Ventures

In this episode of Ventures, my guest Prof. Yanto Chandra (https://twitter.com/yanefted) and I talk about the implications of Web3 for global entrepreneurship. We discuss his background PhD work in rapidly growing international businesses, his professorship in Hong Kong teaching entrepreneurship, his thoughts about how NFTs and DAOs are changing the venture-building game around the world, and why smart and thoughtful regulation is vitally important for the future of the space.Visit https://satchel.works/@wclittle/ventures-episode-109 for detailed notes and links to resources (videos, articles, etc…) mentioned. You can watch this episode via video here. 1:36 - Tee-up for the episode, emphasis on this show for Web3 and why it matters for the world.2:06 - Yanto intro, professor in Hong Kong, PhD background, how he got into Web35:55 - Yanto’s background and passion for entrepreneurship9:52 - Where are the intersections of Web3 and entrepreneurship that are so exciting for Yanto?15:40 - Yantos take on DAOs (Decentralized Autonomous Organizations) - as a professor of entrepreneurship.17:50 - Story of the brewery that used NFTs and went global, other impact stories from other projects, bounty hunters, etc..21:20 - New ways that Web3 enables and changes entrepreneurship (including nefarious “entrepreneurship”) 26:22 - How does Yanto view NFTs as it relates to how founders/entrepreneurs should think about them? (all goods will have an NFT associated with them….good story of a how NFTs can be associated with bicycles to prevent stealing the IRL bike, since they wouldn’t be able to be resold without the NFT)32:39 - Final thoughts / projects / ideas from Yanto – thoughts on regulation and the importance of making the Web3 space legitimate. 37:40 - Best way to follow up w/ Yanto and read his work? → https://twitter.com/yanefted // https://sites.google.com/view/yantochandra/home 

In this episode of Ventures, my guest Andy Chatham (https://www.linkedin.com/in/andy-chatham-a5a45825/) and I talk about Digital Infrastructure for Moving Objects (DIMO, https://dimo.zone/). We discuss the background and story of the project, why giving people an open platform for mobility data matters, the journey of creating and shipping a hardware product, parallels to the Helium network, keeping OEMs accountable, and the future vision of DIMO to create a positive impact on our world. Visit https://satchel.works/@wclittle/ventures-episode-108 for detailed notes and links to resources (videos, articles, etc…) mentioned. You can watch this episode via video here. 1:35 - Tee-up for the episode; why web3 matters, amazing story with DIMO to dive into.2:14 - Andy background and story of starting DIMO7:16 - Port on a car that can send/reveal data. More information about the device that DIMO has built. 10:35 - The future is we’re pumping out all this data, all the time. Web3 helps envision a future where we (the people) can own and monetize our data. A more tangible use-case to keep OEMs accountable.13:50 - Describe the little black device that people can buy → https://shop.dimo.zone/15:13 - Screenshare of the web/mobile user interfaces, and more description of the product. 18:23 - Incentives for consumers and incentives for developers22:14 - Token models: How is DIMO thinking about the different types and models? 25:15 - How can DIMO prove the uniqueness of a vehicle? 28:33 - Value of getting data back in the hands of the people. What is the vision of DIMO? What is DIMO enabling for humanity?32:46 - Safety, accountability, economic incentives, mobility data in general, a justice issue… other things that Andy would add to why this is valuable. 36:10 - Call to action. How can people get involved and follow up? https://dimo.zone/ //  https://twitter.com/DIMO_Network 

In this episode of Ventures, I introduce and play an important clip from episode 97 with Daniel Wilson, PhD (https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniel-wilson-phd-46956b35/) regarding the importance of Web3 to help humans flourish around the world. We talk about how while incentives for traditional organizations (e.g. banks) are often not compelling enough to provide the same services that developed nations enjoy, Web3 - especially Decentralized Finance (DeFi) - allows unprecedented access to quality financial services. We also talk about how a multidisciplinary approach to Web3 in the developing world is critical, and we discuss the work that Daniel is doing right now to help more language communities participate on the Internet. Visit https://satchel.works/@wclittle/ventures-episode-107 for detailed notes and links to resources (videos, articles, etc…) mentioned. You can watch this episode via video here.   1:39 - tee-up for the clip, in light of Daniel’s background in human language technology, how does he see Web3 - at its core - helping humans flourish globally? Core pieces of infrastructure are being put in place to give people unprecedented opportunities for development without the same ol’ paths to corruption. 3:25 - The amount that people save in life - all of a sudden, via a decision from one corrupt person, can devalue the currency and wipe out that value.4:03 - Institutions (like banks) don’t have the kind of incentives that they do in developed nations. It is too risky for them. Web3 changes this. 5:07 - Terms DeFi, DAOs, blockchains, metaverse - combined with all the disciplines - is why Web3 is such an important and exciting area right now. Human challenges vs. technology challenges.6:47 - What Daniel is doing right now in Web3 to help move things forward. (compassionate innovation…advancements in human language technology.) “If you don’t speak a language that is on the Internet, then you are still left out”Best way to get a hold of Brandon online to continue the conversation.  Twitter: @danwils (academic) @geoframeai (web3 & smart stream) // Also: @_smartstream_ // LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniel-wilson-phd-46956b35/ // email: daniel@smartstream.app

In this episode of Ventures, my guest Jesse Bryan (https://twitter.com/jessebryan) and I talk about our experience on the first voyage within The Otherside (https://otherside.xyz/) and the resulting implications for brands and people IRL. During this episode, we overlay video of our experience, talk about addressing skeptics, the Otherside litepaper, what can be built on plots of land, how brands should be thinking about The Otherside, and how specifically entrepreneurs can - and should - be thinking about impacting the world with metaverses in general.Visit https://satchel.works/@wclittle/ventures-episode-106 for detailed notes and links to resources (videos, articles, etc…) mentioned. You can watch this episode via video (including scenes from Will’s first voyage within The Otherside) here. 2:28 - What happened on the first voyage of Otherside? What is the backstory here? What was Jesse’s experience?5:07 - Will’s skepticism about what was going to draw people into Otherside vs. the 20+ other metaverses out there. (Shares his experience of the first Voyage)6:20 - Jesse’s commentary on why every brand is going to need land and experiences within the Otherside.7:05 - When you login, you are your personality. NFT as identity. Extensibility. Why it’s important for Brands.8:52 - The audience for Otherside is going to be huge. 9:50 - The promise of how this impacts the world IRL. Impact Ape/Island/Mountain/Land. https://twitter.com/impact_ape 11:30 - Otherside litepaper https://otherside.xyz/litepaper 12:28 - Commentary on the litepaper 14:32 - All the things coming together at once. Technology and Web3 and branding and marketing and gaming. What you need IRL for land management and building, you’ll also need in the Otherside. “Metaverse Architects”16:37 - “Island” vs. Plots of land. Numbers. What’s coming. (overlaying some video)19:08 - We don’t know a ton about Otherside yet. The roadmap is still not super clear (but enough to keep folks interested).19:42 - We thought this was a couple years away.20:01 - Interview with Nicole (Yuga CEO). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ehw2iM0A5H4 // Otherside as more inclusive…trying to get the price point down.26:25 - Experiential marketing IRL and, of course, in metaverses27:28 - General market coverage of the Otherside?28:27 - How can metaverses help people IRL? Impact Ape helping the world. 28:50 - Jesse setting up the concept of Impact Ape / Impact Island 30:19 - How big will these land sizes be? 31:25 - Think about your land like Disneyland, jumping between lands. 33:22 - Source of Will’s skepticism… Insular Yuga community? Or bigger than that?34:38 - How do new things start? (Analogy from the Roadster)37:50 - Amazement in how far Yuga has come in about a year.39:38 - Contact to learn/discuss: https://twitter.com/jessebryan - https://twitter.com/wclittle - https://twitter.com/impact_ape  

In this episode of Ventures, my guest Spencer Graham (https://twitter.com/spengrah) and I discuss the history of DAOHaus (https://daohaus.club/) and the upcoming release of the third version of the platform. We talk about how Spencer has been working full-time in DAOs for a couple years, how he began working with DAOHaus, the details of the new component-based platform and features, how people can contribute, why DAOs in general “matter”, and thoughts about ImpactDAOs.  Visit https://satchel.works/@wclittle/ventures-episode-105 for detailed notes and links to resources (videos, articles, etc…) mentioned. You can watch this episode via video here. 1:32 - Tee-up for the introduction, how Spencer has been helpful to Will as he’s been getting into the DAO space.2:19 - Spencer background, journey into working full-time with DAOs3:34 - What is DAOHaus? https://daohaus.club/ 5:14 - History of how Spencer got into working with DAOHaus. (including history working with https://www.raidguild.org/ ) 6:24 - History of DAOHaus10:15 - Merits of DAOHaus v2…and more information about v3 and how it is significantly different structurally (and beneficial for all).17:27 - Will the components that are being built be only available for EVM chains? FYI - for those not familiar with what the EVM is, see → https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/ethereum-virtual-machine-evm 19:01 - Are the UI elements that will be available in V3 part of a low-code/no-code builder that DAOHaus is making? Or are they more like React components? (more the latter). 19:52 - Will there still be an app available in the V3 era that is similar to what https://daohaus.club/ is today?21:10 - New features in V3 - including transferable governance tokens as a DAO grows.25:32 - If people are interested in helping with DAOHaus, V3, supporting in some way, etc… how can they best do that?27:24 - Can someone create their own website and use DAOHaus underlying components right now? 28:14 - Why do DAOs matter? How are they helping the world?31:50 - Commentary on “ImpactDAOs” and that movement/language.33:55 - Final words / thoughts from Spencer. His deep care for DAOHaus and what they are building. You can contact Spencer at https://twitter.com/spengrah and DAOHaus at https://twitter.com/nowdaoit  

In this episode of Ventures, my guest Eric Chen (https://twitter.com/EricInjective) - co-founder of Injective (https://injective.com/) - and I talk about all-things Web3 and DeFi. Injective is an open interoperable smart contracts platform optimized for DeFi applications. We talk about Eric’s academic background in the cryptography space, the story behind Injective, design decisions for primitives that Injective is advancing, the CosmosSDK, the future of stablecoins in Web3, and the vision for Injective long-term.Visit https://satchel.works/@wclittle/ventures-episode-104 for detailed notes and links to resources (videos, articles, etc…) mentioned. You can watch this episode via video here. 1:22 - Tee-up and background for the episode1:54 - How Eric got into Web32:55 - What were the cryptography tricks that got Eric so excited about Web3? (Verifiable delay functions – see: https://eprint.iacr.org/2018/601.pdf)6:06 - Where did Eric’s journey take him into DeFi and Injective?8:44 - Injective 101: what is it? Why is it different? Who should use it? https://injective.com/ 10:20 - MEV 101 - Miner Extractible Value - why does it matter? How is this accommodated for w/ Injective? See also: https://medium.com/citadel-one/injective-overview-a00ea7796f7b 12:32 - Transaction fees, clogging ETH mainnet; demand for blockspace. Free market vs. usability.14:54 - Design decisions w/ Injective for the developers and users. 19:16 - Differences between AAM and an orderbook DEXes - primitives that Injective are building. 22:19 - Impressive underlying architecture of the CosmosSDK - recapping what we learned from collapses like Terra. 29:19 - The future of stablecoins33:22 - The type of applications on Injective37:24 - The types of developers that should build on Injective38:41 - Best place to get a hold of Eric @EricInjective on Twitter (https://twitter.com/EricInjective) and https://injective.com/  

In this episode of Ventures, my guest Gary Raju (https://www.linkedin.com/in/gary-raju-a014865/) and I discuss how venture builders and investors should be thinking about the upcoming economic downturn. We talk about the role of a CFO in a growing company, an overall assessment of the market conditions globally and in the US, how new and existing entrepreneurs should prepare, how Web3/Crypto will play a role, and market areas that Gary is most excited about in the future.Visit https://satchel.works/@wclittle/ventures-episode-103 for detailed notes and links to resources (videos, articles, etc…) mentioned. You can watch this episode via video here. 1:44 - Tee-up for the episode2:05 - Gary introduction and background2:35 - What is a CFO? How does the role change as a company grows?3:21 - At what point does the CFO become an appropriate role in a growing startup?4:30 - As a company scales, what are the day-to-day and quarter-to-quarter roles of a CFO?5:47 - Overall assessment of the US and global economy…what is going on?11:10 - How should established entrepreneurs think about the current and near-term future, given the economic climate?15:32 - What should new entrepreneurs think about this upcoming recession?19:55 - What does Gary think about Crypto/Web3?23:15 - What does Gary think about DeFi (Decentralized Finance)?26:00 - What are the spaces/markets that Gary is most interested in from an investor perspective? 29:13 - Final words / summary for the venture-builders/investors out there. 1. Don’t be overly concerned. 2. You can do it. 3. Prota Ventures is here to help.30:28 - Where can people find Gary and continue the conversation? gary.ragu@protaventures.com // https://www.protaventures.com/ // https://www.linkedin.com/in/gary-raju-a014865/ 

In this episode of Ventures, my guest Tela Andrews (​​https://www.linkedin.com/in/telaandrews/) and I discuss all-things crypto taxes, bridge-building with regulators around the world, and his company Fyn (formerly https://bear.tax). We talk about how an efficient tax system in Web3 is good for everyone, what regulators need to know, what retail investors should be thinking about regarding their tax strategies, and how operators of businesses - especially CFOs - can efficiently run their books with crypto.Visit https://satchel.works/@wclittle/ventures-episode-102 for detailed notes and links to resources (videos, articles, etc…) mentioned. You can watch this episode via video here. 1:36 - tee-up for the episode / why we’re having the conversation1:53 - Tela’s Web3 story; how he got into it.3:01 - Focused on two things - 1) why/how is web3 good for the world? 2) What are the projects that are willing to play ball with regulators out there? 3:58 - Origin story of Fyn6:05 - What prompted the name change from Bear Tax to Fyn? 7:23 - What do consumer/retail investors need to know about Crypto taxes? (the basics – for both people operating businesses and people investing in crypto)11:05 - What do the average people out there need to stay to their accountants who may not be up to speed?12:32 - Should people be talking to their accountants right now to take losses? (not financial advice)14:13 - No wash sale rules in crypto?15:33 - Could be some advantages for some people to take some losses right now.16:05 - USA regulators - if all of congress were listening to this episode…what do they need to know?19:02 - Lots of money lost in tax inefficiency (https://home.treasury.gov/news/featured-stories/the-case-for-a-robust-attack-on-the-tax-gap – $6B annually)20:58 - What is the medium to long-term vision for Fyn?24:26 - For the businesses / nonprofits out there - - what advice does Tela have for CFOs out there accepting and working in crypto?26:27 - What inspires Tela about Web3? What kind of world does he want to see? (a more efficient economy)29:40 - Importance of the problem that Fyn is tackling30:08 - Building bridges vs. burning them. 30:57 - Final thoughts. An opportunity to create an entirely new way to cooperate with governments.32:11 - A note for Web3 product managers – take note how the Fyn team has done what they’ve done.32:45 - Where is a good place for people to follow up with Tela? ​​https://www.linkedin.com/in/telaandrews/ // https://twitter.com/tela 

In this episode of Ventures, my guest Michelle Schubert (https://www.linkedin.com/in/michelle-schubert-92b259158/) and I discuss a “Web3 101” from her perspective as a relative newcomer to the space, and we talk about her work with International Literacy and Development (ILAD, https://ilad.ngo/). We learn about her story leading into development work, how her team’s upcoming “Stop the Extinction” NFT campaign is aiming to preserve languages all around the world, advice for those writing about and teaching Web3, and reflections from her attendance of Consensus 2022 in Austin, TX last week. Visit https://satchel.works/@wclittle/ventures-episode-101 for detailed notes and links to resources (videos, articles, etc…) mentioned. You can watch this episode via video here.   2:28 - Michelle’s introduction and how/why she got involved with ILAD  4:34 - The four core competencies of ILAD: Agricultural development, educational development, business development, and human language technology. 6:24 - Human Flourishing - starting new businesses - why there are synergies between Prota Ventures and ILAD.7:13 - How does ILAD use the academic literature to define Human Flourishing and measure impact? ILAD’s literature review link: https://ilad.ngo/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/ILAD-Literature-Review-Teammate.pdf?x64096 // ILAD’s logic model: https://ilad.ngo/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/ILAD-Organization-wide-Logic-Model-Top-Red-1.pdf?x64096 8:24 - ILAD’s tagline: “Local solutions to local problems” - a real-life story about this regarding ILAD’s work.12:30 - The people doing the training are locals as well. A unique and inspiring model.13:01 - Michelle’s Web3 journey, entrance into running NFT campaigns.15:00 - Story from Consensus 2022 in Austin, TX. 17:10 - Web3 101 session - what is Web3? 19:46 - A problem that so much Web3 literature out there is too advanced / jargony. 20:58 - So many creators in the Web3 space - where are the users coming from?21:35 - Web3 101 shotgun round: What are blockchains / DAOs / NFTs?28:14 - Decentralized Finance29:35 - What are the NFT campaigns that Michelle has planned for ILAD? 32:32 - Where will the money go? (into a DAO that works to preserve languages)33:28 - What has Michelle’s entrepreneurial journey been like? Where is she on that journey?34:52 - How is Michelle thinking about the marketing strategy for this campaign? Eric Ries - “don’t launch” // http://www.startuplessonslearned.com/2009/03/dont-launch.html 36:00 - When will there be a website? Where can people go right now to become more aware of it?  Get connected to Michelle and ILAD → https://www.linkedin.com/in/michelle-schubert-92b259158/ // https://www.instagram.com/the_exploracious/ // https://ilad.ngo/ 37:06 - What advice does Michelle have for those building, teaching, and writing about Web3?38:40 - What does the future of ILAD look like? If a ton of money is raised for this NFT campaign, what is ILAD going to be doing with it over time moving forward?

In this episode of Ventures, my guest Veronica Satastume (https://www.linkedin.com/in/veronicalsagastume/) from Episode 81 graciously offered to interview me (https://www.linkedin.com/in/wclittle/) to reflect on the initial 99 episodes. She asked me about the origin story of the show, what surprised me along the way, themes that were/are compelling (e.g. Web3) along the way, advice for others considering starting a podcast, and expanding the definition of entrepreneurship. Visit https://satchel.works/@wclittle/ventures-episode-100 for detailed notes and links to resources (videos, articles, etc…) mentioned. You can watch this episode via video here.   0:04 - Quick tee-up from Will on this unique episode (not our typical intro) :) 0:35 - Veronica introduction to the episode. Turning the tables to interview Will about his experience starting and maintaining the show. 1:53 - Quick overview of Veronica’s firm (https://www.fortifiedaccounting.com/) 2:26 - Origin story of the Ventures podcast? Why did you start a podcast? Quick background about Will, Prota Ventures, and the start of the show. 8:12 - Almost like becoming a bit of a matchmaker in the startup world….helping founders in every way possible. 8:53 - What has surprised you the most about starting a podcast?11:30 - You probably had an idea originally about what the podcast would be – how did the result change? How did the first 99 episodes morph and change?12:44 - Investing in Web313:14 - Providing educational services for listeners, helping folks not get left behind. Where does Will see the podcast going in the next 6-12 months?15:20 - Will’s bachelor’s degree - went through interdisciplinary engineering - and leading into social impact via venture building/investing. 16:15 - For those thinking about starting a podcast, what advice does Will have for them?18:28 - Watching the podcast on video also helps, builds a relationship with the speaker. 19:14 - One of Will’s first businesses was in long-tail SEO – parallels between getting the content out there and getting podcasts out there.20:18 - Closing words for the audience. Opening up and evolving the definition of entrepreneurship and entrepreneurs. 23:15 - Looking at the entrepreneurial world. Impact that COVID had to drive new forms of entrepreneurship. Follow Will on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/wclittle/) and Twitter (https://twitter.com/wclittle) // Also check out Veronica’s company if you are in need of financial services for your funded startup: https://www.fortifiedaccounting.com/