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Cryptocurrency Startup School

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21–30 of 160 posts

Re: Cryptocurrency Startup School

#21
post #2

A startup school for a singular technical solution that has now gone years without any demonstrable killer app and which faces immense scaling and regulatory hurdles seems like putting the cart well before the horse here. I very much doubt that the key roadblock to realizing the crypto dream has been the lack of availability of a startup school around it.

Agreed, this one's a head scratcher

Why is it a head scratcher? They’ve made some of the bigger bets in crypto and have a dedicated crypto team, so they have every incentive to invest in training or teaching the next gen of crypto founders.

Re: Cryptocurrency Startup School

#22

Crypto... Graphy? Currency? Coccus?

A Cryptococcus school would be worth something. Not enough tech innovation in opportunistic infections!

Aren’t all infections opportunistic and disruptive?

Aren’t all VCs opportunistic and disruptive?

Edit: Maybe we need Crypto Capitalism

Re: Cryptocurrency Startup School

#23
post #2

A startup school for a singular technical solution that has now gone years without any demonstrable killer app and which faces immense scaling and regulatory hurdles seems like putting the cart well before the horse here. I very much doubt that the key roadblock to realizing the crypto dream has been the lack of availability of a startup school around it.

One of Blockchain's killer apps is...Bitcoin. There is no need to talk about "the crypto dream", people are using what they find useful (coinbase is currently #5 top YC company), and I personally see it inevitable that everything in banking/finance will move to a decentralized model, with smart contracts as a driving force, because of autonomy.

Humans haven't really evolved much from say other Apes (or many more other animals) in the way a group is organised. We haven't yet discovered a way to organise a group without the need for a central entity (an alpha male, a government, central banks, etc.)

Smart contracts allowing for autonomous organisations might well be the first time a species is organising itself without a central entity.

Re: Cryptocurrency Startup School

#24
I like to see more formal-ish education in this space.

Right now the distributed ledger and digital asset education is either extremely technical documents OR youtubers glossing over everything.

A lot of the grifters aren't speaking a common tongue and it unnecessarily increases the transaction cost of coordinating expertise.

Re: Cryptocurrency Startup School

#25
post #2

A startup school for a singular technical solution that has now gone years without any demonstrable killer app and which faces immense scaling and regulatory hurdles seems like putting the cart well before the horse here. I very much doubt that the key roadblock to realizing the crypto dream has been the lack of availability of a startup school around it.

I work in crypto space myself and I can tell that this space is really interesting. Both technical and business challenges are quite unique. Here's just a quick recap of different, new business models https://medium.com/abridged-io/web3-business-models-in-the-w... IMO things like DeFi are finally a good use case for blockchain. So yeah, I think this a good idea to create a startup school focused on new, different are…

Thank you for TypeChain, it's great. I remember last year, I got Gitcoin to give you some free money to put up bounties.

One reason I'm not building on ethereum right now, is you have no contact with customers/users, because for 90% of the projects, there aren't any. In my other software projects, you are talking with customers every week, it is hugely helpful.

What MakerDAO are doing is awesome; DAI is my digital cash.

Re: Cryptocurrency Startup School

#26
post #2

A startup school for a singular technical solution that has now gone years without any demonstrable killer app and which faces immense scaling and regulatory hurdles seems like putting the cart well before the horse here. I very much doubt that the key roadblock to realizing the crypto dream has been the lack of availability of a startup school around it.

One of Blockchain's killer apps is...Bitcoin. There is no need to talk about "the crypto dream", people are using what they find useful (coinbase is currently #5 top YC company), and I personally see it inevitable that everything in banking/finance will move to a decentralized model, with smart contracts as a driving force, because of autonomy. Humans haven't really evolved much from say other Apes (or many more othe…

Smart Contracts are far more capable on Ethereum, so I don't see Bitcoin as the killer app.

Re: Cryptocurrency Startup School

#27
post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I work in crypto space myself and I can tell that this space is really interesting. Both technical and business challenges are quite unique. Here's just a quick recap of different, new business models https://medium.com/abridged-io/web3-business-models-in-the-w... IMO things like DeFi are finally a good use case for blockchain. So yeah, I think this a good idea to create a startup school focused on new, different are…

No one ever said the space is not interesting. It's just goes against human nature and how the world operates. The difference between a failed idea and a successful one is very often simply timing. Things that were complete nonsense in the dot com bubble are billion dollar businesses now. The crypto space is not for this time (imo).

You're right that timing is key, however:

>> Crypto = Trust (100%) which is why (in my viewpoint) it matters a great deal, and there's just no way back. Trust is required for monetary exchange, but not only. It also matters where very strong guarantees are needed, which is everywhere, e.g., when setting up contracts or when making statements (expert or regulated) about a product, service, or a status. Trust matters because then the whole value-chain gets more efficient, rapid, and cost-effective.

Re: Cryptocurrency Startup School

#30
post #2

A startup school for a singular technical solution that has now gone years without any demonstrable killer app and which faces immense scaling and regulatory hurdles seems like putting the cart well before the horse here. I very much doubt that the key roadblock to realizing the crypto dream has been the lack of availability of a startup school around it.

There will never be a singular killer app for crypto. Just like there isn't a killer app for USD or Gold. It is the aggregate adoption, as a transfer of value, across numerous use cases that makes any currency valued.
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