Shaun Maguire and Michelle Bailhe, partners at Sequoia, discuss their long term view and thesis about crypto, what do they look for to invest in a crypto project, the takeaways from the blowup of Terra, the insolvency of crypto companies, and much more.

Show highlights:

  • what is Sequoia’s long term view and thesis about the crypto industry
  • how different our lives will look in 20 years from now due to blockchain technology
  • how Sequoia had to adapt to invest in this new asset class and what are the similarities and differences with investing in traditional startups
  • when a product or service on the internet should be offered in a decentralized or centralized way
  • how Sequoia decides whether to invest in the entity behind a project or in the tokens
  • whether having venture capitalists involved at all goes against the ethos of decentralization
  • why Shaun believes that Ethereum proved that decentralization can be achieved even when you start being centralized
  • whether people underestimate the value that VCs can add to a project
  • why Shaun believes that Solana is moving towards decentralization
  • Sequoia’s thesis about privacy in crypto and the potential of zero-knowledge proofs 
  • how Michelle sees the macroeconomic environment impacting crypto and whether this cycle is different from the previous ones
  • the importance of product market fit in crypto projects
  • what crypto projects should be focusing on and the business model they should be pursuing
  • the main takeaways of the Terra collapse and how it was a major setback for algo stablecoins
  • how crypto founders should always do the right thing even though there is no clear regulation
  • whether SBF is the Berkshire Hathaway of crypto today
  • the lessons to be learned from the potential insolvency of some crypto lenders and investment firms
  • how demand for blockspace will keep increasing and whether a single blockchain could supply all that space
  • the future of the metaverse and how it can be defined
  • Michelle’s mental model for crypto and the phases for achieving worldwide adoption

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KXINL12PftA

Thank you to our sponsors!

Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unconfirmedcardearnfeb2021

Beefy Finance: https://beefy.finance/

Ava Labs: https://www.avax.network/

Shaun Maguire: 

Michelle: 

Bear Market:

Terra

  • Shaun’s take on stablecoins: 

https://twitter.com/shaunmmaguire/status/1524420727968976898?s=20&t=26DylQ2_YbW36Y4ZMwxVFw

 

Read the episode transcript here