VC Corner Q&A: Jake Brukhman of CoinFund
Jake is Managing Director and CEO at CoinFund. He has a decade of experience spanning pure and financial technology, quantitative research, technology market research, and blockchain.
Previously, Jake was Partner and CTO at Triton Research, a technical product manager and engineer at Amazon.com, and spent five years as a financial technologist at Highbridge Capital Management and as a quantitative researcher at Kohera.
He studied pure mathematics and computer science at the Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences at NYU and the honors program at Rutgers University. Jake’s focus is a specialization in all technical, financial, and sociological aspects of blockchain and decentralization technology.
— What’s CoinFund’s mission?
We are a cryptonative fund focusing on full-stack decentralization investing and direct network participation (generalized mining).
— What’s one thing you are excited about right now?
Decentralized finance
— Who is one founder you think we should watch?
Andy Bromberg of CoinList
— What are 3 top qualities of every great leader?
- Being right
- Being able to rally talent
- Being able to positively influence morale
— What was your very first investment? What struck you about them?
CoinFund LLC — Bitcoin
CoinFund LP — Messari
— What’s one question you ask yourself before investing in a company?
Is it a company or decentralized network? (i.e. Where does value accrue?)
— What’s one thing every founder should ask themselves before walking into a meeting with a potential investor?
What is the value this investor will bring to the table?
— What do you think should be in a CEO’s top 3 company priorities?
From a crypto perspective:
1. When are we going to production?
2. When are we going to be on-chain?
3. How does my business/structure generate revenue and where does it accrue?
— Favorite business book, blog or podcast?
Options, Futures, and Other Derivatives by John C. Hull
— What’s your favorite thing to do when you’re not working?
Acrylic painting
— Who is one leader you admire?
Elon Musk
— What’s one interesting thing most people won’t know about you?
I am a published poet.
— What’s one piece of advice you’d give every founder?
The more sure you are about a future outcome, the greater the probability that you are wrong.
Ready to make a pitch? Startups looking for an opportunity to pitch CoinFund can apply here!
