The DCo Podcast

Web3 marketing has a retention problem. Too many projects chase mindshare, but few know how to build communities that last. In this episode, Phin , lead marketer at Abstract , shares his journey from Web2 to Web3 and unpacks why most crypto marketing playbooks are fundamentally flawed. We explore why engagement farming isn’t enough, why crypto products should compete in the mainstream, and how Abs...

In this episode, Yannik Schrade, CEO of Arcium, explains how they're building an encrypted supercomputer to bring privacy to both Web2 and Web3. We explore: • The journey from creating one of the world's most downloaded iPad apps to building privacy infrastructure • Why current privacy solutions like trusted hardware and zero-knowledge proofs aren't enough • How Arcium achieves efficient private c...

What if the popular belief that Bitcoin is "digital gold" is holding crypto back? Kyle Samani , Managing Partner at Multicoin Capital , unpacks why this analogy might be misleading and argues that utility—not nostalgia—will define the future of digital assets. We trace Multicoin’s evolution, from its early experiments to backing Solana when it was dismissed by many. Kyle shares insights into the p...

Shaw 's journey from mixing bands in NYC clubs to creating AI16Z reflects the unexpected ways innovation emerges in crypto. What began as a way to help developers access better trading strategies has evolved into an AI-driven DAO managing $21M in treasury funds, with their agent " AI Marc " making investment decisions by evaluating community members' trading suggestions through a " Virtual Marketp...

Brandon Kumar of Layer3 joined us for a founder series. Who better than a founder to ask fellow operators what it takes to build companies? This is episode one of many to come. Let’s go. Running a successful crypto company takes more than technical know-how; it requires understanding the human elements that bring an organisation to life. In the first episode of our operator-to-operator series, I e...

Fed up with missed opportunities because your crypto is scattered across different chains? In this episode, Vaibhav Chellani, co-founder of Socket, shares his vision for a future where blockchain fragmentation is no longer a barrier. From pioneering ZK rollups before they were mainstream to building Socket, Vaibhav tackles the big issues facing crypto today. We discuss why bridge aggregation isn't...

Larry Cermak, CEO of The Block , joined us for a frank conversation about crypto's evolution. He played around with BTC to buy NBA accounts to watch basketball and got hooked on understanding how it all worked. Later, he turned down Binance and missed ~300x gains on BNB. Fast forward to 2023, and he was handling layoffs and M&A as the CEO of the leading research and news company in the industry. L...

Fresh from hitting $18M in daily volume, Chainflip CEO Simon Harman delivers a masterclass in building crypto infrastructure. In this raw, technical conversation, he dismantles popular narratives around Bitcoin L2s and reveals what it actually takes to move BTC across chains. After spending 4 years solving complex cryptographic challenges while others made millions from JPEGs, Simon shares hard-ea...

Mika Honkasalo's path from basketball analytics to crypto is anything but ordinary. During DeFi summer, his liquidity mining calculator became a yield farmer's essential tool, kickstarting his deep dive into DeFi's intricacies. Our conversation revisits Mika's insights on Solana's transaction dynamics, sparking an Ethereum vs Solana debate. While Ethereum's L2s focus on boosting throughput, Solana...

Sreeram Kannan from EigenLayer joins us to discuss the evolution of human coordination mechanisms and the role blockchains play in their transformation. In this first episode since the token’s release, he discusses what attracted him to the industry, the challenges in bootstrapping trust and how AVSs play a role within it. According to Sreeram, societies evolve with their systems of forming commit...

In this episode of the DCO Podcast, we sit down with Arthur Cheong , founder of Defiance Capital. We explore the concept explore the contrast between liquid and venture investments in crypto. With venture capitalists fiercely competing for private deals and driving up valuations before projects go public, the less crowded liquid markets often offer a smarter and more flexible option. Arthur shares...

Before we begin… Sid and I are sorting out our schedules for Token2049 in Singapore. I’ll also be on a panel at Breakpoint. We’re excited to connect with researchers and founders working on the cutting edge. If you’re around, respond to this email and drop us a line. We’d love to meet up in person. Joel Hello! In this episode of the DCO Podcast, Rand Hindi , CEO and co-founder of Zama, presents a...

In this episode, Pacman , founder of Blur and Blast , explores the evolution of NFT marketplaces and Layer 2 solutions in crypto. He begins by reflecting on his startup journey, including his early days at Teespring and launching Namebase. Pacman shares how Blur, launched in 2022, quickly rose to prominence by catering to high-volume traders. It filled a gap left by platforms like OpenSea, which f...

Hello! In the latest episode, we dive deep into the mind of Tomasz Tunguz . He is a venture capitalist who’s been in the game for over 15 years. As a General Partner at Theory Ventures and former Managing Director at Redpoint Ventures, Tomasz has witnessed the evolution of venture capital firsthand. From his early days at Google trying to monetise social media to his current focus on data-driven i...

We are joined by Matt Luongo from Thesis for today’s issue. Thesis is a Bitcoin oriented venture studio that is behind the likes of Fold, Acre and tBTC. Our episode, recorded last week, is an unfiltered look into the world of Bitcoin from someone who’s seen it all from the ground up. We explore the projects that Matt’s team at Thesis is spearheading, like tBTC or Threshold Network, Mezo, and Acre—...

Before we begin… Last week, we announced the launch of DCo.build.   As our publication grew, it was time to create a single hub for founders looking to collaborate with us on advisory, distribution and go-to-market strategies. The newsletter will continue to be the place where we showcase our research. DCo.build, will be where we put it to practice through our portfolio of companies. If you are an...

Robert Drost is the CEO of @eigenfoundation, research partner at Ethereal Ventures and the former head of R&D at ConsenSys. Prior to jumping into crypto, he was an accomplished engineer with a 159 patents to his name. Our conversation delves into▪ Parallels between Web2 and Web3 infrastructure development▪ Issues in Web2 that are the biggest opportunities in Web3▪ What EigenLayer unlocks and the v...

Have you ever made an impulse purchase on Instagram? Our guest today may have a role to play in it. Antonio García Martínez was part of the team that helped Facebook build its ad engine. He is also the author of Chaos Monkeys —a beautiful memoir of how the startup ecosystem used to be in the early 2010s and what it took to survive it. He was also a former advisor to Twitter. Antonio’s latest start...

Gin Chao from No Limit Holdings joins us today to draw parallels with the evolution of the web and the state of crypto. No Limit Holdings is a venture investment firm that was early to back the likes of Ethena (now valued at $7.5 Billion) and Wynd. Gin's journey into crypto started a decade back with a poker game involving CZ. Prior to starting No Limit Holdings, he was the Chief Strategy Officer...

Today, we’re joined by Mike Silagadze , the CEO and founder of EtherFi. Before EtherFi, he was the founder and CEO of Top Hat, a dynamic courseware company for educators. He scaled that to over 500 employees and $60 million in revenue before switching his focus to crypto. Mike was also early to Bitcoin. His first Bitcoin purchase was at 80 cents in 2011, and he has been closely following the space...

Today, we are joined by one of our portfolio founders, Prasanna Sankar . We have been huge fans and investors in what he has been building with 0xppl. The product helps users know what their friends are doing on-chain. Think of it as Facebook, but for user wallets. Prior to founding 0xppl, Prasanna was involved with building Rippling - a company currently valued at $10 billion. He has been buildin...

Monad was in the news in April 2024 for raising a little over $225 million. As of publishing, it is the largest venture round round in crypto for the year. But what even justifies that amount of money going into a new network? Why is it even needed? Our latest episode is an hour long conversation with Keone Hon. Prior to building Monad, he spent a decade as a quant working on high frequency tradin...

How do you scale as an employee alongside a network that is on its way to a multi-billion dollar valuation? What does it take to go from being an intern to Head of Strategy at a network that has acquired some of the most talented people in Web3? Sankset Shah may have the answers. In today’s episode, he joins us to discuss his journey over the years with Polygon Network. Early on, he had joined in...

Our guest for the episode is Austin Adams from Anagram . We discuss the reasons for Solana’s congestion, fixes that have already gone live, and other measures in the works that will further alleviate the problem. We also discuss the highly anticipated Firedancer client and the state of L2s on Solana. Austin also helps us keep up to speed on the developments of ZK projects on Solana.  This is a tec...

Sunny Aggarwal from Osmosis labs joins us in this episode to discuss the emergence of L2s, meme-assets, and the future of shared security. Sunny was an early member of the team behind Cosmos and is currently a co-founder of Osmosis labs. He joins us to share how his career has evolved over the past three cycles, what he has learned along the way, and a few contrarian stances on where the market is...