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The ExchangeAuthor: The Exchange
The Exchange is a podcast for professional investors curious about or active in cryptocurrencies -- a significant new asset class that traditional finance institutions are now exploring. Each episode we speak with an early mover in the space from venture capital, private equity, top financial firms, and more. Learn how these individuals and their firms are approaching the world of cryptocurrency and the many issues everyone in this space are tackling: the incredible proliferation of tokens & blockchains, ICOs & regulatory issues, investment strategies, and how to stay on top of it all. Language: en Contact email: Get it Feed URL: Get it iTunes ID: Get it |
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Approaches & Activity in Crypto Company Investing [The Exchange #004]
Episode 4
Monday, 13 May, 2019
Ash Egan is a Principal at Accomplice focusing on early-stage blockchain and crypto investments. Previously, he was a founding Principal on the venture team at ConsenSys, the largest blockchain company in the world, where he led investments in BlockFi, Vault, RocketPool, and Quantstamp. Ash began his career in venture at Converge VC, where he focused primarily on blockchain/crypto and machine learning applications, and led the firm's investment in Chainalysis' seed round. Show notes & links below; subscribe for future episodes! You can also watch this discussion on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dVeoGp1D76A This episode hosted by: Manasi Vora Manasi is a Boston finance professional and blockchain enthusiast. A former portfolio manager for Dalal Capital Advisors, she's more recently worked in research with the MIT Digital Currency Initiative. She served as Director of this year's MIT Bitcoin Expo, and is the founder of Boston's Women in Blockchain group. 00:27 - Ash's painful story about a USB stick full of crypto 02:40 - Why Ash decided to focus on blockchain as a VC 04:00 - How investing at Accomplice differs from other blockchain & crypto investors 05:42 - Comparing ConsenSys ventures' focus on the ethereum ecosystem to being a protocol-agnostic investors 07:35 - Areas of interest at Accomplice 11:30 - Investing in companies for equity vs investing in digital assets 13:20 - Valuation models for crypto networks 17:43 - Managing governance rights / responsibilities as a token-holding investors 20:00 - Where there's the most startup activity in the space 23:11 - Alternative approaches to fundraising in the crypto space 24:42 - M&A activity approaching, and issues tokens raise 27:30 - Open finance / decentralized finance, and how it will impact the traditional finance industry 30:26 - Exit paths for crypto companies 32:31 - What Ash knows about crypto now that he wishes he knew 3 years ago 36:10 - Upcoming developments Ash is excited for Thanks for listening! Subscribe for future episodes.
