Protocols, Nations, and Companies

Will Protocols (Web3) or Big Tech (Web2) or Nation States (17th Century) own the future? Quite the debate raging in Foreign Affairs Magazine. We weigh in and explain.

This week we focus on Web 3.0 news. DAOs, Creator Coins, Square becoming Block, David Marcus leaving Meta and Mysten Labs raising a $36m first round. Nothing happening here 😉. With Andrew Keen discussing - https://thatwastheweek.com/2021/12/09/web-3-0/

This week we focus on Web 3.0 news. DAOs, Creator Coins, Square becoming Block, David Marcus leaving Meta and Mysten Labs raising a $36m first round. Nothing happening here 😉

Announcing Signalrank Corporation

This week my new FinTech startup, SignalRank Corp, closed a $5m funding round. The company is focused on changing the rules of seed investing in favor of seed-stage companies and their seed investor. As more and more Decacorns are born, how do the early risk-takers secure their legacy?

Lucid, Rivian, Tesla vs GM and Ford

Rivian lost $580m last quarter but is valued at $124 billion. Ford’s 2021 revenue will be over $120 billion and it is worth only 60% of Rivian. Now, is Apple about to join the party? Read on to see why it makes sense.

USDC is rapidly becoming an acceptable currency for investment firms. It is secure, stable and a ready-made bridge to every other cryptocurrency. Now its parent — Circle — has started a venture fund using it, Fred Wilson advises owning it and Wall Street hedge funds are earning up to 9% interest by holding it. So why is it important?

After Sequoia Capital’s reorganization last week, rumors are spreading that Andreessen Horowitz is considering a public offering. Whether true or not it begs an important question. Should VC seek to list publicly and trade on Wall Street? Or should it remain open only to large fund investors and wealthy families?

This week Facebook announced the NothingVerse (read it, you’ll see) whereas Sequoia Capital fundamentally changed their organization and venture capital forever. What a contrast.

With Andrew Keen and Keith Teare

Donald Trump is launching a social media platform just as Facebook is closing one down. Facebook’s proposed name change is an indication that Web 2 has reached the end of the road. Social Media is dead, long live Web 3. What Web 3 is, is still being written. But it is not Facebook or TRUTH.

The Facebook whistleblower accused the company of putting growth and profit before everything. So, is growth bad? Is it incompatible with human good? Or is it the essence of progress?