and clarity.
OpenSea: Let's introduce ourselves first. Who are you? How did Beezie come about?
Andrea Miele: I am Andrea Miele, the CEO and co-founder of Beezie. My career started in a completely different field (high-tech healthcare), but collectibles have always been a part of my life. My earliest memories are going to garage sales and flea markets with my dad to hunt for comic books, old coins, and Beanie Babies. I still have a few basketball cards that say 'Do not trade without dad's permission.' Collectibles have always been part of my DNA.
In healthcare, I loved building teams and culture, and that passion has carried over into my current work. I've always been good at distilling complex systems into more understandable content, but what truly gives me achievement is the people around me, and Beezie is no exception. Our team is fantastic—like family—and that’s a crucial reason we’ve come this far.
I started casually investing in cryptocurrency around 2016. While it wasn't enough for retirement, it was enough for me to gain something. In 2019 or 2020, I delved into blockchain and consumer technology and really fell in love with it. After meeting my co-founder and exploring a smart contract (which we are still using for buyback swap transactions), I decided to go all in. I burned my bridges and never looked back. This has been the most challenging and rewarding thing in my career.
OpenSea: Was there a specific moment or collection that made you think, 'Now is the time to build it'?
Andrea Miele: It’s more like an evolution. Like most great startups, we have to master the art of transformation. The foundation of what we do today actually began with that smart contract—back in the early days of the NFT bull market. Do you remember the 721R refund contract? Our contract is similar, but we added a burn mechanism tied to secondary market value.
We noticed some projects launched huge collections with 10,000 PFP pieces, but only three to four thousand people actually invested, while the remaining pieces would be sold off to the secondary market under the influence of traders. Listen, I don’t blame the traders—they entered this space for their own reasons—but we felt: There must be a better way.
So we created the contract, applied for a patent (which is still in progress—it takes a long time), and then began to scale rapidly. The NFT market was peaking, then gradually entering a bear market. I think we realized we were at a unique moment when people were seeking connection and community, especially after the COVID pandemic, and that moment may not last long.
This raises a question: Are we willing to build a business that is entirely dependent on a volatile NFT market? The answer is no.
So, we combined our backgrounds—my experience in the collectibles industry and that of my co-founder—to start looking at the broader collectibles industry. This industry is huge and full of potential, but its buying and selling methods are somewhat outdated. We saw a clever use case for blockchain; it wasn’t like forcing a square peg into a round hole, and it was at that time that the current Beezie platform really began to take shape.
OpenSea: Yes, that makes a lot of sense. 2021 was special for many reasons. People were isolated and seeking connection, which became a unique catalyst.
Andrea Miele: 100%. I truly believe that we will see another glorious moment; it will just look different. I don’t think we’ve fully tapped into the potential of NFT series IP. I think we only scratched the surface in the last bull market. Pudgy Penguins did well, Doodles did well, and Yuga has always been a leader, but we are far from the level they can reach.
I believe that IP expansion will be one of the major driving forces of the next NFT bull market cycle—regardless of its form.
OpenSea: Let's talk about Beezie's mission—helping users turn their passions into careers. How do you measure success in this aspect?
Andrea Miele: The more assets we have on-chain, the better. The more partners we bring in, the better. We want to be an important player in what some call the 'tokenized economy of everything'—though I dislike that term, it’s true.
Over the past six months, since launching on Flow and completing the early MVP phase, we have built a complete stack to prove this. Beezie's original intention has always been to be infrastructure—a place brands can plug into. In the long run, we want to offer the services we’ve accomplished for ourselves to other brands. That is where the massive opportunity lies.
Our platform is currently performing exceptionally well. We have a fantastic community, and we are a real business that recovers costs every month, which is no easy feat. But I have big ambitions, and we are just getting started. Now that we have proven this model—it truly works and is scalable—I think the future is bright.
OpenSea: For those unfamiliar with Beezie's business model, what does it look like when a company partners with you? How do you help them serve the end consumers?
Andrea Miele: It can be divided into three phases; we are currently about halfway through the first phase.
The first phase is for Beezie to prove its model is effective. We launched our platform and declared, 'This is how it works.' Since January, our user retention has been high, with an average monthly GMV (Gross Merchandise Volume) growth rate of about 76%. For a small, lean team, this is already a huge achievement, and we are proud of it.
The early momentum laid a solid foundation for us, so now, when we communicate with partners, we don't just say, 'Trust me, this will succeed.' We show them the data.
In the second phase—which is where we currently are—we are actively bringing in partners. One of our earliest partners is the co-branded Claw Drop launched in collaboration with TAG, a top rating company in the U.S. Both parties have strong distribution channels, which allows them to access Web3 and expands our reach. We also have some partners in the pipeline that haven’t been announced yet, but I’m very excited about it.
These partners are leveraging Beezie's platform to mine a new type of distribution in the crypto-native ecosystem.
The third phase is a significant unlock that allows brands to fully own their customer data, going beyond the first sale—thereby releasing downstream revenue and all the advantages of on-chain assets. We haven’t fully achieved this yet, but we are actively working towards it, and we will announce some significant updates in the coming months.
OpenSea: How is the user experience? Can you walk us through the tokenization process? For example, what happens when someone sends a card?
Andrea Miele: It depends on the asset, but let’s take graded segments (cards, comics, vintage video games) as an example.
Items will be sent to our custody partner Brinks, a household name and one of our excellent partners. After the items are in storage, we will authenticate them and send them back to the rating company for verification.
Then we photograph it, upload metadata, and tokenize the asset. The NFT is directly stored in the user's wallet, where they can safely hold it or list it on the market for offers.
The best part? They don’t have to deal with logistics. Sellers in Kansas can immediately sell goods to buyers in Tokyo—without worrying about shipping issues or currency exchange. We take care of everything.
OpenSea: This makes the on-chain experience accessible—even for newcomers to the field.
Andrea Miele: Exactly, that's our philosophy—making everything simple and seamless.
OpenSea: Let's talk about why you decided to build on Flow. Why did it become the ideal chain for Beezie?
Andrea Miele: Flow has led us to what we now refer to as consumer cryptocurrency, a term that is often mentioned, but they have firmly supported this idea from the very beginning. Look at their ecosystem: Disney, Ticketmaster, NBA, NFL, Mattel; no other chain can compete with them in terms of intellectual property.
We want to build on this foundation. We also need a stable chain—one that won't experience token generation events or trading volume fluctuations after going live. Flow and the Dapper team are outstanding; they are truly great partners.
We talked to many chains—many of them have excellent developers—but Flow was clearly our first choice.
OpenSea: Let’s change the topic. You previously mentioned Beezie’s gamification elements, especially 'Claw.' Why is it so important to gamify the platform? How do you make it fun without making the experience too complicated?
Andrea Miele: The market has a cold start problem. The ongoing question we face is: How do we attract customers in the door?
Claw is our answer. It is our gamification layer and a content machine. It has a high degree of shareability—people can post videos, livestream their Pulls, and share feedback, fully leveraging the unmatched network effects, especially in the age of Web3.
It naturally attracts users and brings substantial revenue sources for us and our partners. It is always online and able to maintain user engagement.
At the same time, it’s not just a gimmick. When players use 'Claw', the platform offers real buyback incentives, so even if they don’t get the items they dream of, they still get value—plus, they can exchange previously drawn items. This thoughtful game design makes the game feel meaningful instead of manipulated.
The Claw is like a content machine. For businesses like ours, content is abundant on social media, especially on marketplace platforms. When you leverage the network effects of content creators, it becomes incredibly powerful. The Claw fits perfectly into this. The community shares content pulled from Claw, and people post their sharing videos, creating a natural viral loop that allows us to market in a super organic way and gain attention just by integrating into culture.
Moreover, it is a powerful revenue driver for us and our future partners. The gamification layer is always on, dynamic, and continuously updated. If someone wants to experience that 'what if...' feeling, they can try their luck. Even if they don’t draw their desired items, the platform offers a 90% buyback incentive, so it always holds value. They can keep, trade, or exchange.
There are many reasons people use it—but for us, the core reason for building it is to solve the cold start problem: how to attract people to join and expose them to a broader ecosystem? That's exactly what Claw does.
OpenSea: Yes, this structure is really interesting. It attracts players without making them feel like they are just being drawn in by a gimmick. Players can derive real value from it. Beezie has supported trading cards, sneakers, watches, and various memorabilia. Are there other categories you are particularly looking to expand into?
Andrea Miele: One of the biggest unlocks for the future isn’t more speculation but creating products for real consumers, who are often women. Women have always been the driving force behind blind boxes, designer toys, plush toys, mini bags, and more, but no one has created a truly resonant on-chain experience for them.
At Beezie, we are changing this situation by establishing upcoming partnerships, expanding into new categories, and conducting brand activities. We are committed to creating an experience that aligns with these buyers' shopping habits—fun, intuitive, and centered around discovery and enjoyment rather than friction and money.
It's not about bringing women into Web3 but about bringing the future of business to those who are shaping culture. We are very excited to continue moving in this direction.
OpenSea: Looking at the big picture—say, five years from now—how do you hope people will use Beezie?
Andrea Miele: Five years from now, I envision not just people using Beezie, but people using the platforms that support Beezie behind the scenes. I hope our infrastructure becomes the backbone of tokenized retail—we can leave our mark on 50% of the assets in that space.
This is a grand and noble goal, but we are not shy about setting our sights higher. We aspire to be an important player in the tokenized economy of everything. We want to be the trusted solution for brands preparing to put assets on-chain.
OpenSea: That's a great goal, I love it. Is there anything else you want people to know about you or Beezie?
Andrea Miele: We are a small team that can persist, and we have been rejected countless times. Each rejection only fuels the fire. We've experienced the bull and bear markets. I think we are doing the right thing. We uphold integrity and have received support from the community. I am very proud of that.
OpenSea: Amazing! Thank you for taking the time!
Andrea Miele: You too.
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