Tim Roughgarden

Chris Dixon, founding general partner at a16z Crypto, shares his deep expertise in blockchain technology. Ali Yahya, a former software engineer at Google X, brings insight into AI's intersection with crypto. Tim Roughgarden, a Columbia professor, offers academic perspectives on blockchain governance. They discuss the unique incentives of decentralized systems, the evolution of consensus protocols, and the challenges of scaling blockchain technologies. Transformative possibilities in governance and economic structures through Web3 are also highlighted, making for an insightful dialogue.

@tim_roughgarden @josephbonneau @skominers with @alive_eth @cdixonA tour through top-of-mind blockchain & crypto tech topics, explained by several a16z crypto researchers, including VDFs (verifiable delay functions); zk-rollups, SNARKs, and zero knowledge in general; and others. We quickly zip up and down the stack, and across themes -- such as scalability; data availability; reputation and the creator economy, also discussing applications for NFTs and more. It is based on a conversation that took place a few months ago (on the heels of our a16z crypto research lab announcement), live on Twitter with:Tim Roughgarden, Head of Research at a16z crypto and professor in the computer science department at Columbia University;Joseph Bonneau, research partner at a16z crypto, who also wrote the textbook on cryptocurrency technologies, pioneered VDFs, and has taught cryptocurrency courses at several top universities;  andScott Duke Kominers,  research partner at a16z crypto and professor of business administration at Harvard Business School, and a faculty affiliate of the Harvard Department of Economics, who also advises a variety of marketplace businesses, startups, and crypto projects, and serves as an expert on NFT-related matters....with moderators and general partners Chris Dixon and Ali Yahya.Be sure to also subscribe to our YouTube channel -- as well as our newsletter at a16zcrypto.substack.com -- for more related content, and videos from researchers, going deeper on the topics discussed in this episode and beyond... ---Welcome to web3 with a16z, a show about building the next generation of the internet, from the team at a16z crypto -- this show is for anyone (whether researcher, developer, engineer, artist, company leader, community manager, entrepreneur or other builder) -- seeking to understand, and go deeper on all things crypto and web3:  towards a decentralized, community-owned, and creator-owned internet.  

with @skominers @tim_roughgarden @smc90In this episode, we go into all things auctions – which, broadly defined, are simply ways of selling and allocating scarce things – and which applies in web3 contexts to everything from NFT mints, to blockchains themselves. (Which we also go into in this episode, including an overview of the technical challenges specific to mechanism design in a permissionless context. We also briefly cover EIP 1559). We provide a quick overview of auction types, and incentive design, and how it works in both theory and practice -- including the nuances of market-clearing prices, gas wars, and more… sharing tradeoffs, choices, and principles for builders designing these systems throughout. Our expert guests in conversation with host Sonal Chokshi are Scott Kominers, a16z crypto research partner and professor at Harvard Business School who specializes in market, marketplace, and incentive design; and Tim Roughgarden, head of research at a16zcrypto and professor at Columbia, who led the development of the field of algorithmic game theory -- which brings together computer science and economics to solve real-world computing problems.  This conversation includes a brief mention of lotteries, which are sometimes used in conjunction with auctions, and which we kept for educational purposes only. Note there are some questions about the legality of such mechanisms like “sweepstakes” that narrow participants by requiring them to do something to enter -- so builders should NOT use these without consulting a lawyer. As a reminder, NONE of the following is legal, business, tax, or investment advice; please see a16z.com/disclosures for more important information.  

In a thought-provoking discussion, Dan Boneh, a cryptography expert and Stanford professor, teams up with Tim Roughgarden, a Columbia professor specializing in cryptoeconomics. They dive into how blockchain technology spurs advances in various industries, revealing groundbreaking topics like zero-knowledge proofs for privacy, automated market makers, and revolutionary governance through DAOs. Their insights highlight how these innovations could transform not just crypto, but society at large, echoing the historical impact of technology in improving human welfare.

Join Sasha Spiegelman, Aptos Labs’ Head of Research, and Tim Roughgarden, A16z crypto Head of Research and Columbia professor, as they dive deep into blockchain performance metrics. They tackle the complexities of throughput and latency, and discuss how design choices impact performance trade-offs. The conversation shines a light on innovative technologies like BlockSTM and the importance of open-source collaboration. Explore the balance between competition and sharing within the blockchain space as they envision the future of Web3.