Rich Chungong: From Professional Athlete to Web3 Builder - Designing the Future in the Dash In Between

Rich Chungong’s (see his bio below) story is anything but linear, and that’s exactly the point. A former professional football player, lifelong gamer, and naturally curious builder, Rich has reinvented himself at the intersection of Web3, AI, gaming, and community-driven innovation.

In this conversation, Rich shares how the abrupt pause of the 2020 pandemic forced him to confront a question many athletes and high performers eventually face: What’s next when the identity you’ve always known comes to a stop? That moment of uncertainty became the spark for a deep dive into money, technology, and value creation, ultimately leading him to found Dash In Between, a creative agency helping organizations apply emerging technology in practical, human-centered ways.

We talk about:

• Growing up in Lee’s Summit, MO and chasing the dream of playing professional football

• Competing and winning championships across Europe, and what life looks like when the game ends

• How curiosity, not hype, pulled him into Bitcoin, Web3, and digital ownership

• Why Dash In Between is named after the “dash” on a gravestone, and what that says about purpose and creativity

• Using Web3 and AI to solve real problems in food access, agriculture, healthcare, and local economies

• The rise (and fall) of NFTs, and what real utility actually looks like

• Building platforms like Produce Matrix and KC SMB to support farmers, small businesses, and the 2026 World Cup in Kansas City

• Why following curiosity beats following passion, and how leaders can better listen, stay patient, and empower teams

This episode blends personal reinvention, practical innovation, and big-picture thinking about where technology is headed and how it can be used to create abundance rather than confusion. It’s a wide-ranging, honest conversation about building what matters in the time we’re given.

 

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About Rich: As a former professional athlete and lifelong gamer, Rich Chungong has always thrived in high-stakes environments where strategy, creativity, and execution are everything. Now, he has brought that same mindset to the world of emerging tech—building a cutting-edge creative agency specializing in Web3, AI, and game development.

At Dash In Between, we fuse innovation, storytelling, and next-gen technology to help our clients craft truly innovative solutions. From immersive gaming worlds with AI integration in the metaverse, digital farmers' markets for easier food access, to using cutting-edge technology for patented medical device creation, our work pushes boundaries and redefines what’s possible.