Science & Technology

Jesse Walden: Fundraising and Deal Structure

Published

6 years ago

June 24, 2020

former a16z partner and Mediachain cofounder Jesse Walden discusses “Fundraising and Deal Structure” for crypto startups. During early product development, crypto startups can raise traditional venture capital through equity, which allows for the most alignment between founders and investors. Then, unlike a traditional startup, a crypto startup can invite its user base to participate in ownership and operation via the disbursement of tokens, once the core founding team has found product-market fit and established a viable network. This aligns incentives among the network, its users, the core team, and venture investors. Issuing tokens dilutes the stakes of the core team and early investors, but this is a desirable outcome because incentivizing more participants increases the chances that a network will grow. This leads to a larger pie overall for investors to share.

Walden also discusses Network Monetary Policy, citing Bitcoin, with its guaranteed limit of 21 million tokens, as having a fixed, deflationary supply policy. Other networks may be inflationary, with no ceiling on token amount, thereby perpetually diluting founders and early investors. A perpetually dilutive system can nonetheless be productive for token holders due to staking, or the process of holders contributing to the operation of the network, which pays off in newly minted tokens for stakers and the retention of their ownership stakes.

Andreessen Horowitz’s Crypto Startup School brought together 45 participants from around the U.S. and overseas in a seven-week course to learn how to build crypto companies. Andreessen Horowitz is partnering with TechCrunch to release the online version of the course over the next few weeks.

Find more Crypto Startup School videos plus additional reading and info:

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13 Comments

Dekhani Nsaliwa

June 27, 2020 at 3:09 am

Great information. Thanks Jesse

Reply
Guangye Cao

September 3, 2020 at 2:42 am

If a VC invests in equity, which also gives it right to tokens, does its holding of equity disappear after it receives the tokens? That is, does the equity convert into tokens, or would the VC be holding both equity and tokens? If its the latter, what would the VC get from keep holding equity after receiving tokens? If the startup eventually decentralizes fully and becomes community run and owned, can it still have a IPO or M&A exit? If not, would the equity be meaningless once tokens are issued?

Reply
- Guangye Cao
  
  May 4, 2021 at 7:18 pm
  
  @Enrico Bottazzi No, I did not. If you find an answer, I would really appreciate if you could share it here.
  
  Reply
- Maged Radhwan
  
  May 16, 2021 at 5:17 am
  
  U mean also how can ordinary person provides equity for startup project?
  
  Reply
- Luxie AI
  
  June 25, 2021 at 7:43 pm
  
  I’ve been looking into the same issue.
  
  Reply
- Leany
  
  August 18, 2021 at 5:20 am
  
  Anyone found an answer for this yet?
  
  I agree, I’m still entirely unsure about what purpose/value the equity of any blockchain/cryptocurrency holds?
  
  Surely it’s all based around the tokens/coins? These tokens/coins are publicly available right from whenever the project ICOs, so why would a VC ever but equity and not just buy the publicly available tokens/coins?
  
  Weird one…
  
  Reply
- Arun
  
  November 25, 2021 at 7:19 am
  
  I’m pretty sure there would be a conversion from equity to Tokens- Else it would
  lead to the double valuation of the network (i.e; Equity + Token). ( I think the process would be similar to Angel investors financing Start-ups using debt with a right to convert to equity down the line.) Hope this helps.
  
  Reply
bikesbeersnbeats!

September 16, 2020 at 2:37 am

Lets just say that 99% of ICO’s were scams.

Reply
João Ferreira

March 26, 2021 at 12:10 am

I am incredibly grateful for this series of videos! Thank you from Brazil 🙂

Reply
Martin Pretto

June 1, 2021 at 9:32 pm

Hey guys, we’re looking to launch an ICO soon and I’m looking for someone who could guide us through process. How can I contact you?

Reply
Anup ghimire

July 18, 2021 at 3:36 am

Thank you so much form Nepal for this amazing content. I have became a big fan of u Jesse. I have added you in LinkedIn.

Reply
mohamed zayana

October 13, 2021 at 3:29 pm

Fantastic series! I have one question, How would you approach the financial projection spreadsheet to show potential investors for a social platform decentralised app ?

Reply
programmedtorun

November 21, 2021 at 11:06 pm

VCs need to realize that decentralized apps should not support network ownership allocations proportional to equity in a crypto startup. You are centralizing decentralization

Reply

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When it Comes to Pitching, Don’t be Nice, Just Slay │ Build Mode Podcast

For women entering the founding and startup ecosystem, Taskrabbit founder Leah Solivan has a wealth of insights, especially on why you shouldn’t hold yourself back. Listen in on the latest episode of Build Mode for our full interview with her:

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CYBER TECH TV

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Listen in on the latest episode of Build Mode for our full interview with her:

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Science & Technology

A diverse team will make your startup more successful with Leah Solivan, Taskrabbit l Build Mode

If one thing has become clear this season, finding the right talent for your team isn’t as easy as picking from a pile of resumes This week’s guest is Leah Solivan, the founder of Taskrabbit and now an early-stage investor who has seen that the power to change a homogenous startup exosystem comes from empowering…

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From bootstrapping TaskRabbit on credit cards to scaling it into one of the defining companies of the gig economy, Leah learned firsthand that the hardest part of building a company isn’t the product, it’s selecting the right people to build it.

In this episode, Isabelle Johannessen and Leah unpack what it really takes to build diverse teams from day one and why most companies get it wrong by waiting too long. They also explore how the lack of diversity in venture capital directly shapes who gets funded, and ultimately, who gets hired.

Apply to Startup Battlefield: We are looking for early-stage companies that have an MVP. So nominate a founder (or yourself): techcrunch.com/apply. Be sure to say you heard about Startup Battlefield from the Build Mode podcast.

TechCrunch Disrupt: If you’re thinking about applying to Startup Battlefield, then October 13 to 15 in San Francisco, we’re back for TechCrunch Disrupt, where the Startup Battlefield 200 takes the stage. So if you want to cheer them on, or just network with 1000s of founders, VCs, and tech enthusiasts, then grab your tickets.

Use code buildmode15 for 15% off any ticket type.

Chapters:
00:00 The hard way to hire diverse talent
01:20 From engineer to Taskrabbit founder
03:39 The moment that sparked Taskrabbit
07:39 Why building teams is the hardest part
12:06 Learning how to hire from scratch
17:36 Why venture capital lacks diversity
27:25 How to build diverse teams from day one
39:42 What founders get wrong about competition

New episodes of Build Mode drop every Thursday. Hosted by Isabelle Johannessen. Produced and edited by Maggie Nye. Audience development led by Morgan Little. Special thanks to the Foundry and Cheddar video teams.