Tweed's Reflections and Key Takeaways from A16Z Crypto CSX
Tweed's Reflections and Key Takeaways from A16Z Crypto CSX
Jun 19, 2024
Over the last three months, Tweed has been lucky to work with the best and brightest at a16z crypto, hearing from experts on technology, infrastructure, regulation, GTM, and more. We’ve learned from a16z crypto CTO Eddy Lazarin about Protocol and Token Design, dove into security best practices with cybersecurity expert Matt Gleason, and reviewed the policy and regulatory outlooks with former SEC Corporate Finance chairman Bill Hinman and Head of Regulatory Michele Kerver. We spent time with crypto legend and the a16z crypto founder himself, Chris Dixon.
We reviewed and validated our architecture with top experts in the field, digging into all aspects of our platform including the security of our key management, the scalability of our payment layer, and the compliant nature of our solutions.
While there is a lot we can share, here are some key takeaways:
On finding PMF: Separate your ‘power users’ from your ‘airdrop farmers’, and align your roadmap with the needs of your smartest customers
On knowing your customers: Build for the users you want to attract in the *long term*, even if another audience feels easier now.
On building and designing tokens: Network tokens are best when they are designed to support network effects or to pay users for securing the protocol
On Custody and Regulation: In a complex regulatory environment, using a self-custodial solution is the most compliant position and avoids significant legal and financial burden
On Community: Your moat is your community: cultivate passionate clients and employees
On Branding: Find your "minimum viable brand" while you search for PMF, and continue to finetune your messaging
On founder stories: Founders need to position themselves as thought leaders - keep building your social media muscle!
On fundraising: Even when you’re not fundraising - you’re fundraising.
On Web3: Web3 is a new way of thinking about the world, and isn’t always aligned with traditional business models
On teambuilding: As founders and managers, commit to a culture of feedback to build and motivate the best team
The program culminated with a fantastic demo day program, with each of the twenty five companies presenting their story and vision to a room full of the top operators and investors in Web3.
We showcased not only Tweed’s current solutions - our compliant wallet-as-a-service and token checkout solutions - but also our vision to help businesses and consumers pay and get paid in the way that makes sense for them. We know that the future of payments will be built with web3 - if you want to learn more, set up time with us!
Over the last three months, Tweed has been lucky to work with the best and brightest at a16z crypto, hearing from experts on technology, infrastructure, regulation, GTM, and more. We’ve learned from a16z crypto CTO Eddy Lazarin about Protocol and Token Design, dove into security best practices with cybersecurity expert Matt Gleason, and reviewed the policy and regulatory outlooks with former SEC Corporate Finance chairman Bill Hinman and Head of Regulatory Michele Kerver. We spent time with crypto legend and the a16z crypto founder himself, Chris Dixon.
We reviewed and validated our architecture with top experts in the field, digging into all aspects of our platform including the security of our key management, the scalability of our payment layer, and the compliant nature of our solutions.
While there is a lot we can share, here are some key takeaways:
On finding PMF: Separate your ‘power users’ from your ‘airdrop farmers’, and align your roadmap with the needs of your smartest customers
On knowing your customers: Build for the users you want to attract in the *long term*, even if another audience feels easier now.
On building and designing tokens: Network tokens are best when they are designed to support network effects or to pay users for securing the protocol
On Custody and Regulation: In a complex regulatory environment, using a self-custodial solution is the most compliant position and avoids significant legal and financial burden
On Community: Your moat is your community: cultivate passionate clients and employees
On Branding: Find your "minimum viable brand" while you search for PMF, and continue to finetune your messaging
On founder stories: Founders need to position themselves as thought leaders - keep building your social media muscle!
On fundraising: Even when you’re not fundraising - you’re fundraising.
On Web3: Web3 is a new way of thinking about the world, and isn’t always aligned with traditional business models
On teambuilding: As founders and managers, commit to a culture of feedback to build and motivate the best team
The program culminated with a fantastic demo day program, with each of the twenty five companies presenting their story and vision to a room full of the top operators and investors in Web3.
We showcased not only Tweed’s current solutions - our compliant wallet-as-a-service and token checkout solutions - but also our vision to help businesses and consumers pay and get paid in the way that makes sense for them. We know that the future of payments will be built with web3 - if you want to learn more, set up time with us!
Over the last three months, Tweed has been lucky to work with the best and brightest at a16z crypto, hearing from experts on technology, infrastructure, regulation, GTM, and more. We’ve learned from a16z crypto CTO Eddy Lazarin about Protocol and Token Design, dove into security best practices with cybersecurity expert Matt Gleason, and reviewed the policy and regulatory outlooks with former SEC Corporate Finance chairman Bill Hinman and Head of Regulatory Michele Kerver. We spent time with crypto legend and the a16z crypto founder himself, Chris Dixon.
We reviewed and validated our architecture with top experts in the field, digging into all aspects of our platform including the security of our key management, the scalability of our payment layer, and the compliant nature of our solutions.
While there is a lot we can share, here are some key takeaways:
On finding PMF: Separate your ‘power users’ from your ‘airdrop farmers’, and align your roadmap with the needs of your smartest customers
On knowing your customers: Build for the users you want to attract in the *long term*, even if another audience feels easier now.
On building and designing tokens: Network tokens are best when they are designed to support network effects or to pay users for securing the protocol
On Custody and Regulation: In a complex regulatory environment, using a self-custodial solution is the most compliant position and avoids significant legal and financial burden
On Community: Your moat is your community: cultivate passionate clients and employees
On Branding: Find your "minimum viable brand" while you search for PMF, and continue to finetune your messaging
On founder stories: Founders need to position themselves as thought leaders - keep building your social media muscle!
On fundraising: Even when you’re not fundraising - you’re fundraising.
On Web3: Web3 is a new way of thinking about the world, and isn’t always aligned with traditional business models
On teambuilding: As founders and managers, commit to a culture of feedback to build and motivate the best team
The program culminated with a fantastic demo day program, with each of the twenty five companies presenting their story and vision to a room full of the top operators and investors in Web3.
We showcased not only Tweed’s current solutions - our compliant wallet-as-a-service and token checkout solutions - but also our vision to help businesses and consumers pay and get paid in the way that makes sense for them. We know that the future of payments will be built with web3 - if you want to learn more, set up time with us!