The Slow Hunch by Nick GrossmanThe Butter Thesis
At USV, we talk a lot about our investment thesis. The USV thesis is a set of ideas that has guided our investing over the years. It is a tool we u...
The Slow Hunch by Nick GrossmanFrom Crypto-Native to Crypto-Enabled
I’m not one to make big annual predictions, but one thing that seems likely to me is that 2024 will mark the emergence of mainstream apps powered by ...
The Slow Hunch by Nick GrossmanYou Never Know When You've Had a Good Day
Many years ago, when I had just started working at USV, I remember there was kind of a complicated situation that unfolded in a seemingly bad way, and I'll never forget what Brad said in response. He said:you never know when you've had a good dayI didn't really understand what that meant, so he told me a story that went something like: back around the year 2000 at the height of the dot-com boom, there was a guy who was a senior exec at a successful startup. That person had a falling out with ...
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The Slow Hunch by Nick GrossmanThe Butter Thesis
At USV, we talk a lot about our investment thesis. The USV thesis is a set of ideas that has guided our investing over the years. It is a tool we u...
The Slow Hunch by Nick GrossmanFrom Crypto-Native to Crypto-Enabled
I’m not one to make big annual predictions, but one thing that seems likely to me is that 2024 will mark the emergence of mainstream apps powered by ...
The Slow Hunch by Nick GrossmanYou Never Know When You've Had a Good Day
Many years ago, when I had just started working at USV, I remember there was kind of a complicated situation that unfolded in a seemingly bad way, and I'll never forget what Brad said in response. He said:you never know when you've had a good dayI didn't really understand what that meant, so he told me a story that went something like: back around the year 2000 at the height of the dot-com boom, there was a guy who was a senior exec at a successful startup. That person had a falling out with ...
Subscribe to The Slow Hunch by Nick Grossman
>1.2K subscribers
Share Dialog
Share Dialog
A lot of founders / teams have been asking if they should be adopting a cryptocurrency strategy. This is understandable given the frenzy of fundraising recently and the ongoing dialogue about the potential for cryptocurrencies as an alternative business model for web platforms. As "traditional" web & mobile platforms explore this option, there are a few important considerations (esp given the risk in this model): 1) What is the advantage of using a cryptocurrency instead of traditional money? Answers could be: programmability, international exchange, earnability, etc. 2) Could I use an existing cryptocurrency (e.g., zCash) instead of launching my own? 3) From a revenue / value perspective, is there a model for value creation independent of funds that could be raised in an ICO? e.g., are you just looking to raise short-term funds an alternate to an equity round, or is there a real value theory of cryptocurrency running inside your application? 4) Could you imagine such a cryptocurrency spanning beyond the borders of your own application? Generally speaking, if there's a more use = more value theory (i.e., "fat protocols"), there's an incentive to go broad to increase use. 5) What is the model for internal economics around the cryptocurrency? E.g., how would people earn it, and how would they spend it, within the ecosystem? I'll follow up with more on these in a future post, in particular #5, as I believe that is the most fundamental question.
A lot of founders / teams have been asking if they should be adopting a cryptocurrency strategy. This is understandable given the frenzy of fundraising recently and the ongoing dialogue about the potential for cryptocurrencies as an alternative business model for web platforms. As "traditional" web & mobile platforms explore this option, there are a few important considerations (esp given the risk in this model): 1) What is the advantage of using a cryptocurrency instead of traditional money? Answers could be: programmability, international exchange, earnability, etc. 2) Could I use an existing cryptocurrency (e.g., zCash) instead of launching my own? 3) From a revenue / value perspective, is there a model for value creation independent of funds that could be raised in an ICO? e.g., are you just looking to raise short-term funds an alternate to an equity round, or is there a real value theory of cryptocurrency running inside your application? 4) Could you imagine such a cryptocurrency spanning beyond the borders of your own application? Generally speaking, if there's a more use = more value theory (i.e., "fat protocols"), there's an incentive to go broad to increase use. 5) What is the model for internal economics around the cryptocurrency? E.g., how would people earn it, and how would they spend it, within the ecosystem? I'll follow up with more on these in a future post, in particular #5, as I believe that is the most fundamental question.
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