In this episode of The Slow Hunch, I spoke with Juan Benet, the founder and CEO of Protocol Labs. Juan is best known for creating IPFS and Filecoin—two foundational technologies in the decentralized web. Through Protocol Labs, Juan wants to use decentralized protocols to unlock new ways of organizing capital, governance, and research. This conversation was recorded more than a decade after we first met, when USV seed funded Protocol Labs. Juan is one of the deepest thinkers I know, so naturally this conversation has a wide aperture. We touched on internet history, crypto network design, public goods funding, and the future of intelligence itself.Hope you enjoy!Chapters:00:00 Cold open00:07:39 Discovering the power of P2P tech00:11:10 Decentralization versus central planning00:17:44 Juan’s slow hunch00:21:16 Protocol Labs as a way to plug the R&D funding gap00:24:03 The genesis of IPFS and Filecoin00:30:45 Layering protocols for success00:33:18 New frontiers in governance00:41:09 The role of public utilities00:47:39 Juan’s thoughts on the future of work00:52:41 Blockchains as a governance layer for AI agents01:01:32 Evolving into a new species
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1:06:41
The Slow Hunch (Best of Season 1)
In this episode of The Slow Hunch, I’ve pulled together some of the best moments from Season 1.Across these conversations, what stood out was how many ‘inevitable’ ideas were, at one point, anything but.Venture veterans Fred Wilson and Brad Burnham reflected on decades of investing, Bluesky CEO Jay Graber spoke about her vision for decentralized social, and author and NotebookLM co-creator Steven Johnson unpacked the future of networked thought.We got a clearer view into how their slow hunches took shape — and where they’re headed next.Hope you enjoy!Chapters: 00:00:00 Cold open 00:02:53 Fraser Kelton (GP at Spark Capital, former Head of Product at OpenAI)00:09:06 Dani Grant (CEO of Jam.dev)00:20:02 Amir Haleem (Founder of Helium, CEO of Nova Labs)00:25:10 Fred Wilson & Brad Burnham (Union Square Ventures)00:30:40 Jake Heller (Co-founder & CEO of Casetext)00:40:00 Steven Johnson (Author, Editorial at NotebookLM and Google Labs)00:49:35 Muneeb Ali (Co-founder of Stacks, CEO at Trust Machines)00:53:33 Jay Graber (CEO of Bluesky)01:03:26 Zoe Weinberg (Founder, ex/ante)01:09:25 Aaron Wright (Co-founder & CEO of Tribute Labs)
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1:16:52
Aaron Wright (Co-founder & CEO of Tribute Labs)
In this episode of the Slow Hunch, I spoke with Aaron Wright, the co-founder and CEO of Tribute Labs. Aaron has been exploring how to harness the collective knowledge, energy, and capital of online communities for 20 years, from his early work at Wikipedia to his current focus on decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) and AI agents.Aaron believes major technological shifts lead to equally significant changes in organizational structures. He sees DAOs as the next evolution after the joint stock company that transformed capitalism centuries ago. According to him, thin layers of technology will enable coordination and collaboration at unprecedented scales - from hundreds to potentially millions of people.In our conversation, we explored how blockchains are enabling new forms of collaboration and how embedding AI on top of these coordination layers might fundamentally change how we organize ourselves and our capital.I've been following Aaron's work for years, and we've had the pleasure of investing in Tribute Labs at USV. Hope you enjoy!Chapters:00:00:00 Cold open00:02:07 Aaron’s slow hunch00:10:58 The evolution of DAOs00:15:31 Aaron’s early experiences at wikipedia and ethereum00:37:21 His work with OpenLaw00:42:46 The rise of investment DAOs00:53:03 AI and the adjacent possible01:08:30 The future of AI and ownership
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1:11:19
Jay Graber (CEO of Bluesky)
In this episode of the Slow Hunch, I spoke with Jay Graber, CEO of Bluesky. Originally conceived as an initiative within Twitter under Jack Dorsey, Bluesky was designed to transform Twitter from a closed platform to an open protocol-based network. Jay initially joined as an external researcher before being selected to lead the project, ultimately negotiating for Bluesky's independence before Elon Musk’s acquisition. Jay believes thoughtful systems design can reshape our online experiences. With Bluesky, she wants to prioritise user choice, portability, and the ability to vote with their feet if the platform makes changes they don't like.This was a conversation about social media’s “adjacent possible” - a potential shift from closed, monolithic platforms toward open, extensible systems that encourage experimentation and innovation at all levels.Hope you enjoy!Chapters: 00:00 Cold open04:00 Jay’s background: from systems theory to digital rights activism 08:35 Trade-offs in systems design16:19 The AT Protocol (atproto)17:19 Bluesky’s origin story25:26 How Bluesky differs from earlier decentralized social attempts 28:01 Giving users the ability to pick feeds and moderation 30:16 Early days of Bluesky32:50 Public launch37:24 Social media’s adjacent possible 46:13 Closing thoughts
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Fred Wilson & Brad Burnham (Union Square Ventures)
In this special episode of the Slow Hunch, I sat down with Fred Wilson and Brad Burnham, founding partners of USV. Since founding USV in 2003, Fred and Brad have backed companies like Twitter, Etsy, Cloudflare, and Coinbase while developing an investment thesis focused on enabling new forms of value creation through open access to networks, capital, and knowledge. Fred and Brad bring decades of investment experience, having seen multiple tech cycles from the early internet to mobile, cloud, crypto, and now AI. What makes their partnership unique is how they've maintained their intellectual curiosity and drive to understand emerging technologies and business models, after 20+ years of working together. I've been lucky enough to have a front-row seat to their approach, and it was really special to have this conversation over multiple mugs of tea in my living room in New York City. In many ways, USV has been their collective slow hunch - an exploration of how emerging tech intersects with the world and how to be part of it.Hope you enjoy this conversation! Chapters: 00:00:00 Cold open00:10:40 How USV was formed00:17:16 Fred and Brad on their investment philosophy00:24:01 Overcoming early challenges00:27:43 The emergence of web200:30:59 The initial promise of social media00:34:04 Investing in Twitter00:39:11 The early days of Bitcoin00:45:55 The risk of market consolidation in AI 00:49:39 Fred and Brad reflect on their mistakes00:57:18 The Impact of AI01:07:23 The future of technology01:09:50 What keeps them going after 30+ years
The Slow Hunch explores how big ideas form over long periods of time. Big innovations are often characterised as single “eureka” moments, when in fact they're often the culmination of many smaller ideas coalescing over a long period of time. On this podcast, USV's Nick Grossman explores how those ideas took shape, and the nonlinear paths of the people behind them.
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