I spent three months lurking in the background of a16z’s latest accelerator program, a kind of boot camp for founders aiming to prove that crypto is for more than scams and speculation. Here’s my view from the inside, complete with pearls of wisdom from the classroom (“When you chew enough glass, you learn to like the taste of your own blood”), inside jokes beyond my comprehension, and a scene from Demo Day, where the ritual courtship of investors takes place. https://lnkd.in/egmvbtw5
Joel Khalili’s Post
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What if you had exclusive access to crypto startups before they hit the market? With TrustSwap, you become the VC. Get guaranteed allocations to every Launchpad with current performances averaging over 10x. 🔥 Learn more about how to participate in the TrustSwap ecosystem: https://lnkd.in/gJq25uFe
What is a TrustSwap Launchpad?
https://trustswap.com
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I've been reflecting on Folks' growth and the scaling phase we are facing right now. Our journey in Folks Finance started three years ago. I still remember preparing the slides for the Algorand Accelerate. At that time, Algorand Technologies did not have a Virtual Machine, and it was extremely difficult to build a lending protocol. The seed round fundraise was very ambitious and succeeded with Borderless Capital, bringing in names like Coinbase Ventures, ParaFi Capital, OKX Ventures, and Jump Crypto to invest in an Algorand project for the first time. Launching on Mainnet right before the Terra Luna crash in April '22 and foreseeing the incredibly difficult times ahead, we decided to use the funds to do what we know best: #BUILD. Here we are now; Folks Finance is no longer a lending protocol but one of the most advanced DeFi Hubs in the entire industry, with more than $85M TVL, more than 7,000 active users every month, and our metrics keep growing. Now that we're fundraising again, it's extremely humbling to receive compliments from VCs for what we achieved during this market and to hear how many wish to support our journey, believing that we'll sit at the top of DeFi. The upcoming xLending protocol will set a new standard for DeFi, where the different chains will be abstracted from the user, and the user experience will be brought to the next level thanks to the messaging technology of Chainlink Labs CCIP and Wormhole. I am very excited for the beginning of the new year to launch our new product and the governance token #FOLKS. We will always strive to bring innovation to this industry together with our community! Folks was named Algolend, and I had no gray hair three years ago.
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Want to join the DeFi revolution but don’t know where to start? Let Add3 be your guide. Check out our blog for a fountain of guides and crypto education: https://www.add3.io/blog #Add3DeFi #CryptoRevolution
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add3.io
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Co-founder of Standuply, the top app for Jira, Slack & Teams | Agile Meetups Org. | Startup Advisor | EO Barcelona
A well-described lesson learned on failing in the crypto market. Here's what resonates with me: - choosing the right market -> one of the most important bets an entrepreneur can make. I wrote about it here: https://lnkd.in/diB72H8t - parenting is super challenging during the seed stage -> I felt the same way even after getting the company to profitability. If that's a thing you can plan, I would urge you to either stay bootstrapped while becoming a parent or postpone it to the PMF stage - communicating with other fellow entrepreneurs from the same market -> it's the only way to really know what's happening around you. To me, it's super important, and I always missed that chance because we at Standuply weren't a part of accelerators with a wide network. - scaling while you're not ready yet -> That's what investors push many entrepreneurs, and I really think without such a push a team can achieve more by embracing a mindful approach to their business. Kudos to Yury Lifshits for being open about his failure and good luck with the new journey.
We are closing down Superdao, returning the remaining capital to investors, and open-sourcing the key parts of our work, including investment memos, code, design, and culture docs. When we started in 2021, there was a belief that crypto could change nearly every industry. And to do so, a better infrastructure for crypto projects was needed. Over two years, we launched two platforms (DAO builder and wallet analytics) and many smaller experiments. Unfortunately, outside of finance, crypto wasn't able to make big improvements over existing technology. And, as a result, our tools for crypto builders weren't much needed either. I took the last couple of months to reflect on our journey and distill key lessons, Here they are, alongside our open-source contributions:
Superdao Lessons Learned
superdao.notion.site
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Co-Founder @ Ampelus | AI/ML Engineer | CTO @ Mellivora Software ★ Your Tech Partner | Providing IT Outstaffing Resources | Big Data/Data Engineering
I know that it is a very hard but at the same time important step to move forward. If your idea doesn't work well, you need to step over and free resources to archive something really valuable. And many thanks that you are sharing learned lessons! Must to read!
We are closing down Superdao, returning the remaining capital to investors, and open-sourcing the key parts of our work, including investment memos, code, design, and culture docs. When we started in 2021, there was a belief that crypto could change nearly every industry. And to do so, a better infrastructure for crypto projects was needed. Over two years, we launched two platforms (DAO builder and wallet analytics) and many smaller experiments. Unfortunately, outside of finance, crypto wasn't able to make big improvements over existing technology. And, as a result, our tools for crypto builders weren't much needed either. I took the last couple of months to reflect on our journey and distill key lessons, Here they are, alongside our open-source contributions:
Superdao Lessons Learned
superdao.notion.site
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DeFi protocol Pods raises $5.6M to support its structured crypto products dApp Pods, creators of a DeFi platform, announced today that earlier this year, the team raised $5.6M in seed funding to create structured products for crypto-assets. The financing featured investors such as IOSG, Tomahawk, Republic, Framework Ventures, and more. The first strategy on Pods Yield is stETHvv (Ethereum Volatility Vault). stETHvv is a low-risk product focused on ETH accumulation. It combines Lido’s yield with weekly strangles to earn more every time the ETH price bounces up or down. Currently, Pods platform users can deposit ETH and stETH into the vault stETHvv (short for stETH Volatility Vault) and be exposed to a low-risk, complex-to-execute strategy in one click. “At Pods, we are proud of what we have achieved and thrilled to continue building the future of DeFi. I am honored to announce that we have completed a $5.6 million seed round. The Pods team is excited about this next stage of building world-class structured products for crypto assets. We have talked to hundreds of stakeholders to understand their needs and improve our platform according to their feedback. Recently Pods did four security audits on its Pods Yield product, two of them with OpenZeppelin in November and D...
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🙏 We extend our heartfelt gratitude to Forbes for featuring us and shedding light on the potential of liquid staking in their article titled "4 Liquid Staking Startups That Are Unlocking Ethereum’s Potential." 👨🔧 With the introduction of Kiln On-Chain, the first Ethereum white-label staking solution managed entirely on-chain, our dedication is centered around enhancing accessibility and transparency for stakers, operators, and integrators. This endeavor encompasses the expansion of liquidity through innovative offerings such as the Liquid Staking Pool and vNFTs, establishing new benchmarks within the staking industry. 🌐 This recognition further fuels our passion and commitment to ensuring that staking rewards are accessible and user-friendly for all. Read the article now: https://lnkd.in/e6de3cUG
4 Liquid Staking Startups That Are Unlocking Ethereum’s Potential
forbes.com
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🤔 What's next after the Airdrop era ends? Let's face it, when users join new crypto projects in the early stages, they're often there for a quick cash grab. After grabbing their airdrop, many cash out and ghost the project 🚀💨. Let’s take a stroll down memory lane on token distribution models: - **Proof of Work** since 2009. - **ICOs** kicked off in 2014. - And then came **Airdrops** in 2020. 🔄 So, what’s this buzz about Progressive Ownership? Old-school methods like ICOs and Airdrops didn't always ace at keeping users around. Every project's dream? Long-term network growth 🌱. **Progressive Ownership** (think revenue sharing) means participants earn part of the project’s revenue in ETH, stablecoins, or native tokens. This hooks their loyalty and stakes in the platform’s success. 🦄 **Case in point: Uniswap** Recently, Uniswap floated the idea of distributing protocol fees among UNI token holders, which pumped up interest and token value. The venture fund Variant, an early investor in Uniswap, might have played a key role by discussing Progressive Ownership concepts early on. 💡Market Impacts Projects adopting Progressive Ownership models like Zora are showing how effectively distributed earnings can maintain creators' and participants' active involvement. Looks like we’re on the brink of a paradigm shift in token distribution. This revenue-sharing trend has clear perks that upcoming projects might want to tap into! 💸📈
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2w¡¡ Tremenda historia !!