Venture capitalists invest in Bitcoin infrastructure – Bitcoin Magazine
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In this week’s episode of “Bitcoin Bottom Line”, hosts CJ Wilson and Josh Olszewicz are joined by Alyse Killeen, founder and managing partner of Stillmark.
Wilson begins by asking: “Having a little focus or a lot of focus on Bitcoin makes your experience as a venture capitalist absolutely fascinating to me. Where does it all begin? “
Killeen replies, “I started venture capital about a decade ago and always focused primarily on infrastructure technologies. While doing so, I discovered Bitcoin and specifically recognized an opportunity for a financial technology that served poor people and the world’s very large population without banks. and subbanks. For me, it was so compelling. “
By moving the conversation towards Stillmark, Olszewicz says: “You have really focused, at least based on your portfolio list recently, on Lightning. Was it a decision early when it developed, and beyond Lightning now, what do you see in the future?”
In response, Killeen deepens the structure: “We are investing in two buckets, and the first bucket is the financing of bitcoin, the asset … Bucket number two are companies doing these” moonshot projects “built on Lightning … where the market has been, “And so our focus is on infrastructure-related companies, so sometimes it can feel a little less personal or a little less flashy or relatable. However, the parts of the infrastructure that are really going to affect the daily experiences of people using Lightning are being built now.”
She goes on to say: “Instead of being a bitcoin fund, we are actually a generalist fund within the Bitcoin area, so we do from top to bottom – everything that is happening in Bitcoin right now.”
Wilson asks, “How would you say trust in founders is shifting from traditional VCs to bitcoin ventures?”
The guy answers: “It was the opportunity for Stillmark. It was not to follow the old school’s VC mindset, but to use the tools and framework for traditional initiatives that work incredibly well to strengthen the founders and apply it to a new paradigm. “
Killeen continues on the venture capitalist line, “We think of venture capital as just resources to help entrepreneurs accelerate where they are going. So we normally support people who are going to get there anyway, and hopefully with us, through capital and sometimes with network introductions and support from previous experience from working with hundreds of companies, founders can build faster.Now, from a Bitcoin perspective, there is another nuance … If we do a good job, I hope it means that adoption is catalyzed, and also “The toolkit offered in Bitcoin is expanding. So my hope is that if we do a good job, the core value of bitcoin can be increased.”
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