Does Venture Capital Investment Violate the Ethos of Crypto? Sequoia Says No - Ep. 367

Unchained

Shaun Maguire and Michelle Bailhe, partners at Sequoia, discuss their long term view and thesis about crypto, what do they look for to invest in a crypto project, the takeaways from the blowup of Terra, the insolvency of crypto companies, and much more. Show highlights:

what is Sequoia’s long term view and thesis about the crypto industry
how different our lives will look in 20 years from now due to blockchain technology
how Sequoia had to adapt to invest in this new asset class and what are the similarities and differences with investing in traditional startups
when a product or service on the internet should be offered in a decentralized or centralized way
how Sequoia decides whether to invest in the entity behind a project or in the tokens
whether having venture capitalists involved at all goes against the ethos of decentralization
why Shaun believes that Ethereum proved that decentralization can be achieved even when you start being centralized
whether people underestimate the value that VCs can add to a project
why Shaun believes that Solana is moving towards decentralization
Sequoia’s thesis about privacy in crypto and the potential of zero-knowledge proofs
how Michelle sees the macroeconomic environment impacting crypto and whether this cycle is different from the previous ones
the importance of product market fit in crypto projects
what crypto projects should be focusing on and the business model they should be pursuing
the main takeaways of the Terra collapse and how it was a major setback for algo stablecoins
how crypto founders should always do the right thing even though there is no clear regulation
whether SBF is the Berkshire Hathaway of crypto today
the lessons to be learned from the potential insolvency of some crypto lenders and investment firms
how demand for blockspace will keep increasing and whether a single blockchain could supply all that space
the future of the metaverse and how it can be defined
Michelle’s mental model for crypto and the phases for achieving worldwide adoption