web3 with a16z crypto Inside the Solana Story: Near-Death Brushes and a Need for Speed (with Solana)
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Jun 5, 2025 
Anatoly Yakovenko, Cofounder of Solana and ex-Qualcomm engineer, shares his thrilling journey from a midnight idea to building one of the fastest blockchains. He details the hurdles faced while launching Solana and the pivotal moments that shaped its vision. Discussions include the importance of speed, community-driven innovation, and how they adapted their consensus algorithm to enhance user experiences. Yakovenko emphasizes resilience in turbulent times and the necessity of rapid iteration in the competitive landscape of blockchain.
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Anatoly's Eureka and Fundraising Hustle
- Anatoly Yakovenko had a eureka moment discovering a decentralized source of time for networks, inspired by his Qualcomm background.
- He raised money by pitching at every crypto event, enduring around a thousand meetings to fund Solana's seed round.
Near Death and Launch Persistence
- In late 2019, Solana's network could only run about a week before crashing, and runway was critically low.
- Anatoly shrunk the team and raised funds in Asia, extending runway and gradually improving network stability before launching in March 2020 amid a global crash.
Small Team Strength and Morale
- During a crypto downturn, Solana’s small team experienced no attrition as everyone felt impact and purpose.
- Being busy and seeing work’s effect on users kept morale high and minimized politics and unhappiness.