AMA Recap with Kenzi Wang, AU21

Once again, thank you, everyone, for your overwhelming enthusiasm and support for this AMA! And thank you, Kenzi (AU21), so much for your time and your insightful answers to all of the questions from our community today! Here is a recap of our conversation; for clarity, the original text has been lightly edited for grammar and spelling.

If you could not catch the AMA live, please post your question in our main Telegram channel. The team will get back to you quickly.

Kenzi, what attracted you most to Kambria and where do you think it might be in 5 years?

What attracted me first about Kambria is its team. They are great engineers from Stanford. Secondary is the market vision. What Kambria tries to do has a huge potential impact on the AI robotic space. I also like the fact they have great reach in the Asia Pacific region already.

I think we are at the early days of crypto still. In 5 years, Kambria could be a very large company due to the network effect it brings

Do you have any contacts in the AI/Robotics/Crypto (or other) sectors that can help drive adoption of the platform?

In terms of contacts, Kambria has a good collection of VCs globally. Together we can assist in bringing more brilliant minds in the AI space. Since our firms’ focus is Asia and US, we can help make connections to Silicon Valley and China investors

Can you tell us about your venture capital firm AU21?

Absolutely. AU21 Capital is a blockchain venture firm based in San Francisco. The firm’s focus is to 1. Invest in great founders in Asia and the US (hence the name AU21, 21 stands for 21 million BTCs) and 2. Provide ecosystem services to help them grow.

[Moderator] You can learn more about AU21 Capital at https://au21.capital/.And check out their portfolio! It’s very impressive!

What are some ways Kambria could grow?

Kambria’s technology is already very robust. I personally visited their office in Silicon Valley and was very impressed by what they have already built.

This is an advanced level team with an existing product and use case. And both of their developer and customer (enterprise) growth is very much so dependent on the community. That’s why the community is very important here.

I see the self-serving model working very well here. I can also see the token model making sense to enticing users and customers to sign up and use the product.

Again, I think what they are doing is extremely fascinating. It’s one of the few hardware-based AI product company with a real token economy. It also has already received backing from tier 1 investors globally.

Can you tell us more about exactly what market making is? Little confused on this.

Market making helps to generate liquidity for a new token launching. People do it to help sustain token price and avoid crashes. Market makers are usually hired by exchanges or projects. They can also be hired by funds. There are many reasons behind when and how they work.

I learned that you are an active blockchain investor with deep knowledge in exchanges and market making. What advice would you have for founders of blockchain projects in terms of choosing which exchange to work with?

I think in terms of choosing what exchanges to launch projects on — in the current market, it’s best to launch on an exchange that has good liquidity to begin with first. Think a top 15 exchange

What are the top qualities you look for in a blockchain project?

Top qualities for me are 1. Team 2. Market size 3. An existing product, tech or traction 4. Teams’ connections to exchanges and service providers.

What’s the next coin you’re buying. I want some!

I can’t give advice on investments. I’m a big fan of the stellar ecosystem and like what they are working on.

What are your views on Security Token Offering?

STO is definitely a trend in the mid to long run. However, I think it will take time for adoption. It’s very new and early still.

What do you see as the biggest difference between traditional VCs and crypto VCs?

Traditional VCs and crypto VCs’ — the main difference is that a lot of crypto VCs buy tokens that have faster liquidity, their liquidation timeframe is much quicker.

You have a lot of experience as an entrepreneur in the traditional market and now you are an investor in the blockchain space. What do you see as the unique challenges for blockchain entrepreneurs?

The unique challenge for blockchain entrepreneurs is that they need to adapt fast to many external factors such as market forces, regulatory changes, trends. They need to move fast and be nimble on their feet. Make fast and hard decisions on the go. It moves a lot faster than non-blockchain projects

What surprises you the most about how the crypto exchange landscape has evolved over the last 12 months?

A lot! The big exchanges have grown big very quickly. It’s now very hard for smaller exchanges to compete. Listing on big exchanges now will make or break a project so it’s important to work backward when thinking of doing a new token project

What advice would you have for blockchain entrepreneurs in approaching you and AU21 for funding?

The funding landscape has changed quickly over the past few months. It’s now a lot harder than before. So I encourage folks to differentiate and build more and better tech.

My email is kenzi@au21.capital. Free feel to reach out.

What advice do you have for founders of blockchain projects on whether they should do an ICO?

ICOs have become smaller and smaller. So unless there’s a reason to do so, I recommend that founders raise capital through a private sale. It will reduce liability and risks. It will also make exchange listing easier!

A follow-up question on that. If we decide to do an ICO or STO, what are some other factors we should keep in mind to make sure we will have a successful process?

Have a big community that is ready and willing to spread positive sentiments!

For the blockchain space as the whole, between the technical challenges and regulation challenges, which do you worry more about?

I would also worry about market trends. Market public sentiment matters a lot in crypto. Incorporation and company setup matter, too.

[The End]

A huge thanks again to Kenzi and to our community members for participating in our AMA. If you’d like to ask your questions live next time, join our Telegram channel. See you there!

ABOUT Kenzi Wang

Kenzi Wang is the Co-founder of AU21, a venture capital firm focused specifically on the blockchain ecosystem. Before starting AU21, Kenzi was CEO and Co-founder of Traction Labs. In addition, he founded Fantoon Growth Labs and Growthathon. Kenzi has deep knowledge of exchanges and the crypto markets. Kenzi studied Mathematics at Columbia University and graduated with an MBA from the Wharton School of Business.

For more info about AU21, please visit: https://au21.capital/

ABOUT Kambria

Kambria is an open innovation blockchain project that enables and incentivizes collaboration in R&D, manufacturing, and commercialization of advanced technology. We are developing our own public chain with protocols uniquely designed to address the current waste and inefficiencies in today’s innovation model. Kambria will allow for many verticals, including Biotech, Space, and Autonomous Vehicles, to be developed and thrive in the ecosystem. We are focusing first on the AI and Robotics vertical with the backing of our well-established robotics company, OhmniLabs. Through existing partnerships with top universities and large international corporations, as well as access to talented developers, we aim to build an ecosystem that can bring the next wave of frontier technology to provide value to billions of people around the world.

The Kambria Team

Website: https://kambria.io/

Whitepaper: https://kambria.io/Kambria_White_Paper_v2.pdf

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