Science & Technology

Robert Leshner and Jesse Walden: Deep Dive on Decentralization

Published

6 years ago

June 10, 2020

Jesse Walden, a former a16z investment partner and Mediachain cofounder, and Robert Leshner, founder and CEO of Compound, do a “Deep Dive on Decentralization.” Walden starts with a playbook for progressive decentralization — the process by which crypto project creators build a useful product, create a community around that product, and then gradually hand over control of the maturing network to the community. This process is in keeping with the cooperative model of crypto networks, which drives rapid, compounding innovation through better alignment of incentives and open participation. Leshner follows with a case study of his experiences at Compound, an automated money market for crypto assets in which lenders and borrowers can come together to transact without the involvement of third parties. Compound, one of the first crypto projects to move through the full progressive decentralization model, built a thriving community of third-party application developers, who have set up shop on top of Compound’s smart-contract protocol. The Compound team has gradually brought this community further into the protocol’s inner workings; in the final stages before handoff to the community, the founding team made changes transparently, with greater reliance on the community’s input, and created a sandbox for experimentation to test governance mechanisms. Decentralizing “allows the protocol to live forever,” Leshner says, which fosters innovation because developers can trust the protocol with their businesses and livelihood.

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:

Up Next

Tom Preston-Werner with Chris Dixon: Building Companies and Developer Communities

Don't Miss

Tina Ferguson: Managing Distributed Workforces

15 Comments

Cythz

June 10, 2020 at 8:01 pm

Loved it

Reply
Rahul Mathur

June 21, 2020 at 5:15 am

This was great ????thank you very much!

Reply
- Arian Finnegan
  
  June 17, 2021 at 4:07 pm
  
  dont know if anyone cares but if you’re stoned like me during the covid times you can stream all the latest movies and series on instaflixxer. Been binge watching with my girlfriend recently =)
  
  Reply
- Kyrie Dustin
  
  June 17, 2021 at 4:18 pm
  
  @Arian Finnegan definitely, been watching on instaflixxer for years myself =)
  
  Reply
- Brody Emmitt
  
  June 17, 2021 at 4:18 pm
  
  @Arian Finnegan yea, I’ve been watching on InstaFlixxer for since december myself =)
  
  Reply
- Malachi Nova
  
  June 17, 2021 at 4:18 pm
  
  @Arian Finnegan Yea, been watching on instaflixxer for years myself 😀
  
  Reply
Nandit Mehra

August 30, 2020 at 9:19 am

great video on building an awesome decentralized product

Reply
mathis P

October 24, 2020 at 8:48 am

mmm… He didn’t actually answer what is their business model… does anyone know ?

Reply
Happy D

January 22, 2021 at 7:19 am

Give us free Compund Robert

Reply
Monopoly

January 29, 2021 at 2:55 pm

Thanks

Reply
Abhi Goel

May 16, 2021 at 10:51 pm

thank you!

Reply
Wetware Records

August 24, 2021 at 11:32 pm

We really love this video! Very inspiring. Especially for our team that’s working on decentralized social media daily.

We’d love to send you our whitepaper

Reply
prasad mahadik

September 30, 2021 at 6:56 am

Great videos! Are there going to be more of these videos?

Reply
Leonardo D Giuseppe

December 2, 2021 at 2:03 am

mi mind blow at 25.
essa aula é um grande passo para a humanidade. Amado, gratidao por todos seus ensimentos.
this class is a big step for humanity. Beloved, gratitude for all your feelings.

Reply
Daniel Ospina

January 3, 2022 at 3:20 pm

Very old fashioned thinking. No wonder they are a web2 VC

Reply

CNET

Qualcomm’s Computex 2026 Keynote in Less Than 12 Minutes

Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon outlines how agentic AI is revolutionizing the architecture of our everyday devices at Computex 2026. Discover the future of smart technology across mobile, robotics, automotive, and data centers. 0:00 – Introduction & Computex 2026 Keynote Open 0:09 – How AI is Rewriting Personal Computing 1:12 – Shift to Agentic AI: The…

Published

1 day ago

June 1, 2026

CYBER TECH TV

0:00 – Introduction & Computex 2026 Keynote Open
0:09 – How AI is Rewriting Personal Computing
1:12 – Shift to Agentic AI: The New Digital Center
2:11 – The Scale of Global Computing Devices
2:40 – Why Evolving Devices for Agentic AI is Crucial
3:10 – Overcoming Power and Latency Engineering Challenges
4:04 – The Qualcomm Advantage Across the Compute Continuum
5:22 – Bringing AI Agents to Mobility and Snapdragon Platforms
6:03 – Physical AI: Autonomous Vehicles & Vision Intelligence
9:49 – Global Token Demand and Future Qualcomm Innovation

Add CNET as a trusted news source
Never miss a deal again! See CNET’s browser extension 👉
Check out CNET’s Amazon Storefront:
Subscribe to CNET on YouTube:
Follow us on TikTok:
Follow us on Instagram:
Follow us on Bluesky:
Like us on Facebook:
CNET’s AI Atlas:
Follow us on X:
Visit CNET.com:

#Qualcomm #Computex2026 #AgenticAI #Snapdragon #TechInnovation #FutureOfAI #EdgeComputing

Science & Technology

A Whale’s-Eye-View of the Ocean | Eric Stackpole | TED

A hand-built camera with suction cups captured something no one had ever seen: two sperm whales communicating and swimming together in the deep ocean. Engineer Eric Stackpole shares the story of how a scrappy, DIY tool revealed this intimate glimpse into the lives of these giants — and makes the case that the only limit…

Published

1 day ago

June 1, 2026

CYBER TECH TV

Join us in person at a TED conference:
Become a TED Member to support our mission:
Subscribe to a TED newsletter:

Follow TED!
Instagram:
LinkedIn:
TikTok:
Facebook:
X:

The TED Talks channel features the best talks and performances from the TED Conference, where the world’s leading thinkers and doers give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes (or less) — plus originals, podcasts and exclusive content. Look for videos on Technology, Entertainment and Design as well as science, business, global issues, the arts and more. Visit for our entire library, transcripts, translations and personalized recommendations.

Watch more:

TED videos may be used for non-commercial purposes under a Creative Commons License, Attribution–Non Commercial–No Derivatives (or the CC BY – NC – ND 4.0 International) and in accordance with the TED Talks Usage Policy: . For more information on using TED for commercial purposes (e.g. employee learning, in a film or online course), submit a request at

#TED #TEDTalks #Science

CNET

PlayStation Updates: New Fight Stick, Gaming Monitor and Speakers

We went to Sony HQ to check out three new accessories coming soon from @PlayStation the FlexStrike fight stick ($299, coming at the same time as Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls), plus PlayStation’s first gaming monitor and speakers— a 27” Gaming Monitor with a built-in DualSense Charging hook ($350) and Pulse Elevate speakers (price TBA), respectively.…

Published

1 day ago

June 1, 2026

CYBER TECH TV