Episode #9 - Cryptocurrency Venture Investing: The Questions Every VC Should Ask Before Making a Crypto Investment

In this Fund81 podcast interview, Dave Balter, the CEO of one of our MergeLane portfolio companies, Flipside Crypto, shares his perspective on investing in the cryptocurrency space.

I invited Dave to join us for four reasons:

1) He is one of the most engaging and entertaining speakers I know.

2) He has the ability to explain complex things in an easy-to-understand way - something I have found rare in the cryptocurrency space.

3) He is obsessed with and extremely knowledgeable about cryptocurrency.

4) Because he is both a serial entrepreneur and a venture investor, he has an interesting perspective from both sides of the table.

‍About Flipside Crypto
‍Flipside Crypto has developed algorithms to track cryptocurrency performance indicators. Flipside licenses this data to institutions and uses its technology and provides investment opportunities for accredited investors via its indexes. The company also manages the process of acquiring and storing cryptocurrency to alleviate the headache of potentially confusing things like encryption and digital wallets. Flipside closed a $3.4 million financing round led by True Ventures three months after MergeLane’s investment. Coinvestors include the Chernin Group, Resolute Ventures, Boston Seed Capital, Converge, and Founder Collective.

‍About Dave Balter
‍Dave Balter is the founder and CEO of Flipside Crypto, a provider of data solutions and investment vehicles for cryptocurrencies. Dave has spent most of his career as an innovation‐obsessed builder of companies, most often as a founder and CEO, but occasionally as a board member, advisor or investor. Dave is also an active venture investor and M&A professional. As an operator, Dave is probably best known for Smaterer, which he founded, led, and sold to Pluralsight in 2014 and BzzAgent, which he founded, led, and sold to dunnhumby in 2011. Post BzzAgent acquisition, Dave acted as Global Head of Investments for dunnhumby and founded dunnhumby Ventures. Dave is also an independent angel and venture partner at Boston Seed Capital. Dave’s investments have included DraftKings, Promoboxx, FitnessKeeper, and Help Scout. Dave was named one of the 30 most disruptive people in Boston tech by Boston Magazine in 2016, was a finalist for the E&Y Entrepreneur of the Year, and was recognized as a future legend by the Ad Club. He cofounded the Word of Mouth Marketing Association and authored two books on the subject including Grapevine and the Word of Mouth Manual Volume II. A long time Techstars mentor, Dave also co-founded Intelligent.ly, a classroom space that helps star employees become managers with his wife, Sarah Hodges, and sits on the Board of Directors for the Boch Center for the Performing Arts.  

Enjoy!