MoneyNeverSleeps

Javier Tamashiro is the co-founder and CEO of Ospree, a comprehensive anti-money laundering compliance solution for Virtual Asset Service Providers that seamlessly integrates customer onboarding, blockchain monitoring, and the Travel Rule.

Javier and his Ospree co-founders Anne Winston and Jukka Pellinen are one of the 12 founding teams forming the Techstars Web3 accelerator class of 2023. 

By connecting to premium on-chain and off-chain data suppliers, Ospree offers a centralized repository of high-quality alerts for risk and compliance teams. With Ospree, institutions and SMEs serving the crypto and wider digital asset markets today can significantly reduce false positives, benefit from a single point of reference for Travel Rule data transactions, and automate and scale essential compliance operations.

Before co-founding Ospree in 2019, Javier’s tour of duty in TradFi included stops at S&P Global Market Intelligence, Standard Chartered Bank and Credit Suisse.  At each stop along the way, Javier operated in business intelligence and regtech roles, and he has been actively involved in blockchain projects since 2014. 

In this episode, Javier and Pete Townsend explore the blend of Japanese and Argentinian cultures that made Javier who he is today, and the life experiences that led him to the Ospree vision. We then dive into crypto market growth as a proxy for the wider growth of digital assets, and the role that compliance solutions can play in opening up the crypto floodgates for institutional capital.

LINKS:

Learn more about Ospree

Connect with Javier Tamashiro on LinkedIn and Twitter

Follow Ospree on LinkedIn and Twitter

Episode title inspired by ‘Trust’ by NF

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Check out our MoneyNeverSleeps website and email us at [email protected]

Follow us on Twitter:  MoneyNeverSleeps  |  Eoin Fitzgerald  |  Pete Townsend

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Greg Hannam is the co-founder and CEO of Peerkat a data analytics tool for marketers to help them understand their users, increase engagement and drive growth in their web3 strategies. In this episode, Greg chats with Pete Townsend about how his life experience drove him to the Peerkat vision, driving value for brands moving from web2 to web3, the evolution of non-fungible tokens (or NFTs) beyond profile pics, and a few life lessons along the way.

Peerkat is also one of the 12 founding teams forming the Techstars Web3 accelerator class of 2023.

Peerkat combines multiple data sources with machine learning to connect the dots between web2 and web3 and provide powerful insights into user behavior across disparate platforms.

Before co-founding Peerkat with Ben Marshall and Ike Iwumene, Greg’s roots bring him back to mechanical engineering at the University of Leeds before diving headfirst into deep data analytics and product management.  Greg then worked with a number of VC-backed deep tech startups in the AI space developing product, growth, and operations functions.

LINKS:

Learn more about ⁠Peerkat⁠

Connect with Greg Hannam on LinkedIn and Twitter

Follow Peerkat on LinkedIn and Twitter

Episode title inspired by ‘First Chain’ by Big Sean ft. Nas and Kid Cudi

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Check out our MoneyNeverSleeps website and email us at [email protected]

Follow us on Twitter:  MoneyNeverSleeps  |  Eoin Fitzgerald  |  Pete Townsend

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Howie Young is the founder and CEO of Protico, a universal chatting interface that enables web3 chat on apps in seconds for enterprises that want to migrate business and engage customers at the web3 level. 

Protico is also one of the 12 founding teams forming the Techstars Web3 accelerator class of 2023.

With over eight years of experience in the chat and messaging industry, Howie Young is a highly skilled and dedicated professional who has built a reputation for delivering innovative and user-focused solutions. Combining a strong foundation in business with extensive self-taught technical expertise, Howie has contributed to the development of numerous successful and creative products that are used in more than 100 countries around the world.

Also, Howie has been fueling his creative mind as the founder of a co-working space for the startup ecosystem back home in Taipei, Taiwan since 2014.

In this episode, Howie and Pete Townsend riff on his life experiences to date that led him to launch Protico before digging into Howie’s first steps into the market with Protico’s MVP and how he expects network effects will follow.  We also get into the crossover of web2 users into web3, some of the key challenges Howie sees ahead, and his big ‘earned secret’ from his life in startup ecosystems.

LINKS:

Learn more about Protico

Connect with Howie Young on LinkedIn and Twitter

Follow Protico on LinkedIn and Twitter

Episode title inspired by ‘The Message’ by Nas

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Check out our MoneyNeverSleeps website and email us at [email protected]

Follow us on Twitter:  MoneyNeverSleeps  |  Eoin Fitzgerald  |  Pete Townsend

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Deb Pratiher is the co-founder and CEO of Quest Labs, building infrastructure enabling organizations to leverage data in a privacy-preserving manner to unlock powerful user experiences.

Quest Labs is also one of the 12 founding teams forming the Techstars Web3 accelerator class of 2023.

Deb Pratiher is a product leader and engineer with experience building and scaling data infrastructure and systems at big tech companies. She is passionate about AI and web3 and the intersection of both. Prior to starting Quest she worked and researched at Nvidia, Visa, Tesla, and Carnegie Mellon University, as she was chosen for the highly selective Kleiner Perkins Fellowship Program.

In this episode, Deb and Pete Townsend speed-run through her life experiences that brought her to the point of co-founding Quest Labs, before we dig into why the world needs what Quest are bringing to market right now   We also talk through the interplay of owning your own data on this big wonderful creation called the internet, and how that drives the network effect that will deliver the future that Quest is running toward

LINKS:

Learn more about Quest Labs

Connect with Deb Pratiher on LinkedIn and Twitter

Follow Quest Labs on LinkedIn and Twitter

Episode title inspired by ‘Footprints’ by A Tribe Called Quest

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Follow us on Twitter:  MoneyNeverSleeps  |  Eoin Fitzgerald  |  Pete Townsend

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Igor Khmel is the co-founder and CEO of SaveChain, the borderless banking app. SaveChain features a self-custody 'stablecoin-only' wallet with a banking interface for the global underbanked, with the option to open an FDIC-insured bank account for non-US residents. In short, SaveChain is Metamask meets Revolut.

SaveChain is also one of the 12 founding teams forming the Techstars Web3 accelerator class of 2023.

Originally from Ukraine but now based in the US, Igor Khmel has been honing his craft for the past 17 years, including experience in the investment banking and corporate finance practice of Deloitte and McKinsey, a Stanford MBA, then in venture and as an entrepreneur in residence with Sberbank, and he’s now a third-time founder in fintech and crypto.

In this episode, Igor and Pete Townsend slide down the arc of Igor’s life in finance and ventures that led to his inspiration for SaveChain, the societal factors driving the need to pair a USD bank account with a stablecoin wallet, how Igor expects the SaveChain customer experience will evolve, and the hurdles that SaveChain will need to clear to scale globally

LINKS:

Learn more about SaveChain

Connect with Igor Khmel on LinkedIn and Twitter

Follow SaveChain on LinkedIn and Twitter

Episode title inspired by ‘Dollar and a Dream’ by The Game

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Check out our MoneyNeverSleeps website and email us at [email protected]

Follow us on Twitter:  MoneyNeverSleeps  |  Eoin Fitzgerald  |  Pete Townsend

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Lee Gray is the co-founder and CEO of SonX, a community platform that allows superfans to subscribe to their favorite musicians via a monthly membership fee unlocking fan-only ticketing, exclusive audio content, and digital and physical collectibles. SonX is also one of the 12 founding teams forming the Techstars Web3 accelerator class of 2023.

In this episode, Lee and Pete Townsend dig into why it made so much sense for Lee to launch SonX alongside his co-founder Lewis Donovan, some of the ins and outs of the music industry that point to the need for SonX, Lee’s longer-term vision for SonX, and the core challenge of uniting musicians and their superfans.

LINKS:

Learn more about SonX

Connect with Lee Gray on Instagram or email

Follow SonX on Twitter

Episode title inspired by ‘Payday’ by Doja Cat

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Check out our MoneyNeverSleeps website and email us at [email protected]

Follow us on Twitter:  MoneyNeverSleeps  |  Eoin Fitzgerald  |  Pete Townsend

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Katerina Bohle Carbonell is the co-lead of TogetherCrew, one of the 12 founding teams forming the Techstars Web3 accelerator. Some web3 communities fall apart under pressure, others come together stronger. TogetherCrew exists to help build and grow communities by ensuring members and stakeholders create together.  

Katerina’s life’s work goes broad and deep on how members of teams and communities attract, engage and retain new contributors, and how people collaborate and co-create within communities - collectively known as ‘network science’.  With the advent of DAOs (Decentralized Autonomous Organizations) in the last few years and the massive opportunity to apply network science to web3 communities, Katerina joined up with Daniel Ospina and Ashish Gangrade to co-lead TogetherCrew in 2022.

Katerina and Pete Townsend dig into how her life’s work led her to TogetherCrew, what TogetherCrew is doing right now, the longer-term vision for TogetherCrew when virtual organizations become the norm, the challenges that Katerina expects they’ll face on the way there.

LINKS:

Learn more about TogetherCrew

Connect with Katerina Bohle Carbonell on Twitter

Follow TogetherCrew on Twitter

Episode title inspired by ‘One Tribe’ by Black Eyed Peas

Leave a review and subscribe on Apple Podcasts | Spotify 

Check out our MoneyNeverSleeps website and email us at [email protected]

Follow us on Twitter:  MoneyNeverSleeps  |  Eoin Fitzgerald  |  Pete Townsend

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Jesse Phillips is the co-founder and CEO of TrustWare, one of the 12 founding teams forming the Techstars Web3 accelerator.  Jesse and Pete Townsend dig into how Jesse got into crypto, the TrustWare vision he formed with co-founder Jonathan Frazier, adjusting to some of the crypto curveballs the world is throwing at TrustWare, and how life experiences are informing the building and scaling of TrustWare.

TrustWare is a secure, recoverable, non-custodial crypto vault that connects users in a social network for sharing value. Jesse is a seasoned entrepreneur and deep thinker in the blockchain space, who is on a mission to revolutionize the way we handle digital assets and payments. With a deep understanding of decentralized technologies and their potential to empower individuals and communities, Jesse is dedicated to creating secure and democratic solutions for the future of finance and security.

LINKS

Learn more about TrustWare

Connect with Jesse Phillips on LinkedIn or by email

Follow Trustware on LinkedIn and Twitter

Episode title inspired by ‘I Left My Wallet in El Segundo’ by A Tribe Called Quest

Leave a review and subscribe on Apple Podcasts | Spotify 

Check out our MoneyNeverSleeps website and email us at [email protected]

Follow us on Twitter:  MoneyNeverSleeps  |  Eoin Fitzgerald  |  Pete Townsend

--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/moneyneversleeps/support

This episode features a rundown of the 12 web3 founding teams that form the Techstars Web3 class of 2023, along with an intro to each of their CEOs. 

Builders gotta build, and build better.

That was the Techstars Web3 rallying cry when Pete Townsend and Hugh McGirr opened up applications for the Techstars Web3 2023 cohort in November 2022, as finding those building for the long-term - rather than chasing token markets - was the priority.  

Each one of these 12 founding teams embody web3 in their own way, whether they’re building web3 companies, communities, or economies. Techstars found these founding teams all over the world from Taiwan to the West Coast of the US, and they’re building web3 infrastructure, ‘DeFi Mullets’, DAO tooling, and creator ecosystems.

LINKS

Learn more about the Techstars Web3 Class of 2023 and connect with each team here

Follow Techstars Web3 on LinkedIn and Twitter

Episode title inspired by World Class by Snoop Dogg and Wiz Khalifa

Leave a review and subscribe on Apple Podcasts | Spotify 

Check out our MoneyNeverSleeps website and email us at [email protected]

Follow us on Twitter:  MoneyNeverSleeps  |  Eoin Fitzgerald  |  Pete Townsend

--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/moneyneversleeps/support

Patrick Pinschmidt is a General Partner and Co-Founder at MiddleGame Ventures, a financial technology venture capital fund focused on early-stage investments in Europe.

In this episode, Patrick riffs with Pete Townsend on the life experiences that delivered him to venture capital and what Patrick looks for in fintech founders in the context of MiddleGame Ventures’ Irish seed fund. Patrick and Pete also dive into Patrick’s lessons learned as an investor, investing in lines not dots, and the human focus of early-stage investing.

LINKS:

Learn more about MiddleGame Ventures on their website

Follow Patrick Pinschmidt on LinkedIn and Twitter

Episode title inspired by In the Middle by G-Eazy

Leave a review and subscribe on Apple Podcasts | Spotify 

Check out our MoneyNeverSleeps website and email us at [email protected]

Follow us on Twitter:  MoneyNeverSleeps  |  Eoin Fitzgerald  |  Pete Townsend

--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/moneyneversleeps/support