Scenius Studio

In this episode, Ben sits down with Zoe Weinberg, Founder and Managing Partner of Ex/Ante, a venture firm investing in the next generation of privacy, security, and information tools.

Prior to Ex/Ante, Zoe served on the National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence and at Google AI. She has also had stints as an investor at the International Finance Corporation of the World Bank and at Goldman Sachs. Tune in for insights into Ex/Ante’s thesis of agentic tech and how blockchain represents a core component of the firm’s investment strategy.

Let's get into it.

Resources Mentioned

Connect with the guest

ex/ante https://www.buildexante.com/

Follow ex/ante on Twitter/X https://twitter.com/buildexante

Follow Zoe on Twitter/X https://twitter.com/zweinberg

Disclaimer 

Ben Jacobs is a partner at Scenius Capital Management. All views expressed by Ben and the guests of this podcast are solely their opinions and do not reflect the opinions of Scenius Capital Management. Guests and the host may maintain positions in the assets or funds discussed in this podcast. You should not treat any opinion expressed by anyone on this podcast as a specific inducement to make a particular investment or follow a particular strategy but only as an expression of their personal opinion. This podcast is for informational purposes only.

In this episode, Ben sits down with Jeff Park, Head of Alpha Strategies at Bitwise.

Jeff has had an illustrious career with a variety of roles at Morgan Stanley, Harvard Management Company, and Corbin Capital Partners before focusing his career on crypto and multi-manager solutions at Bitwise. Jeff’s insight into the forthcoming Bitcoin Spot ETF is timely and informative. Moreover, his measured approach when evaluating actively traded strategies demonstrates his mastery of various methods of alpha generation. Tune in for insights into active and passive digital asset investment strategies.

Resources Mentioned

Connect with the guest

Bitwise https://bitwiseinvestments.com/

Follow Bitwise on Twitter/X https://twitter.com/BitwiseInvest

Disclaimer 

Ben Jacobs is a partner at Scenius Capital Management. All views expressed by Ben and the guests of this podcast are solely their opinions and do not reflect the opinions of Scenius Capital Management. Guests and the host may maintain positions in the assets or funds discussed in this podcast. You should not treat any opinion expressed by anyone on this podcast as a specific inducement to make a particular investment or follow a particular strategy but only as an expression of their personal opinion. This podcast is for informational purposes only.

In this episode, Ben sits down with Adam Benayoun Founder and General Partner of Collider Ventures. Collider is Israel’s preeminent blockchain-dedicated venture capital fund.

Over the last five years, Adam has been investing in the asset class and steering blockchain and digital asset policy in Israel alongside Israeli-born blockchain unicorns such as Fireblocks and Starkware. Collider seeks to back Israeli teams where blockchain intersects with traditional areas of Israeli technological strength such as cybersecurity and cryptography. Amid the recent geopolitical turmoil in Israel and Palestine we thought this was an important episode to share.

Let's get into it.

Resources Mentioned

Starkware

Fireblocks

Fhenix

Connect with the guest

Collider https://www.collider.vc/

Follow Collider on Twitter/X https://twitter.com/ColliderVC

Disclaimer 

Ben Jacobs is a partner at Scenius Capital Management. All views expressed by Ben and the guests of this podcast are solely their opinions and do not reflect the opinions of Scenius Capital Management. Guests and the host may maintain positions in the assets or funds discussed in this podcast. You should not treat any opinion expressed by anyone on this podcast as a specific inducement to make a particular investment or follow a particular strategy but only as an expression of their personal opinion. This podcast is for informational purposes only.

In this episode, Ben sit downs with Alex Lange Founding Partner of Inflection based out of Berlin. Prior to launching Inflection Alex held roles at Google and Index Ventures where he leveraged his technical acumen and deep understanding of hardware to begin exploring cutting edge and non-consensus blockchain investing. Now at Inflection, Alex invests into both the infrastructure and application layer as the firm continues to build its brand as a premier European based early-stage venture fund.

Let's get into it.

Connect with the guest

Inflection https://inflection.xyz/

Follow Alex on Twitter/X https://twitter.com/AlexLangeVC

Disclaimer 

Ben Jacobs is a partner at Scenius Capital Management. All views expressed by Ben and the guests of this podcast are solely their opinions and do not reflect the opinions of Scenius Capital Management. Guests and the host may maintain positions in the assets or funds discussed in this podcast. You should not treat any opinion expressed by anyone on this podcast as a specific inducement to make a particular investment or follow a particular strategy but only as an expression of their personal opinion. This podcast is for informational purposes only.

In this episode, Ben sits down with Anand Iyer of Canonical Crypo. Anand founded Canonical after a successful career as a founder, angel investor, and venture partner at Lightspeed and Pear VC. At Canonical, Anand invests into core blockchain infrastructure, middleware, and developer tooling. His thoughts on the intersection of AI and blockchain are representative of how these two technologies need each other to maximize their value to the world.

Let's get into it.

Timestamps

3:16 Background and experiences?

6:20 How did you transition from angel investing to running a fund?

8:50 What's Canonical's thesis?

11:55 What's it like being a solo GP and how are you sourcing projects?

15:09 What does the underwriting process look like at the pre-seed stage?

18:23 What lessons and commonalities have you learned from investing at the earliest stage?

21:35 What should founders be prioritizing at different stages of their company's growth?

24:09 Does blockchain need AI and vice versa?

32:55 What needs to happen for AI to impact the end user in their own application use?

35:56 How important is decentralization to the growth and development of AI?

39:21 What are AI agents?

43:01 Why is ZK ML important?

44:44 Why is MPC important?

46:40 Why is fully homomorphic encryption important?

49:19 What makes projects like FrenTech so popular?

52:29 What is your spiciest take within crypto?

55:38 What is your spiciest take outside of crypto?

58:26 Where can people learn more about you?

Resources Mentioned

Ikigai

DeFi Masterclass

Daniel Kang Fighting AI Generated Audio

Sarah Silverman Suing OpenAI and Meta for Copyright Infringment

Flocki.io

Gensyn

Friend.Tech

ZeroDev

Connect with the guest

Twitter

Canonical Crypto

Disclaimer 

Ben Jacobs is a partner at Scenius Capital Management. All views expressed by Ben and the guests of this podcast are solely their opinions and do not reflect the opinions of Scenius Capital Management. Guests and the host may maintain positions in the assets or funds discussed in this podcast. You should not treat any opinion expressed by anyone on this podcast as a specific inducement to make a particular investment or follow a particular strategy but only as an expression of their personal opinion. This podcast is for informational purposes only.

In this episode, Ben sits down with Jon Moore and Gaby Goldberg of The Chernin Group Crypto. At TCG, Gaby and Jon invest in web3 consumer applications and related infrastructure. Deploying out of a $120mm Fund I, TCG has and continues to invest in payments, collectives, gaming, entertainment, and consumer related utility products. The fund has a unified thesis around digital ownership unlocking net-new and business accretive opportunities. Tune in for unique insights into the application layer, mobile, wallets, and more. Let's get into it.

Timestamps

2:00 What consumer use-case has the opportunity to onboard durable new users to crypto?

4:25 What is your background?

10:27 How has the team developed TCG's thesis and how has it evolved?

16:21 Are there examples of "passion" not driven by speculation/financialization in crypto?

19:08 Can you elaborate on how Arkive represents a new consumer experience?

24:21 Web2 brands integrating web3 tooling vs. web3 native brands?

31:03 How do you think about the integration of consumer with crypto infrastructure when investing?

36:18 How can crypto transition into mobile?

42:47 What is GMI vs. NGMI in crypto gaming?

43:41 What is GMI vs. NGMI in crypto music?

44:50 What is GMI vs. NGMI in crypto payments?

45:51 What is GMI vs. NGMI in DAOs?

46:50 What are some projects that you’re excited about?

55:29 What is your spiciest take within crypto?

58:22 What is your spiciest take outside of crypto?

1:01:16 Where can people learn more about you?

Resources Mentioned

Bright Moments

Hume

Arkive

Flamingo

Medallion

Pudgy Penguins

Y00ts to Ethereum

Rainbow Wallet

Sphere

Curio

Jia

Finance Fairer by TCG

Ledger Recover

Once Upon - Block explorer

Connect with the guest

TCG Crypto

Gaby Goldberg

Jon Moore

Disclaimer 

Ben Jacobs is a partner at Scenius Capital Management. All views expressed by Ben and the guests of this podcast are solely their opinions and do not reflect the opinions of Scenius Capital Management. Guests and the host may maintain positions in the assets or funds discussed in this podcast. You should not treat any opinion expressed by anyone on this podcast as a specific inducement to make a particular investment or follow a particular strategy but only as an expression of their personal opinion. This podcast is for informational purposes only.

In this episode, Ben sits down with Evan Fisher, Founder and General Partner of Portal Ventures. Evan started his career at Goldman Sachs and Insight Partners before launching Portal. At Portal, Evan invests across the industry, globe, and fundraising stage as he applies his traditionally trained venture skillset to protocol investing. Evan is a pragmatist with a business model oriented investment framework that has thus far resonated with founders and builders across the blockchain industry. Lets get into it.

Timestamps

1:45 How was ETHcc and your trip to Paris?

2:58 How should crypto-natives share with others what the state of the industry is?

3:44 What is your background?

6:44 How does your classical venture investment experience translate into protocol investing at Portal?

8:17 What is different about traditional investing and protocol investing?

12:41 What needs to change in crypto in order to attract institutional investors?

16:15 How can non-layer one tokens hold value without being deemed as securities?

18:05 Where do you feel like you have an edge?

20:45 What are the business models in crypto that are emblematic of where the space can go? 

22:56 What are some emerging categories that you’re most excited about?

26:06 What is Urbit?

29:10 How do you invest in Urbit?

31:03 What is built on Urbit that can attract the interest of crypto native people?

35:19 What is next for DeFi?

38:41 How was the Ion deal sourced?

42:56 What are some of the retail ready projects that you are excited about?

47:48 Is there anything in AI that you’re excited about?

52:01 What is your most contrarian take within crypto?

52:22 What is your most contrarian take outside of crypto?

56:50 Where can people learn more about you?

Resources Mentioned

Medici Network

Fully Homomorphic Encryption

Urbit

Holium

Tlon Landscape

Ion Protocol

Connect with the guest

Follow Evan on Twitter https://twitter.com/evanbfish

Follow Portal on Twitter https://twitter.com/PortalVentures

Portal Ventures https://portal.vc/

Disclaimer 

Ben Jacobs is a partner at Scenius Capital Management. All views expressed by Ben and the guests of this podcast are solely their opinions and do not reflect the opinions of Scenius Capital Management. Guests and the host may maintain positions in the assets or funds discussed in this podcast. You should not treat any opinion expressed by anyone on this podcast as a specific inducement to make a particular investment or follow a particular strategy but only as an expression of their personal opinion. This podcast is for informational purposes only.