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 before discussing what has him most interested in Web3 at the moment. Please enjoy my conversation with Mike Dudas. For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here. ----- Web3 Breakdowns is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Web3 Breakdowns, visit joincolossus.com/episodes. Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here. Follow us on Twitter: @Web3Breakdowns | @ericgoldenx | @patrick_oshag  Show Notes[00:02:11] - [First question] - Why it seems like he’s so connected across different networks [00:04:51] - Whether or not he always wanted to be an entrepreneur[00:06:30] - When crypto entered the picture for him  [00:09:19] - Why he didn’t jump in earlier after being fully aware of the potential of crypto[00:10:44] - What taught him the skills he needed to confidently step into the startup space[00:13:29] - Being in the business of manufacturing courage [00:15:01] - The transition from Button to The Block in 2018[00:20:54] - Recruiting people to the journalistic side of cryptocurrency [00:22:24] - Promise-driven sales and having strong convictions that are loosely held  [00:29:34] - Things he said as a Bitcoin maximalist that he regrets[00:30:33] - Selling The Block and what happened in the aftermath  [00:38:11] - What lead him from The Block into venture capital [00:41:47] - Going from a 7 million dollar fund to a 140 million dollar fund [00:43:27] - How he sees the pre-seed and seed stage focus in crypto playing out [00:48:04] - What the most exciting area is today and the deals that come across his desk[00:49:51] - How much of Twitter is a personal outlet for him and how he handles it [00:54:05] - What he’s most excited to see built over the next six months and six years Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mike Dudas and Carl Vogel, Co-founders of 6th Man Ventures, bring deep expertise in media and engineering to the crypto venture landscape. They discuss their investment strategies for 2025, covering hot topics like token economies, AI, and decentralized infrastructure. The duo shares their contrarian views on meme coin investments, signaling a shift in traditional funding models. They also unpack the intersection of social media and finance, emphasizing emerging trends in community tokens and the evolving role of companies like Coinbase.

LinksDAO, a decentralized autonomous organization aspiring to reimagine the idea of the golf country club through global membership, illustrates the complexity that can underpin the red-hot acronym. While holding a LinksDAO NFT gives users membership rights, there has been some confusion amongst holders as to the extent of what those rights entail. Mike Dudas, co-founder of LinksDAO and 6th Man Ventures, recently discussed the current landscape in an interview on The Scoop.As Dudas explained during the interview:“Today we're in this in-between world where many things that call themselves DAOs are really corporations but have a participatory governance mechanism. So it looks different than a corporation, but it's not truly decentralized and autonomous in the spirit of what I believe these organizations can become over the coming decade.”In the case of LinksDAO, a corporation named LinksDAO Inc. is responsible for fundraising and business development.While owners of LinksDAO NFTs are given membership rights to LinksDAO, they do not receive ownership rights to LinksDAO Inc.“The community is more of an advisory board, so we wouldn't be definitionally a DAO. We would be like a group of members who act as an advisory board to a C-corp.” This division is a necessary reality because, as Dudas puts it, “in America in 2022 you can't sell an NFT to the public using Ethereum self-custody wallets without KYC that gives somebody ownership of an asset.”Still, regardless of the structure of a DAO, projects are cropping up to serve them with tools, Dudas noted. “Right now there are a number of what are called ‘point solutions.’ Early on in the evolution of any ecosystem, what happens is you have solutions that service the most important and critical functions for a DAO.”Funds like Bain Capital Crypto are eyeing this opportunity, with DAO service providers being one of the focus points of their recently announced $560 million fund.This episode is brought to you by our sponsors Fireblocks, Coinbase Prime & ChainalysisFireblocks is an enterprise-grade platform delivering a secure infrastructure for moving, storing, and issuing digital assets. Fireblocks enables exchanges, lending desks, custodians, banks, trading desks, and hedge funds to securely scale digital asset operations through the Fireblocks Network and MPC-based Wallet Infrastructure. Fireblocks serves over 725 financial institutions, has secured the transfer of over $1.5 trillion in digital assets, and has a unique insurance policy that covers assets in storage & transit. For more information, please visit www.fireblocks.com.About Coinbase PrimeCoinbase Prime is an integrated solution that provides institutional investors with an advanced trading platform, secure custody, and prime services to manage all their crypto assets in one place. Coinbase Prime fully integrates crypto trading and custody on a single platform, and gives clients the best all-in pricing in their network using their proprietary Smart Order Router and algorithmic execution. For more information, visit www.coinbase.com/prime.About ChainalysisChainalysis is the blockchain data platform. We provide data, software, services, and research to government agencies, exchanges, financial institutions, and insurance and cybersecurity companies in over 60 countries. Our data powers investigation, compliance, and market intelligence software that has been used to solve some of the world’s most high-profile criminal cases and grow consumer access to cryptocurrency safely. Backed by Accel, Addition, Benchmark, Coatue, Paradigm, Ribbit, and other leading firms in venture capital, Chainalysis builds trust in blockchains to promote more financial freedom with less risk. For more information, visit www.chainalysis.com.

Mike Dudas, co-founder of 6thManVentures and former founder of The Block and LinksDAO, discusses the intriguing disconnect between crypto prices and adoption. He identifies three key sectors driving mainstream integration, including decentralized finance and gaming. Dudas delves into real-world use cases like micropayments and explores the challenges of cultural skepticism in crypto. The conversation also provides insights on investment strategies, emphasizing a long-term approach amid a rapidly evolving landscape.

In this discussion, Matt O’Connor, co-founder of Legion, and Mike Dudas, founding partner of 6th Man Ventures, delve into the flaws of traditional token launches dominated by whales. They argue for better alignment of token holders with long-term projects and explore Legion's innovative approach to fair distribution and organic growth. Key topics include the need for clear regulatory frameworks, the potential of MiCA regulations, and how reputation systems can foster genuine community engagement in the crypto space.

Mike Dudas, a venture capitalist with expertise in crypto, sheds light on the renewed excitement in the cryptocurrency market, discussing Bitcoin's price psychology and the rise of altcoins. Josh Isner, president of Axon, reveals how the company transformed from tasers to cutting-edge public safety technology, including VR training tools. Analyst Michael Parekh delves into the semiconductor industry, exploring the impacts of geopolitical tensions. The podcast wraps up with insights on Shopify's comeback in e-commerce, highlighting a dynamic tech landscape.

Mike Dudas and Carl Vogel, co-founders of 6th Man Ventures, share their insights on navigating the crypto investment landscape. They discuss the shift in focus from NFTs to DeFi and the importance of strong engineering talent. The duo also dives into token economics, highlighting emerging opportunities in social tokens and decentralized betting markets. They contemplate AI's transformative role in entrepreneurship and the innovative uses of blockchain for ticketing and memorabilia, offering a fresh perspective on future investments in the crypto world.

Mike Dudas & Carl Vogel of 6th Man Ventures discuss Solana ETF, AI in DePin, airdrops dilemma, and the importance of crypto applications over infra. Insights on Alt L1s, Ethereum's L2 roadmap, appchains, composable apps, and token vesting in crypto.

Mike Dudas from 6th Man Ventures talks about Solana memecoin tech, Washington politics, and The Block aftermath. Beimnet Abebe from Galaxy Trading discusses market insights and trends, including Federal Reserve rate cuts, stock market dynamics, and AI impact on payment technologies. They also cover regulatory challenges in the crypto industry and share a story of company resilience post-sale.

Mike Dudas, experienced investor in the crypto industry, discusses the painfully slow pace of dealmaking in the crypto venture market. He attributes the slowdown to dwindling real users and unrealistic founder expectations. However, he sees hope in the uptick of developer activity, promising better experiences and products for future crypto users.