Greymatter

A re-broadcast of our episode featuring Greylock investor Seth Rosenberg's interview with the co-founders of Espresso Systems, which provides configurable privacy and scalability tools for Web3. The company is operating at a critical time for privacy within Web3. Recently, the U.S. Treasury imposed sanctions on Tornado Cash, a mixer platform that enables cryptocurrency transactions. The regulatory action marks the first time authorities have imposed sanctions on computer protocols (code) rather than individuals or wallets. This represents a key moment for the industry and raises questions on the right approach to regulation and how developers can enable important use cases with privacy. Rosenberg originally spoke with co-founders Charles Lu and Benedikt Bunz in March, when the company came out of stealth with a Series A co-led by Greylock and Electric Capital. In light of the regulatory action on Tornado, Rosenberg caught up with co-founder Jill Gunter to discuss the increased importance for privacy tools within the web3 industry.

You can read Seth's original blog post about the investment and the transcript from the podcast here: greylock.com/portfolio-news/pri…lability-for-web3/

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Greylock general partner Reid Hoffman interviews Nike CEO John Donahoe as part of Greylock's Iconversations speaker series. In the interview, Donahoe discusses the iconic sports retailer's digital transformation in recent years; the lessons learned as a four-time CEO; and his “head coach” mentality to leadership.

You can read a transcript of this interview here: https://greylock.com/greymatter/the-next-play/

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Known as the "AWS of Web3", Alchemy's platform powers most of the top web3 applications around the world. The idea came to founders Nikil Viswanathan and Joe Lau following their own frustration when building a crypto analytics tool. Seeing that developers around the world needed a toolkit to enable the next wave of innovation, they set out to build Alchemy. Launched in 2020, the company's platform quickly became an indispensable tool for developers creating projects with blockchain technology, including the top NFT platforms such as Open Sea and Makerspace. Greylock investor Christine Kim spoke with Viswanathan for Greymatter's new crypto-focused series Mint Condition. You can read a transcript of the conversation here: https://greylock.com/greymatter/bringing-web3-to-the-world/

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Greylock investor Maya Frai outlines her perspective on design-centered products, which she believes is the now overarching driver of innovation in several industries including commerce, social, saas, web3, and more. Based on her experience on product teams at Google, Facebook, and Rent the Runway, Maya believes technology that puts people at the center are often the most successful. You can read the essay that inspired this conversation here: https://greylock.com/greymatter/the-design-first-approach/

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A re-broadcast of our episode focused on one of the most critical (yet often under-analyzed) aspects of entrepreneurship: decision-making. As Greylock general partner Reid Hoffman and his Blitzscaling co-author Chris Yeh discuss, there are actually many things entrepreneurs can do to improve their decision-making skills. The central skill is learning how to be quick and decisive, and to adjust your course to avoid the worst of the mines.You can read the essay based on this discussion here:

https://greylock.com/greymatter/how-to-decide/

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Solv CEO and co-founder Heather Fernandez talks with Greylock marketing partner Elisa Schreiber about a unique fundraising strategy Solv undertook to add more women investors to the company's cap table. In late 2021, Solv was wrapping up its Series C round when Fernandez was encouraged by longtime investor and friend Kara Norton (Upfront Ventures) to launch a special purpose vehicle (SPV) aimed solely at women investors. Within 10 days, the SPV raised $3.5M from 75 women investors, 60% of whom were women of color and a majority were first-time investors. Fernandez and Schreiber discuss the process and provide a playbook for other entrepreneurs.

You can read a transcript of this conversation here: https://greylock.com/greymatter/purpose-into-action/

You can watch a video of the conversation here: https://youtu.be/1KemFU4_vGo

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A re-broadcast of our episode featuring Airbnb CEO and co-founder Brian Chesky. Chesky joined Greylock partner Reid Hoffman on Greylock's Iconversations speaker series to talk about how he guided Airbnb from an 80% loss within the first two months of the pandemic to a record-breaking IPO by the end of 2020; why Silicon Valley needs to redefine how it measures growth; how Chesky’s design background informs Airbnb’s business strategy; and, ultimately, the importance of putting people first.

You can read a transcript of this episode here: https://greylock.com/greymatter/airbnb-brian-chesky-people-first-capitalism/

You can watch the video of this interview here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TKz9Aohljvw&list=PLnsTB8Q5VgnUtQ2Yc32sqgCr_pm77YGZr

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A re-broadcast of our episode with Greylock general partner Reid Hoffman and his Blitzscaling co-author Chris Yeh discussing when, how, and why CEOs should speak publicly about political or social topics.

Once considered strictly off limits to business leaders, speaking out about politics and social issues has become much more common. In fact, it’s now often expected for a CEO to make a statement that communicates their company’s values and position even on the most highly-charged or controversial topics. But getting it right requires careful consideration, as Reid and Chris discuss in detail.

This conversation was recorded in 2020. You can read an essay from the conversation here: https://greylock.com/greymatter/talking-politics/

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Audio version of essay written by Greylock general partner Asheem Chandna for Forbes: "Where Does AI Go Next?"

Chandna and several AI experts weigh in on the potential value and risks as the technology expands.

Essay read by Greylock head of editorial Heather Mack.

You can read the essay on Forbes here: https://www.forbes.com/sites/asheemchandna/2022/05/31/where-does-ai-go-next/

You can also read the essay on the Greylock website here: https://greylock.com/greymatter/where-does-ai-go-next/

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Greylock general partner Mike Duboe speaks with Zhuoxun Yin (Zedd) and Jack Lu, two of the co-founders of NFT marketplace Magic Eden. The company, which just raised its Series B round, provides a platform for people to discover, collect, and trade NFTs on the Solana ecosystem.

You can read a transcript of this episode here: https://greylock.com/portfolio-news/magic-eden/

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