In this episode of Inside the Hutt, Brooke Pollack interviews Serge Kassardjian, co-founder of Sixth Man Ventures. Serge recounts his journey from early stints at Google and Sony to founding StayTuned and later co-launching Sixth Man Ventures. He discusses the firm’s investment focus on crypto applications, their early conviction in NFTs and Solana, and how the team approaches building with founders. Serge also unpacks market trends, token and equity dynamics, and the evolving sophistication of crypto founders, while offering insight into standout portfolio companies like Pump.fun and Sleepagotchi. 

Key Points From This Episode: 

Serge Kassardjian’s background and path from Google and Sony to founding StayTuned and Sixth Man Ventures. 

How Sixth Man Ventures began with NFT trading and a small experimental wallet fund. 

The firm’s focus on application-layer investments in both consumer and enterprise crypto use cases. 

Why Sixth Man Ventures is chain-agnostic, despite early success in the Solana ecosystem. 

Strategy around liquid token investments and preference for long-term theses over short-term trading. 

Views on opportunities beyond financial use cases, including gaming, DePIN, collectibles, and RWAs. 

Approach to evaluating projects like Pump.fun and conviction-driven investing. 

Thoughts on the current state of the crypto venture market and signs of increasing regulatory clarity. 

Comparison between crypto VC and traditional VC in terms of liquidity, M&A, and overall returns. 

Perspective on investing across tokens and equity and the impact of IPO and token unlock trends. 

Serge’s investment focus areas within the firm, including speculative apps, content, and gaming. 

Insights into portfolio companies Sleepagotchi and Hogg, and their novel approaches to crypto use. 

Why disciplined capital deployment and founder-fit remain key differentiators for Sixth Man Ventures. 

Observations on founder quality in crypto and evolving investor behavior in the space. 

Serge’s alternate dream career: basketball podcaster. 

Links 

Serge Kassardjian on X: https://x.com/sergekass  

Serge Kassardjian on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sergekass/  

Verda Ventures: https://6thman.ventures/  

Brooke Pollack on X: https://x.com/bhpollack  

Brooke Pollack on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brookepollack/  

Hutt Capital: https://www.huttcapital.com/