Elena Nadolinski is the Founder & CEO of Iron Fish (www.ironfish.network). Backed by Sequoia, a16z, Electric Capital, Balaji Srinivasan, & more, Iron Fish encrypts every transaction, shielding your sensitive asset information from public view. With read-only view keys, you remain compliant and in control. In this episode, we discuss Elena’s journey up to the creation of Iron Fish, the use cases and second-order possibilities of Iron Fish, the biggest early surprises and challenges (and h...
May 05, 2023•25 min•Season 1Ep. 40
Tomer Afek is the Co-Founder & CEO of Spacemesh (www.spacemesh.io). Backed by Paradigm, Spacemesh is a L1 blockchain protocol, focused on the qualitative aspects of permissionless decentralization. In this episode, we discuss Tomer’s philosophical journey that led to the creation of Spacemesh, why they’ve spent so long working on Spacemesh, a deep-dive on some of the technical aspects of the protocol, and his most generalizable advice for founders in the web3 space. Recorded Tuesday April 18...
Apr 25, 2023•36 min•Season 1Ep. 39
Fabian Vogelsteller is the Founder and Chief Architect at LUKSO, plus the creator of the Mist Browser, Ethereum Wallet, web3.js, and author of ERC 20 and ERC 725. LUKSO is a multiverse blockchain network where the worlds of fashion, gaming, design, and social media intersect. LUKSO allows brands, creatives and developers to dictate the distribution of wealth and influence from lifestyle activities, by having Universal Public Profiles, creating Digital Identities and Certificates, and by building...
Apr 14, 2023•41 min•Season 1Ep. 38
Vincent Ghossoub is the Founder and CEO of NiftyCraft (www.niftycraft.io). NiftyCraft is a blockchain RPG with a player-driven economy. In this episode, we cover Vincent’s work building up the gaming industry in the Middle-East, the intricacies of game design in web3, the ultimate trajectories they’re building toward (technologically-speaking), and much more. Recorded Tuesday March 28th, 2023.
Apr 12, 2023•35 min•Season 1Ep. 37
Trevor Koverko is the Co-Founder of Polymath (https://polymath.network). As the founder of several notable 9 and 10 figure businesses in both the private and public markets (like Polymath, Tokens.com, First Carbon and Matador), Trevor brings a unique perspective to investing in web3 (he’s invested in 58 companies as of publication here). In this episode we discuss the similarities between being a founder and being a professional athlete (Trevor played professional hockey), the hardest lesson lea...
Apr 03, 2023•32 min•Season 1Ep. 36
Toby Saunders is the Co-Founder & CEO at Cathedral Studios, creators of The Bornless . Backed by Hartmann Capital, Cathedral Studios is a next-generation web3 game studio and creators of The Bornless, a first- person PvP/PvE horror-themed game. In this episode we discuss what makes a game great (and how to think about creating great games as a team), why it may take longer than commonly expected for web3 to fully deliver within gaming, what the future of gaming (and especially gaming within ...
Apr 03, 2023•31 min•Season 1Ep. 35
Austin Diamond is the Co-Founder & CEO of Alongside (www.alongside.xyz). Backed by a16z Crypto, Coinbase, Franklin Templeton, & more, Alongside has created the first fully backed on-chain broad-based crypto market index. In this episode we discuss the history of index funds, earliest insights that led to their unique methodology of token selection for AMKT, the biggest mistakes institutions make when broadening their exposure to digital asset markets, and much more. WAGMI Ventures is an ...
Feb 28, 2023•26 min•Season 1Ep. 34
Antoine Scalia is the Founder & CEO of Cryptio (www.cryptio.co). Backed by Draper Associates, Point Nine, & more, Cryptio offers enterprise-grade accounting, audit, and tax software for your digital assets. They work with top organizations like Metamask, Sorare, 1inch, Bankless & more. In this episode, we discuss the importance of their work for broader institutional adoption, what insights made the biggest product difference, what they’re excited about in the pipeline, and much more...
Feb 20, 2023•25 min•Season 1Ep. 33
Nanne Dekking is the Founder & CEO of Artory (www.artory.com). Artory is unlocking art & collectibles as a credible asset class—providing the expertise, tech, network, and data to deliver institutional-grade liquidity and financial products to the art market. Artory was the first company to tokenize an art auction, holds one of the largest databases of transaction data for art (which powers Art Basel’s yearly art report), and has worked with art powerhouses like Christie’s, Sotheby’s, Wi...
Feb 17, 2023•31 min•Season 1Ep. 32
Alex Poon is the Co-Founder & CEO of CharmVerse (www.charmverse.io). Backed by Orange DAO, BitDAO, GSRV, Alliance, & more, CharmVerse is building the solution for token communities to build relationships, work together, and vote. In this episode we discuss entering and learning web3 as an already-successful founder, current challenges with governance and community management for token communities, possibilities for the future enabled by CharmVerse, what they’re looking for in potential p...
Feb 16, 2023•20 min•Season 1Ep. 31
Today’s episode is with Amit Gajjala (Founder & CEO) and Antonio Morales (Head of Ecosystem + Community) at Stader Labs ( www.staderlabs.com ). Backed by Pantera, Coinbase Ventures, Jump Capital, Accel, & more, Stader Labs is a multichain liquid staking platform. In this episode we discuss their earliest insights about the market that led to Stader Labs, their product roadmap (and how they continue to evolve), what it was like getting $150m TVL on day one of launch, the Terra/Luna collap...
Feb 15, 2023•28 min•Season 1Ep. 30
Vijay Pravin is the Founder & CEO at bitsCrunch (www.bitscrunch.com). Backed by Coinbase Ventures, Animoca Brands, Polygon, & more, bitsCrunch is forensic and AI-powered NFT analytics that fights wash trading, fraud, and gives accurate value for digital assets. In this episode we discuss how bitsCrunch fits into the current NFT space, his insights into the space driving their unique product strategy in 2023, his recent time in web3 circles at the World Economic Forum, and much more. Reco...
Feb 09, 2023•16 min•Season 1Ep. 29
Chris Georgen is the Founder & Managing Director of Topl (www.topl.co). Backed by Mercury Fund, Mercy Corps Ventures, & more, Topl is building an impact technology economy that enables digital and sustainable transformation across value chains and empowers the monetization of impact verified on the Topl Blockchain. In this episode we discuss the impact space (broadly construed), how blockchain technology can enable a greater impact on causes people care about, Topl’s unique discoveries a...
Feb 06, 2023•27 min•Season 1Ep. 28
Joseph Cooper is the Founder of Earn Alliance (www.earnalliance.com). Backed by Animoca Brands, CoinFund, Fabric Ventures, & more, Earn Alliance builds communities and tools to inspire and empower gamers to unlock their full potential in web3. In this episode we discuss Coop’s roots in IRC communities and entrepreneurship at a young age, curating games for entertainment value vs. NFT price, the state of the industry for blockchain gaming (good, bad, ugly), the second-order effects in the wor...
Feb 02, 2023•26 min•Season 1Ep. 27
Adi Sideman is the Co-Founder & CEO of Revel (www.revel.xyz). Backed by Union Square Ventures, Polygon, Dragonfly Capital, & more, Revel is a social trading game that recently debuted as #1 Product of the Day on Product Hunt. In this episode we discuss where social networking is heading in the future, interesting possibilities for generative AI in the social networking space, what it’s been like fine-tuning the game economics of Revel, and much more. WAGMI Ventures is an investor in Reve...
Jan 30, 2023•21 min•Season 1Ep. 26
Arda Erturk is the Founder & CEO of DAOhub (www.daohub.xyz). As a Techstars participant, Arda is building a DAO marketplace to make DAO discovery, investment, and portfolio management easier in one central platform. Their long-term vision is to utilize AI by combining on-chain, off-chain data, and Decentralized IDs (DIDs) to enable data-driven governance and investment decisions for investors and DAO builders. In this episode we discuss Arda’s favorite DAOs (and why), new possibilities for D...
Jan 27, 2023•29 min•Season 1Ep. 25
Andrew Choi is the Founder & CEO of SuperNormal ( www.supernormal.art ) & General Partner @ Factorial Funds (www.factorialfunds.com). SuperNormal is the #1 top-selling web3 brand in Korea with >$100m in volume traded, and with celebrity holders like Eva Longoria, Paris Hilton, Mark Cuban, Sergi Roberto, Android founder, and more. Factorial Funds has invested in top companies like Consensys, Coinbase, Robinhood, Affirm, and more. Andrew’s past work includes Tech Lead at Coinbase, Micro...
Jan 25, 2023•24 min•Season 1Ep. 24
Mark Shekleton is the Co-Founder & CEO of Smart Seal (www.smartseal.io). Founded by aerospace engineers (and recently shipping the first physical NFT sold on Amazon), Smart Seal is delivering blockchain provenance for physical products (via merging encrypted near field communication hardware infrastructure with NFTs secured by 1:1 links) – tackling the massive counterfeiting challenges endemic to companies large and small across the world. In this episode we talk about the benefits to a worl...
Jan 23, 2023•24 min•Season 1Ep. 23
Rohan Agarwal is the Co-Founder & CEO of Cypherock (www.cypherock.com). Backed by ConsenSys Mesh, Orange DAO, GnosisDAO, and more, Cypherock is the world’s first hardware wallet without a seed phrase. In this episode we discuss the three years of R&D necessary to produce their innovative wallet, second-order effects of users having a 10x more secure wallet, what it was like getting audited by Keylabs (the security firm that hacked Ledger), and much more. Recorded Monday January 16th, 202...
Jan 19, 2023•30 min•Season 1Ep. 22
Griff Green has been a respected leader within the Ethereum community since 2015 and received a masters degree in Digital Currency in 2016 (as the first holder of its kind). As community manager for Slock.it and TheDAO, he led every angle of the crisis response effort following TheDAO Hack. He co-founded the White Hat Group, which secured the at-risk funds (10% of the total supply of ETH) during TheDAO hack and one year later rescued $210 million dollars worth of crypto assets following the Pari...
Jan 16, 2023•40 min•Season 1Ep. 21
Laszlo Szabo is the Co-Founder & CEO of Kiln (www.kiln.fi). Backed by Illuminate Financial, GSR, Kraken Ventures, and more, Kiln enables enterprise-grade staking made easy. In this episode we discuss their journey from the origins of Kiln to powering 2.1% of all ETH staked (thus far), including how they uncovered insights from their earliest customers to build out their offerings, the intricacies of staking (and why staking is the first “Internet bond”), and common misunderstandings about wh...
Dec 24, 2022•26 min•Season 1Ep. 20
Christoph Jentzsch is the Co-Founder & CEO at corpus.ventures (www.corpus.ventures). Christoph is a theoretical physicist who was one of the earliest developers on Ethereum, creator of The DAO (known for its hack in 2016), the founder of slock.it (one of the most exciting early Ethereum projects), and now, co-founder & CEO at corpus.ventures, a venture studio building in web3. In this episode we hear what attracted him to Ethereum during its earliest days, how he wrestled with (and worke...
Dec 15, 2022•37 min•Season 1Ep. 19
Harrison Wang is the Co-Founder & CEO at Unblocked (onunblocked.com). Backed by Tiger Global, Marcy Venture Partners (Jay-Z’s venture fund), Dapper Labs, and more, Unblocked is at the forefront of producing blockchain-backed collectibles for your favorite communities. In this episode we discuss the virtues of “digital collectibles” vs. “NFTs” (in terms of name approachability), what’s attracting major brands/artists to the digital collectible space (and how Unblocked powers that work), and w...
Dec 15, 2022•34 min•Season 1Ep. 18
Michael Sanders is the Co-Founder & Chief Storyteller at Horizon (horizon.io). Backed by Polygon, Coinbase, Take Two Interactive (the makers of the Grand Theft Auto franchise), & more, Horizon is making blockchain gaming easy, fun, and powerful for users and developers to drive the adoption of web3 and its open, transparent and symbiotic economies. With 700k+ total wallets and 3.4M+ total transactions on their Sequence platform (and exciting adoption of their Skyweaver game), Horizon is ...
Dec 09, 2022•34 min•Season 1Ep. 17
Solal Afota is the Co-Founder of Notebook Labs (www.notebooklabs.xyz). Backed by Bain Capital Crypto & Y Combinator, Notebook Labs is working on decentralized, anonymous, and accountable identity on Web3—making web3 safer so it can become more universal. In this episode we discuss what zero-knowledge proofs enable for accountable identity (and potential near-to-medium-term applications), their unique technical and business challenges, and their experience building within Y Combinator. Record...
Dec 01, 2022•21 min•Season 1Ep. 16
Dillon Rosenblatt is the Co-Founder & CEO of Autograph (co-founded alongside Tom Brady) (www.autograph.io). Backed by Kleiner Perkins and a16z, and partnered with icons like Simon Biles, Derek Jeter, and Tiger Woods, Autograph is an NFT platform that brings together the iconic brands in sports and culture to create unique digital collections. In this episode we discuss the possibilities and future of NFTs, the unique opportunity of building through the bear market, how to co-create alongside...
Nov 18, 2022•27 min•Season 1Ep. 15
Soups Ranjan is the Co-Founder & CEO of Sardine (www.sardine.ai). Backed by a16z, Visa, and more, Sardine offers safer, faster payments by combining risk, compliance, and payment protection – all from one powerful API. In this episode we talk about his past work heading up Fraud & Risk for Coinbase (2015–2019), Sardine’s strategy of earning the opportunity to handle payments by solving fraud first, their unique flywheel from fraud prevention to better data insights, their data consortium...
Nov 18, 2022•28 min•Season 1Ep. 14
Andrew Webber is the Founder & CEO of Digital Power Optimization (www.digitalpoweroptimization.com). DPO helps owners and developers of power assets secure more value for their energy. They combine their expertise in cryptocurrency mining with partner expertise in power generation — offering Cryptocurrency Mining as a Service (CMaaS) to energy companies. In this episode we discuss the market dynamics of the cryptocurrency mining space, how DPO connects the dots for non-crypto-native energy i...
Nov 18, 2022•28 min•Season 1Ep. 13
Blake West is the Co-Founder & CTO of Goldfinch ( www.goldfinch.finance ). Backed by a16z, Goldfinch is a decentralized credit protocol that allows anyone to be a lender, not just banks. With ~$100m in active loan value at time of recording, Goldfinch is the clear leader in on-chain emerging market credit – aka, crypto lending meets real-world businesses. In this episode we discuss challenges and surprises in the early days of Goldfinch, blockers to emerging market credit formation (and why ...
Oct 29, 2022•34 min•Season 1Ep. 12
Justin Gregorius is the Co-Founder & CEO of Pine Street Labs (www.pinestreetlabs.com). Backed by Polychain, Coinbase Ventures, Figment, and others, Pine Street Labs is an enterprise software company that services crypto companies, building products to help businesses use blockchains – starting with their flagship product called walletOS. In this episode we discuss their experience fundraising in the current market environment, what the future of enterprises in web3 may look like, and how the...
Oct 16, 2022•20 min•Season 1Ep. 11
