The Digital Executive Podcast | Ep 1035

Guest: Philip Matara, Founder & CEO of Rio
Theme: Building the Forever Web—Decentralized Data Storage
Date: March 27, 2025
Host: Brian, Coruzant Technologies

Overview

In this episode, Brian interviews Philip Matara, founder and CEO of Rio, a pioneering network building decentralized, permanent data storage atop the Arweave blockchain. They discuss Matara’s tech journey, Rio’s breakthrough services, how it leverages Arweave for “forever” data, the unique design of the RNO utility token, and the grand vision for a tamper-proof, censorship-resistant web future.

Key Discussion Points

1. Philip Matara’s Entrepreneurial Journey (01:28 – 04:58)

• Enterprise to Blockchain:
  Matara’s background is rooted in enterprise IT and architecture at a Big Four firm. His shift began in 2017 after an introduction to Ethereum and the concept of a “world computer.”
• Fascination with Arweave:
  He discovered Arweave’s “pay once, store forever” model, which contrasted sharply with traditional, subscription-based cloud storage.
• Founding R Drive:
  Matara built an app in 2020 (R Drive), described as “Dropbox, but permanent,” making immutable data storage accessible even to non-technical users.
  • “My mom could use it, which is very different than my career, right, which was difficult to understand, you know, enterprise IT stuff.” (03:54 – Philip Matara)
• Evolving into Rio:
  As Arweave and NFTs exploded in 2021, Matara saw a bigger gap: Arweave was decentralized only at the storage layer, with just one main access point—a single gateway.
  This insight led to Rio: a decentralized suite of gateways offering not only storage, but also domain-name services, indexing, and hosting, built to serve both developers and end users.

2. How Rio Leverages Arweave for Permanent Data (05:31 – 08:59)

• Synergy with Arweave:
  All Rio services (file uploads, indexing, naming/domain system) settle data on Arweave’s immutable ledger.
  • “All of our services are built on top of that kind of basic primitive... anything that we index is indexed off the Arweave network.” (05:44 – Philip Matara)
• Naming and Access:
  Rio introduced a domain-name system for Arweave data, mapping friendly names to files, websites, or apps—making decentralized data navigation as user-friendly as the web.
• Benefits for Users:
  • One-off payments for permanent storage.
  • Tamper-proof, timestamped data provenance.
  • Not dependent on any single gateway or provider.
  • Portable data: if one app/team exits, data and apps remain available to the community.
  • Strong censorship resistance (crucial globally).
  • Transparent, open-source architecture.

“You really get this concept of like a credible exit from any given application on the network... As long as Rio and Arweave are around, the ArDrive app will continue to be served.”
(07:25–08:15 – Philip Matara)

3. The RNO Token: Utility and Incentives (09:33 – 11:58)

• Token Purpose:
  • RNO is a utility token (not governance) to buy services, stake for running gateways, and incentivize network participation.
  • Used to purchase names in the naming system, with funds directing rewards to gateway operators rather than a central company or DAO.
  • Gateways must stake a minimum to participate; the more staked, the more likely to receive protocol rewards.
• Delegation:
  Users can delegate tokens to gateways and share rewards—empowering passive holders to contribute to decentralization.
• Future Use Cases:
  Plans for new incentive layers as services expand.
• Key Differentiation:
  All fee flows and incentives are designed for openness and transparency, avoiding centralization.

“So you buy a name, it doesn't go to a DAO or, or company, it goes to a protocol which then directly pays the people servicing the name. So it's different than maybe some other name systems out there.”
(10:10 – Philip Matara)

4. Future Vision: Evolving the Decentralized, Permanent Web (12:26 – 16:06)

• Safety and Resilience:
  Ongoing work to make users independent of single gateways, architecting a protocol (Wayfinder) that dynamically routes users to the best gateway with data integrity checks.
  • “We don’t want any single reliance to any single location... This protocol routes you to the most performant gateway and does other verification of what’s being served.” (13:49 – Philip Matara)
• Security Lessons:
  Matara references recent hacks (14:00) and stresses the advantage of serving data from immutable, verifiable sources—ensuring the authenticity of web applications and user data.
• Driving Adoption:
  The focus is shifting post-launch to catalyzing developer and builder adoption, not just technical innovation.
• Grand Vision:
  A future “Internet that doesn’t forget,” where content is tamper-proof, timestamped, and its history preserved.
  • Empowers new application models, supports AI-driven analysis, and resists erasure or revisionism.
  • Advocates for digital free speech and historical record-keeping.
  • “We really see like our platform and decentralized technology in general as really being a way to create, in our case, a new Internet... that preserves free speech, preserves data and ensures, yeah, your stuff just doesn't go away.” (15:24 – Philip Matara)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On his motivation:
  “I was like, wow, that’s…very different than every other kind of subscription based storage platform.” (02:23 – Philip Matara)
• On data ownership:
  “Users really are not locked into any given platform that’s built on our network… you can continue to have a voice and can continue to use the service.” (08:15 – Philip Matara)
• On loss of history:
  “We’re losing history, we’re losing part of our society… if you go far back… you see what happens when we really get to this point of serious destruction of information.” (15:24 – Philip Matara)

Key Timestamps

• 01:28 – Philip Matara's entrepreneurial journey and vision
• 05:31 – How Rio & Arweave deliver permanent, open data storage
• 09:33 – RNO token mechanics and incentives
• 12:26 – Strategic priorities & vision for a “forever web”
• 13:49 – The Wayfinder protocol and secure data routing
• 15:24 – The societal value of an immutable Internet

Closing Tone

The conversation was passionate, optimistic, and deeply engaged in the promise of decentralized tech for societal good. Matara combines technical expertise with a strong belief in transparency, accessibility, and historical preservation, painting a compelling vision for a censorship-resistant, “forever web.”