Lots of outstanding programs and resources exist to help founders learn about building tech startups. We wanted to create a course detailing what’s different about building in crypto.
So we began designing a curriculum to share what we’ve learned at a16z from working with world-class crypto entrepreneurs and technologists. We put out the word to the tech community and received thousands of applications from around the country and the world. And in late February, the 45 selected students gathered in the Bay Area to take part in a16z Crypto Startup School. Of course, we all know what happened next — the country went “remote” in early March, and so did the school. But whether the lectures and workshops were in person or over Zoom, the students and teachers kept going.
Today, we begin making video segments of the course publicly available. It is our hope that the hours of real-world insights contained in these lectures, presentations and fireside chats will help a new generation of talented technologists navigate the idea maze and get started building a crypto project.
We’ll be releasing new videos every Wednesday from now until June 17. Each group of videos aligns with a different module in the course. You can find the videos on the Crypto Startup School site, along with a supplementary course reader. We’re also excited to partner with TechCrunch to share this material.
In the two videos we release today, a16z General Partner Chris Dixon and Stanford University Computer Science Professor Dan Boneh start with the foundations of crypto as a new computing platform: the technical primitives, its unique capabilities, and the applications that it enables.
In the coming weeks, the course gets tactical on how to bring a new crypto project to market, including sessions on product development, security, organization building, go-to-market strategy, business models, regulatory best practices and fundraising.
The sessions feature leading entrepreneurs, investors and operators in the space. Along with Chris and Dan, presenters include Balaji Srinivasan, Jutta Steiner, Brian Armstrong, Brian Brooks, and other members of the a16z Crypto team and portfolio.
The original cohort of 45 students finished by doing a showcase of their projects at the end of the live course, and we came away impressed by what they were able to imagine and articulate after six weeks of sessions. Our hope is that many more entrepreneurs and technologists can get a jump-start on building a project in crypto by taking the course online.
Andreessen Horowitz offers its heartfelt thanks to all the students, instructors, and mentors of Crypto Startup School for their inspiring hard work, creativity, and relentless focus on innovation.
We hope you find the course helpful.
