Podcast appearances and mentions of adam draper

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Best podcasts about adam draper

Latest podcast episodes about adam draper

This Week in XR Podcast
The AI/XR Podcast April 18th, 2025 ft. Adam Draper, Boost VC

This Week in XR Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 19, 2025 61:19


In the latest episode of "The AI/XR Podcast," hosts Charlie, Rony, and Ted welcome Adam Draper of Boost VC. First we dive into pressing industry news, including Google's monopoly verdict and OpenAI's user base. Adam shared his investment philosophy focused on making small pre-seed bets to minimize risk while highlighting innovative ventures like Prospera, a special economic zone in Honduras fostering biotech advancements. The conversation continued with Adam discussing ethical considerations in tech investments, emphasizing trust and accountability among founders. He concluded with insights on the future of robotics, predicting an upcoming boom fueled by accessibility and affordability of technology for young innovators.Thank you to our sponsor, Zappar!Don't forget to like, share, and follow for more! Follow us on all socials @ThisWeekInXR!https://linktr.ee/thisweekinxr Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Boost VC Podcast
Andrew Bakst - "Cure hair loss, obviously"

The Boost VC Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 25, 2025 41:37


Adam Draper, Founder of Boost VC and host of the "Can't Be Done" Podcast, sits down with Andrew Bakst, Co-Founder of HairDAO, to explore how decentralized research is transforming hair loss treatments. They discuss HairDAO's mission as an open-source R&D network, the role of crypto in reshaping technology, and why DAOs are redefining scientific funding. Plus, they dive into changing perceptions of hair loss and the flaws in traditional testing models."The answer to life is in your hair follicles.” - Douglas AdamsCo-founder/Chief Technocrat of HairDAO; MechE turned BioE; Stanford 2018. Connect with Andrew BakstHairDAO https://www.hairdao.xyz/HairDAO on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/hairdao/HairDAO on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/hairdao/HairDAO on X https://x.com/HairDAO_?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5EauthorHairDAO on TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@hairdao?lang=enAndrew on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrew-bakst-78b21b100/Andrew on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/apballer4/?hl=enAndrew on X  https://x.com/andrew_bakstAndrew on TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@andrewbakst242?lang=en  Connect with Boost VCBoost VC https://www.boost.vc/Boost VC on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/boost-vc/?viewAsMember=trueBoost VC on X https://x.com/BoostVC?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5EauthorBoost VC on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/boost_vc/?hl=en

Pathfinder
First Check, with Adam Draper (Founder of Boost VC)

Pathfinder

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 14, 2025 57:48


This week on Pathfinder, we welcome Adam Draper, founder and managing director of Boost VC, an early-stage venture capital firm based in San Mateo, CA, specializing in pre-seed deals in deep tech, including space.Boost VC's track record includes early investments in space companies such as Varda, Starfish Space, and K2 Space. This episode explores the philosophy and strategy behind the firm's approach to venture capital.In addition, we discuss:Adam's journey into VC and the Draper family legacy in the industryThe firm's commitment to backing “impossible” ideas and frontier technologiesInsights into investing in deep tech, from identifying committed founders to understanding market risksThe importance of storytelling and momentum in aerospace and defense startupsBoost's role in shaping the future of space industries, from lunar water mining to satellite servicing and space manufacturingPredictions for the future of space and deep tech, including the rise of biopharma in orbit and even the search for extraterrestrial lifeAnd much more… • Chapters •00:00 - Intro00:45 - Adam's background07:48 - Boost VC11:57 - How do you tell a founder has commitment?14:04 - Signs of a founder with a real interest in space17:54 - Making the case for the space market20:51 - On the frontier23:01 - Signs Adam looks for when he needs to step in and direct a company28:20 - Investing in software vs. deep tech30:43 - Early-stage pre-seed investing38:07 - How would a founder differentiate themselves when it comes to fundraising?43:25 - How to stay ahead of the curve with investing in space48:36 - Craziest space deal Adam has invested in51:46 - Adam's 2025 predictions • Show notes •Boost VC website — https://www.boost.vc/Boost's socials — https://x.com/BoostVCAdam's socials — https://x.com/AdamDraperMo's socials — https://twitter.com/itsmoislamPayload's socials — https://twitter.com/payloadspace / https://www.linkedin.com/company/payloadspacePathfinder archive — Watch: https://www.youtube.com/@payloadspacePathfinder archive — Listen: https://pod.payloadspace.com/episodes • About us •Pathfinder is brought to you by Payload, a modern space media brand built from the ground up for a new age of space exploration and commercialization. We deliver need-to-know news and insights daily to 19,000+ commercial, civil, and military space leaders. Payload is read by decision-makers at every leading new space company, along with c-suite leaders at all of the aerospace & defense primes. We're also read on Capitol Hill, in the Pentagon, and at space agencies around the world.Payload began as a weekly email sent to a few friends and coworkers. Today, we're a team distributed across four time zones and two continents, publishing five media properties across multiple platforms:1) Payload, our flagship daily newsletter, sends M-F @ 9am Eastern2) Pathfinder publishes weekly on Tuesday mornings (pod.payloadspace.com)3) Polaris, our weekly policy briefing, publishes weekly on Tuesdays4) Payload Research, our weekly research and analysis piece,  comes out on WednesdaysYou can sign up for all of our publications here: https://payloadspace.com/subscribe/

Kingdom Pursuits's podcast

Robby is joined by Adam Draper the Co-host of teach me to pray and his friend Caleb Bylery from Evergreen Mission church who has a passion for music.In today's episode Linda Favor teaches us about the holy experience that is "El Camino"

The Boost VC Podcast
Jordan Kutzer - Overcoming Rejection, Visceral Virtual Connections, and VR as a Car for the Internet

The Boost VC Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 10, 2024 48:30


Join Boost VC's Adam Draper as he chats with Jordan Kutzer, founder of Throwback Studios, about how Jordan correlates the competitive nature of starting a company to baseball, especially regarding his mission to become the biggest VR brand and media company in the world. During this high velocity discussion, Jordan details the overcoming of multiple rejections, "coaching" customers, building visceral relationships in VR, and his inherent instinct to win. Tune in for key insights into the world of VR!Jordan holds a Stanford University B.A. in Science, Technology & Society with a concentration in Information Technology, Media and Society (2015). Former Stanford Student-Athlete and Pitcher. Working to empower the next generation of game creators. Connect with Jordan KutzerThrowback Studios https://throwback.studio/Throwback Studios on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/throwbackvr/Throwback Studios on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/throwback.vr/Throwback Studios on X https://x.com/throwbackvrThrowback Studios on TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@throwbackvr Jordan on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/jordankutzer/Jordan on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/jordankutzer/?hl=enJordan on X  https://x.com/jordankutzer Jordan on TikTok  https://www.tiktok.com/@jordankutzer  Connect with Boost VCBoost VC LinkTree https://linktr.ee/boostvc

The Boost VC Podcast
Sampriti Bhattacharyya - An Awakening, Flying Boats, and Maritime Dynamism

The Boost VC Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 3, 2024 49:09


Join Boost VC's Adam Draper as he chats with Sampriti Bhattacharyya, founder of Navier. She shares her journey from a small city in India to building a next-gen maritime company in the U.S. From sun-tracking solar panels to dodging marriage and surviving a landslide, Sampriti's story is one of overcoming challenges. She highlights the value of exceptional people, persistence through failures, and her mission to transform the future of waterways. Tune in for an inspiring episode!Sampriti is a 3x founder and the CEO of Navier, a pioneering company at the forefront of innovation in sustainable, maritime transportation. Sampriti's journey began with a PhD from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) after completing projects with NASA.  Her academic pursuits span diverse fields including Electrical Engineering, High Energy Physics, Aerospace Engineering, MechE/Robotics/Control & AI. Driven by a passion for tackling fundamental technological challenges with global implications, Sampriti thrives on creating products that push the boundaries of exploration and discovery. Her work reflects a deep-seated commitment to leveraging cutting-edge technology to address pressing societal needs and unlock new frontiers of possibility.Connect with Sampriti BhattacharyyaNavier https://www.navierboat.com/Navier on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/navierboat/Navier on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/navierboat/?hl=enNavier on X https://x.com/navierboatSampriti on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/sampriti-bhattacharyya-40368a3/Sampriti on Instagram  https://www.instagram.com/sampriti_bh/?hl=enSampriti on X  https://x.com/sampritibh?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor  Connect with Boost VCBoost VC LinkTree https://linktr.ee/boostvc

The Boost VC Podcast
AJ Forsythe - from 2000lb Crystals, to Cracked iPhones, to Chickens on Mars

The Boost VC Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 26, 2024 49:08


Join Boost VC's Adam Draper as he chats with AJ Forsythe, founder of Coop, about his not-so-illustrious journey as a founder, and the rewarding yet challenging components of building companies. Discover how AJ's journey evolved from his first steps building iCracked to his ambitious mission of putting chickens on Mars. Adam and AJ reflect on the nature of entrepreneurship and the importance of seizing life's fleeting moments. Tune in for another fun episode filled with shark diving, fossils, and more! AJ is going to put chickens on mars. He's a serial entrepreneur and absolutely loves the startup life (mainly because he's probably unemployable

The Boost VC Podcast
Collin West - Rowing across the Arctic, Near Death Experiences, and Venture Capital

The Boost VC Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 12, 2024 46:39


Join Boost VC's Adam Draper as he chats with Collin West, founder of Ensemble VC, about his incredible journey rowing across the Arctic Ocean and how it changed his approach to decision-making and team management. Learn how this experience influences Ensemble's data-driven approach to assessing startups. Adam and Collin dive into the evolution of venture capital and reflect on their near-death experiences. Tune in for laughs, insights, and a fresh perspective on adventure and opportunity in VC! Collin is the Founder and Managing Partner of Ensemble VC, which focuses on using data to identify top teams building companies that can impact a billion people. Collin is also a Guinness World Record holder for leading the first-ever crossing of the Arctic Ocean. His team of four rowed non-stop and unsupported for 41 days through the biggest storm season in Arctic history - this is where he learned just how important a great team is pursuing a mission that's never been done before. Collin's prior investments include Zoom Video (NASDAQ: ZM), Carta, Groww, ICON, Saronic, Sidecar Health, and many others. Previously, Collin was a founder of the Kauffman Fellows VC fund and on the founding fund team at the pioneering data-driven VC firm Correlation Ventures. An avid competitor, Collin spends his free time training Brazilian jiu-jitsu, mountain biking, and climbing mountains.Connect with Collin WestEnsemble VC https://www.ensemble.vc/home/#ensemble Ensemble VC on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/ensemblevc/Collin on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/collinwest/Collin on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/collinrwest/?hl=en Connect with Boost VCBoost VC LinkTree https://linktr.ee/boostvc

Business Podcast by Roohi | VC, Startups
Finding Opportunities Ft. Adam Draper

Business Podcast by Roohi | VC, Startups

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 8, 2023 20:10


This week I spoke with Adam Draper of Boost VC   We talked about: 1. Investing in India 2. Finding opportunities like Coinbase 3. Reaching out cold- Tips? 5. His take on Crypto Connect with Adam below: Adam's Email: adam@boost.vc Boost VC website: https://www.boost.vc/ Connect with the host Roohi Kazi on the below platforms: Instagram-roohik2 LinkedIn: Roohi Kazi Twitter: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://twitter.com/roohi_kr⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Visit this link for more listening options/platforms for the Business Podcast by Roohi, and next step groups: ⁠https://bop.me/roohikaz⁠ Business Podcast by Roohi Website: https://businesspodcast.transistor.fm/ Subscribe to the Business Podcast by Roohi newsletter here: ⁠https://businesspodcastbyroohi.substack.com/⁠ Subscribe to the YouTube channel here: ⁠https://youtube.com/@bizpodroohi?si=V4VxfkFEO4AlEiIz⁠ If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a review of the podcast here on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/business-podcast-by-roohi-vc-startups/id1516165457?uo=4 Or rate it on Spotify Would really appreciate it! Follow Business Podcast by Roohi on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/business-podcast-by-roohi/ DM me on X(formerly Twitter) or LinkedIn- if you are interested in sponsoring episodes of the podcast

Daily Bruin
Bruins Built This: Boost VC

Daily Bruin

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 19, 2023 25:10


Interested in venture capital? Listen to renowned venture capitalist Adam Draper share his thoughts on smart investing and the attributes of successful entrepreneurs with Podcasts Editor Jack Garland.

The Boost VC Podcast
Bringing Scientific Expertise to the VC Market—with Arkady Kulik of RPV

The Boost VC Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 12, 2023 42:02


According to a BCG report, only 19% of VCs have some kind of scientific or technological competence. And that creates a translation problem between deep tech founders and investors.  To close that gap, Arkady Kulik and his cofounder, Tamaz Khunjua, built RPV, a venture fund that brings scientific expertise to the market and helps scientists become strong entrepreneurs. On this episode of The Boost VC Podcast, Arkady joins us to explain how the RPV team's extensive background in science and entrepreneurship serves deep tech startups. Arkady describes how starting a venture fund differs from founding other companies and shares his excitement around ‘being at the edge of science' as a frontier tech VC. Listen in for Arkady's unique take on what it means to be useful to others and learn how RPV is working to make talented scientists billionaires! Topics Covered The idea behind RPVHelp scientists become strong entrepreneurs‘Commercialization of science' How Arkady got into venture capitalMoved to US to be part of scientific exploration of humanityLack of funding in prototyping stage of deep tech startups Arkady's biggest accomplishment before age 20Launched first company at 18 without external investmentScaled to annual revenue of $5M in third year How starting a venture fund differs from starting other companiesMore competitive, thousands of similar funds raising moneyHarer to differentiate and properly tell story of niche What part of being a VC Arkady enjoys the mostBeing at edge of science and meeting interesting peopleFinding processes that make things work The secret skills Arkady is most proud ofDeveloped extreme level of disciplineExtremely organized in managing time and data How Arkady thinks about being useful to othersProvide with relevant information or connectionsPut smile on someone's face, make life better The most valuable thing RPV provides for deep tech startupsExternal proof point for science and technologyEntrepreneurial experience and change management Arkady's ‘deathbed test' to measure successNothing ‘could have but didn't achieve'Self-actualization (happy, complex person) Connect with Arkady Kulik RPV https://rpv.global/RPV on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/rpvglobal/Arkady on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/arkady-kulik/Arkady on X https://twitter.com/arkadykulik  Resources Starburst Aerospace https://starburst.aero/Cantos VC https://cantos.vc/Countdown https://countdown.capital/Fifty Years https://fiftyyears.com/Productivity Planner https://www.intelligentchange.com/products/productivity-plannerTerraforming Mars https://www.fryxgames.se/games/terraforming-mars/Breakfast with Pops: A Venture Capital Handbook by Adam Draper and William H. Draper III https://www.amazon.com/Breakfast-Pops-Venture-Capital-Handbook/dp/B0C1JHXTQF Connect with Boost VC Boost VC Website https://www.boost.vc/Boost VC on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/boostvc/Boost VC on X https://twitter.com/BoostVCBoost VC on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/boost_vc/ 

Build In Public Podcast
The Ultimate Advice For Startup Founders (feat. Adam Draper)

Build In Public Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 24, 2023 55:48


Welcome to another episode of the Build In Public Podcast.Today's episode features Adam Draper, Founder and Managing Director of Boost VC, which is an early-stage venture capital firm with $200m AUM.Adam is a 2x entrepreneur and a 4th generation venture capitalist who comes from a family of highly influential leaders including his dad, Tim Draper, who made investments in Skype, Tesla, Bitcoin and more.In this interview, Adam and KP explored a wide variety of topics such as:●     Intro (00:00)●     Paying it forward and asking for what you want (3:50)●     How building in public does your business a huge favor (11:00)●     What qualities set apart great founders (16:57)●     Why mission-driven founders are more likely to succeed (18:54)●     Infectious ambition and raising its ceiling (24:38)●     The right mindset and working harder (27:20)●     Tribute to Adam's father, Tim Draper, on his brilliant strategic thinking (32:50)●     Self-sovereignty and what it means in tech (36:02)●     The possibilities of universal LLC (38:41)●     What's up next at Boost VC (43:21)●     The kind of founders Adam wants to connect with (44:27)●     Adam's take on expanding human endeavor (45:46)●     Brainstorming as the new age of podcasting (47:56)●     Leaning into what personally feels wondrous (48:53) Build In Public Podcast is an interview show where KP chats with ambitious startup founders, CEOs, and top Internet creators to unpack their stories, insights, and lessons.Thanks for listening!Links:Adam's Twitter: https://twitter.com/AdamDraperBoost VC on Twitter: https://twitter.com/BoostVCBoost VC's website: https://www.boost.vc/KP's Twitter: https://twitter.com/thisiskp_KP's YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/KarthikPuvvadaKP 

The Danny Miranda Podcast
#393: Adam Draper – Where Do Billion Dollar Ideas Come From?

The Danny Miranda Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 23, 2023 111:41


Adam Draper is a venture capitalist. He is the cofounder of Boost VC - where he's invested in companies like Coinbase, Amplitude and Plangrid. 0:00 Intro 1:04 Breakfast With Pops 4:02 Hot Take On Climate Change 14:31 Doing The Research 21:02 Where Do Ideas Come From? 30:51 Grow Your Imagination 34:00 Meeting With Coinbase In 2012  49:23 Advice To Creators 59:21 How Internet Changes Behavior 1:07:43 How To Get Better At People 1:13:41 Cockroach Mentality 1:17:06 Jet Pack 1:23:01 Parenting Rich Kids 1:37:13 Most Important Company? 1:41:45 Challenge Adam's Links • Book (Breakfast With Pops): https://www.amazon.com/Breakfast-Pops-Venture-Capital-Handbook/dp/B0C1JHXTQF • Twitter: https://twitter.com/adamdraper • Brian Armstrong Blog Post: https://barmstrong.medium.com/the-coinbase-seed-round-pitch-deck-50c8ec91d40b • Adam Draper On Pomp Podcast (talking about NFTs): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b45J2I3qN7s My Links  ✉️ Newsletter: https://dannymiranda.substack.com

The Undeniable Level Up
Crypto Chronicles - Demystifying Digital Dough

The Undeniable Level Up

Play Episode Listen Later May 30, 2023 89:15


Guest: Karl Jackson Welcome back to another Undeniable episode of the Undeniable Level Up Podcast.  With you host, Jose Medina and Crystal Garcia.  And today we are here to talk about Demystifying Digital Dough.  What is this thing called Crypto.  Wow, that rhymed didn't it!   For some of our listeners who follow our professional development and self improvement discussions, you may be asking how discussion of Cryptocurrency is a relevant topic for us to discuss and to those listeners. I would say, financial health is one of the 8 wellness categories.  And with everything that's going on with the dollar and Russia's and China's plan to move away from the Dollar Dollar Dollar Bill Yall, I think there is no better time to discuss Crypto than now. Now, I have some friends and associates who purport to understand Crypto and I'll be honest, I have a Crypto wallet with a little bit of Cryptocurrency, but I'd be lying if I told you that I totally understand everything about crypto.  I know how to invest in it, but I have no idea how to spend it. If you're like me, then you have a lot of questions too.   And here to help us demystify this Mystifying mullah is none other than Crypto Expert Karl Jackson.  Hi Karl, and thank you for joining us on today's show to discuss the ins and out of Cryptocurrency. Jose and I met Karl about 1.5 years ago when he was working as a Tax Attorney.  This guy is a Tax Wizard of the highest order, a financial genius and business structure master.  And now a Cryptocurrency Colossus!   Marc Kenigberg, the Founder fo BitcoinChaser says "Blockchain is the tech. Bitcoin is merely the first mainstream manifestation of its potential." Q: Do you agree with Marc?  Are we still at the beginning of what Crypto will be?  Where do you see Crypto in the next 5 years? This quote highlights the importance of understanding that Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are just the beginning of what blockchain technology can achieve. The potential applications of blockchain technology go far beyond digital currencies and could have a transformative effect on various industries.  Q:  How do you think the underlying blockchain technology will continue to evolve, and what impact will this have on the cryptocurrency landscape? Q:  Can you discuss the potential for decentralized finance (DeFi) to disrupt traditional banking and financial systems? What are the key advantages and challenges of DeFi? Q: What role do you see cryptocurrencies playing in the global economy, particularly in developing countries where access to traditional banking infrastructure might be limited? Satoshi Makamoto, the mysterious and pseudonymous creator of Bitcoin stated that, "The root problem with conventional currency is all the trust that's required to make it work. The central bank must be trusted not to debase the currency, but the history of fiat currencies is full of breaches of that trust."  This quote from the inventor of Bitcoin emphasizes the fundamental issue that cryptocurrencies aim to address – the trust required for traditional financial systems to function. By leveraging blockchain technology, cryptocurrencies aim to provide a more secure, transparent, and decentralized alternative to conventional currencies. Q: How do you think regulators and governments will respond to the growing influence of cryptocurrencies, and what effect will this have on the industry's future? Q: Security has always been a concern in the crypto space, with numerous high-profile hacks and breaches. How can individuals and businesses best protect their digital assets? Q: What are your thoughts on the increasing popularity of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and their potential impact on various industries, including art, gaming, and intellectual property? Adam Draper, founder of Boost VC. Said, "The blockchain does one thing: It replaces third-party trust with a mathematical proof that something happened." Adam Draper's quote succinctly captures the essence of what blockchain technology offers – a decentralized, trustless system that relies on mathematical proofs and cryptography to ensure security and transparency. This shift from relying on third parties to mathematical proofs has the potential to revolutionize various aspects of our lives, from finance to supply chain management.  Q: Scalability has been a long-standing challenge for many cryptocurrencies, particularly Bitcoin and Ethereum. How do you envision this issue being addressed in the future? Q: How do you see the relationship between centralized and decentralized exchanges evolving, and what does this mean for the accessibility and security of digital assets? Q: In your opinion, what are the most promising use cases for cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology beyond finance and investment? CTAIf you've been thinking about investing in Crypto, but the mysticism and newness of the digitally currency has kept you hesitant, then today's topic should have given you some much needed insight and education and a strong starting point.  This is call to action is for those of you have interest, but just don't really know where to begin your journey and experience with Crypto.  We are going to ask you to become a participant in Crypto Twitter.  To do that, all you need Is a Twitter Account.  If you don't have one, it is easy to sign up at Twitter.com.  Use the search bar at the top of the Twitter interface to search for relevant hashtags like #cryptocurrency, #bitcoin, #ethereum, #blockchain, #DeFi, or other specific terms related to the crypto world.  Browse through the search results and follow accounts that regularly post about cryptocurrencies, blockchain technology, and related topics.  We will put some of the more popular accounts in the show notes to help you get started.  @VitalikButerin (Ethereum co-founder) @SatoshiLite (Litecoin creator Charlie Lee) @aantonop (Andreas Antonopoulos, a well-known crypto educator and author) @cz_binance (Changpeng Zhao, Binance CEO) Some additional keywords that are useful to look up when getting started and all of which are discussed in this podcast include: Cryptocurrency Bitcoin Ethereum Blockchain DeFi (Decentralized Finance) Crypto Wallet Altcoin Satoshi Nakamoto Smart Contracts Cryptocurrency Mining Proof of Work Proof of Stake NFT (Non-Fungible Tokens) ICO (Initial Coin Offering) Token vs Coin Digital Asset Cryptocurrency Exchange DEX (Decentralized Exchange) Crypto Trading Crypto Investment Cryptocurrency Market Cap Stablecoin Crypto Regulations Cryptography Crypto Security Crypto Taxes DAO (Decentralized Autonomous Organizations) Yield Farming Cryptocurrency Futures Cryptocurrency Risings and Falls Privacy Coins Layer-2 Solutions Crypto Bubbles Bitcoin Halving Blockchain Technology Staking Cryptocurrency Decentralized Apps (DApps) Cryptocurrency Scams Crypto Adoption Crypto Volatility Here you will be able to engage with the content by liking, retweeting, and replying to tweets. This will help you stay updated on the latest news, opinions, and discussions within the crypto community. By following these steps, you will become part of the Crypto Twitter community and gain access to a wealth of knowledge, insights, and perspectives on the world of cryptocurrencies. Karl, thank you for joining us and being so informative and knowledgeable on such a technical and very, very new topic of Crypto.  As an attorney, I know that your time is not just limited, it's also valuable, so we appreciate the time you have taken out of your schedule to be a part of our show.   Do you have any advice for our listeners as they they getter ready to dip their toes into the dark waters fo Cryptocurrency? We look forward to having you back in the future to talk learn more about Crypto, taxes and business structures among other topics that you have expert knowledge on.  Thank you again. The world is changing.  30 years again computers were the size of a room and cell phones had to be carried in bag the size of a brief case.  Today, our phones are damn near super computers and fit in a pocket.  Everything we do is connected digitally in one way or another.  Crypto is here.  It is better to get educated on it and learn it so that you're not left behind when it becomes necessary to own it, have it and use it. Spend the time now, dabbling and learning the ins and outs and becoming familiar with Crypto and the different coins.  Knowledge is always the key to success.  It's time to level up your financial acumen, to begin building the foundation of knowledge on Crypto to keep you ahead of the pack.  Ignorance is NOT bliss.  Ignoring Crypto won't make it irrelevant. Find time to educate yourself, and move into the future with confidence and understanding.  ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

WEB3 FRONTIER
Venture Capital, Sci-Fi, & Beyond! [EP.40] w. Adam Draper (Founder & MD of BoostVC)

WEB3 FRONTIER

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 10, 2023 46:25


In this episode, I had the pleasure of speaking with Adam Draper Founder & Managing Director of BoostVC, an early-stage venture capital firm with $200 million in Assets Under Management located in San Mateo, California. BoostVC invests in crypto, aerospace, Virtual Reality, energy, robotics, & artificial intelligence.We discuss Adam's vision when he thinks of how the world will evolve over the next 10 years. You'll get to hear the story of how Adam was one of the first checks for Coinbase and how he met Brian Armstrong. There's a short Q/A at the end with great questions from the audience.Enjoy the conversation.Contact Info:Host: Igor YuzoSpeaker(s): Adam Draper

The Modern CFO
Cryptocurrency's Road to Resilience with Brett Royer of Fidelity Digital Assets

The Modern CFO

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 21, 2022 42:24


Crypto investors have seen their fair share of sudden market meltdowns this year. This week, all eyes were on FTX, formerly one of the world's largest cryptocurrency derivative exchange platforms.This latest turmoil has sent shockwaves throughout the industry. Yet historically, cryptocurrencies have rebounded following each crisis. What doesn't wipe out the blockchain becomes a hard lesson for crypto ventures, turning them into fortified iterations of themselves.For Brett Royer, CFO of Fidelity Digital Assets, the recent unraveling of FTX underscored hard lessons that are not unique to crypto. An expert in high-level financial planning, Brett says those lessons point to fundamental business principles that have long existed.In this episode of The Modern CFO, Brett talks with host Andrew Seski about decentralized finance, the role of trust within the increasingly digital world of finance, how he thinks about risk, and more.Show Links Explore crypto careers at Fidelity! Browse Open Positions Check out Fidelity Digital Assets Connect with Brett Royer on LinkedIn Check out Nth Round Connect with Andrew Seski on LinkedIn TranscriptPlease note that the transcript is AI-generated and may contain errors. The content in the podcast is not intended as investment advice, and is meant for informational and entertainment purposes only.‍[00:00:00] Andrew Seski: Hello everyone and welcome back to The Modern CFO Podcast. As always, I'm your host, Andrew Seski. I'm thrilled for the episode today because we are joined by Brett Royer, who's head of finance at Fidelity Digital Assets. Brett, thank you so much for being here today. [00:00:19] Brett Royer: Andrew, thank you for having me. [00:00:21] Andrew Seski: So, we're going to dive right in. The world of crypto and the world of digital assets has evolved in a unique way, down to literally the hour, especially this week. So, I want to kick off not just on the current event side, but we're going to have plenty of time to go through those current events, I want to start today actually with your career and then kind of the history of Fidelity Digital Assets, which I know spans back farther than most institutional groups had even considered labs themselves. So, we'd love to kick off with maybe some of your educational background, sort of the rise to this position, and then we'll segue in and out of how Fidelity Digital Assets is positioned today and what you're thinking about today. So, we have a lot to cover. [00:01:08] Brett Royer: Yeah, sure. Great. So, I'll start with a little bit of career history. Prior to business school, I'd say one of my more substantial roles was working in the Merrill Lynch Private Banking and Investment Group. So, there I was working with a former Chicago Board of Trade trader who had sold a business, a trading business, for a substantial sum, thought he was going to retire and ride off into the sunset. I spent some time doing some personal things and then realized that he got bored. And so, went back into business as a wealth manager and he ran his own proprietary trading strategy for a lot of the clients that he served. And so, I joined his team as sort of a mini fund analyst of sorts that supported the portfolio analysis and trading decisions behind the proprietary strategy that he used on behalf of his clients. And so, that was a really great experience. I think there, I kind of developed my first set of background and skills in capital markets, gained a pretty good understanding of how the markets work, traded in some illiquid securities and got a sense for what that was like. And had a pretty interest, I was there at a relatively interesting time. [00:02:33] So, I was probably in my second or third year, I can't remember exactly which, when things started to go wrong in Wall Street in financial services, right? So, the history is Lehman goes bankrupt and then Bear Stearns comes about as close as you can get to bankruptcy. And then I remember distinctly going into the weekend, Merrill Lynch was next up as a potential firm that was looking at having liquidity challenges and potentially could go under. And I'm sitting there as a junior analyst and just sort of watching this from an interested perspective, but also from the perspective of like, my job was on the line. But at that point in time, I didn't have as much to lose. Obviously pretty early in my career. But nonetheless, I think it was a strenuous time for everybody. And I distinctly remember sort of being glued to the TV all weekend just waiting to see what would happen. And then, sure enough, Bank of America, acquires Merrill Lynch on Sunday and I was really lucky to have a team that supported me, and I was able to maintain my role throughout then. But learned a lot of hard lessons around what bear markets feel like and look like. And I think that's in part educated some of what I've seen and felt in crypto markets as well. And I think just giving me a little bit of perspective on not getting too lost in the moment, either up or down, right, and having an understanding that these things tend to be cyclical, right? And there are going to be ups and downs and you don't want to get too over indexed on either side of the equation while you're in the moment, which is really hard.[00:04:08] But from there, I decided I didn't want to be a financial advisor. I think that would've been the next move if I stayed there. And that group worked with $10 billion clients and above. And so particularly difficult prospecting or particularly difficult segment to prospect in a serious way if you're a 25-year-old. So decided anyway that I wanted to be on more of an analytical track and more of a CFO track anyway, so made sense to go back to business school and sort of pivot. And so, I went to the University of North Carolina, got my MBA there. And around that time, Fidelity had just started recruiting at the University of North Carolina for a financial leadership rotational program. And I'm from Massachusetts originally, so familiar with Fidelity. Really wanted the chance to get back to the Northeast and so jumped at the opportunity to join a program that is tagging itself as developing the next future CFOs of Fidelity business units. [00:05:05] So did that. And the idea is you get broad exposure to the firm in relatively short order, right? You do six-month rotations in four different parts of the firm. And then you graduate, and you come out and Fidelity really has a sort of continuous career rotational program aspect to it, even after you're out of that traditional rotational program as well. So after I graduated, I spent the majority of my time, five years or so, in a role in our Fidelity institutional business. So, it's a really interesting business for Fidelity. They provide custody for registered investment advisors and then clearing for correspondent broker-dealers as well. And I worked on the broker-dealer side of the business. And up until 2008 or so, Fidelity was the clearing provider for a couple of large firms, JPMorgan and Bank of America. And around that time, they lost both in a year as a result of JP Morgan buying Bear Stearns and then Merrill, Bank of America buying Merrill Lynch. And so, both had self-clearing capabilities that sort of made them take away the need for a clearing provider like Fidelity. So, I don't know what percentage of the business those two represented. But needless to say, they were pretty considerable at that point in time. And I think there were a lot of hard discussions around whether the business could even survive. But kudos to the leadership at the time. They continued to invest in that business and grew it back even larger than it was prior to having those two big clearing firms. [00:06:45] And so I had an interesting experience there. Went through an acquisition of a smaller clearing firm. So, JP Morgan Clearing exited the business and we sort of did a non-typical acquisition, which was a purchase of the client book versus the purchase of the actual business itself. And then went through the process of trying to renegotiate those deals anyway and how that impacts sort of the valuation of that deal was challenging and unique. So really great experience there. And then also experiencing sort of waves of regulation. Around the time that I was in that group, we had DOL was coming in with a new set of rules that were really going to force a convergence of sort of the advisory model and bring together sort of the broker-dealer and RIA models under something that looked more like across the board fiduciary standard. And that was just a massive change for anybody who was running a broker-dealer business at the time. So a ton of strategic discussions and preparations for what the impact of that could be. And then, sure enough, we changed administrations and all that goes away anyway. So this is the nature of different administrations is you've got ebbs and flows in terms of regulatory tightness and ethos around what's important. And you got to adjust to those over time and find ways to still meet client demands.[00:08:15] Andrew Seski: Just a quick comment before we continue on to your segmentation and move into the Digital Assets arm. And another, there's some really interesting projects that were incubated there, too. But before we hop in there, do you think that there was an aspect of your personal risk aversion or how you think about risk? With your first foray into the world of finance being the global recession, not just the global recession but one that had a lot of dominoes stacked that people are still studying today. The over securitization, how we think about collateral, how you think about personal risk. You think that guided some of your career? I know that you moved kind of away from being a financial advisor just because it's a challenging role to go, like you mentioned, go prospect those types of potential clients as a 25-year-old. So, I mean, it sounds like that was a big piece of it. But how do you think that shaped how you thought about your career and risk in the world of finance? [00:09:17] Brett Royer: Yeah, I mean, it certainly had a big impact looking back, right? I think what brought down some of those large financial services institutions were risk management practices that were not fully up to par or sort of interconnectedness of exposure across the financial ecosystem that wasn't fully understood. And I think there are a lot of corollaries to be drawn to some of the things that have happened in the crypto market now, right? I think there are lessons that traditional capital markets and financial services have learned the hard way over time. Not to say that it's ever fully solved, right, even though the broker-dealer and capital markets business have been around for a long time, but we were still learning hard lessons all the way through 2008, right? [00:10:08] But I think the interesting thing from the perspective of the crypto ecosystem is just the acceleration of that learning curve of the hard lessons that have been learned, right? I think there's a lot of similar stories that you could draw parallels to that have happened in the past and financial services around under-collateralized loans and contagion effect from exposure cascading across multiple counterparties and people not really understanding the true risk profile of the firms that they're interacting with. I think those are all things that are not unique to crypto. I think they're fundamental business principles that have existed and caused problems for financial services for a long time. I just think that what we've seen unfold is just a really accelerated learning curve again for crypto, which has been hard because it's happened all at once and it's been painful. And that's how these things tend to work. But I would hope that in the backside, right, that we get some better business practices. Perhaps we get some more comprehensive regulation that looks at this in a thoughtful way from a consumer protection perspective but also from the perspective of not stifling innovation and not putting the US in a position where we're behind other countries in terms of having the ability to use crypto in ways that can benefit consumers over time. So that's the balance.[00:11:42] But I think one of the things that strikes me as pretty clear from this, there have been lots of folks in the crypto industry who I think are hesitant to have any sort of regulation come into play. And I think the thought is we can figure it out on our own or these things can be handled via the blockchain or there's lots of different thoughts on how or why regulation is bad or good. My perspective is that I think unfortunately what we've seen play out is that when you combine sort of relatively nascent ecosystem and business models with greed, that it tends to err on a path where you get these problems where there's a mismatch in sort of risk-reward philosophies. And then in some cases, that risk has been passed along to consumers who are just unknowing of the type of risk that they're taking on for a given situation, right? And so, you look at all that and you say that's where regulation is good. Because I think everybody in the ecosystem would agree that we don't want to put consumers at risk of holding the bag on some of these scenarios where things go wrong. And so, I think that's where you look, and you say that regulation has been pretty good over time of finding ways to ensure consumer protection. [00:13:02] Andrew Seski: It's a little tricky. I mean, I feel like the SEC actually gets kind of a bad rap, but they can't really regulate proactively so they have to then retroactively. And you're seeing a lot of this, DOJ, too. I mean, there's tons of money flowing into the government to start going back through some of these issues that have been kind of plaguing this system for a while. But it's not that well received either because of the sort of libertarian tint that a lot of this started in. If you go all the way back to reading the Bitcoin Whitepaper, you can realize that decentralized finance was that first iteration using the tech. And then, yeah, it's just interesting to think about, especially going back through time and how these different winters have sort of formed the next waves of all the projects and all the exchanges that have come out and kind of what those goals are. [00:13:57] I think Adam Draper, Tim Draper's son, put out kind of an interesting article where he said he had met Brian Armstrong from Coinbase and had discussed kind of what one global financial infrastructure would look like and that it would probably be built in these next few iterations. But in that article he put out or just blog, he also listed a couple of events that, not sure if you remember each of them, but in 11 Silk Road crashes, 13 Mt. Gox, 17 was the big ICO bubble, and I think we could probably cement FTX as a major crash that may drive another winter or at least some really maybe necessary introspection for maybe some of the venture dollars flowing into the projects just in terms of diligence. You could probably say that across a lot of the sectors, to be honest. But I think it's not just a result of the ecosystem but also in the financing of the ecosystem. [00:15:00] So those incentives are really important to remember because as purely sort of this libertarian sort of idealistic thing was promulgated, now all of a sudden, we've got a lot of mixed incentives going through how scaling the ecosystem's going to look. And maybe that's a natural segue into how you got interested in and how Fidelity Digital Assets started because that was back in 14, which I think was probably one of the earliest at least in kind of the institutional world. So would love to hear the history of that.[00:15:37] Brett Royer: Yeah, sure. Yeah. Fidelity's got a pretty good history here. Some of the initial blockchain research started in 2014 in our Fidelity Center for Applied Technology. And then soon after that, we launched that into a fully-fledged blockchain incubator in that group. And they were tasked with developing blockchain capabilities that Fidelity could use for future products and services. 2015, we started accepting donations in Bitcoin to our Fidelity Charitable unit. And then in 2018, Fidelity Digital Assets, which is the business that I'm a part of now, was born to offer custody and trading solutions for Bitcoin. And the thinking was really twofold at that point in time. One is we had done a lot of experimentation in some of those applied technology groups. And you can learn a ton from experimentation, but you really can accelerate your understanding of what will and will not work for customers when you are in the market trying to sell your service. Launching a business around these capabilities that we developed in-house really made sense. And then two, we believed that the institutional marketplace was really underserved by existing crypto providers at that point in time, right? Fidelity's got a really long history of providing services to institutions of all kind. We know the market well. We serve something like 4,000 institutions today through various. We understand what they demand on the traditional finance side of the house. And so, we believed we were in really good position to build a crypto platform that met the high standards of institutional rigor that those types of traditional financial services institutions would have.[00:17:26] Andrew Seski: Does Fidelity manage custody as well? I mean, I think that's probably one of the biggest issues across space still that kind of, I mean, maybe it gets talked about, maybe it doesn't. But yeah, I feel like custody solutions are one of the key aspects of being really successful as a provider in this space right now still.[00:17:44] Brett Royer: Yeah, it's a good lead-in because we really believe that everything starts with custody. So we really, we started the foundation of the entire set of capabilities that we developed in crypto, starting with ultra-high security custody. And what we utilize offline voltage storage for the cryptographic key material and then add our own sort of special Fidelity additional layers of securities and controls that you'd expect from an institution that provides custody for $10 trillion in customer assets across the enterprise. And then from there, we built some of our other capabilities, right? So started with custody, but then we said it makes a lot of sense to layer on a trading capability that settles directly to that cold storage custody solution. And so, we developed our own multivenue, smart order routing trade platform that again automatically connects and settles to that custody solution. And then, we wrapped it all up with a white-glove service model, with trading and transfers available 20/7 and service availability 24/7 to provide really that high touch that institutions expect. And then on top of that we try to seek all the assurances we can from both a regulatory standpoint and a control standpoint. So we went out and we received Limited Purpose Trust Company Charter from New York, which is really essentially the highest standard for a crypto service provider that we have in the US. [00:19:24] Andrew Seski: I can only think of one other. And if people are really conscious, they'll go back through the podcast and realize that was the only other person or only other representative of a group who can call themselves a trust company and some of these white-labeled solutions. So we'll see how savvy some of our listeners are if they can figure out that there's only, I think there may only be one other trust company, technically. But yeah, I love the fact that Fidelity's taken all of the actual steps to, I mean, that doesn't sound like there's a single beat missed from starting. [00:19:56] And I also love at some point in the conversation, we don't have to spend too long on it, but the role of trust I think is really an interesting one because I think in the institutional-grade solutions that we're talking about, no one's going to manage their own private keys. No one's going to do their cold storage. Yet it's a little bit, I don't think it detracts at all personally from the environment, but to rely on a major institution as an intermediary while discussing blockchain, smart contracts, all of this intermediating technology, it's interesting that we in this time and age are still dealing with trust issues and security issues. And a lot of it's still complex. Personally, I don't think it again detracts from the ecosystem, especially in the institutional side, to have these solutions. I actually think it's generally positive for the time being. 'Cause like you said, the early iterations of the Digital Assets arm was, we got to be able to feel it, understand it, to be able to grow it, to be able to iterate on top of it, to be able to build new products to service the environment. But kind of curious as to how you feel about all of that. And again, we probably should step back into how you got interested in the space. And you've been with the Digital Assets group for a long time now, too, right? [00:21:19] Brett Royer: Yeah, since 2019 I've been with the group. So I'll start there and then I'll go to the sort of philosophy and some of the things you talked about in terms of self-custody. Yeah. So I guess I got interested in a similar way to a lot of others. On the personal side, sort of exploration of trading and starting to mess around with some crypto assets in my personal account, I had the benefit of, at the time that I was happening to look for the next role, we had sort of just spun up this Fidelity Digital Assets unit, and I got to see Tom Jessop, who currently is the head of the unit, present out on some of the thoughts in the direction that we wanted to go with it. And at that point in time, they had a part-time CFO who was supporting the unit like as 25% of their role. The unit was only 70 people at that point in time, but it was at the point where I think there was a recognition that it was going to be an area of growth and needed the full-time attention of a full-time CFO. So things sort of lined up well in that way. I expressed interest both from a crypto standpoint as well as stepping into this role, I had to be willing to sign up for being an army of one for some period of time. And that I think that's probably familiar and true for a lot of startup CFOs. But I guess a little bit unique from the perspective of working in a really large company like Fidelity going from managing a decent size group to wanting to take on this role and needing to sign up for the idea that I was going to be an army of one for a while and that was going to be a very different sort of set of responsibilities. But in my mind why it was really attractive to me and it has played out fantastically for my career development, just staying engaged and interested in what I do every day is the breadth that you're able to get from stepping into that role is again sort of a growth business CFO within a much broader organization, right? That manifested itself in a couple of ways. I think one, probably a lot of your CFOs don't even think twice about this because it's the standard way you operate if you're a standalone business unit. [00:23:33] But coming into Fidelity, a lot of business unit finance folks don't spend a lot of time at the legal entity financial level, right? So thinking about a big corporation, you don't need to set up a new legal entity every time you set up a new product line or business unit, right? So a lot of times there's just a disaggregation of how you think about finance within your unit versus how things are done at the legal entity level. But what this role presented me an opportunity to do was to care about both because crypto's unique in its regulatory structuring, so we needed to set up a separate legal entity to be the service provider for crypto services to our institutional customers. And so, we did set up that separate legal entity and then in fact, over time, grew that into two legal entities. So we now have a legal entity in the US and we've got a UK-based legal entity that services non-US customers. And so, from a career development standpoint, right, that was important to me to be able to have that sort of full end-to-end ownership of the finance function, which included caring about audits and signing off on the financial statements, caring about balance sheet and capitalization, caring about regulatory capital and how you handle planning for what can be a pretty volatile environment in terms of customer interactions that impact your regulatory capital on a day-to-day basis.[00:24:56] So all that was really interesting and exciting to me when I looked at the opportunity. And it's played out really well. So I appreciate all the experiences that I've been able to get. And that's the risk that I was taking up front, banking on the idea that I'd get that broad exposure starting off with an army of one. Obviously, now the business has progressed. We're gonna be north of 500 people at the end of the year. So it's been a great evolution. [00:25:25] Andrew Seski: So and the idea, it's interesting, I was actually, when I was asking the question around trust, I was actually rereading a quote from Abigail Johnson talking about kind of the earlier stages of her kind of obsession with trying to figure out the full tech stack, which I thought was really, really cool. And kind of her first, one of her comments was starting with custody solutions seemed to tie antithetical to the technology, which I thought was a great comment on, I just love the approach. She basically came out to say Fidelity's had this long, privately owned success for generations due to in part contrarian thinking. And when people are running for the door, being able to have the wherewithal, the confidence, and the kind of long-term approach to nascent technologies and industries to be able to double down and really learn and feel all of that. So that's kind of where that trust question was coming from.[00:26:24] So I mean, it's nice to have somebody who's kind of leading the charge with so much thoughtful consideration in the space and where it makes sense for Fidelity to provide support versus how to push the industry forward and kind of just a nice patient approach. Especially as you said in terms of kind of the volatility of the space where all of these winters and kind of crashes are happening at so much faster of a clip. It takes a ton of patience and a ton of maturity to go through the volatility and be able to express what your priorities are maybe in a time where there's a lot of value loss at the time. So yeah, that's kind of where that was stemming from. But I do think it's super interesting that the group has continued to expand so rapidly. I think there was a comment in that article, too, that one of the first offerings was just Bitcoin and 401ks. Is that right? Does that sound? Yeah. I'm not sure how long ago that was, but I think that probably spurred a ton of interest, too.[00:27:29] Brett Royer: Yeah. Yeah, that's recent. So yeah, definitely a little bit of a response to sort of marketplace demand there. I think that the 401K unit just continued to hear a lot of interest from planned sponsors and having a product that could gain their participants' exposure to digital assets. And so, this was really in response to that and we think a relatively innovative product that gives those who are seeking a way to allocate a certain proportion of their retirement assets to digital assets. So yeah, certainly, that was a great example of a way that we think about the capabilities that are being developed within my Fidelity Digital Assets unit, potentially being used in other ways over time, right? [00:28:25] So I think from a long-term philosophy perspective, we started this unit and wanted to build the core set of capabilities. We went direct to the institutional market. But I think part of the vision always entailed the idea that over time, we expect the digital assets will begin to look and feel like any other asset class to investors. And so, we wanted to build those set of capabilities and then when the time is right and when the demand is there and when the regulatory environment is right we fully expect that we'll be able to provide digital asset services to an increasing number of customers that we touch again in the fullness of time.[00:29:08] Andrew Seski: Sweet. Well, I'd love to take a quick step back and run through a few of the questions that I really like to indulge in most of the podcast for continuity's sake. But would love to hear your perspective on just a personal definition on what you'd consider a modern CFO today. Maybe some of the characteristics that embody a modern CFO or maybe some things that modern CFOs should have on their radar that they don't today. Maybe we just start there. [00:29:39] Brett Royer: Yeah. When I think about the CFO role now, I think about the CFO role really broadening in the context of the organization, right? So I always like to aim to be viewed as a business person first who happens to know a lot about the finance of the business versus a finance person who happens to know a little bit about how the business is run. And what I mean by that is it's not okay for the modern CFO to be a passive observer to business activities and just report out on how things are going or how they went, right? The days of business leaders making decisions on gut and experience are largely gone, right? Virtually every company in the world now has a data-driven decision-making mindset. And so, the modern CFO really needs to be deeply engaged in the decision-making activities of the business, both in traditional finance terms, so P&L, NPV, IRR, return on capital, but also the nontraditional finance terms, right? They need to understand both financial and non-financial data. They need to understand how those interplay between each other and then how all of your data can be used to derive insights and make better decisions.[00:30:51] And then lastly, I guess one of the things I think a lot about is how I think the CFO role probably needs to be more willing to step outside of the traditional CFO swim lane when necessary to help the business in new and unique ways. So at my very first job out of undergrad, they taught all the incoming analysts that you are literally not allowed to say "That's not my job." Like that's a phrase you are not allowed to say. So I've carried that kind of philosophy with me throughout the rest of my career, right? And I think some of the most meaningful experiences that I've had were not handed to me in a job description or given to me by a manager. But they were formed by me raising my hand or asking a question or, in some case, just starting to do something in an area where there was a gap or an opportunity that wasn't being addressed. And I found that there are very few managers who will take issue with someone taking the initiative to just go ahead and solve a problem without asking, as long as it's not too far outside of the realm of your role. So that's another piece of the mindset that I think is important is willingness to sort of adapt and evolve around the edges some of the things that the CFO can be involved in and help the business improve upon. [00:32:06] Andrew Seski: I really appreciate that. And I typically ask people to hit that back 30-second button a few times when I hear really great advice. And I think anybody who's aspiring to the CFO role or is in their first time CFO role should really consider that advice and take it to heart. I think that was really well articulated. I appreciate that, Brett. I want to talk a little bit about 2023, the next 12 months. What's on the horizon for you and for the Digital Assets group? What's top of mind? What are you most focused on trying to build right now? [00:32:39] Brett Royer: Yeah. So certainly in general, focused on new opportunities to serve the rest of the Fidelity enterprise in terms of crypto capabilities where appropriate. From a finance team perspective, one of the things I've been spending a fair amount of time on is actually preparing for crypto tax regulations. So maybe a little bit esoteric in nature but I think this is an area where crypto is going to catch up to traditional financial services and there's obviously already been some indications of some rules to come. But this is sort of one of those areas where I talk about having the opportunity to raise your hand and take on some new responsibility sets. So as we anticipated that there was going to be some new requirements around crypto tax reporting in the not too distant future we started to work on what that would look like. And I've actually started to build out a team that's going to help us in Fidelity Digital Assets, prepare for any requirements which are going to be defined and we expect that this'll look a little bit more like a traditional set of brokerage reporting requirements, right? So I think in the future, you should expect to get something that looks like a 1099, multiple different kinds of 1099s from your crypto services provider. And that's a big initiative for the government and the IRS is I think starting to bring some of these things back under the existing frameworks and umbrellas where they make sense. And certainly the expectation is that crypto is not a tax-free realm. And so, this is just going to be one step in the direction of bringing crypto up to par with the rest of financial services. And that's an area where I think we'll spend a lot of time and focus on getting ready for that over the next 12 months.[00:34:23] Andrew Seski: Yeah. And for those listeners who don't know, the IRS received an $80 billion budget over the course of last summer. So this is not an "if" but "when." So I think Brett makes a really good point just to highlight the fact that this taxable ecosystem it's already here. So having the foresight and wherewithal to understand that the IRS is going to be pretty active in the crypto space I think is just good practice. And we've seen these iterations through the idea, and we're still going through this. I think that there's, we're going to see what happens with how securities law interacts with the crypto space. And there are some ongoing conversations with the SEC. And it's just, I think it's just part of the space and how early we, it's just good representation of how early we are still. So I think it's smart to have a good sense of the regulatory environment, but then also likely seek out counsel where appropriate to ensure that you're maintaining compliance because the worst part of some of these crashes is that they're riddled with some of the greed that we talked about earlier. And there are some consumers who aren't well protected against some close to two or considered fraud or financial crime, which really sets back the interest in the space and the participants. So wanna do the best we can to have thoughtful conversations and have thoughtful regulations around all of this. So I think that's a great initiative for the year to come. I think it'll continue to drive the space forward, so I really appreciate that. [00:35:54] I'd love to drive into one of my favorite parts of the podcast and talk about one of the things that you feel may be underestimated in the world today, and if there's anyone currently addressing that that topic or space. But love to drive into this 'cause it's always really interesting given the unique vantage points of the people we talk to on this show.[00:36:14] Brett Royer: Yeah. I'll give you a quick hit. I don't have the background to fully understand all the implications of this. But one thing that I look out at now, especially in a post-pandemic world and how globalization of the workforce and the virtual environment, it will sort of impact staffing and how we build out teams. I think about what globalization has already done for an economy like the Indian workforce, right? And you think, you look forward and you say, do you see things like that continuing to evolve and emerge? Can you imagine what that looks like for the Chinese workforce over time, right? [00:36:52] I think there's already been pockets of the ecosystem where there have been movements and certainly traditional product manufacturing and those types of roles. But even if you look at the service economy over time, right, you think about the amount of people that could be utilized and globalized in terms of the workforce for any company in the world now. One, I think it really just expands your access to talent and it can go anywhere. And then two, I think it really potentially changes the opportunity set for people in some emerging market countries, right, where normally, prior to the world sort of going in this totally virtualized environment, I think people's opportunity set for work was more limited to the localized opportunities. And I think one of the things we're going to continue to see emerge is that just that globalization of opportunity set. And I think that can have really, really massive implications for what teams look like in the future and what workforces look like in the future, right? Even thinking back to pre-pandemic, I think Fidelity has had a large set of teams in India and other parts of the world. And I think there was a little bit more of a mindset of like passing things along over time zones, right, and not having that true end-to-end connection. But now, you look at the way that teams work. And there's no concept of passing off. It's sort of a continuous like evolution and discussion of teams that work across the globe together on the same things at the same time with a connected mindset. And I think that's gonna be just a massive change that will continue to evolve over time. I see huge opportunities for certain parts of the world to start to really step in and have more of their workforce contribute to sort of that globalized service economy. [00:38:44] Andrew Seski: Yeah, absolutely. A bold case on productivity and innovation for sure. Do you see that happening at all internally with your groups or is the Digital Asset group global and partially remote? Have you had to deal with that as an army of one to 500? [00:38:59] Brett Royer: Yeah, definitely. I mean, the good news is that our unit was sort of al already global, even pre-pandemic. The nature of crypto is that the expectation was over time that we were going to get closer and closer to sort of 24/7 availability because the crypto market doesn't sleep, right? And in order to do that successfully, you need to have a geographically distributed workforce. And so, we had already made a lot of efforts to do that even pre-pandemic and. So I guess in some ways, we were somewhat uniquely prepared for this sort of scenario because if you're used to working in virtual teams anyway before you're required to, it's just sort of more of the same. It's just an extra dose of it. So yeah, I'd say we were somewhat uniquely prepared for this evolution. But I think even still, it's going to continue to evolve over time and we're going to see more and more of it, even where I think still predominantly US-based but I think you could see that change in the next 10, 15 years where teams could look a lot more like the distribution of the population of the world over time.[00:40:11] Andrew Seski: Yeah, that's great. That's a really interesting comment. I really appreciate you sharing that perspective. I was thinking, this is kind of a random thought here, but as I was preparing for our conversation today, I went through a bunch of the kind of my go-to resources for preparing for interviews and thinking about crypto and thinking about the global marketplace, and I stumbled across a really great interview with David Rubenstein and Abigail Johnson that I highly recommend people check out if they're interested in Fidelity's history in general. And it just made me think to ask in a world with so much information, and we were chatting about FTX prior and the world of Twitter being where a lot of people are getting information from, I was just kind of curious. I know Fidelity puts out really high-quality research and reports and there's a lot of marketing and media that goes into trying to educate participants. But I was kind of curious as to where you go or if you've read anything maybe even outside of financial news or crypto news. Just how you're receiving your information and if you're reading anything or listening to any podcast that listeners would value from. [00:41:19] Brett Royer: Yeah, it's funny. I don't have a whole lot to add. I use all the same sources I think that you mentioned. I think there's a lot of great resources and people who are willing to give away their opinions for free on crypto Twitter. At the same time, I like to stay away from that to stay in the echo chamber sometimes because I do think that it's always good to have perspective. And I think if you go too deep down the rabbit hole sometimes and you're really embedded in some of those echo chambers, you lose sight of what's sort of going on in the broader world around you in financial services. And so, I always try to take, I love learning new things about crypto and I love going deep and understanding things at a pretty fundamental level. But at the same time, I want to make sure that I'm balanced enough to not get too focused on crypto as the end-all be-all and always bring it back. I'm sort of pragmatic in how I think about how crypto services can be used for our customers over time. And I tend to take the approach of, I think these things are going to happen more, a little bit more gradually and we're going to find better and better use cases for customers to interact with digital assets versus the extreme perspective that crypto's going to eat the world and be the only thing that's left from a finance perspective so.[00:42:43] Andrew Seski: I think that's probably a pretty nuanced and balanced approach to learning. I think anyone who oversimplifies is sort of missing it still. It's still a pretty complicated scenario with, again, as I mentioned, a lot of kind of new and emerging incentive structures as to how products are being built.[00:43:01] So I did want to take this opportunity also to give you a chance, and it sounds like the team is probably still expanding. Would love for you to share how people can learn more about Fidelity Digital Assets or maybe even get in contact with your team to learn more, maybe check out some of the Fidelity careers and just make sure that people have an opportunity to continue to see Fidelity Digital Assets as one of the market leaders having been in the space for a good amount of time here.[00:43:30] Brett Royer: Yeah, absolutely. Our human resources and talent acquisition teams have done a terrific job. I can provide you separately with a link. But I think we now have within our sort of Fidelity jobs portal, there's the ability to click in and see the roles that are dedicated to Digital Assets within Fidelity because it's been such an area of growth for us. We really wanted to focus on reaching out to those people who are interested in it, not only from the perspective of those who are experienced or have crypto experience from prior roles but also those who are interested in learning and want to sort of come in and take the opportunity to have a place like Fidelity to take their first shot at crypto. So yeah, happy to share that. It's definitely been a huge area of focus for us in what's been a competitive talent environment. We've seen some backing off and some other firms have some challenges from the personnel perspective. But I think it's still an environment where it is a challenge and it's something that we focused a lot on to get the right talent with the right mindset to combine sort of that crypto curiosity with some of the Fidelity philosophies that we think are still really important in any of our businesses, even on the crypto side, which is customer-first mindset, customer obsession, doing things the right way.[00:44:57] Andrew Seski: Well, in my opinion, that's a very organic and really, really high value marriage of Fidelity values and a nascent emerging technology like the blockchain space. Brett, I hate the fact that we have to start wrapping up, but I wanted to say thank you so much for being on The Modern CFO today. I really hope we have the opportunity to stay in touch as your group continues to grow. And just wanted to just say thank you one more time so. [00:45:24] Brett Royer: Appreciate it, Andrew. Nice to talk to you as well. [00:45:26] Andrew Seski: Thanks

Healthy Discourse with Dr. Wiggy and Emily Saunders
Religious Freedom: A Legal Perspective with Adam Draper, JD

Healthy Discourse with Dr. Wiggy and Emily Saunders

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 13, 2022 36:30


Adam Draper joins the show to share about his work with Pacific Justice Institute and the cases they are currently handling. We also discuss a recent proposal from the Department of Education that has HUGE implications on Title IX and the definition of "sexuality". Yes, even private schools need to pay close attention. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/healthydiscourse/support

VC10X - Venture Capital Podcast
VC10X - Adam Draper, founder & MD BoostVC - "The Contrarian Investor"

VC10X - Venture Capital Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 13, 2022 49:33


Adam Draper is the founder and managing director of Boost VC. Adam is a 2x entrepreneur and a 4th generation venture capitalist. For Adam, no idea is too crazy. He dreams of building an ironman suit and leads the deals in the wildest SciFi Tech investments - exoskeletons, jetpacks, rockets... Go big or go home. Adam co-founded Boost VC after his success as an Angel Investor in companies like Coinbase, Amplitude and Plangrid. In a previous life, he wanted to be a professional tennis player and has an odd affinity for Australians. He once drank an entire bottle of tabasco sauce (the big ones) in 43 seconds. He's 4th generation venture capitalist, 2-time entrepreneur, and most importantly, he's a friend :) In this episode, we talk about: - Adam's story and how he started a company with his college friend & ended up failing - Investing in Bitcoin & crypto startups like coinbase at the very early stages - Launching BoostVC as an accelerator 10 years back to do that at scale - About his recent tweet that caused an uproar among investors - Seeding markets, not just companies - Being pitched at awkward places ..and a lot more BoostVC website: boost.vc Follow Adam on Twitter: twitter.com/adamdraper Hosted by: twitter.com/choubeysahab Full episode blog- https://vc10x.com/boostvc-adam-draper

Build Tech Stack Equity
Driving High Performance Teams through Asynchronous Communication | Jordan Walker, YAC

Build Tech Stack Equity

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 22, 2022 50:38


There could not be a better time to discuss building a global workforce and optimizing a remote work teams.  Companies like Slack, Zoom, and other platforms have taken off given how they reduce friction for the future of work.  YAC has recently joined that class of tools.   Our guest, Jordan Walker, experienced the challenges of managing a global workforce while running a software development shop prior to founding YAC.  He sits with us today to discuss how communication is the critical pain point that needs to be solved for businesses to execute on their strategic goals.  YAC, and asynchronous communication platform, was born from that idea.   Founder Bio: Jordan Walker is one of the three co-founders of Yac as well as a board member and angel investor. To date Yac has raised $10M+ in funding from GGV Capital, Slack, and Arlan Hamilton, Anthony Pompliano, and more. You can find him in the news on TechCrunch, WSJ, Business Insider, Fast Company, and Protocol.   Timestamps: 2:26  Jordan's background and early days as an athlete 5:41  Taking on the startup journey as a college student + meeting cofounders 7:03  Launching a product out of a software development shop 10:11  Challenges and best practices to leverage when working with a development shop/offshore talent 15:41  Solving the communication problems inherent in managing remote teams 19:31  The value of asynchronous communication and how YAC takes the experience to the next level 22:30  How YAC took off on Product Hunt + a DM that led to funding from VC mogul Adam Draper 27:01  YAC's motivation for raising venture funding vs bootstrapping 34:01  Taking investment from corporate venture capital: Slack 36:11  How YAC's founders decided what roles to take in the startup 38:41  Going global with VC firm GGV + how investor provide resources to startups 40:47  YAC's inbound/outbound go-to-market strategy 42:51  Never assume a VC deal is done until the money is in your bank account 46:11  YAC raises $7.5mm Series A – What's next and how will they spend it?

LA Blockchain Summit
Crypto Investing 2021 and Beyond | LA Blockchain Summit

LA Blockchain Summit

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 15, 2022 48:12


Joe Vezzani of LunarCrush, Deepak Ghosh of Abra, George Kushner of H2CryptO, James Putra of TradeStation Crypto, David Grider of Grayscale and Adam Draper of Boost VC discussing Crypto Investing 2021 and Beyond

The Unstoppable Podcast
121 - Investing in the Metaverse with Adam Draper from Boost VC

The Unstoppable Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 9, 2022 54:51


In this episode of The Unstoppable Podcast, we're talking to Adam Draper. Adam is the Founder and Managing Director of Boost VC and has a ton of experience investing in all kinds of blockchain and crypto projects.Adam talks about his experiences as an investor in Coinbase and finding his way into crypto, and we chat about the importance of scarcity in Web3 and what it means for the digital world as a whole. Adam shares his thoughts on how Web3 can drive greater participation and collaboration in areas like finance and entertainment.We talk about how crypto is replacing traditional investments in many ways, and Adam talks about how he's seen investment in the crypto space change over time. We discuss the growth of NFTs and their impact, the importance of building trust in online communities and crypto in general, and overcoming bad press in the Web3 space.Finally, we dig into what's coming next — the concept of owning property in the metaverse, the blending of the digital and physical worlds, the expansion of the internet, and how projects like Unstoppable Domains are driving and shaping this growth.--You can follow Josh on Twitter, follow our guest Adam Draper on Twitter, and learn more about Unstoppable Domains and our work here.--Don't forget to rate, download, and subscribe to the podcast so you won't miss an episode and we can keep producing awesome content for you.

BYNN with Christopher Vonheim & William Frantzen
#128 Adam Draper (Short) - Play To Win, Stay Unique & Build An Exciting World

BYNN with Christopher Vonheim & William Frantzen

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 20, 2022 46:39


Adam Draper is the man behind investments in Coinbase and Bitcoin in 2012. Adam is the founder and managing director of Boost VC. He is a serial entrepreneur, and a 4th generation venture capitalist.For Adam, no idea is too crazy. He wants to build an ironman suit and lead the deals in the wildest SciFi Tech investments on Earth and in Space. Adam also has a great podcast called: The Boost VC Podcast: And I highly recommend that you check that one out - you won't regret it. Follow Vonheim on Twitter and YouTube:YouTube: Christopher VonheimTwitter: @chrisvonheimThe BYNN LetterJoin The BYNN Letter to receive first hand insights from us: eepurl.com/htJXsTSponsorQuartr is the new way of doing company research. Their first mission is to enable access to conference calls, investor presentations, transcripts and earnings reports as frictionless as possible – straight to your pocket. Their second mission is to create a completely new way for companies to reach their investors, and vice versa - to change the way people look at Investor Relations. Our initial core product is now available for both iOS and Android, and stay tuned for additional features during the coming year. Quartr is 100% free, include companies from 12 markets today, and plan to add more during the year. Download the app here: https://quartr.se and follow them on twitter here.Support us on PatreonOver the last years we have tried to give our community the best possible content on business, investing and entrepreneurship. If you have enjoyed this free content over time and find it valuable, it would be amazing if you want to support us in making more in the future. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

BYNN with Christopher Vonheim & William Frantzen
#128 Adam Draper - Play To Win, Stay Unique & Build An Exciting World

BYNN with Christopher Vonheim & William Frantzen

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 17, 2022 83:25


Adam Draper is the man behind investments in Coinbase and Bitcoin in 2012. Adam is the founder and managing director of Boost VC. He is a serial entrepreneur, and a 4th generation venture capitalist.For Adam, no idea is too crazy. He wants to build an ironman suit and lead the deals in the wildest SciFi Tech investments on Earth and in Space. Adam also has a great podcast called: The Boost VC Podcast: And I highly recommend that you check that one out - you won't regret it. Follow Vonheim on Twitter and YouTube:YouTube: Christopher VonheimTwitter: @chrisvonheimThe BYNN LetterJoin The BYNN Letter to receive first hand insights from us: eepurl.com/htJXsTSponsorQuartr is the new way of doing company research. Their first mission is to enable access to conference calls, investor presentations, transcripts and earnings reports as frictionless as possible – straight to your pocket. Their second mission is to create a completely new way for companies to reach their investors, and vice versa - to change the way people look at Investor Relations. Our initial core product is now available for both iOS and Android, and stay tuned for additional features during the coming year. Quartr is 100% free, include companies from 12 markets today, and plan to add more during the year. Download the app here: https://quartr.se and follow them on twitter here.Support us on PatreonOver the last years we have tried to give our community the best possible content on business, investing and entrepreneurship. If you have enjoyed this free content over time and find it valuable, it would be amazing if you want to support us in making more in the future. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Iværksætterhistorier
Userflow - Fra Danmark til Argentina og Silicon Valley

Iværksætterhistorier

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 30, 2021 54:25


Userflow gør det nemt for software as a service virksomheder at bygge guides og onboarding inde i deres produkter uden at bruge dyr udviklertid. Og kære lytter, i denne episode har vi at gøre med en iværksætter (Esben Friis-Jensen), som har været i gennem lidt af hvert. Du bliver taget med hele vejen fra Danmark til Buenos Aires , hvor han 2013 stiftede virksomheden Cobalt, som kom ind i acceleratorprogrammet Boost.vc med base i Silicon Valley, som bliver drevet af Adam Draper, der er 3. generation af meget anerkendt investorfamilie. Draper-familien var nemlig blandt de første til at investere i Hotmail og Skype.  I 2020 måtte Esben dog sige stop, selvom Cobalt buldrede derudaf og havde rejst 240 mio. kr. i både en Serie A og B runde, (pause) og hvorfor det var nødvendigt må du vente med at høre i episoden. Dette er Esbens historie - lyt med i vores podcast. Episoden er produceret af PodTribe Media og bragt til dig i samarbejde med Simply.com Vært: Mark Anthony See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Kingdom Pursuits's podcast

Robby is joined by Adam Draper the Co-host of teach me to pray and his friend Caleb Bylery from Evergreen Mission church who has a passion for music.In today's episode Linda Favor teaches us about the holy experience that is "El Camino"

1 Confirmation with Jeff and David
One Confirmation with Jefferson Nunn - Special Guest, Adam Draper of Boost VC

1 Confirmation with Jeff and David

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 15, 2021 26:13


Catch the latest episode of One Confirmation with Jefferson Nunn with special guest, Adam Draper - Founder and Managing Director - Boost VC.

Alex Makes VR
It's time to get serious about VR, NFTs and the metaverse w/ Adam Draper, Boost VC

Alex Makes VR

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 8, 2021 65:06


Apply for Boost VC accelerator: www.boost.vc Follow Adam Draper: Twitter.com/AdamDraper Tell me your thoughts: Twitter.com/alexmakesvr Instagram.com/alexmakesvr I appreciate you so much. Speak to you next week! Ax

Voices of VR Podcast – Designing for Virtual Reality
#1012: Decentralized Metaverse combining VR + Blockchain: Towards an Economy of the Imagination with Boost VC’s Adam Draper

Voices of VR Podcast – Designing for Virtual Reality

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 21, 2021


Adam Draper is the founder of Boost VC, which a technology accelerator that has funded over 70 VR companies and over 100 crypto companies since

DEFI TIMES - Bitcoin, DeFi & NFT News
Bored Apes Disrupting Goldman Sachs?| With Adam Draper

DEFI TIMES - Bitcoin, DeFi & NFT News

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 22, 2021 34:56


Adam Draper is the founder and managing director of Boost VC - A VC fund investing in crypto, virtual reality, augmented reality, and AI. Today, we talk all things NFTs with Adam! Enjoy! FOLLOW ADAM: TWITTER: https://twitter.com/AdamDraper WEBSITE: https://www.boost.vc/  ---- DEFITIMES

Alt Goes Mainstream
Boost VC Co-Founder & MD Adam Draper on being one of the first investors in Coinbase

Alt Goes Mainstream

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 18, 2021 73:32


We had a special live episode of Alt Goes Mainstream this past Wednesday on $COIN Day to celebrate a landmark moment in the crypto industry that has, in many respects, signified the mainstreaming of crypto - the Coinbase IPO.Adam Draper, the Co-Founder & MD at Boost VC, was one of the first investors in Coinbase's Seed round in 2012. He joined the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast to discuss what he saw in Brian Armstrong, Coinbase's Co-Founder, when he decided to invest in their Seed round, what excites him about the future of crypto, and why he looks for founders who are rational people doing very irrational things.Adam is also learning how to play the guitar, so we were lucky enough to hear the exclusive release of a special new song that he created just for this podcast. Adam's attempt to play the guitar and sing was quite admirable, but I think I can safely say that he should stick to investing as his career choice.Adam is one of the most thoughtful, energetic, and vibrant people you'll meet. This episode was signature Adam - unfiltered and unedited - which is much of what makes him so unique, interesting, and able to “see the ball” (as Adam calls it) with generational founders and ideas. It was a lot of fun to talk about Coinbase, crypto, and life with Adam on such a special day for him and the crypto industry.If you want to see the live video (you won't want to miss seeing Adam play guitar!) of the podcast, you can view it here on this Twitter link or here on this YouTube link.I hope you enjoy.

Kingdom Pursuits's podcast
Angels Among Us

Kingdom Pursuits's podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 9, 2021 39:20


An author and an attorney make quite the wonderful guests.  Robby is joined by Adam Draper and Author, Nancy Panko.  So many riddlers too!

Futurized
How to Invest in Sci-Fi Tech?

Futurized

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 5, 2020 69:35


Adam Draper, Managing Director and co-founder of Boost, the startup accelerator and VC firm, is interviewed by futurist Trond Arne Undheim. In this conversation, they talk about taking your investment advice from sci-fi movies. Exoskeletons, jet packs, iron man suits, time travel, deep ocean exploration. Which specific sci-fi technologies are coming online in the next decade and which have already?The takeaway is that Sci-fi Tech is here already, and is shaping our world in thought provoking ways. In fact, we no longer need to watch Westworld, Alien, Blade Runner, The Terminator, Back to The Future, The Matrix, Ex-Machina, or even Ready Player One, in order to experience a sci-fi moment, suffice to glance at your smart phone, look inside a contemporary factory, or talk to a deep tech startup founder over coffee. The world of our dreams —and fears—is rapidly coming to life in this decade alone.After listening to the episode, check out Boost as well as Adam's social media profile:Boost VC https://www.boost.vc/Adam Draper (@AdamDraper) https://www.linkedin.com/in/adraper/ The show is hosted by Podbean and can be found at Futurized.co. Additional context about the show, the topics, and our guests, including show notes and a full list of podcast players that syndicate the show can be found at https://trondundheim.com/podcast/. Music: Electricity by Ian Post from the album Magnetism. For more about the host, including media coverage, books and more, see Trond Arne Undheim's personal website (https://trondundheim.com/) as well as the Yegii Insights blog (https://yegii.wpcomstaging.com/). Undheim has published two books this year, Pandemic Aftermath and Disruption Games. To advertise or become a guest on the show, contact the podcast host here. If you like the show, please subscribe and consider rating it five stars.

Un Cisne No Tan Negro /by Cygnus Angel Club
E21. Adam Draper de Boost VC

Un Cisne No Tan Negro /by Cygnus Angel Club

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 17, 2020 51:42


Bienvenid@s al podcast en español sobre Venture Capital, Inversión Angel y Startups de Draper Cygnus

Building the Open Web
A Whirlwind Conversation With VC Adam Draper on Sci-Fi Future Startups

Building the Open Web

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 29, 2020 63:26


Adam Draper is Founder and Managing Director of the Boost VC Accelerator. Boost VC Accelerator invests $500K in founders and focuses on technologies like crypto, VR/AR, AI, human augmentation, space and more. They've invested in over 250 companies from over 30 countries. In this episode Sasha talks with him about:• Advice for founders after hearing Coinbase pitch and being one of their earliest investors• Why video games are undervalued social networks• Why crypto is an amazing sandbox for rapid prototyping of financial products• How to attract the best talent to your startup• Investing in jetpacks• Why he fears our imagination is shrinking Episode links:Adam Draper - @AdamDraper (https://twitter.com/AdamDraper)Apply to the Boost VC Accelerator - https://www.boost.vcEmail Adam directly at : adam@boost.vcSasha Hudzilin - @AliaksandrH (https://twitter.com/AliaksandrH)Learn more about the Open Web Collective and apply to be part of the community of founders and builders - https://www.openwebcollective.com

415 Stories
E14 - Backing Sci-Fi Founders - Adam Draper (Managing Director of Boost VC)

415 Stories

Play Episode Listen Later May 12, 2020 25:09


Adam told me about their investment focuses, Boost VC, ocean-tech, and more. Enjoy the episode! Apply to Boost VC! boost.vc/apply Adam on Twitter - twitter.com/adamdraper 415 Stories on Twitter - twitter.com/415stories

On The Brink with Castle Island
Adam Draper (Boost VC) on Investing in Sci-Fi Technologies (EP.61)

On The Brink with Castle Island

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 1, 2020 40:36


Adam Draper, co-founder of BoostVC, an accelerator and venture fund focused on Sci-Fi technologies joins the show. In this episode we discuss: - Adam’s advice for portfolio companies navigating the current COVID 19 crisis - His thesis on Virtual Reality and what categories he is most excited about - His journey in crypto, from being an early investor in Coinbase to present - Book recommendations Learn more about Boost at Boost.vc and follow Adam on Twitter @adamdraper

Venture Stories
Investing in Science Fiction with Adam Draper

Venture Stories

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 15, 2019 42:05


Adam Draper (@AdamDraper), founder and managing director of Boost VC, joins Erik on this episode. They discuss:- Adam’s early involvement in crypto and how the space has evolved over time.- What he finds unique about the people working in crypto and what he loves about their outlook.- The science fiction technologies that he’s excited about and looking to invest in.- AR and VR and the opportunities and challenges for each.- Why he says the next ten years will be about big tech versus big government.Remember to apply for the winter vintage of our Network Catalyst accelerator! It is a personalized program that features masterclasses from some of the best in Silicon Valley and a dedicated network leader focused on making the introductions you need to turbocharge your company. You can participate in-person in San Francisco or virtually from anywhere around the world. Find out more and apply at villageglobal.vc/networkcatalyst.Thanks for listening — if you like what you hear, please review us on your favorite podcast platform. Check us out on the web at villageglobal.vc or get in touch with us on Twitter @villageglobal.Venture Stories is brought to you by Village Global, is hosted by co-founder and partner, Erik Torenberg and is produced by Brett Bolkowy.

Venture Stories
Investing in Science Fiction with Adam Draper

Venture Stories

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 15, 2019 42:05


Adam Draper (@AdamDraper), founder and managing director of Boost VC, joins Erik on this episode. They discuss:- Adam’s early involvement in crypto and how the space has evolved over time.- What he finds unique about the people working in crypto and what he loves about their outlook.- The science fiction technologies that he’s excited about and looking to invest in.- AR and VR and the opportunities and challenges for each.- Why he says the next ten years will be about big tech versus big government.Remember to apply for the winter vintage of our Network Catalyst accelerator! It is a personalized program that features masterclasses from some of the best in Silicon Valley and a dedicated network leader focused on making the introductions you need to turbocharge your company. You can participate in-person in San Francisco or virtually from anywhere around the world. Find out more and apply at villageglobal.vc/networkcatalyst.Thanks for listening — if you like what you hear, please review us on your favorite podcast platform. Check us out on the web at villageglobal.vc or get in touch with us on Twitter @villageglobal.Venture Stories is brought to you by Village Global, is hosted by co-founder and partner, Erik Torenberg and is produced by Brett Bolkowy.

Wyre Talks
Ep 42, Investing in Sci-Fi with Adam Draper, Managing Director of Boost VC

Wyre Talks

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 9, 2019 66:16


How do you develop a venture fund that invests in future tech like jetpacks and exoskeletons? According to Adam Draper, you start by branding yourself as the VC interested in ‘anything that gets me closer to an Ironman suit.’ This attracts the demented builders and deal flow of wild things you need to realize your sci-fi vision of a world without borders. To date, Adam’s team has invested in more than 250 startups, 110 of which were crypto projects—including Wyre. Adam is the Cofounder and Managing Director of Boost VC, a pre-seed venture fund and accelerator dedicated to sci-fi tech. Today, he joins us to share his experience growing up in a venture family (he’s a 4th generation VC) and discusses his vision of a borderless, digital world enabled by virtual reality and crypto. Adam explains why he loves mentoring founders in the early stages, walking us through the three-month accelerator program Boost delivers to entrepreneurs. Adam also weighs in on the challenges associated with raising money from LPs for a sci-fi tech fund and credits the other VC funds that contributed to the development of the crypto ecosystem. Listen in for Adam’s take on the connection between crypto and VR, where both industries stand in the adoption cycle, and how DeFi and gaming serve as gateways to the crypto space. Follow Thomas on Twitter: https://twitter.com/tomscaria Follow Adam on Twitter: https://twitter.com/AdamDraper

Plaza Innovadores
Streamloots, la plataforma para que los 'streamers' de eSports moneticen sus retransmisiones

Plaza Innovadores

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 5, 2019 24:13


Décimo quinto episodio del podcast semanal presentado por Estefanía Pastor. En él entrevistamos a Alberto Martínez y Vicent Martí, cofundadores de Streamloots, plataforma que permite a los 'streamers' monetizar sus retransmisiones y cómo algunos de sus usuarios pueden vivir de ello. Sus impulsores explican la actual repercusión de los deportes electrónicos, su estancia en Silicon Valley en la aceleradora de Adam Draper o cómo consiguieron inversión del fondo Samaipata.Entrevistas sobre innovación y emprendimiento a perfiles de interés en la Comunitat Valenciana. Reflexionaremos con los entrevistados sobre el proceso de crear empresas, innovar y emprender desde València. Puedes suscribirte para recibir cada nuevo episodio a través de WhatsApp enviando un mensaje con las palabras PLAZA INNOVADORES al 605 66 36 70. Si estás en un smartphone, puedes hacerlo pinchando aquí. Recuerda que debes guardar el número en la agenda de tu móvil.El podcast Streamloots, la plataforma para que los 'streamers' de eSports moneticen sus retransmisiones ha sido publicado en Plaza Radio

The Pomp Podcast
Adam Draper, Co-Founder of Boost VC: Why Investing in Weird Things Leads to Great Returns

The Pomp Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 17, 2019 99:12


Adam Draper is a Co-Founder of Boost VC. In this conversation, Adam and Anthony Pompliano discuss Bitcoin, Blockchain, cryptocurrencies, space, aliens, oceans, and why investing in weird things delivers great returns. ----- Ethereal Summit returns to New York City this May 10th to 11th to kick off Blockchain Week and offer you a chance to go deep into the heart of crypto, blockchain, and Ethereum. Get up close with outspoken crypto leaders like Mike Novogratz, Joe Lubin, Tushar Jain, Danny Ryan, and yours truly Anthony Pompiliano. Ethereal Summit is where you can get in the mix with the builders of blockchain.  Check out Etherealsummit.com with discount code POMP to get 20% off tickets to come hang with the brightest minds in blockchain at Ethereal Summit New York, May 10th to 11th at Pioneer Works in Brooklyn. ----- If you enjoyed this conversation, share it with your colleagues & friends, rate, review, and subscribe. This podcast is presented by BlockWorks Group. For exclusive content and events that provide insights into the crypto and blockchain space, visit them at: https://www.blockworksgroup.io

Kingdom Pursuits's podcast
Adam Draper and Bill Mixon

Kingdom Pursuits's podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 2, 2019 45:50


Kingdom Pursuits

Investor Connect Podcast
Investor Connect – Episode 79 - Adam Draper of Boost VC

Investor Connect Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later May 12, 2018 19:29


In this episode, Hall T. Martin conducts an interview with Adam Draper of Boost VC. Adam is the founder and managing director of Boost VC. Adam is a 2x entrepreneur and a 4th generation venture capitalist. Boost VC invests primarily in sci-fi related technology with a focus on crypto and VR. Adam talks about what they are looking for when bringing a company into their accelerator and funding and deciding factors. Hall and Adam also discuss crypto and blockchain and what Adam is looking for in successful companies and most promising sectors in the space. 

investors vr boost vc adam draper investor connect hall t
Coffee Break with Game-Changers, presented by SAP
Blockchain, Trust and Startups - Part 2

Coffee Break with Game-Changers, presented by SAP

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 11, 2018 55:14


The buzz: “The blockchain does one thing: It replaces third-party trust with mathematical proof that something happened” (Adam Draper). Yes. Blockchain is redefining how we transact in the digital world where digitized trust is required. According to WEF research, 58% of tech execs expect 10% of global GDP ($5.3t) to be stored on the blockchain by 2025. Are you on board? The experts speak. Drew Hingorani, Ai-BlockChain: “Behind every cloud is another cloud” (Judy Garland). Peter Ebert, CryptoWork: “Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication” (Leonardo da Vinci). Andreas Fichter, SAP: “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic” (Sir Arthur C. Clarke). Jonathan Bourgeois, Ai-BlockChain: “The greater danger for most of us lies not in setting our aim too high and falling short, but in setting our aim too low, and achieving our mark” (Michelangelo). Join us for Blockchain, Trust and Startups – Part 2.

Coffee Break with Game-Changers, presented by SAP
Blockchain, Trust and Startups - Part 2

Coffee Break with Game-Changers, presented by SAP

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 11, 2018 55:14


The buzz: “The blockchain does one thing: It replaces third-party trust with mathematical proof that something happened” (Adam Draper). Yes. Blockchain is redefining how we transact in the digital world where digitized trust is required. According to WEF research, 58% of tech execs expect 10% of global GDP ($5.3t) to be stored on the blockchain by 2025. Are you on board? The experts speak. Drew Hingorani, Ai-BlockChain: “Behind every cloud is another cloud” (Judy Garland). Peter Ebert, CryptoWork: “Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication” (Leonardo da Vinci). Andreas Fichter, SAP: “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic” (Sir Arthur C. Clarke). Jonathan Bourgeois, Ai-BlockChain: “The greater danger for most of us lies not in setting our aim too high and falling short, but in setting our aim too low, and achieving our mark” (Michelangelo). Join us for Blockchain, Trust and Startups – Part 2.

The Bitcoin Podcast
TBP116 - Building the Iron Man Suit

The Bitcoin Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 26, 2017 69:33


Bitcoin is the currency of the Internet: a distributed, worldwide, decentralized digital money. And yet, Marcello finds his faith wavering. This new dynamic enters the scene as the boys debate on the future of the currency. In addition, we have another interview. Adam Draper is the founder and managing director of Boost VC. Adam is a 2x entrepreneur and a 4th generation venture capitalist. If anyone can create an Iron Man suit, it's him.

The Bitcoin Game
The Bitcoin Game 31 - Bitcoin Micropayments Action With Vallerian - Bennett

The Bitcoin Game

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 20, 2015 55:32


Hello, welcome to episode 31 of The Bitcoin Game. I'm Rob Mitchell. I used to run into Valerian Bennett frequently at Los Angeles Bitcoin Meetups in 2014. I thought he'd disappeared from the Bitcoin scene, only to realize how wrong I was. Valerian has taken his experience in mainstream television production, and combined it with his passion for Bitcoin, to create several online Bitcoin video services, with his partner, payment channels developer James Poole. I hope you enjoy our discussion. SHOW LINKS L.A. Bitcoin Meetup with Andreas Antonopoulos (YouTube Playlist) PopChest TheProtocol.TV James Poole: Http Based Bitcoin Micropayment Channel Demo (not very technical) James Poole: Walkthrough for bitcoinj micropayment channels (more technical) Adam Draper on TheProtocol.TV Streamium.io WatchMyBit Bitcoin: The End Of Money As We Know It Laura Lopez – SuchWow.TV The Mental Accounting Barrier to Micropayments by Nick Szabo ProTip AutoTip ZeroClick Think Different About Bitcoin (Valerian's Winning Entry) MAGIC WORD Stay tuned for the magic word in this episode, and submit it to your LTB Network account to claim a share of this week's distribution of LTBCoin. Listeners have one week from the release date to claim the magic word credit. The magic word for this episode must be submitted by 9:00 p.m. Pacific Time on December 26, 2015. SPONSOR NEED LAST-MINUTE BITCOIN STOCKING STUFFERS? If you're listening to this a few days before Christmas, there's still time to order the well-known BKeychain Bitcoin keychain, or the quirky Bitcoin Fork Pen on Amazon.com. And Amazon Prime members get free shipping! http://amzn.to/1PdCQ21 MUSIC All music in this episode of The Bitcoin Game was created by me. STAY IN TOUCH https://Twitter.com/TheBTCGame http://TheBitcoinGame.com Rob@TheBitcoinGame.com Thanks for listening! The Bitcoin Game box art was created from an illustration by Rock Barcellos. Bitcoin tipping address: 1G8HDg5EsPQpamKYS2bDya9Riv9xv1nVo5

33voices | Startups & Venture Capital | Women Entrepreneurs | Management & Leadership | Mindset | Hiring & Culture | Branding

Adam Draper joins Jenna on 33founders to discuss life at Boost VC, bitcoin, and fundraising strategies for startup founders.