Despite having Joe Lubin’s billions at its back, and despite having 1,200 employees to build apparently anything they wanted in the Ethereum ecosystem, ConsenSys has accomplished very little and has little revenue — so it’s finally facing the music and laying off 13% of its employees. Jeff Kauflin, staff writer at Forbes, who wrote a great story on how ConsenSys is flailing, discusses how the company got to this place. (Hint: asteroid mining and college diplomas on a blockchain are part of the answer.) We talk about whether any ConsenSys projects actually have some traction, how much of the new focus has to do with the downturn in the crypto markets — particularly bitcoin and ether, which are rumored to comprise most of Lubin’s wealth — and what ConsenSys’s difficulties mean for Ethereum.
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Episode Links:
Jeff Kauflin’s stories on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/jeffkauflin/#6083b54463ae
On Twitter: https://twitter.com/JeffKauflin
Jeff’s story on ConsenSys: https://www.forbes.com/sites/jeffkauflin/2018/12/05/cryptopia-in-crisis-billionaire-joe-lubins-ethereum-experiment-is-a-mess-how-long-will-he-prop-it-up/#c3354702f0a6
Letter from Joe announcing new focus on efficiency and revenue: https://breakermag.com/exclusive-consensys-letter-to-staff-details-major-strategy-shift/
CoinDesk article reporting layoffs at ConsenSys: https://www.coindesk.com/consensys-confirms-layoffs-projecting-13-of-staff-at-startups-to-be-cut
Joe Lubin’s estimated personal wealth as of early 2018: https://www.forbes.com/sites/laurashin/2018/02/07/joseph-lubin-ethereum-ether-consensys-crypto-cryptocurrency/#58d513863575
