Jonathan Lai is a general partner and founding investor of <strong>A16Z</strong> GAMES at Andreessen Horowitz, where he focuses on investing at the intersection of games and consumer, social, web3, infrastructure, and fintech.

Investing in Yellow | Andreessen Horowitz

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Founded in 2009 by Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz, Andreessen Horowitz (known as "a16z") is a venture capital firm in Silicon Valley, California, that backs bold entrepreneurs building the future through technology. We are stage agnostic: We invest in seed to late-stage technology companies, across the consumer, enterprise, bio/healthcare, crypto, and fintech spaces. a16z has $19.2B in assets under management across multiple funds, including the $1.4B Bio funds, the $3.1B Crypto funds, and the Cultural Leadership Fund.

a16z is defined by respect for the entrepreneur and the entrepreneurial company building process; we know what it’s like to be in the founder’s shoes. The firm is led by general partners, many of whom are former founders/operators, CEOs, or CTOs of successful technology companies, and who have domain expertise ranging from biology to crypto to distributed systems to security to marketplaces to financial services.

We aim to connect entrepreneurs, investors, executives, engineers, academics, industry experts, and others in the technology ecosystem. We have built a network of experts including technical and executive talent; top media and marketing resources; Fortune 500/Global 2000 companies; as well as other technology decision makers, influencers, and key opinion leaders. a16z uses this network as part of our commitment to help our portfolio companies grow their business, so our operating teams provide entrepreneurs with access to expertise and insights across the entire spectrum of company building.

https://a16z.com/portfolio/  
https://a16z.com/podcasts/  
https://a16z.com/videos/  
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Andreessen Horowitz

We are very excited to announce that we have raised a new round of funding led by (a16z) with participation from and existing investors. Andreessen Horowitz Y Combinator Continuity This fundraise comes at the back of our impressive growth, as we are now sending for some of the most sophisticated engineering teams at companies both large (Fortune 500) and small (startups). billions of webhooks a year Companies like , , , , and , all use Svix to power their webhooks. Brex Lob Benchling Bizzabo LTSE Equity We have gotten to know the a16z and YC Continuity teams well over the last few months, and we are excited to be working with them for years to come, as well as continuing working with our amazing existing investors: , , Andrew Miklas, Yuri Sagalov ( ), Kevin Mahaffey ( ), Christopher Golda ( ), Jason Warner, Ian Storm Taylor, Kurt Mackey, Hana Mohan, Holly Dunlap, and Michael Orland. Aleph Y Combinator Wayfinder SNR Rogue Capital Today is an important milestone towards our mission of making server-to-server communication easy, secure, and reliable. So I want to take this opportunity to thank the team for getting us to where we are today. I love waking up every day and being surrounded by such smart and passionate individuals, serving amazing customers, and working with the best investors out there! What is Svix? To talk about Svix, we first need to talk about webhooks. Webhooks are how services communicate; you can think of them as sort of a reverse API, or as the API equivalent of push notifications. They power most of the products that we all use on a daily basis. For example: when you make a payment online, a webhook is sent from the payment provider to the merchant; when you push a commit to Github, a webhook is sent to the CI providers to trigger a build; and when you use a workflow automation tool like Zapier, the workflows are almost always triggered by webhooks. Webhooks have also become an increasingly common customer demand, both by API providers and more importantly API consumers. We see this trend across all industries, where customers expect webhooks in order to be able to take action on events without having to poll for updates. It makes sense, as webhooks enable building workflows on top of products, turning them from useful into critical infrastructure, increasing both stickiness and usefulness. The problem, however, is that building a reliable webhook service requires a lot more engineering time, resources, and ongoing maintenance than you first expect. Which is especially painful, as it diverts valuable resources from improving the product, to reinventing infrastructure. We believe webhooks will follow a similar development pattern to other internet infrastructure—like email, web servers, and CMS—which only a few teams build on their own. That's where Svix comes in. With Svix, companies can build a secure, reliable, and scalable webhooks solution in minutes. Saving them a lot of time, effort, and money, while focusing on their business and increasing team happiness. Looking back Milestones are always a great time to reflect on the past. Looking back, I'm really proud of the product we have built, and how we've been supporting our customers. It never gets old to hear "wow, that was really fast" when we release a new feature shortly after discussing it with a customer. We deserve some credit for that (and we work hard to earn it), but a lot of the credit also belongs to our customers. We are very lucky to have such engaged customers, and doubly lucky to have them be developers. We often get very detailed feedback, specced out feature requests, and of course pull requests for both the code and the docs. I think this has also been the secret to why our customers love the product so much. It's because they helped us build it every step of the way, and they still do to this day. The same way it never gets old to hear about how fast we move with product development, it also never gets old to hear about how people use the product and how much they love it. This is by far one of the best products I've ever worked with. It does one thing but it does it
so well that I can't imagine ever doing my own webhooks solution. - Senior Engineering Manager at Bizzabo One super important but often underappreciated aspect of what we do, is the relentless focus on stability and scalability. We spend a lot of time and work really hard to ensure that we provide our customers with a robust service at the scale they need. Whether it's the quality of the code, the test suite, the infrastructure, or our SDLC, we always hold ourselves to the highest standards. It's one of those things that no one notices when you do your job well, but are essential for any infrastructure service. At the end of the day, however, it's not about what we have built, but rather how we are affecting the lives of our customers. Thanks to Svix our customers can offer a state of the art webhooks solution to their customers at a fraction of the time and cost it would take to build it themselves, with no ongoing maintenance, while getting constant improvements and automatic scaling. All of this while freeing their engineering teams to work on their core business. For more on that, you can see what . Lob had to say about their experience switching to Svix Looking forward We have identified an important (and growing) problem, built a great product to solve it, and started a whole new vertical along the way (webhooks as a service). This is why our customers, our investors, and the Svix team are so excited about webhooks and what we are building. We have an opportunity to become an industry defining company, which is why we have decided to raise this round of funding, and partner with some of the best investors out there. We are going to use the money and the support of our new investors, to further expand the team and improve the product to keep up with the demand and our ever evolving customer needs.  We have a lot of exciting stuff lined up, and we can't wait to share them! If you are passionate about developer tools, webhooks, and server-to-server communication and you think you may be a good fit, please check out our . careers page If your company is looking to start sending webhooks, or upgrade their existing legacy solution, or . try us out check out our docs Also published here.

How My Startup Got New Funding from Andreessen Horowitz

Cómo mi startup obtuvo nuevos fondos de Andreessen Horowitz

Comment ma startup a obtenu un nouveau financement d'Andreessen Horowitz

कैसे मेरे स्टार्टअप को आंद्रेसेन होरोविट्ज़ से नई फंडिंग मिली

私のスタートアップがアンドリーセン・ホロウィッツから新しい資金を調達した方法

Como minha startup conseguiu novos financiamentos da Andreessen Horowitz

Làm thế nào Startup của tôi có được nguồn vốn mới từ Andreessen Horowitz

我的初创公司如何从 Andreessen Horowitz 获得新资金

Investment and Technology Giants Join NYM, a privacy-based blockchain as validators Dokia Capital, an a16z-backed Figment, Chorus One, and Telcom behemoth Swisscom joined Nym as a validator. The validators keep the mixnet privacy system running by providing consensus on the mix node network architecture at any given moment and public history of all token transactions, certificate generation, and double-spending prevention. This general-purpose Web-Assembly smart contract blockchain provides low-cost, lightning-fast transactions and smart contract execution speed up to 10,000 transactions per second (TPS). The outcome is a comprehensive, general-purpose smart contract blockchain that combines  privacy features and a Web Assembly-based smart contract environment. Earlier, Nym Technologies hired Chelsea Manning, a former US Army intelligence analyst and whistleblower who used the anonymity program Tor to disclose thousands of sensitive papers in 2011. Nym is gearing up to expedite the emergence of the private web powered by blockchain with a new $13 million capital investment, valuing the three-year-old Neuchâtel, Switzerland-based firm at roughly $270 million. To maintain track of the status of the network, Nym is employing a blockchain rather than a semi-centralized directory authority. They used the Tendermint blockchain and the Cosmos libraries to establish their network as validators. The blockchain is an open-source, decentralized, permissionless, and incentivized system that enables full-stack privacy, enabling developers to create apps that give users strong assurances against metadata snooping at both the network and authentication and payment levels. The company's staff comprises world-class researchers and developers from institutions such as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, KU Leuven, and University College London. The Need for Privacy in Layer-2 Blockchain Solution Layer 2 scaling solutions are aimed to increase throughput by off-chain processing transactions. Its goal is to increase the speed of transactions on the blockchain and lower transaction costs while retaining decentralization. Layer 2 offers a lot of promise for scalability and broad adoption of blockchain applications. Transaction custody consolidates all transactions over a certain period of time and issues a cryptographic commitment (commitment) on the updated transaction balances. The commitment and proofs will be submitted concurrently to the underlying blockchain, and the data will be computed using zero-knowledge proofs. Certain crucial elements must be considered to construct a blockchain with more security, decentralization, and scalability. Layer 2 does not alter the design scheme or consensus algorithm of the underlying Layer 1 blockchain since it continues to rely on the security and consensus mechanisms provided by it. Layer 2 often processes a substantial quantity of data and computations off-chain and only verifies on-chain (e.g. the Lightning Network). Layer 2 scaling solutions use a similar method, but their off-chain data and computations are generally validated online using smart contracts. All Layer 2 solutions announced by major tech teams now use trustless transaction custody (Operator) off-chain to enable transaction packaging and batch computation. On-chain smart contracts are often incorporated with zero-knowledge proof techniques and trusted computing technologies to guarantee fraud-proof off-chain computations.

Dokia Capital, Andreessen Horowitz backed Figment and Swisscom Join NYM as Validators

Thank you for riding shotgun with me here in the #vanlife of podcast writing. This week we’ll park at Sandhill Rd and unroll the shade. The passion economy and the creator stack Venture capital behemoth Andreessen Horowitz (A16Z) is a devilishly astute observer of human behavior. Recently they noticed that creative people believe deeply in their potential for success, influence, and fame, and they will make decisions—both small and large—to unlock it. They call the trend of people trying to build fame and fortune on their talents the and claim it’s the future of work. As part of a new media investment strategy, they are investing millions in businesses that accelerate the transition of people from working for larger media companies to being totally independent. Together, these businesses comprise the “creator stack.” passion economy This from former A16Z partner Li Jin lays out their vision of many independent creators working for themselves in clear-eyed detail. tweet thread And if you really want to go deep, here’s of the A16Z podcast on this topic with Jin and Patreon Cofounder Sam Yam. It’s full of optimism for creator potential and lacking any serious analysis of what happens to the passion economy at scale. an entire episode The companies of the “creator stack” are taking the media world by storm. They hardly need to market themselves as word-of-mouth and traditional press are doing the job for them. This week the New York Times ran what amounts to given that it starts with eye-popping figures like half million dollar contracts for indie writers, and we left the tab to start a Substack before finishing the article. a full page ad for Substack And why wouldn’t we? What other options are there? The vanishingly small set of opportunities available from traditional media companies to be paid vanishingly small amounts are forcing creators’ hands. So with nowhere else to turn, sexy new software starts to look pretty good. You’re reading this damn newsletter on Substack. I love well-crafted software, and I admit to not always looking to see who the investors are before jumping in with a new tool. Take Descript for example. Wait, Descript? What’s wrong with Descript? For one, they are sitting on a fat . On top of that, Andrew Mason founded Groupon which was the around the world for a few years, so he knows from experience how not to turn a blind eye to customer pain and how to grow a company . A16Z investment their founder bane of many small businesses faster than can be done while retaining a healthy culture As of right now, Mason’s Descript is staying in its lane as a valuable creative tool and not a monetization platform. But broadly, they’re obviously part of the “creator stack.” And as part of A16Z’s portfolio, Descript certainly adds leverage to the overall “platforming” of media that A16Z is trying to accomplish. By “platforming” I mean moving all media creation to independent creators, and removing all the “expensive baggage” that oversight, editorial vision, and institutions create. In place of that baggage is slick software with modest platform fees. In the case of Substack, it’s a mere 10% of your total revenue as an independent writer. Of course the platform owner (A16Z) makes vastly more money than platform participants by miles, but let’s focus on the opportunities for creators, right? You get to keep 90% of your success and 100% of your failure! That’s platforming. It shouldn’t be surprising that venture capitalists platforming because it’s a page right out of their own playbook. The way venture capital is that it expects a huge percentage of the companies it invests in to fail but a tiny handful to succeed so big that the failures are washed away by the riches of the one or two successes. And VCs understand that despite the nearly certain failure, entrepreneurs abound. love works We already have a full generation of America’s best and brightest (including me!) that jumped at the opportunity to be tech entrepreneurs despite the high likelihood of failure for a fraction of the salary and benefits earned by our big company working counterparts from earlier generations. Now it’s creators’ turn. If only 1% of Substack’s writers end up being successful, that’s fine for the platform owners as long as they are wildly successful. Everyone else has a gig waiting for them driving groceries for Instacart (another A16Z company). The other nice thing about platforming from A16Z’s perspective is that churn is money. Did you fail at being a Substack writer? That’s ok, they still got 10% of whatever you made while you gave it your best. (Quick side note about how I’ve kept the focus on A16Z as the owners and not the founders in the “creator stack.” A16Z would prefer we keep the focus on the entrepreneurs. They want to remain in the background with significant ownership, influence, and upside but out of the line of sight of accountability.) What can we do about A16Z’s corralling of all the sexy new media companies? I honestly don’t know if there’s much we can do. With Substack, we can certainly point out, loudly, that removing editorial oversight, economies of scale, and built-in audiences isn’t going to make a bunch of well-paid writers any more than removing regulatory oversight and wage-based employment made a bunch of well-paid Lyft (an A16Z company) drivers. With Clubhouse we can point out, loudly, that it’s not going to stay free forever, so then when they do “monetize”, what will the product be? (Hint: it’s listener data and creators’ content.) And finally with Descript, we can approach with caution. I’m not going to tell you they haven’t made some really good software. Their tools and tutorials are head-turning. But let’s wait and see what other companies pop up that are ready to compete with them that have a better source of capital. Also, whenever we recommend them, maybe we can mention their investors (A16Z) and wrinkle our noses like there’s a fart in the air. If you’re as motivated as me, you can look at your own toolset. I’m going to look into moving this newsletter over to because they have the same business model as Timber: make great software, sell that software for money with a . make great software with investor money and then collect rents off of users’ content. Platforms may say they’re charging for distribution and monetization, but those aren’t hard problems on the internet. Certainly not worth a percentage of your top line revenue. Ghost classic SaaS business model NOT But those signing bonuses! I think we could be on our way to a classic “how it started/how it’s going” meme in new media. The future of media with Andreessen Horowitz at the helm I’d love to be wrong and for people to resist the pull of the “creator stack.” I’d love it if we pushed up our collective nerd glasses and said, “Oh hell yeah, when it comes to technology, open protocols create more opportunity than closed systems even if they might be less efficient!” I’d love for us all to knowingly say, “Totally, and podcasting became great because of RSS, and the web became great because of HTTP!” In the meantime, even if new media goes deeper into the pit of platforming and thousands of hopeful people don’t emerge famous and well-paid, it’s a big world. Enough people will , understand how value works, and make good choices about what software they use and where they put their content. We will make a little self-sustaining group and make livings telling stories without lining Marc and Ben’s pockets. get it —Jon Christensen Previously published at Timber.fm

Andreessen Horowitz is Betting on the Passion Economy

Joseph Woodbury of Neighbor.com shares three pieces of advice on how to raise capital — from integrating yourself into the local ecosystem to being able to change your plans on a moment’s notice. Joseph Woodbury isn’t afraid of risks. It’s quite the contrary, in fact. Taking well-thought-out chances is exactly how he and his two co-founders — Preston Alder and Colton Gardner — launched and raised money for their startup, , an online marketplace people can use to store their items. Neighbor Before college graduation, all three had secured full-time jobs. But, plot twist: They ended up turning down their offers, choosing to dive full force into making Neighbor into something big. The idea for Neighbor came from Preston, who became frustrated when his only storage option was 30 minutes away, in a sketchy industrial park, and way out of his budget. Instead, he chose to keep his stuff in a friend’s garage. This option gave him peace of mind and saved him a ton of money, and he wondered why others weren’t doing it. Since Neighbor entered the world in 2017, they’ve raised several thousand dollars from business competitions, . $2.7 million in a seed round, and $10 million in a Series A And they certainly didn’t get to that point without more risk-taking. What if their competition pitch turned off possible investors? What if focusing on product over marketing yielded little to no user acquisition? But each decision they made was very strategic. They didn’t let uncertainty hold them back. In , Joseph shares how each of their risks paid off and helped them raise almost $13 million. an episode of How I Raised It 1. Start small and stay local At the beginning, Joseph and his co-founders entered Neighbor into a bunch of business competitions in their area. They lost some but won others, bringing in $10,000 here and there. All in all, they compiled around $35,000. This experience galvanized them. But, of course, money goes quickly, especially when you’re trying to scale a business. “You can only do door knocking and growth hacking tactics for so long,” Joseph says. These competitions ended up being the catalyst for Neighbor’s seed round. Because, as it turns out, a lot of local VC investors were in attendance. Several reached out to Neighbor afterward — they were impressed by both the idea and the team’s execution of it. Eventually, these conversations led to Neighbor securing $2.7 million for their seed round, which was led by Utah’s largest VC firm, , and biggest seed fund, . Pelion Ventures Album VC “It was great to bring on two different partners that could guide us,” Joseph says. “We were all very young founders, and they were very, very helpful in the early days.” Leverage local business competitions. They’ll provide you with great pitching experience, and you could gain invaluable exposure to investors. 2. Prove your product, then invest in marketing Neighbor spent their seed funding carefully, choosing to build a robust engineering organization rather than pay for various marketing campaigns. For the first several years of the business, they had a one-person marketing team and relied on organic growth. “We focused on the product and we iterated, iterated, iterated,” Joseph says. “We listened to customer feedback and made sure we’d solved all these nuanced problems and created a best-in-class product.” Putting all your money into marketing doesn’t make sense if your product sucks. When Neighbor started getting net promoter scores over 70, the co-founders knew they had a very solid product. So, they built the foundation for strong marketing and growth teams and started expanding into different markets through both organic and paid channels. Once they had a good playbook for establishing themselves in a new market, they decided it was time to pursue a Series A to help skyrocket their growth. Figure out how to use your capital efficiently before you start asking for more. At the end of the day, investors want to feel confident you’ll use their money wisely. 3. Identify your quintessential investors — and be willing to bend over backward to get them on board While raising their Series A, Joseph flew out to the Bay Area two to three times a week for investor meetings. He received multiple rejections but also some yeses, which were “always key to get the momentum moving,” he says. Then, mammoth firm got involved after one of Neighbor’s seed round partners spearheaded an introduction. Joseph flew to their offices and met with two investors, one being , who used to run eBay, PayPal, and OpenTable and had invested early in marketplaces like Airbnb and Instacart. Essentially, Jeff was Neighbor’s pie-in-the-sky partner. Andreessen Horowitz Jeff Jordan “He’s arguably the best marketplace investor in the world,” Joseph says. And that’s exactly what they were looking for — someone who had scaled marketplaces several times before. This is a great reminder to resist taking money from just anyone. Clearly define your ideal partner profile and go after that. As Joseph was boarding his flight back to Utah, his phone pinged. It was a message from Andreessen. They wanted to move forward, but they couldn’t unless three of their partners agreed. Remember: Joseph’s meeting was only with two. Andreessen also wanted to move fast because Neighbor already had a term sheet from another firm. When you’re raising funds, you need to be able to make decisions quickly, especially if your dream investors are on the line. So, Joseph left the airport and went back to the office to meet with Marc Andreessen, Jeff Jordan, and Andrew Chen. A few agonizing hours later, they told Joseph the good news: Neighbor had gotten the three yeses they needed. Neighbor closed their Series A at $10 million, which was the top end of their goal. WATCH a variation of this story with Jeff Jordan and Joseph Woodbury at Silicon Slopes: Nathan Beckord is the CEO of Foundersuite.com which makes software for raising capital. Foundersuite has helped entrepreneurs raise over $2 billion in seed and venture capital since 2016. This article is based on an episode of Foundersuite’s How I Raised It podcast , a behind-the-scenes look at how startup founders raise money.

That Moment When You're Boarding a Flight Home, and Andreessen Horowitz Calls...

Everything You Need to Know to Launch Your Crypto Startup in 2025

Your data and intellectual property against AI. So far, AI has been the winner, but can Story Protocol change that and give you back control over your data? What is Story Protocol, and why is it such a big deal [1]? In simple terms, it’s all about the ownership of your creations online. The Story Protocol is a layer 1 blockchain focused on tokenizing intellectual property, to ensure that the real IP owners can finally benefit from how their creations are used, for example, through royalties [1]. In a world where AI's gobbling up every bit of our data, it's a nice change of pace to see a project that actually wants to give us back some control, instead of just letting our digital lives become AI food. Intellectual Property? First, we should clarify what Intellectual Property (IP) actually is. IP is almost everything around you. Look around you, what do you see? A Coca-Cola can on your desk? The logo and brand name are protected intellectual property of “The Coca-Cola Company”. Are you reading this article on your MacBook? The design and technology are protected by numerous Apple patents and trademarks, so their IP. Wearing a T-shirt from your favorite brand? The logo and possibly the design are protected by copyright. And what were you going to do until you came across this article, maybe upload a new photo to Instagram? That’s essentially your IP. (Even if you grant Instagram certain rights to that image through the terms of use). So IP covers a wide range of creative and innovative creations that are legally protected. Estimating the global market value of IP is difficult, but we are potentially moving around a value of $61 Trillion [2]. The Story Protocol - a potential game changer The Story Protocol is a layer 1 blockchain tailored to the requirements needed to tokenize IP. It is a proof-of-stake blockchain built using the Cosmos SDK and CometBFT consensus, with an added EVM execution and can tokenize different types of IPs like art, music, images, code, ideas, and more. By tokenizing the IP, it becomes immutable thanks to smart contracts. It is possible to use tokenization and smart contracts to define the royalty agreement and the terms of usage on the blockchain. It can therefore not be exploited or used in an unintended manner - even in the event that the data is used for training AI or generating content through AI. The Proof of Creativity protocol validates the originality of content before monetization is allowed, protecting creators from unauthorized use by AI. These are good prerequisites for a thriving ecosystem of different dApps that can be built on this blockchain, and, in addition, the Story Protocol is compatible with LayerZero, which enables cross-chain compatibility [3]. The mainnet has been online since February 13, 2025, which is only a few days at the time of writing, so it's worth exploring the ecosystem [3]. A focus on the tokenomics: The blockchain has a native token called $IP, which fulfills multiple roles [4]: Staking to secure the blockchain as it is a proof-of-stake blockchain
Gas to pay for the transactions
$IP also acts as a governance token with which the future of the protocol can be decided In terms of distribution, it looks like this [4]: 38.4% - Ecosystem + Community
10% - Initial Incentives
10% - Foundation
21.6% - Early Backers
20% - Core Contributors The initial supply is 1 billion and only 25% are unlocked at launch. That's why one should also examine the vesting schedule, which is based on the scheme attached. Why is it worth keeping an eye on this project? I do not want to frame anybody here, as I have no exposure to Story Protocol, nor any collaboration. However, the project has caused quite a stir and traction within the crypto community, especially on Crypto Twitter, as we finally have a new and innovative project on our hands. Blockchains are now a dime a dozen, but rarely are they as sophisticated and innovative as this one. The project stands out as we are moving into a future in which data plays an increasingly important role. With today's omnipresent AI, our data is on the cusp of degenerating into data fodder that is recycled again and again. The Story Protocol offers a tailored solution to a real problem. Artists in particular, but actually everyone can benefit from being paid if someone wants to use your IP, even if an AI model is to be trained with it, or it is just used in connection with AI. This topic will become increasingly important in the future and a project like this gives us hope for a future in which human-generated content and AI-generated content can co-exist fairly. Nowadays, already, social media users realize that a big chunk of the content they consume on different platforms is AI-generated or AI-enhanced and not user-generated anymore. In addition to being innovative and offering a real solution to a real problem, the team around the Story Protocol consists of interesting personalities such as co-founder Jason Zhao, who previously worked on Google's DeepMind project and therefore brings relevant expertise to the table. In addition, big names are among the early investors and backers of the project. PIP Labs, for example, the chain's primary developer, was funded in its Series B by Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) with around $80 million and was able to raise a total of $140 million [2][5]. Conclusion I can't promise anyone here that the project will be a success and as I said before I have neither exposure nor any connection to the project. But when I heard about the project, it felt like a glimmer of hope in the very meme-driven crypto space of lately. Far too often we've seen new protocols that are simply copycats being launched without any additional innovation or value, which I wrote an article about already [6]. This project corresponds to the current zeitgeist of a future with AI, fulfills a real need, and could become essential in the future. Topics like these put the real purpose of blockchain in the foreground and have an effective benefit. In addition, this project is approaching the initial idea of values in crypto and Web 3, as our beloved Internet develops from Web 1 to Web 3 (picture below) [7]. The Story Protocol helps to maintain control over your IP and as long as it is tokenized on the blockchain, you own it, you own your IP as a proper part of the internet. Story Protocol is betting big on a future where creators truly own their work. What are your thoughts on this vision? Do you think this is necessary in an AI-dominated future, or are there other ways to protect the creator’s work? If you liked the article, don't hesitate to follow me here on Hackernoon and read my other stories too! And if you want to talk to me or collaborate on an article you can also write me on my X/Twitter or Bluesky, my username there is @Maxo1st as well. Cheers, xx References: [1] https://www.story.foundation/ [2] https://www.blocmates.com/articles/an-idiot-s-guide-to-story-protocol-the-world-s-ip-blockchain [3] https://www.story.foundation/blog/story-mainnet [4] https://www.story.foundation/blog/introducing-ip [5] https://www.coindesk.com/tech/2025/02/13/story-protocol-launches-to-let-people-to-register-ip-and-get-paid-for-it [6] https://medium.com/coinmonks/defi-fatigue-are-we-stuck-in-a-loop-the-current-and-devastating-state-of-defi-2025-7cb5ce478205 [7] https://etraverse.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/evolution_of_web_from_web_1_0_to_web_3_0_training_ppt_slide01.jpg Your data and intellectual property against AI. So far, AI has been the winner, but can Story Protocol change that and give you back control over your data? What is Story Protocol, and why is it such a big deal [1] ? In simple terms, it’s all about the ownership of your creations online. The Story Protocol is a layer 1 blockchain focused on tokenizing intellectual property, to ensure that the real IP owners can finally benefit from how their creations are used, for example, through royalties [1] . In a world where AI's gobbling up every bit of our data, it's a nice change of pace to see a project that actually wants to give us back some control, instead of just letting our digital lives become AI food. [1] [1] Intellectual Property? First, we should clarify what Intellectual Property (IP) actually is. IP is almost everything around you. Look around you, what do you see? A Coca-Cola can on your desk? The logo and brand name are protected intellectual property of “The Coca-Cola Company”. Are you reading this article on your MacBook? The design and technology are protected by numerous Apple patents and trademarks, so their IP. Wearing a T-shirt from your favorite brand? The logo and possibly the design are protected by copyright. And what were you going to do until you came across this article, maybe upload a new photo to Instagram? That’s essentially your IP. (Even if you grant Instagram certain rights to that image through the terms of use). So IP covers a wide range of creative and innovative creations that are legally protected. Estimating the global market value of IP is difficult, but we are potentially moving around a value of $61 Trillion [2] . [2] The Story Protocol - a potential game changer The Story Protocol is a layer 1 blockchain tailored to the requirements needed to tokenize IP. It is a proof-of-stake blockchain built using the Cosmos SDK and CometBFT consensus, with an added EVM execution and can tokenize different types of IPs like art, music, images, code, ideas, and more. By tokenizing the IP, it becomes immutable thanks to smart contracts. It is possible to use tokenization and smart contracts to define the royalty agreement and the terms of usage on the blockchain. It can therefore not be exploited or used in an unintended manner - even in the event that the data is used for training AI or generating content through AI. The Proof of Creativity protocol validates the originality of content before monetization is allowed, protecting creators from unauthorized use by AI. These are good prerequisites for a thriving ecosystem of different dApps that can be built on this blockchain, and, in addition, the Story Protocol is compatible with LayerZero, which enables cross-chain compatibility [3] . The mainnet has been online since February 13, 2025, which is only a few days at the time of writing, so it's worth exploring the ecosystem [3] . [3] [3] A focus on the tokenomics: The blockchain has a native token called $IP, which fulfills multiple roles [4] : [4] Staking to secure the blockchain as it is a proof-of-stake blockchain Gas to pay for the transactions $IP also acts as a governance token with which the future of the protocol can be decided Staking to secure the blockchain as it is a proof-of-stake blockchain Gas to pay for the transactions $IP also acts as a governance token with which the future of the protocol can be decided In terms of distribution, it looks like this [4] : [4] 38.4% - Ecosystem + Community 10% - Initial Incentives 10% - Foundation 21.6% - Early Backers 20% - Core Contributors 38.4% - Ecosystem + Community 10% - Initial Incentives 10% - Foundation 21.6% - Early Backers 20% - Core Contributors The initial supply is 1 billion and only 25% are unlocked at launch. That's why one should also examine the vesting schedule, which is based on the scheme attached. Why is it worth keeping an eye on this project? I do not want to frame anybody here, as I have no exposure to Story Protocol, nor any collaboration. However, the project has caused quite a stir and traction within the crypto community, especially on Crypto Twitter, as we finally have a new and innovative project on our hands. Blockchains are now a dime a dozen, but rarely are they as sophisticated and innovative as this one. The project stands out as we are moving into a future in which data plays an increasingly important role. With today's omnipresent AI, our data is on the cusp of degenerating into data fodder that is recycled again and again. The Story Protocol offers a tailored solution to a real problem. Artists in particular, but actually everyone can benefit from being paid if someone wants to use your IP, even if an AI model is to be trained with it, or it is just used in connection with AI. This topic will become increasingly important in the future and a project like this gives us hope for a future in which human-generated content and AI-generated content can co-exist fairly. Nowadays, already, social media users realize that a big chunk of the content they consume on different platforms is AI-generated or AI-enhanced and not user-generated anymore. In addition to being innovative and offering a real solution to a real problem, the team around the Story Protocol consists of interesting personalities such as co-founder Jason Zhao, who previously worked on Google's DeepMind project and therefore brings relevant expertise to the table. In addition, big names are among the early investors and backers of the project. PIP Labs, for example, the chain's primary developer, was funded in its Series B by Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) with around $80 million and was able to raise a total of $140 million [2] [5] . [2] [5] Conclusion I can't promise anyone here that the project will be a success and as I said before I have neither exposure nor any connection to the project. But when I heard about the project, it felt like a glimmer of hope in the very meme-driven crypto space of lately. Far too often we've seen new protocols that are simply copycats being launched without any additional innovation or value, which I wrote an article about already [6] . This project corresponds to the current zeitgeist of a future with AI, fulfills a real need, and could become essential in the future. Topics like these put the real purpose of blockchain in the foreground and have an effective benefit. In addition, this project is approaching the initial idea of values in crypto and Web 3, as our beloved Internet develops from Web 1 to Web 3 (picture below) [7] . The Story Protocol helps to maintain control over your IP and as long as it is tokenized on the blockchain, you own it, you own your IP as a proper part of the internet. article about already [6] [7] Story Protocol is betting big on a future where creators truly own their work. What are your thoughts on this vision? Do you think this is necessary in an AI-dominated future, or are there other ways to protect the creator’s work? If you liked the article, don't hesitate to follow me here on Hackernoon and read my other stories too! And if you want to talk to me or collaborate on an article you can also write me on my X/Twitter or Bluesky , my username there is @Maxo1st as well. X/Twitter Bluesky Cheers, xx References: [1] https://www.story.foundation/ https://www.story.foundation/ [2] https://www.blocmates.com/articles/an-idiot-s-guide-to-story-protocol-the-world-s-ip-blockchain https://www.blocmates.com/articles/an-idiot-s-guide-to-story-protocol-the-world-s-ip-blockchain [3] https://www.story.foundation/blog/story-mainnet https://www.story.foundation/blog/story-mainnet [4] https://www.story.foundation/blog/introducing-ip https://www.story.foundation/blog/introducing-ip [5] https://www.coindesk.com/tech/2025/02/13/story-protocol-launches-to-let-people-to-register-ip-and-get-paid-for-it https://www.coindesk.com/tech/2025/02/13/story-protocol-launches-to-let-people-to-register-ip-and-get-paid-for-it [6] https://medium.com/coinmonks/defi-fatigue-are-we-stuck-in-a-loop-the-current-and-devastating-state-of-defi-2025-7cb5ce478205 https://medium.com/coinmonks/defi-fatigue-are-we-stuck-in-a-loop-the-current-and-devastating-state-of-defi-2025-7cb5ce478205 [7] https://etraverse.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/evolution_of_web_from_web_1_0_to_web_3_0_training_ppt_slide01.jpg https://etraverse.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/evolution_of_web_from_web_1_0_to_web_3_0_training_ppt_slide01.jpg

This New Protocol Promises to Give Back Control Over Your Data, But Is It Up To The Challenge?

As we reach mid-February 2025, the pace of events has been so rapid that it feels as though half the year has already passed. Here’s a concise overview of the significant developments that have unfolded thus far: AI Innovations and Rivalries In the realm of artificial intelligence, French startup Mistral AI has emerged as a formidable competitor to industry giants. Founded in April 2023 by former engineers from Google DeepMind and Meta Platforms, Mistral AI has developed advanced open-weight large language models, positioning itself as a notable alternative to proprietary AI systems. Their open-weight large language models have gained significant traction, particularly in Europe, where there's a growing demand for alternatives to U.S.-based AI systems. Mistral AI's approach aligns with the EU's focus on open and transparent AI development. Defense Sector Developments Another French startup, Exotrail, has made significant strides in the defense sector. Specializing in space logistics and propulsion systems, Exotrail has been instrumental in advancing rocket technology, contributing to Europe’s growing presence in space defense initiatives. In February 2025, they secured a major contract with the European Space Agency to develop next-generation satellite propulsion systems, further solidifying their position in the industry. Controversial Moves in Venture Capital In early February 2025, venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) announced the hiring of Daniel Penny, a former Marine veteran, as a deal partner for its American Dynamism team. Penny was previously involved in a 2023 subway incident in New York City, where he restrained Jordan Neely, a homeless man, leading to Neely’s death. Penny was acquitted of criminal charges in December 2024. Many questioned the decision, given Penny's controversial past, while others defended it as an example of second chances. This move has led to increased scrutiny of hiring practices in the VC industry. Cryptocurrency Turbulence In the cryptocurrency arena, President Donald Trump launched a meme coin named $TRUMP just before his inauguration. The $TRUMP coin saw an explosive growth shortly after its launch, with its value soaring overnight. The coin's market capitalization reached approximately $14 billion at its peak. However, it's important to note that shortly after, Melania Trump introduced her own meme coin, $MELANIA, which also experienced rapid growth followed by a sharp decline. The $MELANIA coin's market cap reached around $5 billion at its peak. Government Efficiency Initiatives President Trump appointed Elon Musk to lead the newly established Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). This initiative aims to streamline federal operations and reduce bureaucratic inefficiencies. Musk has assembled a team of young technologists, often referred to as “baby-faced assassins,” to spearhead this effort. The DOGE is not a traditional Cabinet-level department but a temporary organization within the Executive Office of the President. Musk's team of young technologists includes Akash Bobba (21), Edward Coristine (19), Luke Farritor (23), Gautier Cole Killian (24), Gavin Kliger (25), and Ethan Shaotran (22). Their appointment has raised concerns about their experience and qualifications. Geographical Renaming Controversies In a move reflecting his “America First” policy, President Trump ordered the renaming of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America. This decision has sparked debates among cartographers, politicians, and the public, reminiscent of past presidential actions such as the renaming of North America’s highest peak from Denali back to Mt. McKinley. With these rapid-fire developments, 2025 is shaping up to be anything but slow. If the first two months are any indication, we’re in for a wild ride—expect more surprises, more drama, and a whole lot of shaking things up. Buckle up. As we reach mid-February 2025, the pace of events has been so rapid that it feels as though half the year has already passed. Here’s a concise overview of the significant developments that have unfolded thus far: the pace of events has been so rapid AI Innovations and Rivalries AI Innovations and Rivalries In the realm of artificial intelligence, French startup Mistral AI has emerged as a formidable competitor to industry giants. Founded in April 2023 by former engineers from Google DeepMind and Meta Platforms, Mistral AI has developed advanced open-weight large language models, positioning itself as a notable alternative to proprietary AI systems. French startup Mistral AI Their open-weight large language models have gained significant traction, particularly in Europe, where there's a growing demand for alternatives to U.S.-based AI systems. Mistral AI's approach aligns with the EU's focus on open and transparent AI development. Defense Sector Developments Defense Sector Developments Another French startup, Exotrail , has made significant strides in the defense sector. Specializing in space logistics and propulsion systems, Exotrail has been instrumental in advancing rocket technology, contributing to Europe’s growing presence in space defense initiatives. Exotrail In February 2025, they secured a major contract with the European Space Agency to develop next-generation satellite propulsion systems, further solidifying their position in the industry. Controversial Moves in Venture Capital Controversial Moves in Venture Capital In early February 2025, venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) announced the hiring of Daniel Penny , a former Marine veteran, as a deal partner for its American Dynamism team. Penny was previously involved in a 2023 subway incident in New York City, where he restrained Jordan Neely, a homeless man, leading to Neely’s death. hiring of Daniel Penny Penny was acquitted of criminal charges in December 2024. Many questioned the decision, given Penny's controversial past, while others defended it as an example of second chances. This move has led to increased scrutiny of hiring practices in the VC industry. Cryptocurrency Turbulence Cryptocurrency Turbulence In the cryptocurrency arena, President Donald Trump launched a meme coin named $TRUMP just before his inauguration. The $TRUMP coin saw an explosive growth shortly after its launch, with its value soaring overnight. $TRUMP The coin's market capitalization reached approximately $14 billion at its peak. However, it's important to note that shortly after, Melania Trump introduced her own meme coin, $MELANIA, which also experienced rapid growth followed by a sharp decline. The $MELANIA coin's market cap reached around $5 billion at its peak. Government Efficiency Initiatives Government Efficiency Initiatives President Trump appointed Elon Musk to lead the newly established Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). This initiative aims to streamline federal operations and reduce bureaucratic inefficiencies. Musk has assembled a team of young technologists, often referred to as “baby-faced assassins,” to spearhead this effort. The DOGE is not a traditional Cabinet-level department but a temporary organization within the Executive Office of the President. Musk's team of young technologists includes Akash Bobba (21), Edward Coristine (19), Luke Farritor (23), Gautier Cole Killian (24), Gavin Kliger (25), and Ethan Shaotran (22). Their appointment has raised concerns about their experience and qualifications. Geographical Renaming Controversies Geographical Renaming Controversies In a move reflecting his “America First” policy, President Trump ordered the renaming of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America. This decision has sparked debates among cartographers, politicians, and the public, reminiscent of past presidential actions such as the renaming of North America’s highest peak from Denali back to Mt. McKinley. With these rapid-fire developments, 2025 is shaping up to be anything but slow. If the first two months are any indication, we’re in for a wild ride—expect more surprises, more drama, and a whole lot of shaking things up. Buckle up.

ANDREESSEN HOROWITZ

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ANDREESSEN HOROWITZ

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501-1K employees

Since 2009

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EVERGREEN INDEX #2811

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