Science & Technology

Nitya Subramanian: Products and Protocol

Published

6 years ago

June 17, 2020

Nitya Subramanian, product manager at Celo, discusses “Protocols and Products,” focusing on how building products is different in blockchain vs. more traditional centralized products. The key question for builders: What is the need I’m meeting, and who are the users? For projects seeking control over the end-user experience, such as with cryptocurrency wallets, typically the goal is to build the full stack, so that every layer can be changed to meet new use cases and find product-market fit. For products built for developers, such as decentralized lending protocols, the focus should be on identifying a range of objectives that will bring developers to your platform while giving them the flexibility to customize and innovate. No matter the end user, the rigorous focus at all times should be on what will bring people to your product and avoiding a “build it and they will come” mentality. As an example of the full stack approach, she closes with a case study of the digital payments system Celo, which includes a blockchain forked from Ethereum that includes a native asset, topped by a layer of native smart contracts encoding a stablecoin, with a wallet and a developer SDK at the top of the stack. While each layer of the project has separate development roadmaps, having the application layer allows Celo to identify issues with user experience and informs the development of lower layers of the stack.

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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14 Comments

Steven Thomas

June 17, 2020 at 4:36 pm

0:48
hotgirls18-chat.online

Reply
Anthony King

June 17, 2020 at 4:36 pm

0:48
hotgirls18-chat.online

Reply
Dekhani Nsaliwa

June 17, 2020 at 9:12 pm

Great presentation!

Reply
@dekhaninsaliwa8498

June 17, 2020 at 5:12 pm

Great presentation!

Reply
@0xfiredancer

June 17, 2020 at 5:12 pm

Great presentation!

Reply
Chiqui OJ

August 20, 2020 at 6:46 am

❤ CELO

Reply
@chiquioj3245

August 20, 2020 at 2:46 am

❤ CELO

Reply
mike wazowski

September 21, 2020 at 4:34 pm

so good <3 thanks Nitya!

Reply
@mikewazowski4472

September 21, 2020 at 12:34 pm

so good <3 thanks Nitya!

Reply
Ram Kumar

May 15, 2021 at 12:45 pm

Great Presentation. Am I the only person who thinks she looks like Balaji Srinivasan

Reply
@RamKumar-iz2sz

May 15, 2021 at 8:45 am

Great Presentation. Am I the only person who thinks she looks like Balaji Srinivasan

Reply
Henry Quillin

October 15, 2021 at 1:29 am

She looks absolutely blazed

Reply
@henryquillin3733

October 14, 2021 at 9:29 pm

She looks absolutely blazed

Reply
@RajaRaja-bj2hd

August 5, 2024 at 9:38 pm

nice presentation

Reply

Science & Technology

How Apple’s Lawsuit Threatens OpenAI’s IPO Price

OpenAI confidentially filed for an IPO, and now Apple’s lawsuit could mess with how bankers price it. On the latest episode, Equity digs into why the timing couldn’t be worse.

Published

1 day ago

July 18, 2026

CYBER TECH TV

OpenAI confidentially filed for an IPO, and now Apple’s lawsuit could mess with how bankers price it.

On the latest episode, Equity digs into why the timing couldn’t be worse.

Science & Technology

How Apple’s Lawsuit Could Stall OpenAI’s Hardware Plans

Injunctions, restraining orders, delays. The Equity Podcast crew breaks down how Apple’s trade secret lawsuit could throw a wrench in OpenAI’s hardware ambitions.

Published

2 days ago

July 17, 2026

CYBER TECH TV

Injunctions, restraining orders, delays.

The Equity Podcast crew breaks down how Apple’s trade secret lawsuit could throw a wrench in OpenAI’s hardware ambitions.

Science & Technology

How Apple’s big lawsuit could disrupt OpenAI’s IPO plans | Equity Podcast

Apple filed a trade secrets lawsuit against OpenAI last Friday, and it’s not messing around. The complaint alleges a pattern of misconduct reaching all the way up to OpenAI’s chief hardware officer and claims more than 400 former Apple employees now work at the company. OpenAI’s response so far has been carefully hedged, and the…

Published

2 days ago

July 17, 2026

CYBER TECH TV

On this episode of TechCrunch’s Equity podcast, hosts Kirsten Korosec, Anthony Ha, and Sean O’Kane dig into what the lawsuit could mean for OpenAI’s own hardware ambitions and IPO timeline, plus a bigger theme running through the week’s news: how much should anyone trust AI companies with their data?
Subscribe to Equity on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify and all the casts. You also can follow Equity on X and Threads, at @EquityPod.

Chapters:

00:00 Intro

00:40 Would you want Sam Altman listening to you?

01:53 Apple sues OpenAI over trade secrets

13:24 Satya Nadella’s warning: “you’re paying twice” with your data

19:03 Open source vs. going deeper with AI labs

24:52 General Catalyst gives David Beckham’s health drink startup $1B

30:05 Ex-OpenAI researcher raises $200M for drug discovery startup

32:58 Outro