Perspectives on Web3: Building, Investing, and Policymaking

Series Overview

The Perspectives of Web3 virtual series led by the Technology and Public Purpose Project convenes a multidisciplinary group of speakers to address the emergence of opportunities and challenges in web3. Web3 has made headlines for being the “next era of the internet” and has gained traction in the last couple of years with the emergence of new forms of decentralized finance and human coordination. While web3 is an incredibly nascent area, it has attracted significant investment and policymakers are taking notice.

Join us in a three-part virtual panel series as we explore web3 from the perspectives of builders, investors, and policymakers in this space.
 

Series Events

• Building in Web3 - October 20, 2022 at 4PM ET [This is a past event.]
• Investing in Web3 - November 17, 2022 at 4PM ET [This is a past event.]
• Policymaking in Web3 - December 1, 2022 at 4PM ET
   

Series Hosts

Building in Web3

Building in Web3 is the first session of this three-part web3 series, where we explore web3 from the perspectives of builder.

This session took place on October 20, 2022; an event recording will be posted in the coming weeks.

Panelists

Joshua Tan,  Executive Director, Metagov

Joshua Tan is a mathematician and computer scientist at Stanford, Oxford, and Metagov whose research focuses on applications of higher mathematics to the design of intelligent systems. He is co-founder and executive director of Metagov. He is also an executive editor of Compositionality, a peer-reviewed journal, and editor of Applied Category Theory, a book series published by Cambridge University Press. He previously held fellowships at Wharton, Princeton, MIT, and NIST.

Scott Fitsimones,  Founder of CityDAO

Scott Fitsimones is an urbanist, engineer and passionate technologist. He is the recipient of the Thiel Fellowship, which rewards entrepreneurs who drop out of college in order to pursue big ideas.

Mary-Catherine (MC) Lader,  COO of Uniswap Labs

Mary-Catherine (MC) Lader is the Chief Operating Officer of Uniswap Labs, a developer of foundational web3-based products and applications. In this role, she oversees the company’s growth efforts, strategic initiatives, and operations. Previously, she held various leadership roles at BlackRock, including as the Global Head of the firm’s digital sustainability business, Chief Operating Officer of the firm’s digital wealth business, and leader of the firm’s strategic fintech investments and blockchain activities. MC began her career as an investor in Goldman Sachs’ Special Situations Group. She received her J.D. and M.B.A. degrees at Harvard Law School and Harvard Business School, respectively, and her B.A. at Brown.
 

Co-moderators

Investing in Web3

Invested in Web3 was the second session of this three-part web3 series, where we explore web3 from the perspectives of investors. 

This session took place on November 17, 2022; an event recording will be posted in the coming weeks.

Panelists

Nick Ducoff, Partner at G20 Ventures

Nick Ducoff is a VC investor, 2x founder, and educator. As a Partner at G20 Ventures, Nick invests in web3 founders building the ownership economy. He’s an investor in Minteo, Buildspace, Flipside Crypto, Unchained Capital, and Catalog. Previously, Nick co-founded two VC-backed tech companies that were acquired and served as Northeastern University’s Vice President for New Ventures.
 

Brandon Hoffman (MPA'16), Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Sunset Ventures

Brandon Hoffman is the Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Sunset Ventures, an early-stage venture fund that backs founders who are redefining the internet to be more inclusive and accessible. He has focused a lot on the shift from web2 to web3, specifically in gaming, media, fintech, and commerce sectors, and led prior investments into companies such as Yuga Labs, The Sandbox, Ready Player Me, Wyre, and Immunefi. Previously, he was a Venture Principal at Samsung Next, where he also co-launched the Chief Innovation Office. Brandon worked as an equity research analyst at Morgan Stanley covering the Internet sector. He started his career as a music creator while working a day job in bank branches across Southern California for close to a decade. He received his MBA from Wharton, his MPA from Harvard Kennedy School as a Sheila C. Johnson Fellow at the Center for Public Leadership, and his BA from CSU Fullerton and Cypress Community College. He currently lives in Los Angeles.
 

Lauren Stephanian, Partner at Pantera Capital

Lauren Stephanian is a Partner at Pantera Capital where she focuses on the firm’s venture capital and hedge fund investments. Since joining the firm at the start of 2018, Lauren has used her background in software engineering and finance to shape fund operations and make investment decisions, helping the the fund grow from $300M to $6B in managed assets. Lauren has executed numerous investments over the past ~5 years and sits on the board of Pinata, VALR, and Staked. Prior to joining Pantera, Lauren worked in trading at Bank of America after starting her career as a developer at a trading platform in New York. She holds a degree in Computer Science from Columbia University and has contributed to several projects in the crypto space as a solidity dev and data analyst.
 

Co-Moderators

Policymaking in Web3

Join us for the third and final session of this three-part web3 series, where we explore web3 from the perspectives of policymakers. This session is open to the public and registration is now open.

Time: December 1, 2022 | 4:00 - 5:00 PM ET
Location: Online (Zoom)

• RSVP Here

Panelists

Primavera De Filippi, Research Director at the National Center of Scientific Research; Faculty Associate at the Berkman-Klein Center for Internet & Society

Primavera De Filippi is a Research Director at the National Center of Scientific Research in Paris, and Faculty Associate at the Berkman-Klein Center for Internet & Society at Harvard. She is the author of “Blockchain and the Law” published by Harvard University Press. Founding member of the Global Future Council on Blockchain Technologies at the World Economic Forum, she is the founder and coordinator of the U.N. Internet Governance Forum’s dynamic coalitions on Blockchain Technology (COALA).  She was recently awarded a €2M grant from the European Research Council (ERC) to investigate how blockchain technology can help improve institutional governance through greater confidence and trust.
 

Connor Spelliscy, Executive Director of the DAO Research Collective

Connor is a crypto researcher and advocate, primarily focused on DAOs. Connor is the Executive Director of the DAO Research Collective, which accelerates DAO functionality by procuring and open sourcing targeted research foundational to effective DAO operation.

He also advises DAO foundations and non-profits on initiatives designed to improve the crypto ecosystem with a particular focus on equitable access to legal information and improving policy. He co-founded the Blockchain Association and Canadian Web3 Council, which are the leading industry associations for crypto companies in the United States and Canada respectively.
 

Miles Jennings, General Counsel and Head of Decentralization of a16z Crypto

Miles Jennings is General Counsel and Head of Decentralization of a16z Crypto, where he advises the firm and its portfolio companies on decentralization, DAOs, governance, NFTs and state and federal securities laws. Previously, Miles was a partner at Latham & Watkins, where he co-chaired the firm's global blockchain and cryptocurrency task force, and represented nearly all of the most prominent venture capital firms and dozens of high-profile startups operating in the sector.
 

David Kerr, Principal of Cowrie LLC

David is the principal of Cowrie LLC, where he assists clients in developing risk mitigation and business development strategies within web3. He has over 10 years of experience in tax strategy, financial accounting and risk advisory in gaming, telecom and software-based sales.

David is a member of FWBs treasury team, a contributor to the World Economic Forum / Wharton School’s DAO Project Series and is the Head of Research for the DAO Research Collective, which is dedicated to open-sourcing research foundational for effective DAO operations.

A prolific author on the subject of DAOs, David and Miles Jennings’ (Head of Decentralization & GC, a16z) definitive series on DAO Legal Frameworks was a significant contribution to the development of legal thinking on DAOs.
 

Lindsey Kelleher, Senior Policy Manager, Blockchain Association

Lindsey is a senior policy manager at Blockchain Association, leading policy efforts on AML/CFT, sanctions, privacy, banking, stablecoins, and climate. She joined the association after participating in Teach for America in the San Francisco Bay Area. Prior to TFA, Lindsey attended Princeton University where she studied History and Spanish and was the team captain of the Varsity Women’s Water Polo Team.
 

Co-Moderators