MoneyNeverSleeps

We’ve been on a bit of a hiatus this summer, as we took a break to recharge after a few mad months, as sometimes, you need to go away for a while and dream it all up again.  In this episode we recorded on the Fourth of July, we pull the curtain off our upcoming plans, with a big announcement from longtime co-host Eoin Fitzgerald that brings him and Pete Townsend to a fork in the road with MoneyNeverSleeps. But before we get into all that, Eoin and Pete take a look back at Pete’s experience with the Techstars Web3 class of 2023 founders and their ‘distributed demo day’ at the end of June with 3 investor events across 3 cities in 2 countries in 5 days, and an epic journey in the spirit of  Planes, Trains and Automobiles.

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Episode title inspired by ‘Encore’ by Jay-Z

Eoin’s reference to ‘The Sheep Shipper’ scene is from the movie ‘Just Go With It’

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Check out our MoneyNeverSleeps website and email us at [email protected]

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Neal Peters is co-founder and CEO of JR Studio, a frictionless web3 gaming platform that gives game creators the superpowers to build, host, launch, manage, and grow their games and communities.

JR Studio is also one of the 12 founding teams forming the Techstars Web3 accelerator class of 2023.

After launching his first business as a 14-year-old gamer building websites, Neal spent 18 years as an IT architect and in public/private/hybrid cloud, software development, and blockchain.  He also co-founded and led a venture capital business during the last crypto bull run focused on web3 gaming and NFTs, and that was the step that led him towards getting together with Marco Colaco and Aleks Gecevski in 2022 to build what has become JR Studio.

In this episode, Neal and Pete Townsend riff on his earliest days in tech and the eventual path that he took with Marco and Aleks with JR Studio, before diving into what JR-Studio is now and what it will become. We also get into the long arc of infrastructure and innovation we’ll need to get to the Hollywood vision of the metaverse, and the role of gaming in that journey, along with what Neal points to in his own development as a founder that helps to keep things moving.

LINKS:

Learn more about JR Studio

Connect with Neal Peters on LinkedIn and Twitter

Follow JR Studio on LinkedIn and Twitter

Episode title inspired by ‘Pursuit of Happiness’ by Kid Cudi (Steve Aoki remix)

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Check out our MoneyNeverSleeps website and email us at [email protected]

Follow us on Twitter:  MoneyNeverSleeps  |  Eoin Fitzgerald  |  Pete Townsend

Federico Panisi is a co-founder and CEO of Loki.code, enabling simplified and intuitive co-creation of smart contracts with a collaborative web app for smart contract designers and developers.

Loki.code is also one of the 12 founding teams forming the https://www.techstars.com/newsroom/announcing-the-techstars-web3-class-of-2023.

Before founding Loki.code in July 2022 with Pedro Wilson, Fabio Manzani, Adam Toth-Fejel, and Malachy Lin-Nugent, Federico’s time in academia included a law degree and a Ph.D. in Law & Business in his home country of Italy with stints in Sydney and Hong Kong, before rounding things out with a Master's in Legal Studies at Stanford Law School with a thesis on smart contracts. Federico is passionate about Web3, smart contracts, and cryptocurrency technologies, so he’s come to the right place!

In this episode, Federico and Pete Townsend riff on the serendipity of how he became an entrepreneur before diving into what Loki.code is now and what it will become.  Federico and Pete also get into the importance of infrastructure and developer tools in getting us to one billion users of web3, building trust with your co-founders, and the surprising intersection of crypto with Dungeons & Dragons.

LINKS:

Learn more about Loki.code

Connect with Federico Panisi on LinkedIn and Twitter

Follow Loki.code on LinkedIn and Twitter

Episode title inspired by ‘California Love’ by 2Pac ft. Dr. Dre & Roger

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Check out our MoneyNeverSleeps website and email us at [email protected]

Follow us on Twitter:  MoneyNeverSleeps  |  Eoin Fitzgerald  |  Pete Townsend

Tatiana Botskina is the founder and CEO of Mintycode, a decentralized IP marketplace for software creators, bringing together software creators, software buyers, and software contributors. By building communities around software creators’ source code and enabling shared ownership, Mintycode helps software creators monetize their work and incentivize and reward contributors. Mintycode is also one of the 12 startups forming the Techstars Web3 accelerator class of 2023. 

Before founding Mintycode in January 2022, Tatiana began her career as a lawyer before returning to academia and adding disciplines in international finance, machine learning, and blockchain development, Through her time in academia and also through working with startups, Tatiana developed strong beliefs in digital transformation powered by artificial intelligence and global decentralization.

In this episode, Tatiana and Pete Townsend dive into her background that inspired her passion for fairness and justice, her approach to developing Mintycode’s competitive edge, and the natively collaborative context of Mintycode as a platform and a community.  Tatiana and Pete also talk through some of the challenges she’s faced so far as a founder/CEO, and also her love for hackathons.

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Learn more about Mintycode

Connect with Tatiana Botskina on LinkedIn and Twitter

Follow Mintycode on LinkedIn and Twitter

Episode title inspired by ‘Power to the People’ by Public Enemy

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Check out our MoneyNeverSleeps website and email us at [email protected]

Follow us on Twitter:  MoneyNeverSleeps  |  Eoin Fitzgerald  |  Pete Townsend

Terence Reilly is the co-founder and CEO of OLTA, one of the 12 founding teams forming the Techstars Web3 accelerator class of 2023.

OLTA is a protocol for creators and studios to create dynamic media, pushing the boundaries from generative art into interactive art and story. OLTA brings this all to life through dynamic NFTs which enable collectors to determine the outcome of the artwork over time.

Before co-founding OLTA with George Baldwin in 2021, Terence spent 20 years working on 3D character animation projects, including the movies Jurassic World, Iron Man 2, and Paul & Chappie with clients such as Disney, Sony, Google and Aardman, the Academy Award-winning animation studio.

In this episode, Terence and Pete Townsend explore the relationship between art and technology before diving into the deep first-hand experience that Terence has with the problem that OLTA is solving for creative coders and studios.  Terence and Pete also talk through some examples of the OLTA protocol in action, the big opportunity that is the global art market, and what keeps Terence moving through the ups and downs of being a startup founder.

LINKS:

Learn more about OLTA

Connect with Terence Reilly on LinkedIn and Twitter

Follow OLTA on LinkedIn and Twitter

Episode title inspired by ‘Eye Know’ by De La Soul ft. Otis Redding

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Check out our MoneyNeverSleeps website and email us at [email protected]

Follow us on Twitter: MoneyNeverSleeps  |  Eoin Fitzgerald  |  Pete Townsend

Javier Tamashiro is the co-founder and CEO of Ospree, a comprehensive anti-money laundering compliance solution for Virtual Asset Service Providers that seamlessly integrates customer onboarding, blockchain monitoring, and the Travel Rule.

Javier and his Ospree co-founders Anne Winston and Jukka Pellinen are one of the 12 founding teams forming the Techstars Web3 accelerator class of 2023. 

By connecting to premium on-chain and off-chain data suppliers, Ospree offers a centralized repository of high-quality alerts for risk and compliance teams. With Ospree, institutions and SMEs serving the crypto and wider digital asset markets today can significantly reduce false positives, benefit from a single point of reference for Travel Rule data transactions, and automate and scale essential compliance operations.

Before co-founding Ospree in 2019, Javier’s tour of duty in TradFi included stops at S&P Global Market Intelligence, Standard Chartered Bank and Credit Suisse.  At each stop along the way, Javier operated in business intelligence and regtech roles, and he has been actively involved in blockchain projects since 2014. 

In this episode, Javier and Pete Townsend explore the blend of Japanese and Argentinian cultures that made Javier who he is today, and the life experiences that led him to the Ospree vision. We then dive into crypto market growth as a proxy for the wider growth of digital assets, and the role that compliance solutions can play in opening up the crypto floodgates for institutional capital.

LINKS:

Learn more about Ospree

Connect with Javier Tamashiro on LinkedIn and Twitter

Follow Ospree on LinkedIn and Twitter

Episode title inspired by ‘Trust’ by NF

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Check out our MoneyNeverSleeps website and email us at [email protected]

Follow us on Twitter:  MoneyNeverSleeps  |  Eoin Fitzgerald  |  Pete Townsend

Greg Hannam is the co-founder and CEO of Peerkat a data analytics tool for marketers to help them understand their users, increase engagement and drive growth in their web3 strategies. In this episode, Greg chats with Pete Townsend about how his life experience drove him to the Peerkat vision, driving value for brands moving from web2 to web3, the evolution of non-fungible tokens (or NFTs) beyond profile pics, and a few life lessons along the way.

Peerkat is also one of the 12 founding teams forming the Techstars Web3 accelerator class of 2023.

Peerkat combines multiple data sources with machine learning to connect the dots between web2 and web3 and provide powerful insights into user behavior across disparate platforms.

Before co-founding Peerkat with Ben Marshall and Ike Iwumene, Greg’s roots bring him back to mechanical engineering at the University of Leeds before diving headfirst into deep data analytics and product management.  Greg then worked with a number of VC-backed deep tech startups in the AI space developing product, growth, and operations functions.

LINKS:

Learn more about ⁠Peerkat⁠

Connect with Greg Hannam on LinkedIn and Twitter

Follow Peerkat on LinkedIn and Twitter

Episode title inspired by ‘First Chain’ by Big Sean ft. Nas and Kid Cudi

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Check out our MoneyNeverSleeps website and email us at [email protected]

Follow us on Twitter:  MoneyNeverSleeps  |  Eoin Fitzgerald  |  Pete Townsend

Howie Young is the founder and CEO of Protico, a universal chatting interface that enables web3 chat on apps in seconds for enterprises that want to migrate business and engage customers at the web3 level. 

Protico is also one of the 12 founding teams forming the Techstars Web3 accelerator class of 2023.

With over eight years of experience in the chat and messaging industry, Howie Young is a highly skilled and dedicated professional who has built a reputation for delivering innovative and user-focused solutions. Combining a strong foundation in business with extensive self-taught technical expertise, Howie has contributed to the development of numerous successful and creative products that are used in more than 100 countries around the world.

Also, Howie has been fueling his creative mind as the founder of a co-working space for the startup ecosystem back home in Taipei, Taiwan since 2014.

In this episode, Howie and Pete Townsend riff on his life experiences to date that led him to launch Protico before digging into Howie’s first steps into the market with Protico’s MVP and how he expects network effects will follow.  We also get into the crossover of web2 users into web3, some of the key challenges Howie sees ahead, and his big ‘earned secret’ from his life in startup ecosystems.

LINKS:

Learn more about Protico

Connect with Howie Young on LinkedIn and Twitter

Follow Protico on LinkedIn and Twitter

Episode title inspired by ‘The Message’ by Nas

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Check out our MoneyNeverSleeps website and email us at [email protected]

Follow us on Twitter:  MoneyNeverSleeps  |  Eoin Fitzgerald  |  Pete Townsend

Deb Pratiher is the co-founder and CEO of Quest Labs, building infrastructure enabling organizations to leverage data in a privacy-preserving manner to unlock powerful user experiences.

Quest Labs is also one of the 12 founding teams forming the Techstars Web3 accelerator class of 2023.

Deb Pratiher is a product leader and engineer with experience building and scaling data infrastructure and systems at big tech companies. She is passionate about AI and web3 and the intersection of both. Prior to starting Quest she worked and researched at Nvidia, Visa, Tesla, and Carnegie Mellon University, as she was chosen for the highly selective Kleiner Perkins Fellowship Program.

In this episode, Deb and Pete Townsend speed-run through her life experiences that brought her to the point of co-founding Quest Labs, before we dig into why the world needs what Quest are bringing to market right now   We also talk through the interplay of owning your own data on this big wonderful creation called the internet, and how that drives the network effect that will deliver the future that Quest is running toward

LINKS:

Learn more about Quest Labs

Connect with Deb Pratiher on LinkedIn and Twitter

Follow Quest Labs on LinkedIn and Twitter

Episode title inspired by ‘Footprints’ by A Tribe Called Quest

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Check out our MoneyNeverSleeps website and email us at [email protected]

Follow us on Twitter:  MoneyNeverSleeps  |  Eoin Fitzgerald  |  Pete Townsend

Igor Khmel is the co-founder and CEO of SaveChain, the borderless banking app. SaveChain features a self-custody 'stablecoin-only' wallet with a banking interface for the global underbanked, with the option to open an FDIC-insured bank account for non-US residents. In short, SaveChain is Metamask meets Revolut.

SaveChain is also one of the 12 founding teams forming the Techstars Web3 accelerator class of 2023.

Originally from Ukraine but now based in the US, Igor Khmel has been honing his craft for the past 17 years, including experience in the investment banking and corporate finance practice of Deloitte and McKinsey, a Stanford MBA, then in venture and as an entrepreneur in residence with Sberbank, and he’s now a third-time founder in fintech and crypto.

In this episode, Igor and Pete Townsend slide down the arc of Igor’s life in finance and ventures that led to his inspiration for SaveChain, the societal factors driving the need to pair a USD bank account with a stablecoin wallet, how Igor expects the SaveChain customer experience will evolve, and the hurdles that SaveChain will need to clear to scale globally

LINKS:

Learn more about SaveChain

Connect with Igor Khmel on LinkedIn and Twitter

Follow SaveChain on LinkedIn and Twitter

Episode title inspired by ‘Dollar and a Dream’ by The Game

Leave a review and subscribe on Apple Podcasts | Spotify 

Check out our MoneyNeverSleeps website and email us at [email protected]

Follow us on Twitter:  MoneyNeverSleeps  |  Eoin Fitzgerald  |  Pete Townsend