Making Markets

This is Eric Golden and my guest today is Stevie Cline . Guests on this show usually have unique backgrounds, but having gone from dairy farming to earning multiple law degrees to founding a biotech startup to a partner at Vol 1. Ventures today, I think Stevie beats most of them. We start this episode with her unique backstory and the problems she saw in the VC world. We then talk about why the ba...

This is Eric Golden and my guest today is Jessica Neer McDonald , an attorney focused on intellectual property rights and the head of global trademark services at Midjourney. The rise of NFTs and AI generated artwork has opened up all sorts of interesting questions about IP and ownership. Jess is my go-to knowledge base for this topic. In this episode, Jess takes us through the nuances of IP law a...

This is Eric Golden and my guest today is Jordi Alexander . Jordi is a poker player turned quantitative trader. While Jordi was trained in high-frequency trading, he has a deep passion for macro and taking fundamental positions that computer models may disagree with. We take full advantage of Jordi's breadth of knowledge in this wide-ranging conversation. We first dive into the mysterious world of...

This is Eric Golden and my guest today is Eric Koziel , better known as Omnigamer in the gaming world. I was debating Web3 gaming as a use case, and my good friend told me that Eric knows more about gaming than anyone he has ever met, and I think he lives up to the billing in this conversation. Eric has worked in gaming and cybersecurity since 2012 and is now a game designer at Azra, a Web3 gaming...

This is Eric Golden and my guest today is Frank Chaparro . Frank is Editor-at-large at The Block and host of The Scoop podcast. Many of you know him as Fintech Frank on Twitter. This episode is a little different as we dive into what it’s like to be a journalist covering frontier technology that moves at such a rapid pace. We cover the challenges of reporting in crypto, lessons learnt from the FTX...

We’re back, a year after our first quarterly recap, to talk through the big ticket items from the past three months. We go in depth on the banking problems that affected crypto and traditional markets, tie that back to Bitcoin’s performance, and close with some thoughts on NFTs. Enjoy. For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here...

My guest today is Christian Dittmeier . A former financial analyst, Christian was pulled into the crypto world after the wild and unexpected success of one of his side projects. Today, Christian is the co-founder of Evaluate, a platform for trading and swapping NFTs like Top Shot trading cards and Doodles wearables. In this episode, he talks about his insights and experiences in the world of NFTs....

My guest today is Itai Turbahn . MIT, BCG, Harvard - Itai has had the pick of blue chip institutions in his career; throughout it all, he has been passionate about Crypto. As Co-Founder and CEO of Dynamic Labs, Itai is focused on improving online identity and authentication. He paints a compelling vision where multiple wallets enable rich and deep interactions across the internet. We talk about th...

This is Eric Golden and my guest this week is Kevin Miao , Partner and Head of Credit at BlockTower Capital. I’ve been excited for this conversation because while a lot of people in crypto seem to be focused on building a brand new financial system from scratch, this conversation focuses on how crypto rails can improve the traditional finance world. After nearly a decade at Citi, Kevin straddles b...

This is Eric Golden and today we’re going to break down the mechanics behind three major blockchains: Bitcoin, Ethereum and Solana. Blockchain is a term you hear a lot, both in this show and in Web3 more generally. But what do they actually mean and how do they work? That is the subject we’re going to cover today and something I’ve wanted to do for some time. My guest for this episode is Keone Hon...

This is Eric Golden and my guest today is  Avery Akkineni . As President of Vayner3, Avery has been at the forefront of guiding CMOs, brands, and corporations into Web3. This conversation is a little different for me as we focus on marketing and how to both connect and grow audiences in Web3. I’m fascinated by Avery’s work on Super Bowl commercials and learning what it is really like to work with...

This is Eric Golden and my guest today is Austin Campbell . Between my time working at Fidelity on money market funds and my passion for blockchain technology, I became obsessed with the idea of Stablecoins. Stablecoins can serve as a means of payment and a store of value for transactions. They also act as the bridge between the traditional finance system and the digital world. After my interview...

This is Eric Golden and my guest today is  Dan Finlay , the co-founder of MetaMask and Chief Web3 Ethos Officer at ConsenSys. MetaMask is a crypto wallet and has become a critical piece of web3 infrastructure, with over 30 million users around the world. We've likely all used MetaMask at some point, so I was excited to understand Dan's philosophical approach and long-term vision for the product, a...

This is Eric Golden and my guest this week is  Andrew Parish . Andrew's Twitter account @AP_Abacus has grown based on his access to rumors and information about crypto. He is no stranger to controversy and getting information flow. Andrew is aware his views and tweets can upset some, especially those in power he may be calling out. Andrew's background and information gathering helped him identify...

This is Eric Golden and my guest today is  Will Weinraub . Will is the CEO and co-founder of OnChain studios, which is building Cryptoys. Cryptoys is a digital toy company that embraces different elements of web3 innovation, from collectible NFTs to play-to-earn gaming. We discuss the evolution of Cryptoys, how kids are increasingly used to digital products, and we have a really interesting discus...

This is Eric Golden and my guest today is  Nikolai Yakovenko . Nikolai is the founder and CEO of DeepNFTValue, which uses machine learning to price blue chip crypto assets like CryptoPunks and Bored Apes. He has spent his career working on deep learning at some of the most notable firms in the world, including Google, Nvidia, Twitter, and Point72. Our conversation starts with AI’s potential and Tw...

This is Eric Golden and my guest this week is Mike Dudas . Mike started his career at Disney, helped build Google’s payment business, and worked at Venmo before taking the plunge into entrepreneurship and crypto full-time. He co-founded two businesses and is now an early-stage investor at the firm he started, 6th Man Ventures. We cover his career arc and dig into the highs and lows along the way b...

This is Eric Golden and my guest today is Magdalena Kala , or "Mags" as she's better known. Mags has an incredible back story, which involves immigrating from Poland on her own to attend boarding school in the United States. Admission to Harvard and Stanford, working for Bain Capital, and even running a notorious female blackjack ring. She's now the founder of Double Down, an early-stage investor...

This is Eric Golden, and my guest today is Matt Walsh . Before we start, in addition to our opening disclaimer, I wanted to share that I have known Matt for many years. I’m an investor in his fund, and currently, or in the future, could work with some of the companies he mentions during this episode. With that said, Matt is one of the founding partners of Castle Island Ventures, which invests excl...

Our final quarterly recap to close what’s been an eventful year in the crypto industry. We thought Q2 was full of carnage but Q4 may have topped it. We cover the FTX collapse, the implications for the broader funding and building landscape, and close with Eric’s high-level state of the union. Enjoy.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the e...

This is Eric Golden and my guest today is Jared Klee . Jared is Director of Web3 at Vouch Insurance and was previously blockchain project manager at IBM. Our conversation starts with Jared's crypto experience at IBM and how they use blockchain technology to help move mangoes around the world. Yes, mangoes. We then dive into insurance, how Vouch underwrites Web3 startups, and what mistakes most fou...

This is Eric Golden and my guest today is gmoney . Gmoney is an influential builder, collector, and investor in the NFT community. He shot to fame with a tweet thread explaining why he bought a CryptoPunk for 140 ETH in January 2021 and has since transitioned from full-time equities trainer to builder with Admit One and 9dcc, his crypto native luxury clothing brand. To show just how far he has com...

This is Eric Golden and my guest today is Jay Stolar . Jay is a musician, songwriter, and producer whose songs have been streamed over 200 million times and recorded by artists ranging from Selena Gomez to John Legend. Jay is also the co-founder of Hume Collective, a Web3 record label that creates music and virtual artists in the metaverse. We discuss Jay’s songwriting process and music career, th...

This is Eric Golden and my guest today is Adam Brotman . Adam was the former Chief Digital Officer of Starbucks, where he built out their immensely successful rewards program and digital platform. Today he is the co-CEO of Forum3, and he recently helped Starbucks design their new web3 experience called Starbucks Odyssey. In our conversation, we discuss how consumer loyalty programs are a quid pro...

This is Eric Golden and my guest today is Sergio Silva. Sergio is a Senior Director of Web3 at Fireblocks, a platform that helps institutions custody and transfer funds. In this wide ranging conversation, we discuss the impact of NFT royalties going to 0%, how Fireblocks helps institutions secure their wallets, and why stablecoins and cross-border payments will be adopted in emerging markets. Plea...