The formation of a contempt chain among entrepreneurs in the DeSci track: entrepreneurs in vertical fields are scarce

Author: Arain, ChainCatcher

"DeSci" is not a new concept, but since November this year, this term has suddenly been popular in the circle - especially during Devcon in November, it was strongly supported by Binance co-founder CZ and Ethereum founder Vitalik, which made many people feel the vane. According to Dune data, the popularity of DeSci has continued to rise and has become the number one popular narrative in recent times.

DeSci (Decentralized Science), that is, decentralized science, according to the definition of the Ethereum Foundation, DeSci is a movement to build a fair public infrastructure in the field of scientific research by using the Web3 stack to fund, create, review, confirm, store and disseminate scientific knowledge. Specifically, DeSci aims to solve challenges in traditional scientific research, such as difficulty in financing, insufficient data sharing, and low research transparency. Currently, DeSci projects that solve financing problems are the main types of this track.

According to RootData data, there are currently 32 projects in the DeSci track. Such a large number makes it a bit difficult to screen, but projects that "have" an outstanding Founder or Co-Founder are rare. It can be said that if these DeSci track entrepreneurs are ranked, a DeSci founder contempt chain can be formed: highly vertical entrepreneurs > top elites in encryption/other industries > financial practitioners > serial entrepreneurs in other industries.

First echelon

The first echelon of DeSci entrepreneurs not only have directly related resumes, but also have vigorous energy and hold important positions in multiple projects - but such entrepreneurs are very scarce. There are first-tier entrepreneurs in the DeSci projects promoted by CZ and Vitalik.

1. Tyler Golato

Encrypted projects: Molecule, VitaDAO, BIO Protocol, PsyDAO (psychedelic drugs), AthenaDAO (women's health), Pump.Science

In the above projects, Tyler Golato served as a sponsor, consultant and other positions. Among them, the most noteworthy are the open source drug development protocol Molecule and the community collective VitaDAO dedicated to the commercialization of longevity therapies. Tyler Golato is the co-founder, chief scientist and CEO of Molecule, and also the co-sponsor of VitaDAO.

In terms of resume, Tyler Golato is highly vertical in the field of biological sciences. He has a Bachelor of Science degree in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (with a pre-med track) and studied at the National Institute on Aging - Laboratory of Molecular Gerontology at the National Institutes of Health from 2015 to 2017, with Dr. David M. Wilson III and Dr. Vilhelm Bohr, focusing on repairing endogenous DNA damage.

He also worked in Robert Fine's laboratory at Columbia University, studying mechanisms of chemoresistance in pancreatic cancer and developing novel therapeutic strategies for various cancers.

Awards and honors: NIH Academy Fellows Program; Ignite finalist in 2016, etc.

Representative research works published: "DNA damage and the maintenance of nuclear genome integrity in aging and associated phenotypes", "Latest advances in aging research and drug discovery", "Role of DNA repair in carcinogenesis and cancer therapeutics", etc.

2. Alok Tayi

Crypto projects: Vibe Bio

Alok Tayi himself is an entrepreneur in the biomedical vertical field, but the only crypto project he is known to be involved in, Vibe Bio, seems to be little known (rarely reported in the news). Interestingly, Vibe Bio has a very impressive investment lineup, such as Initialized Capital, which has invested in Avalanche and Coinbase, Balaji Srinivasan, former CTO of Coinbase and general partner of Andreessen Horowitz, and Naval Ravikant, who has invested in Uber, Twitter, and Ploymarket.

Let's talk about Alok's own experience. Alok graduated from Cornell University and received a Ph.D. in Materials Science from Northwestern University, and completed postdoctoral work with George Whitesides. He has 15 years of scientific research experience and 12 years of entrepreneurial experience. He founded two pharmaceutical SaaS companies, PreScouter and TetraScience - these two companies have hundreds of employees and more than 400 customers.

Alok founded Vibe Bio because his daughter was diagnosed with a rare disease, because he learned firsthand that the biggest obstacle to developing treatments is not finding potential treatments, but funding them.

Alok has published articles in famous media and journals such as Forbes, Nature, and Nature Chemistry.

3. Simone Fantaccini

The crypto project that appeared: SynapseDAO

This is a low-key but not simple DeSci track entrepreneur. In the guest invitation list of a biomedical forum, there is information that Simone Fantaccini is the founder of SynapseDAO.

In fact, Simone Fantaccini is still the head of medical affairs and chief strategy officer of Novartis Pharmaceuticals, a Swiss multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology company.

Simone Fantaccini is an avid learner. He holds a doctorate in medicine from the University of Florence, a doctorate in philosophy from the Politecnico di Milano, and a master's degree in business administration from the MIP Polytechnic School of Milan. Simone Fantaccini has been engaged in and promoted biomedical work most of the time, focusing mainly on research related to multiple sclerosis. He has participated in the study "Activation of Natalizumab in Multiple Sclerosis: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis".

However, in 2023, he began to study encrypted digital currencies, first as a member of the board of directors of Native Digital DNA (a project based on RFID Smart Dust DNA for on-chain authentication solutions for physical assets), and in the same year he founded Synapse Sciences as its co-founder and president.

This year, Synapse DAO, with the same name as Synapse Sciences, emerged. Synapse DAO is committed to providing funding for the research and development of neglected neurological diseases. In this DAO, Simone Fantaccini also pulled in Scott Howell, MD, former chief strategy officer of Novartis in the United States. In other words, Synapse DAO has two Novartis people, and he is not fighting alone.

Continuing to work at Novartis Pharmaceuticals and starting a business in Synapse DAO, Simone Fantaccini actively socializes and serves as a member of the advisory board of VitaDAO.

It turns out that powerful people always have abundant experience and are slash people.

Second echelon

The resumes of entrepreneurs in the second echelon are relatively less vertical, but they are definitely dazzling. Many entrepreneurs' project performances are highly expected by the market and are often mentioned.

1. Brian Armstrong

Encryption projects: ResearchHub, Coinbase

Started Coinbase from scratch and is still the co-founder of Coinbase. Brian Armstrong's entrepreneurial actions in the field of DeSci naturally attracted much attention.

Brian Armstrong graduated from Rice University with a double bachelor's degree in economics and computer science and a master's degree in computer science. He worked as a developer at IBM and a consultant at Deloitte in his early years.

In 2011, Brian Armstrong joined Airbnb as a software engineer, during which he was exposed to payment systems and difficulties in cross-border payments, which inspired him to start a cryptocurrency-related business.

In 2012, Brian Armstrong co-founded Coinbase with Fred Ehrsam, and Coinbase has now become the largest cryptocurrency trading platform in the United States.

In the DeSci track, Brian Armstrong founded ResearchHu, a publishing DeSci project that aims to completely change the publishing model of traditional scientific journals. It uses blockchain technology to build a new scientific research exchange platform, allowing researchers to publish their research results more conveniently on ResearchHub, and stimulate the vitality and creativity of the scientific research community with unique incentives.

Interestingly, after this, Brian Armstrong, Google Ventures partner Blake Byers, Greg Johnson, and Jacob Kimmel co-founded NewLimit, a project to extend human life. There is currently little information about NewLimit, and it is not clear whether it is another layout of Brian Armstrong in the DeSci field, but this has opened Brian Armstrong's exploration journey in the field of biomedicine.

2. Paul Kohlhaas

Encryption projects: Molecule, BIO Protocol, Pump.Science

Paul Kohlhaas is a relatively active figure in the encryption field and has participated in multiple encryption-related projects. In addition to his resume working at the well-known blockchain company ConsenSys, it is most worth mentioning that Paul Kohlhaas often appears in the same project with Tyler Golato from the first echelon, which may imply that the two have a good working relationship.

Paul Kohlhaas graduated from the University of St. Gallen with a degree in economics and politics. Before entering the crypto field, he was a member of the private equity business group of the Frankfurt office of the law firm White & Case LLP. He is good at private equity transactions and domestic and cross-border mergers and acquisitions, and provides consulting in the fields of private equity, mergers and acquisitions, and corporate law.

After entering the crypto field, he worked for a period of time at ConsenSys and uPort, and then started his entrepreneurial career.

Paul Kohlhaas first co-founded Molecule with Tyler Golato, and then co-founded BIO Protocol.

Pump.Science is a meme coin issuance platform for the Desci track launched by Molecule based on Solana, allowing users to participate in the prediction of drug effects and the trading of experimental data by trading meme coins representing drugs.

3. Laura Minquini

Encrypted projects: VitaDAO, AthenaDAO

Laura Minquini can be said to be a representative of successful people in other fields. This is a female entrepreneur who has accumulated some entrepreneurial experience in the fields of longevity and women's health.

Laura Minquini graduated from York University in Canada with a bachelor's degree in linguistics, but her career started in the fashion industry and she is good at brand promotion and business development. She launched the first fashion-focused technology accessories product "case scenario", and achieved global premium distribution and millions of dollars in sales within a year, and became a third-party supplier for Apple. And has worked with Louis Vuitton, Apple, Pantone and other companies.

In 2019, Laura Minquini founded MYKIGAI, a platform for longevity discovery and recommendation, which opened her door to explore the big health industry.

After that, she joined VitaDAO as a contributor, met Tyler Golato, and established AthenaDAO, a new decentralized collective that funds women's health research and development (Tyler Golato serves as an advisor in AthenaDAO).

As a cross-border person who entered the DeSci track, Ms. Laura Minquini can be said to have "hold the right thigh", but perhaps it is out of her interest in the broad field of big health? If she is more active and works harder, Laura Minquini is expected to rise to the first echelon.

4. Vincent Weisser

Projects involved: PrimeIntellect, Molecule, VitaDAO, BIO Protocol

Vincent Weisser is mainly a technician. He does not have a very distinctive resume, but he has participated in three well-known DeSci projects, Molecule, VitaDAO, and BIO Protocol, and has worked with Paul Kohlhaas and Tyler Golato.

Vincent is also one of the co-founders of Vita DAO and provides consulting for Vita DAO. At Molecule, he serves as a consultant.

His latest development is the creation of Prime Intellect, a decentralized artificial intelligence platform, as its founder and CEO. The platform aims to commoditize computing and intelligence, provide developers with more affordable distributed computing, and a sustainable business model of open source model.

Perhaps Vincent Weisser is not interested in DeSci, and Prime Intellect just announced the completion of a $5.5 million seed round of financing this year - perhaps one day looking back, he may slide to the third or even fourth echelon of the DeSci track.

Conclusion

Compared with the first and second echelon DeSci entrepreneurs, the resumes of the third and fourth echelon founders seem ordinary. Take HairDAO, a popular hair loss treatment project, for example. Its founder, Andrew Verbinnen, has been engaged in investment work in the commercial real estate industry for many years. Because he was deeply troubled by hair loss and became interested in encrypted digital currencies, he came up with the idea of ​​creating HairDAO. Another example is GenomesDAO, a data-based project. Its founder, Aldo de Pape, is the founder and CEO of the cloud learning platform TeachPitch. Earlier, he mainly worked in the publishing industry to develop business.

These entrepreneurs all have remarkable work experience, but the DeSci track has attracted a continuous influx of elites in vertical fields, and a cruel "contempt chain" has been formed. Judging from the characteristics of the projects sought after by investors, founders with directly relevant experience are more favored: that is, there is reason to believe that they have a higher success rate in this track.