Making Markets

This is Eric Golden and my guest today is Avi Felman. Avi is young but he has already had a successful career as a crypto investor. Earlier this year, he left BlockTower Capital to join GoldenTree as their Head of Digital Assets Trading. His ambition is to put crypto on TradFi's map by bringing this large well-known, credit-focused asset manager to the forefront of our industry. We dive into his investment process, hiring Discord anons into GoldenTree, and how long-term thinking manifests in crypto markets. Please enjoy this great conversation with Avi Felman. 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[00:02:16] - [First question] - Learning everything he needed to about crypto from RuneScape[00:06:41] - Thoughts on the average market participant trying to find an edge in crypto[00:09:38] - Whether or not he’s ever thought about leaving crypto behind completely[00:11:10] - How much of his education has been self-taught or via mentors[00:14:02] - Defining an investor and a trader; and his style as a bidirectional trader[00:15:56] - An example of a theme that he’s changed his mind on [00:18:10] - Why he chose to work with GoldenTree over their competitors[00:21:10] - What it’s like pitching a token like SHIB to GoldenTree[00:25:09] - How he thinks about training, discipline, and building a team [00:28:44] - Thoughts on trades when it comes to managing risk[00:30:05] - Separating alpha and beta when valuing analysts and PMs[00:31:57] - What he meant by the entire market being based on the bid for Ethereum[00:33:57] - What an average person can do to track crypto market flows [00:35:16] - Things he’s currently focused on in the market today[00:37:32] - 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

This is Eric Golden and my guest today is Andrew Steinwold. Andrew is the managing partner at Sfermion, an NFT-focused investment firm where he makes venture-style bets and directly invests in NFTs. He is a pioneer in this space. We discuss the challenges of starting up a Web3 fund, how NFTs make the metaverse possible, and what drives value in various NFT categories. Please enjoy this conversation with Andrew Steinwold. For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here. ----- This episode is brought to you by Coinbase Prime. Coinbase Prime combines advanced trading, battle-tested custody, financing, and prime services in a single solution. Clients have used our comprehensive investing platform to execute some of the largest trades in the industry because they are the only publicly-traded company with experience trading and custodying crypto assets at scale. Get started with Coinbase Prime today at coinbase.com/prime. ----- 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[00:02:14] - [First question] - How he and his wife Josie Bellini got into the crypto space [00:05:40] - Why crypto OGs had a disdain for NFTs[00:07:55] - A snapshot of the NFT market today and the metrics he tends to look at [00:11:18] - Whether or not he’s surprised that the blue chip assets have held up[00:13:56] - The early formation of Sfermion and what lead him to start it [00:18:33] - Thoughts on holding NFTs and building an investable fund around them[00:23:13] - Plans for their second fund and what it will be comprised of [00:24:41] - His investment process and philosophy on exposure and valuation [00:28:15] - Top level view on capital allocation when investing and building funds [00:31:07] - Second Life interview; in-game economies[00:32:54] - Value is unlocked in more assets than just ones with utility [00:35:37] - How they pitched fundraising a venture fund compared to one that invested in NFTs[00:39:10] - USD performance fees and capital deployment in their venture fund  [00:43:37] - The different areas of the competitive landscape in NFTs [00:46:43] - Whether or not courts have reached out to them given their assets[00:48:59] - Real world use-cases and experiments that could prove useful in the future [00:53:28] - Axie Infinity; thoughts on the Axie Infinity experiment and play-to-earn product market fit[00:57:51] - 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

This is Eric Golden and my guest today is Yanni Giannaros. Yanni is the co-founder and CEO of Wyre, which provides payment infrastructure for Web3 companies. Wyre started off enabling merchants to accept bitcoin in 2013 and eventually pivoted from B2C to B2B to serve developers. We discuss Wyre’s major pivots over the past decade, the inefficiencies of traditional cross-border money transfer, and the decoupling of crypto exchanges as on-ramps. Please enjoy my conversation with Yanni Giannaros. 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[00:02:15] - [First question] - How he and his co-founder met[00:05:38] - Building Snapcard and whether they moved into crypto at that time [00:06:49] - The ways they technically achieved receiving funds via Snapcard[00:08:13] - What led to the second iteration of Snapcard[00:10:31] - Who their first competitors were when they started accepted Bitcoin and when they moved into cross-border payments [00:12:58] - The history of sending money across the border and what their products unlocked for consumers[00:15:27] - How people would on-ramp into crypto in the first place and the financial and technical risks of early crypto transfers[00:16:48] - The biggest pain points and what led them away from having so many businesses[00:18:51] - Whether or not he and his co-founder ever had second thoughts [00:19:54] - What he means by “It’s the fast that eat the slow”[00:21:06] - Interesting views on why major crypto exchanges won’t remain dominant[00:23:34] - Learning regulatory jurisdiction issues and the landscape today [00:25:37] - How someone can use Wyre to set up their Web3 protocol more quickly [00:27:31] - Some of the biggest surprise use cases for Wyre from developers [00:30:15] - Things he thinks about differently now not being so end-user focused [00:31:40] - How much money they raised on Wyre’s processing power[00:32:49] - Being acquired for over a billion dollars and selling their company [00:34:26] - How it feels now to run Wyre compared to their building days[00:35:21] - What he’s most excited to build over the next six months and six years  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is Eric Golden and my guest today is Algod. Algod is a popular crypto investor, who is probably best known for predicting Luna’s demise ahead of time on Twitter and betting with the founder, Do Kwon, that it would happen. He’s self-taught, operates largely alone, and does few interviews so I was very excited to sit down with him and talk about his philosophy, analytical process, and current views. I hope you enjoy my conversation with Algod. 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[00:02:18] - [First question] - His early call that Luna would crash[00:03:52] - How Anchor and Luna work[00:04:26] - His confidence in the problems with Luna[00:06:32] - The crypto landscape today[00:09:10] - The connection to Three Arrows Capital and how he analyzes a token [00:10:50] - How to bootstrap a company through NFT/Crypto[00:13:35] - When investors are involved and there’s an unlock schedule in a new token[00:16:11] - Metrics he follows; Market Cap and Fully Diluted Value (FDV)[00:17:26] - Other metrics he looks at [00:18:30] - Watching people get burned by Crypto[00:19:32] - Dealing with crypto fanatics[00:21:44] - Whether stablecoins should exist[00:23:14] - His investment process[00:25:11] - Use cases of crypto he is excited for [00:26:49] - Benefits of the widespread crypto adoption[00:32:46] - Where he pulls information about crypto[00:33:26] - Building his network[00:34:09] - Original intention with his twitter handle[00:34:58] - How people monetize twitter accounts[00:35:22] - Being anonymous on twitter[00:36:35] - How this crypto cycle compares to previous ones[00:38:22] - Other investment assets he explores[00:39:32] - Things he is excited to build out in the future Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is Eric Golden and my guest today is Fonz. Fonz is the founder of Tokenproof, which lets NFT owners prove their ownership online and at events without exposing their wallets or tokens. I used the service at ApeFest last month and was blown away by how seamless it was. If you haven’t already listened to it, I recommend pairing this episode with our conversation on tokengating with Alex Danco. Please enjoy my conversation with Fonz. 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[00:02:20] - [First question] - How things have changed at ApeFest thanks to Tokenproof[00:04:35] - Getting tickets through tokengating[00:07:56] - His story and what led to the development of his technology [00:13:33] - Explaining the power of tokengating with NFTs[00:15:34] - Future use-cases for NFT’s tokengating[00:17:03] - Partnering with brands [00:19:14] - How artists/athletes/celebrities could game fame [00:20:52] - Barriers that exist in the entertainment world relating to NFTs[00:23:11] - Exciting potential use cases for NFT monetization [00:24:26] - Can NFT’s be used for lower priced items[00:26:57] - Early reactions to Tokenproof [00:31:51] - Lessons from the ApeFest event[00:34:00] - Future of ApeFest and other events like it [00:36:17] - Could this tech work without the blockchain[00:39:12] - Could Tokenproof be used for ticket trading in the future[00:41:19] - Could they partner with a Ticketmaster or similar entity [00:42:47] - Connecting a wallet to Tokenproof[00:45:17] - How was Tokenproof received by users? [00:46:47] - Using this for digital vs real-world events[00:48:51] - Monetization for Tokenproof[00:49:54] - What Fonz is most excited to build  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is Matt Reustle and I'm back with Eric for our second quarterly recap. As you can imagine, the tone is slightly different to our first one of these, just three months ago. There’s a lot to digest but we tried our best. Jump in and enjoy. 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[00:02:17] - [First question] - Whether the performance of crypto in the second quarter has changed Eric’s perceptions of the space[00:08:25] - The fall of Luna and what made it vulnerable[00:17:18] - Arguments for stablecoins[00:19:08] - The contagion post-Luna and its impact on Celsius[00:24:35] - The bankruptcy in Voyager and why we haven’t seen similar actions by others[00:30:00] - Does the crypto asset class need saving[00:34:11] - The collapse of Three Arrows Capital[00:39:40] - Removing the leverage in the system; Ken Stanley ILTB podcast episode[00:45:20] - The continued push into crypto from established financial institutions[00:48:07] - Where is the regulatory front moving on crypto[00:54:25] - Any regulatory events to keep an eye out for [01:00:56] - Takeaways from NFT NYC and ApeFest Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is Eric Golden and my guest today is Jarrod Dicker. Jarrod is a Partner at The Chernin Group, a consumer-focused investment firm, where he invests in Web3, blockchain, and other tech that connects fans with creators. Before TCG, Jarrod was the CEO of Po.et, a decentralized media start-up, and Commercial Chief at the Washington Post. He has spent his career at the intersection of media, technology, and consumer products – which is the focus of our discussion. Please enjoy this conversation with Jarrod Dicker.  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[00:02:14] - [First question] - The evolution of the media industry post-internet age[00:06:23] - Bottoms-up ownership models of talent and whether or not power laws still exist[00:11:21] - Distilling big scenarios into simple narratives and where we are in the crypto narrative cycle[00:15:59] - Disintermediation between artists and their fans and the direct to fan connections that blockchain tech unlocks for creators [00:20:02] - Tiering structures, underestimating the financial dedication of super fans, and circumnavigating wealthy gatekeeping [00:25:13] - His venture funding investment process[00:30:51] - Some of his biggest surprises about people’s misunderstandings of web3[00:35:05] - The blindspots of the web3 space that should be discussed[00:40:17] - Humility amongst some of the most savvy builders in the crypto space[00:43:38] - Thoughts on the shift from renting to owning and the financialization of everything[00:48:14] - An ecosystem built around a focus on the active consumer [00:50:18] - What he’s most excited to invest in or build over the next six months and six years  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My guest today is Alex Danco from Shopify. Alex is our first triple crown guest, having first appeared on Invest Like the Best in 2019, Business Breakdowns on Shopify in 2021, and now Web3 Breakdowns. Our conversation today focuses on a new concept, tokengated commerce, and how Shopify is building around this theme. Given the market turmoil in crypto assets, we talk about true use cases of tokengated commerce and why blockchain technology is unlocking something that was not possible otherwise. Please enjoy my conversation with Alex Danco.   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[00:02:16] - [First question] - What Shopify itself is as an ecosystem and service[00:05:14] - An example of interoperability and the power of platforms outside of Shopify [00:07:02] - How interoperability and platforms come together[00:12:08] - Where a a constraint-standard resulted in failure [00:14:26] - Why Shopify is so heavily invested in tokengated commerce[00:17:10] - Lessons learned about the scarcity function of tokens and how they’ll work[00:20:34] - Whether or not Shopify will be building their own crypto wallet  [00:24:48] - The important role blockchains play in tokengated economics[00:28:16] - Overview of the mechanics and offering Shopify is building [00:32:16] - Tokens help establish protocol adoption[00:34:27] - Which blockchains and protocols will be mostly used in Shopify’s endeavor  [00:36:33] - Why can’t it be key-gated instead of tokengated[00:39:00] - Conjuring demand and how Shopify will create demand for their new system[00:45:46] - The differences between someone's identity and a token holder[00:47:55] - Signals that suggest tokengated commerce will be a big thing [00:51:02] - Why this concept hasn’t been more widely adopted already[00:54:39] - When there will be a solution to easily create and distribute tokens[00:56:39] - Where things will go from here [00:59:35] - Reasons why this might not have taken off in five years Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is Eric Golden and my guest today is Ovie Faruq, or as I know him, OSF. Ovie spent the best part of 9 years at Barclays as a distressed credit trader before moving into Web3 as a builder, investor, and artist. Given his wide range of experiences, both in TradFi and Crypto, we cover a lot of ground. We discuss the commonalities between fixed income and NFT trading, how to revive a failing PFP project, and what it felt like when he found out Snoop Dogg bought his artwork. Please enjoy this conversation with OSF.  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[00:02:16] - [First question] - The different types of Web3 IP, how Goblintown and Rekt Guy have evolved, and how a creator can give the IP to the community[00:05:12] - Whether or not a lack of scarcity is unwinding the value accrual behind the original approach to NFTs [00:06:14] - Not having a roadmap and the advantage to being more freeform [00:09:35] - His take on the difference between a failed project versus a rugpull [00:12:50] - Finding out that Snoop Dogg bought a Rekt Guy and made it his profile picture [00:14:11] - What he was doing before stepping into the NFT space[00:15:09] - Similarities and differences between trading assets on TradFi and DeFi markets [00:17:24] - How he approaches measuring illiquidity in the NFT market[00:19:37] - YOLO trading and minting and selling a ton of Bored Apes[00:24:21] - The thesis of the Canary fund and thoughts on investing the money now[00:25:23] - How he thinks about where value accrues in NFTs as an investor[00:29:07] - When he started drawing and the road leading up to his NFTs[00:33:22] - Lessons for newer artists coming up and building an audience[00:35:36] - Working with Flips Finance and how he spends his days[00:37:20] - 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

This is Eric Golden and my guest today is Bored Elon. Bored began as a parody account of Elon Musk on Twitter and has turned into a widely followed pseudonymous personality. We discuss the evolution of parody accounts and how Bored combined his massive following with years of experience in game design and mechanics to create his new blockchain based company, BoredBox. Please enjoy this conversation with Bored. 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[00:02:07] - [First question] - What being a student of Hank Scorpio means[00:03:54] - The genesis of the Bored Elon pseudonym and his prior parody accounts[00:06:08] - What it is about pseudonymity that unlocks brand creation [00:07:28] - A deep look at the pros and cons of the social armor of a pseudonym [00:09:41] - Whether or not pseudonymity will have a larger footprint in the future[00:11:12] - Interesting challenges of operating as Bored Elon and not a person[00:13:38] - How he came across and moved into the NFT space[00:15:04] - The way the gaming world is setup today and its various tiers of game[00:16:46] - How many years it can take to build a AAA game like Call of Duty[00:17:49] - His perspective on games with built-in tokenomics at launch[00:20:29] - Whether we’ll see a shift in blockchain gaming back to free to play[00:22:51] - Combining pseudonymity and gaming with BoredBox[00:26:47] - Roughly how many blockchain game studios there are and the size of the space[00:28:14] - Thoughts on distribution, minting, frequency and varying rarity of loot boxes[00:31:59] - Tension between the traditional gaming industry and the blockchain one[00:35:04] - The types of builders and developers found in blockchain game studios [00:36:21] - Where we are in the investment cycle and when we’ll see great games drop[00:38:37] - If building your own chain to develop a game is a necessary feature[00:40:07] - The biggest problems game developers encounter in the blockchain space[00:42:14] - Examples of games that could benefit from a small player base[00:43:21] - Will great games incentivize users to learn blockchain tech to play them[00:44:56] - How it feels to launch BoredBox amidst a bear cycle[00:46:22] - 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