The USV Thesis & Investing in Consumer Crypto with Nick Grossman
Jan 25, 2024
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Jess chats with Nick Grossman, Partner at Union Square Ventures, exploring USV's investment theses. They discuss transformative pressures in significant markets like social networks, vertical networks, crypto, and climate. They highlight the importance of long-term commitment to ideas and people, the value of long-term partnerships in the crypto industry, and the benefits of earlier liquidity for the growth of protocols. They delve into the evolution of consumer crypto, building on existing infrastructure, and the emergence of two parallel tracks: crypto native and crypto enabled. They also explore the lack of discussion around AI, the significance of open networks, and the tension surrounding value capture in crypto protocols.
Union Square Ventures (USB) invests in large markets undergoing transformative pressures to identify opportunities at the peripheries where change is most promising.
Consumer crypto has two parallel tracks: crypto-native (social/community-driven projects) and crypto-enabled (payments, loyalty programs), offering exciting opportunities for startups.
The balance between speculative projects and real-world utility is crucial in consumer crypto, achieved through exploring convergence of protocols, infrastructure, and application layers.
Deep dives
Investing at the Edge of Large Markets
The thesis of Union Square Ventures (USB) is to invest in large markets that are under transformative pressures. This approach allows them to identify openings created by societal and technological changes and support startups that can capitalize on those opportunities. USB's focus is on the edges of these markets, where change is more likely to occur and where startups can have a significant impact. They believe in finding the little corners where innovation can happen and building from there.
The Blurring Line Between Crypto-Native and Crypto-Enabled
In the world of consumer crypto, there are two parallel tracks: crypto-native and crypto-enabled. The former includes tokens, NFTs, and other crypto-native social and community-driven projects. The latter encompasses areas like crypto-based payments and crypto-enabled solutions for loyalty and marketplace applications. While these tracks may overlap, they represent different facets of consumer adoption of crypto technology. Both tracks offer exciting opportunities for startups and reflect the broader growth of the crypto ecosystem.
Emerging Trends in Crypto
Looking ahead, two emerging trends in consumer crypto have caught the attention of investors like Union Square Ventures. The first trend is the rise of crypto-native applications, including meme coins, NFT platforms, and crypto community-driven initiatives. These projects are fundamentally embracing the ethos of decentralization and exploring new possibilities in the crypto space. The second trend is the emergence of crypto-enabled consumer applications, such as crypto-based payments and loyalty programs. These solutions leverage the benefits of blockchain technology without relying heavily on end-users' understanding of crypto. Both trends offer exciting opportunities for startups and contribute to the ongoing evolution of consumer-driven innovation in crypto.
Balancing Speculation and Real-World Utility
The current landscape of consumer crypto presents an interesting challenge of balancing speculative projects with real-world utility. It is essential to find a middle ground that combines the enthusiasm and excitement of crypto-native projects with tangible value for everyday users. This can be achieved by exploring the convergence of protocols, infrastructure, and application layers in the crypto ecosystem. By building crypto-enabled applications and leveraging the underlying infrastructure, startups can bring valuable and practical solutions to the mainstream audience while upholding the decentralized and open principles of the crypto movement.
Continued Evolution of Crypto Infrastructure
Crypto infrastructure is continuously evolving, driven by the needs and demands of crypto-native and crypto-enabled applications. Startups are playing a pivotal role in pushing the boundaries and building necessary infrastructure to support the wider adoption of crypto technology. From L2 solutions and bridging protocols to novel mechanisms for value transfer, such as point systems and utility tokens, the crypto industry is constantly iterating on its infrastructure to enable new possibilities for consumers. As startups drive innovation in this space, the future looks promising for the continued expansion and improvement of crypto infrastructure.
Jess chats with Nick Grossman, Partner at Union Square Ventures, to explore USV's investment theses. They delve into how USV tackles significant markets undergoing transformative pressures, spanning social networks, vertical networks, crypto, and climate in order to identify opportunities at the peripheries where change is most promising.
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