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:

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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

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Why Taskrabbit’s Founder Prioritizes Diversity Early │ Build Mode Podcast

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Published

14 hours ago

April 3, 2026

CYBER TECH TV

As a founder or any team builder, diversity is best built at the start. As Taskrabbit founder Leah Solivan learned, procrastination leads to weaker teams and a harder effort later.

We dive into all of her expert tips for builders and founders in the latest episode of our podcast Build Mode right here:

Science & Technology

Are orbital data centers all hype, or an actual AI infrastructure solution? l Equity Podcast

Tech companies are racing to build data centers in space, pitching orbital compute as the next frontier for AI infrastructure, even as the technical and economic realities remain far from clear. Add in OpenAI’s massive $122 billion round and Bluesky’s latest AI backlash, and the message is clear: The future of AI is being shaped…

Published

17 hours ago

April 3, 2026

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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:
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03:30 OpenAI raises $122B at an $852B valuation
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18:50 The risks (and value) of personal health data
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44:30 SpaceX, Starlink, and the business of orbital compute
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CNET

Apple at 50: Sharing Our Biggest Apple Memories

With Apple turning 50 this week, Bridget Carey goes down memory lane with her CNET teammates on what it was like to cover the iconic company and how the products shaped our lives. Read more on CNET.com Apple’s 50-Year Legacy of Product Innovation, Through CNET’s Lens 0:15 CNET reporters share their favorite Apple memories 0:22…

Published

22 hours ago

April 3, 2026

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With Apple turning 50 this week, Bridget Carey goes down memory lane with her CNET teammates on what it was like to cover the iconic company and how the products shaped our lives.

Read more on CNET.com
Apple’s 50-Year Legacy of Product Innovation, Through CNET’s Lens

0:15 CNET reporters share their favorite Apple memories
0:22 Bridget Carey’s start with Apple
0:39 iMac G3
0:48 Jeff Carlson learns newspaper layout and Page Maker on a Mac
0:56 Aldus PageMaker
1:02 Transporting a Mac Classic across campus on a bike
1:15 Scott Stein takes a PowerBook 145 to college
1:46 Abrar Al-Heeti’s favorite gadget is the iPod Nano (3rd Gen)
2:05 Faith Chihil bought an iPod with a click wheel in 2021 and uses it today
2:25 Can someone help Faith Chihil fix her Scion’s aux input?
2:43 Bridget Carey holds off on buying the first iPhones
2:48 iPhone 3Gs was Bridget Carey’s first Apple purchase
3:00 Vanessa Hand Orellana stands in line for iPhone 3s
3:26 Patrick Holland accidentally. became the face of the Apple Store
3:56 Bridget Carey starts her job at CNET in 2011
4:07 Bridget Carey goes to the Apple Store to cover the death of Steve Jobs
4:21 Patrick Holland watched fans pay tribute to Steve Jobs by leaving notes at the Apple Store
4:52 Patrick Holland describes working at the Apple Store
5:06 Iyaz Akhtar waits in line at the Soho Apple Store for Mac OS X Leopard
5:35 Bridget Carey remembers reporting on crazy lines for Apple product launch days
5:43 Vanessa Hand Orellana remembers reporting from iPhone lines
5:56 Jeff Carlson attends Apple’s infamous U2 Songs of Innocence album release event
6:09 Tim Cook and Apple give half a billion iTunes users a U2 album for free
6:36 Apple releases a fix to delete the U2 album from your phone
6:44 Russell Holly’s iPhone 6 bendgate
6:55 Scott Stein wears AirPods for the first time and becomes a meme
7:25 The very first Apple Watch demo underwhelms Vanessa Hand Orellana
7:37 Vanessa Hand Orellana watches Tim Cook announce the very first Apple Watch
8:05 Apple Watch Series 4 changes Vanessa Hand Orellana’s opinion on the Apple Watch
8:15 Apple Watch’s pivotal move into health tech and EKG
8:30 Apple Watch helps Vanessa Hand Orellana’s family member get medical diagnosis
8:55 Bridget Carey wants to know how Apple impacted your life

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