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Digitalbox PLC (AIM:DBOX) CEO James Carter tells Proactive's Stephen Gunnion that 2023 marked the fifth consecutive year of profitability for the company despite facing significant challenges. Carter said Digitalbox encountered difficulties due to audience loss from key platform changes, particularly by Meta and Facebook, and was impacted by the broader economic downturn affecting the UK and global ad markets. Despite these setbacks, the team addressed key platform issues, enhancing audience engagement for its primary brands, Entertainment Daily and The Tab, in the fourth quarter. Strategic acquisitions, including TV Guide and a substantial social media following through a deal with Media Chain, have contributed positively, with notable audience growth and content amplification. The global ad market remained subdued throughout 2023, with Digitalbox observing a flat ad market and a decrease in the programmatic digital market by 10 to 20%. Moving into the first quarter of 2024, the company has seen encouraging performance, although the ad market challenges persist. Carter highlighted Digitalbox's resilience and growth in such a market, especially with The Tab increasing its average session values by 25%. He also discussed the ongoing adjustments with Facebook and Google's algorithms, impacting traffic and content distribution. Specific updates from Google and policy enforcement by Facebook have presented hurdles, but Digitalbox has managed to navigate these changes successfully. The acquisition of media assets from Media Chain has allowed Digitalbox to reach younger demographics and significantly increase audience sizes for Entertainment Daily and The Tab. Looking ahead, Digitalbox is focused on further developing its proprietary ad stack, Graphene, exploring new acquisition opportunities, and ensuring its brand portfolio is well-positioned to handle future platform changes. With £1.9 million in cash at the end of 2023, Carter said the company is prepared to leverage opportunities presented by the current economic climate. #DigitalboxPLC #JamesCarter #FullYearResults2023 #AdMarket #SocialMediaGrowth #TechChallenges #PlatformAlgorithms #MediaAcquisitions #EconomicImpact #FutureOutlook #ProactiveInvestors #invest #investing #investment #investor #stockmarket #stocks #stock #stockmarketnews
Description1/200 rounds up the Auckland Council budget situation with discussion about organinsing and coalition building at the public and representative level. We're joined by comms expert and Green Party candidate for Ōhāriu, Stephanie Rodgers to discuss the political communication pipeline, recent failures in that space and how the left can get cut through in mainstream media.This episode's co-hostsPaul, Mark, Kyle, StephanieTimestamps0:00 Intro1:58 Show Preamble2:38 Budget Talk / Airport Debacle5:18 Week recap12:54 Leftist Coverage in Media 21:04 Public Perception of Asset Sales and Cuts24:14 Political Coalitions30:23 the state of the electorate33:01 The Lefts Struggle in Modern Media 01:09:43 OutroIntro/Outro by The Prophet MotiveSupport us here: https://www.patreon.com/1of200
Last month, in April 2023, a song that used the AI-generated voices of Drake and The Weeknd went wildly viral across social media before being taken down from streaming services for breaching copyright. Shortly after, Grimes took a more permissive approach, launching a platform to help fans create derivative music using her AI voice model, called Elf.Tech. In the midst of these developments in AI music, Holly Herndon and Mat Dryhurst stand out as veterans who have have been on the forefront of the intersection of music, community, technology, and AI for many years. In 2021, they released a DAO-governed AI voice twin of Holly's, called Holly+, and their more recent project, Spawning, offers tools for creators to manage their AI identities. In this conversation, we're also joined by Jesse Walden, who originally got his start in crypto through music, by being a music manager before co-founding Mediachain, a startup which sought to attribute every piece of media on the internet using blockchains. We weave through the economics of AI music and derivative creation, the impact AI will have on the distribution of creator success, how hyper-personalization maps to listener behavior, industry regulation, impacts for record labels, and more.Jesse and Li are cofounders and General Partners at Variant, an early-stage web3 venture firm. Learn more at https://variant.fund/Links: https://spawning.ai/https://holly.plus/Timestamps: • (00:00) Episode preview • (02:27) Spawning a baby and a startup • (04:07) Holly+ & AI-driven content creation • (07:02) Community participation & creation using Holly+ • (11:16) Grimes & the economics of derivative works • (17:32) Crypto in the evolution of AI music • (21:03) Jesse Walden's journey from music to crypto • (25:41) How AI impacts the power law of music success • (36:53) Music consumption modes: passive vs. active • (39:47) Hyper-personalization of music • (47:45) Updates on Spawning: AI tools for artists • (50:19) AI, data, and creator consent • (53:14) Regulation & adaptation for record labels • (58:59) Worldcoin, voice models, and digital identity • (01:03:31) Prediction for the future of music: what will stay the same?
April 2014 – Bitcoin Group is formed and is based in Melbourne, Australia. Founded by Sam Lee, Allan Guo and Ryan Xu – https://web.archive.org/web/20151008164905/http://www.bitcoingroup.com.au/our-people/January 2015 – Collinstar Capital is launched by Ryan Xu – http://www.collinstar.com/aboutMarch 2015 – Collinstar Capital becomes a shareholder of Blockchain Global which is the eventually rebranded Bitcoin Group before it completely gets renamed.November 2015 – Bitcoin Group IPO Closes – $2.9m raised – 20m wanted for initial IPO – Falls well short – https://bitcoinist.com/bnktothefuture-becomes-australias-first-company-launch-bitcoin-mining-ipo/August 2016 – Bitcoin Group rebranded as Blockchain Global – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blockchain_GlobalFebruary 2017 – BGL (Blockchain Global) enters into a binding agreement with Digital X to onboard all customers from its liquidity desk, Digital X Direct, onto its own bitcoin exchange platform, ACX.io – https://www.zdnet.com/article/blockchain-global-scoops-up-digital-xs-bitcoin-liquidity-desk/June 2017 – BGL buys 40% stake in DigitalX – https://www.zdnet.com/article/blockchain-global-uses-bitcoin-to-take-40-percent-stake-in-asx-listed-digital-x/August 2017 – HCash LaunchesJanuary 2018 – Blockchain Global tries to merge with US company BCTS – Merger fails –https://www.zdnet.com/article/btcs-may-jump-ship-over-delayed-blockchain-global-merger/January 2018 – MOF (Molecular Future) token launches on coinmarketcap.com – https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/molecular-future/January 2018 – Ryan Xu's Mediachain token launches on Dragooned for 0.1539 USDT – Dumped to 0.01 USDT within 10 days – Millions of Yuan missing for Chinese investorsMay 2018 – HyperCapital is started – https://behindmlm.com/mlm-reviews/hypercapital-review-hypercash-resurrection-ponzi-scheme/July 2019 – Sam Lee resigns from DigitalX boardREAD MORE... https://www.dehek.com/general/ponzi-scheme-scamalerts/hypertech-group-historical-timeline-2014-to-2022-hypercapital-hyperfund-hyperverse-hypernation/Support the show
This is a special episode of the a16z podcast — it's an audio history, told through the voices of the a16z crypto team, about what crypto is, how it really works, and why it matters. This "innovation overview" is meant as a resource, and it features hallway-style conversations with the a16z team as well as outside experts.In brief segments, we’ll take you from the ground up — from the basics, to the most current developments, and beyond that to a look at what we might see in the future. Here are the topics and voices you'll hear:The BeginningIntroduction — Zoran Basich, a16z crypto editorBefore bitcoin: previous attempts to create digital money, 1:45 — Dan Boneh, computer science professor at Stanford and a16 advisor The core innovations of Satoshi’s white paper, 3:36 — Dan Boneh Proof of work, 5:36 — Alex Pruden, chief strategy officer at Aleo Systems and former a16z crypto partner Mining and why it’s important, 7:10 — Alex Pruden The history of mining, 8:20 — Alex Pruden Value in monetary systems, or why bitcoin is worth anything, 9:53 — Arianna Simpson, a16z crypto partner Bitcoin as store of value, 11:30 — Arianna Simpson Security in crypto, 12:45 — Alex Pruden ExpansionWhy is it called a blockchain? 14:00 — Eddy Lazzarin, a16z data scientist Why the blockchain matters and what you can do with it, 15:09 — Chris Dixon, a16z general partner Beyond bitcoin, 17:01 — Eddy Lazzarin Ethereum as logical extension of open source, 17:36 — Eddy Lazzarin Tokens: What are they? 19:04 — Eddy Lazzarin Tokens and the functions they serve, 19:53 — Scott Kupor, a16z managing partnerTokens and the ownership economy, 21:19 — Jesse Walden, Variant Fund founder, former a16z partner, and Mediachain founder What tokens enable for creators, 22:18 — Ali Yahya, a16z general partner Right NowWhat DeFi means, 23:58 — Eddy Lazzarin Yield farming: What is it? 25:16 — Eddy Lazzarin NFTs: What they are and why they matter, 27:15 — Linda Xie, Scalar Capital managing director, and Jesse Walden Developer ecosystems, crypto, and composability, 30:17 — Jesse Walden Decentralized networks, value capture, and what it means for builders, 33:05 — Ali Yahya The FutureThe big picture, web3, and DAOs, 35:38 — Chris Dixon For more crypto resources, please see our Crypto Startup School page, our documentary about the program, and our NFT Canon.###The views expressed here are those of the individual AH Capital Management, L.L.C. (“a16z”) personnel quoted and are not the views of a16z or its affiliates. Certain information contained in here has been obtained from third-party sources, including from portfolio companies of funds managed by a16z. While taken from sources believed to be reliable, a16z has not independently verified such information and makes no representations about the enduring accuracy of the information or its appropriateness for a given situation. In addition, this content may include third-party advertisements; a16z has not reviewed such advertisements and does not endorse any advertising content contained therein.This content is provided for informational purposes only, and should not be relied upon as legal, business, investment, or tax advice. You should consult your own advisers as to those matters. References to any securities or digital assets are for illustrative purposes only, and do not constitute an investment recommendation or offer to provide investment advisory services. Furthermore, this content is not directed at nor intended for use by any investors or prospective investors, and may not under any circumstances be relied upon when making a decision to invest in any fund managed by a16z. (An offering to invest in an a16z fund will be made only by the private placement memorandum, subscription agreement, and other relevant documentation of any such fund and should be read in their entirety.) Any investments or portfolio companies mentioned, referred to, or described are not representative of all investments in vehicles managed by a16z, and there can be no assurance that the investments will be profitable or that other investments made in the future will have similar characteristics or results. A list of investments made by funds managed by Andreessen Horowitz (excluding investments for which the issuer has not provided permission for a16z to disclose publicly as well as unannounced investments in publicly traded digital assets) is available at https://a16z.com/investments/.Charts and graphs provided within are for informational purposes solely and should not be relied upon when making any investment decision. Past performance is not indicative of future results. The content speaks only as of the date indicated. Any projections, estimates, forecasts, targets, prospects, and/or opinions expressed in these materials are subject to change without notice and may differ or be contrary to opinions expressed by others. Please see https://a16z.com/disclosures for additional important information.
In today’s episode of the a16z Podcast, we’re talking about the Creator Economy, and how NFTs (but not just NFTS!) are making it possible for artists, musicians, videogamers, game developers, and writers to create entirely new markets to make money from their work and engage with their fans.Part of this emerging picture is social tokens, which share a crypto foundation with NFTs, but unlike NFTs (which are non-fungible tokens, in which each token is unique), social tokens are typically fungible, meaning each token has the same value. (Listen to our explainer episode "All About NFTs" with Sonal Choksi, Jesse Walden, and Linda Xie, or see our curated NFT Canon for much more info on NFTs!)This hallway-style chat features a16z General Partner and crypto investor Chris Dixon, talking with Kevin Chou, who founded Kabam, and is the founder of Rally, an open network on Ethereum where creators can launch social tokens; and Jesse Walden, the founder of MediaChain, a music rights protocol that was acquired by Spotify; he’s now the founder of crypto venture fund Variant.They’ll talk about how musicians, artists, and writers can think about NFTs and social tokens as well, and how those different types of assets can interact to create models that haven’t existed before.But Chris starts off the discussion by talking about the emergence of crypto tokens, and a look at how videogames and gamers were early to the idea of community engagement and digital assets, and how that model is beginning to spread outward.
In this episode of Ninetwentynine, Eshaan is joined by entrepreneur influencer, Steven Bartlett.From a bedroom in Manchester, Steven built his two flagship companies – Social Chain and Media Chain – when he was just 22 years old. Since then he’s won awards and accolades such as Great British Entrepreneur of the Year and Most Influential Agency Figure 2018. Steven also acts as a speaker, investor and content creator, hosting his own successful podcast, ‘The Diary of a CEO’.Steven joined the Ninetwentynine podcast to share his lesson on ’First Principle thinking’. Ninetwentynine is a Fiverr.com podcast. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
Today’s episode, part two in our two-part series on the Creator Economy, focuses on the new potential revenue streams and fan-engagement models opened up by emerging decentralized technology. It's a new type of fan club, driven by crypto networks and aiming to give creators more power in the commercial sphere. Zoran Basich of a16z talked to two guests deeply immersed in these topics. Kayvon Tehranian is the founder and CEO of Foundation Labs, a platform for buying and selling limited edition goods. Think of it as a crypto marketplace that creates new revenue streams for creators, and financial incentives for buyers. Before that he was head of product at cryptocurrencies marketplace Dharma Labs, and he has long worked on making crypto more accessible to the mainstream. Jesse Walden is a former a16z partner who recently launched his own fund, Variant, which focuses on what he calls the ownership economy enabled by crypto. He also previously cofounded the startup Mediachain, which was acquired by Spotify, and is a former music promoter and manager whose focus was on helping artists stay independent. Kayvon and Jesse explain how the emerging crypto models differ from previous attempts to create new revenue streams for artists, and about the role of speculation and hype in creator markets. They also debate whether these new markets will largely be driven by financial motives, or whether cultural factors will be equally powerful in determining the growth of creator markets. And they offer advice to creators interested in exploring this new world, including important practical guidance on expectations and timelines.
Jesse Walden, founder of Variant joins the show. In this episode we discuss: Jesse’s journey in the crypto industry, from founding Mediachain, to being an investor at A16Z, to founding Variant The crypto ownership economy and how Jesse sees the evolution of consumer software Crypto projects through the lens of contract theory Learn more and follow Jesse at www.variant.fund and follow him on Twitter @Jessewldn
Today’s episode is about a practical application of crypto — namely, the way it can “tokenize” fandom. More broadly, it’s about fan engagement, and the increasingly blurred lines between sports, culture and tech. We talked to NBA player Spencer Dinwiddie, of the Brooklyn Nets. Spencer created a new platform on the crypto blockchain Ethereum that gives fans the opportunity to invest directly in his revenue-generating potential, through debt securities. Joining this conversation are a16z managing partner and tech investor Jeff Jordan, who has long followed the evolving relationship between sports and tech. Also joining is Jesse Walden, a former a16z crypto partner and co-founder of Mediachain. He’s also a former music promoter and manager whose focus was on helping artists stay independent. We discuss the evolution of models for fan engagement; how social media has changed the game; and where technologies like cryptonetworks and blockchains come in.
We explore the comparison between a nuclear reaction and social media. Through the great metaphor of HBO's documentary "Chernobyl", and its fifth episode, we learn about what happens in a nuclear reactor: uranium, boron rods, positive void coefficient, negative temperature coefficient, and the necessary balance between all elements. Have we reached a boiling point, in our practice of social media? Who will be the ways we can keep this new medium in check?
On February 21, Andreessen Horowitz kicked off its very first Crypto Startup School, with 45 students from around the U.S. and three countries gathering to learn how to build crypto projects. But just two weeks into the seven-week course, community spread of the novel coronavirus meant the school had to go remote — not just for the health and safety of everyone involved, but for others too, given the recommendations around social distancing and the importance of “flattening the curve”.Marketing partner Kim Milosevich and Jesse Walden, former founder of Mediachain who’s helping lead our Crypto Startup School, chat with a16z crypto editor Zoran Basich — in this hallway-style episode of the a16z Podcast — about virtual learning and collaboration in a new, uncharted world.
Director of Social & Creative at Media Chain and #Vogue25 Most influential Women 2018. Hannah is clearly well-positioned to be delivering her talk: “Don't build a brand, build a personality ”. This is not one to miss!!
Steve Bartlett is the 26-year-old CEO of Social Chain Group - a global, social-first marketing agency and production house. He first built his business from his bedroom in Manchester after dropping out of university and he now runs the group’s two flagship companies - Social Chain and Media Chain which continue to grow, now with an office space of almost 300 people. He is also as a speaker, investor and hosts the podcast 'Diary Of A Ceo'.We chat about the influencer world, how marketing can shrink your soul, how to grow a business from scratch, what to do if your parents don't get what you do/ if your family don't support you, the problem with the 'you can do whatever you want" mentality, and why millennials are burning out. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
with Chris Burniske (@cburniske), Joel Monegro (@jmonegro), Denis Nazarov (@Iiterature), and Jesse Walden (@jessewldn) When designing cryptonetworks -- really, emerging economies -- how do we avoid some of the monetary and fiscal policy failings of "real-world" economies? Like not separating currency and capital, which accelerated and spread economic growth through the former... but also concentrated the latter into the hands of a few? Yet how can we empower users to access capital while also managing risk? If the promise of cryptonetworks is to better align incentives and value capture, then we can't make the same mistakes as we did in traditional economies. We also have the chance to do novel things not possible in the physical world, through software. So this episode of the a16z Podcast -- featuring voices from Placeholder VC and a16z Crypto -- goes deep into the nuances and mechanisms of cryptonetworks, tokens, and decentralized applications at every layer of the "stack". Chris Burniske (who has written a lot about financial modeling-influenced frameworks for analyzing crypto) and Joel Monegro (who has written about "fat protocols", and once managed the Digital Economy Department at the Ministry of Industry and Commerce of the Dominican Republic) of Placeholder VC discuss and debate all of the above -- and more! -- with a16z crypto's Denis Nazarov and Jesse Walden (co-founders of Mediachain, which was acquired by Spotify). Throughout the history of information technology, we've gone from hardware to software, and software to data. So what's next, what's the layer above data? The answer is governance -- which gives more people a way to participate in decision making around a given network -- but the answer for how to implement the best governance isn't so clear.
Is storytelling a realistic goal on social media, or just another of marketers’ favourite buzzwords? In episode 018 of Social Minds, we sit down with Alex Ayin, commercial director at Media Chain, to find out exactly how brands can overcome platform limitations to drive a powerful narrative home - in 15 seconds or less.
At the time of recording, Ben Davies was the Marketing Manager of Ziferblat, a pay-per-minute cafe in Manchester's Northern Quarter that embodies the increasingly flexible approach to work. Now the Marketing Manager at Manchester's digital behemoth MediaChain, we cover the freelance economy, forging your own path and understanding when to stop.
Solving social media can sometimes feel like everyone is in on the secret but you. But for Media Chain head of innovation, George MacGill, growth hacking is not only about having the answers but asking the right questions. Whether it’s cracking YouTube discoverability, Facebook’s hidden crypto conspiracy or the new app dominating Chinese social media, in Episode 013 of Social Minds, George proves that once you know where to look, there’s no shift you can’t decode.
In this episode Could Apple have a viable payments platform? Simon gets back from holiday, we had some questions about his new lifestyle choices. We get to the bottom of why Spotify may need a blockchain. Nigel Walsh drops by to talk to us about insurtech funding and we start filling out our mortgage applications to our parents. Guests Joining us for this week’s analysis of the news: Sarah Kocianski, Senior Research Analyst Fintech at Business Insider UK Kadhim Shubber, Reported at Financial Times News this week Recode – Apple is in talks to launch its own Venmo – Link Medium – The first real revolution in venture capital: crypto tokens – Link Coindesk – The United Nations Just Launched Its First Large-Scale Ethereum Test – Link Techcrunch – Spotify acquires blockchain startup Mediachain to solve music’s attribution problem –Link Techcrunch – PayPal launches a small biz toolset, ‘Business in a Box,’ with WooCommerce & Xero – Link FT – Bank of Mum and Dad is ninth-biggest lender with £6.5bn loans – Link Submitted by listener Quinn Dempsey on Twitter, American Banker – JPMorgan defection underscores tough blockchain choices – Link Neshoba Democrat – The Citizens Bank launching interactive tellers – Link FT – Investment in insurance tech start-ups drop sharply – Link Globes – Jes Staley sees technology as driving globalisation and changing banking, but says there’ll always be a Barclays. – Link Backchannel – The AI Cargo Cult – The myth of super hero AI – Link The post Ep247 – Making BOMAD a Thing appeared first on 11:FS.
In this episode Could Apple have a viable payments platform? Simon gets back from holiday, we had some questions about his new lifestyle choices. We get to the bottom of why Spotify may need a blockchain. Nigel Walsh drops by to talk to us about insurtech funding and we start filling out our mortgage applications to our parents. Guests Joining us for this week's analysis of the news: Sarah Kocianski, Senior Research Analyst Fintech at Business Insider UK Kadhim Shubber, Reported at Financial Times News this week Recode – Apple is in talks to launch its own Venmo – Link Medium – The first real revolution in venture capital: crypto tokens – Link Coindesk – The United Nations Just Launched Its First Large-Scale Ethereum Test – Link Techcrunch – Spotify acquires blockchain startup Mediachain to solve music's attribution problem –Link Techcrunch – PayPal launches a small biz toolset, ‘Business in a Box,' with WooCommerce & Xero – Link FT – Bank of Mum and Dad is ninth-biggest lender with £6.5bn loans – Link Submitted by listener Quinn Dempsey on Twitter, American Banker – JPMorgan defection underscores tough blockchain choices – Link Neshoba Democrat – The Citizens Bank launching interactive tellers – Link FT – Investment in insurance tech start-ups drop sharply – Link Globes – Jes Staley sees technology as driving globalisation and changing banking, but says there'll always be a Barclays. – Link Backchannel – The AI Cargo Cult – The myth of super hero AI – Link The post Ep247 – Making BOMAD a Thing appeared first on 11:FS.
In this episode of Art On The Blockchain we tackle the secret society of the lathe trolls, rare pepes, high school token chat groups, midi art and much more with guest Theo Goodman who is part musician, part podcast and web host for World Crypto Network and others, one of the founding members of The Rare Pepe Foundation and well versed in all things crypto. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- In This weeks News we cover: 1. Tokenly announced first bitcoin-based music service, token.FM on april 19, 2017 - artists will control pricing, distribution and revenue splits for streaming and sales. http://www.digitalmusicnews.com/2017/04/19/bitcoin-token-fm/ 2. ASCAP, SACEM and PRS are collaborating to create a music copyright information management using blockchain technology. They are hoping to leverage two internationally recognized methods which provide unique music identifiers - International Standard Recording Code (ISRC) and International Standard Work Code (ISWC). 4/19/17 https://www.cryptocoinsnews.com/music-society-giants-turn-blockchain-technology/ 3. Announced on April 27, 2017 that Spotify acquired Mediachain, a blockchain startup, backed by VC firm, Andreessen Horowitz, to help ensure fair royalty payments. This is in part a response to a legal settlement where Spotify agreed to pay $25 million and $5 million penalty due to unpaid and unmatched songs performed by Spotify. In 2018, Spotify is expected to launch an IPO. http://www.nasdaq.com/article/spotify-acquires-blockchain-based-startup-to-tackle-fair-royalty-issues-cm781649 4. DJ J-$crilla releases first ever musical Rare Pepe. The provably rare, 169 issued and locked token is in Series 4 of the Rare Pepe Trading Cards and now can be used at token.fm as an added utility that can unlock the bitcoin themed album, Inner Loop "Silk Road" http://rarepepedirectory.com/?p=814 5. World Economic Forum reported that "the future of blockchain appears to veer more heavily into the music and the arts, where the technology helps musicians and others protect the copyrights to their work." April 25, 2017 https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2017/04/5-infographics-that-explain-one-year-of-blockchain-news/ ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- More links to follow from show discussion: Bmore Beat Club 32: https://www.facebook.com/bmorebeatclub/ Examples of midi art: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c9300IDG3G4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=icC05QDDeMU&feature=youtu.be Theo Goodman: https://soundcloud.com/theogoodman https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_jN9M4XxPJA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n5zkdwWkAH4 DJ J-Scrilla's Article on how to create tokens using XCP: https://hackernoon.com/how-to-create-a-token-using-counterparty-xcp-357b2890e744 Rarepepewallet.com Telegram App: https://telegram.org/ -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Art On The Blockchan MeetUp Site: https://www.meetup.com/Art-on-the-Blockchain-Meetup/ Bitcoin Tips: 1D3DYP4nBC5DqTm1g5GeKf1uWeemLipwpY
Union Square Ventures, the New York-based venture capital firm, is famous for investing in ‘large networks of engaged users, differentiated by user experience, and defensible though network effects’, but how does that thesis apply today? In what sectors are there valuable network effects that remain to be unlocked by new and emerging technologies such as blockchain? On that topic Andy Weissman, Partner at USV, joins Seedcamp Partner Carlos Espinal. After qualifying and working as a lawyer, Andy began his internet career at AOL in the 1990s before moving over to Soundview/Dawntreader Ventures. In 2007 he founded Betaworks, the New York-based startup studio and seed-stage investors notable for investments and exclusive stakes in Bitly, Chartbeat, Twitter, Tumblr and Groupon among other successes. Discussing sectors with untapped network effects, Andy argues that there are strong opportunities in medicine and healthcare to provide modes of care that are more user-centric. He spells out his vision of the future of blockchain, with reference to USV’s investment thesis and bets on companies like Mediachain. He also discusses how, in its strategy of building companies in-house while also investing externally, Betaworks - founded in the same year as Seedcamp - closely resembles a film studio. Learn more about the evolution of the social web, how network effect businesses scale and monetise, and USV’s pioneering role in New York’s venture and technology scenes. Show notes: Carlos Medium: sdca.mp/2entVR3 Seedcamp: www.seedcamp.com Union Square Ventures: www.usv.com Betaworks: www.betaworks.com Related bio links: Carlos: linkedin.com/in/carloseduardoespinal / twitter.com/cee Andy: linkedin.com/in/andrewweissman / twitter.com/aweissman