Build the Future with Blockchain
Meet Alchemist Blockchain Techstars Accelerator mentor Lane Rettig
We all know that blockchain is going to be huge — transformative even, in many industries. What no one knows — yet — is exactly what that’s going to look like. This is that thrilling moment at the beginning of a disruption when the future is wide open.
The best part is: we are the ones who are creating that future. The startups of today will be the giants of tomorrow, the companies that saw the possibilities inherent in this new technology and applied them in myriad new ways, and in so doing, changed the world.
Alchemist Blockchain Techstars Accelerator is looking for startups in protocol and infrastructure development, finance, IoT, education, real estate, retail, insurance, energy, and more — any industry, really, where you see the potential that blockchain has in creating a freer and more open Internet. We’ll help you face the challenges of building and scaling your blockchain business, and give you access to expert mentors.
Our mentors are what make Techstars accelerator programs special. These relationships — that all together make up the Techstars worldwide network — are what give your startup that crucial edge, and help you #DoMoreFaster.
Read this interview with Lane Rettig, Alchemist Blockchain Techstars Accelerator mentor — and then apply to this mentorship-driven accelerator.
Q: What’s your experience with blockchain?
Lane: I’ve been aware of Bitcoin for a while, and I had heard a bit about Ethereum, but it didn’t click for me until last year. I was taking a sabbatical after we exited Seratis, my previous startup, and I was at a tech conference in Europe, and I sat down with some very smart hackers who helped me understand the concept of a smart contract, which blew my mind when I really took the time to understand it. After that I began doing a bunch of independent research, reading whitepapers, etc. That led me to Ethereum, which led me to DevCon III last autumn in Cancun, and from there it was a rapid descent down the Ethereum rabbit hole :)
I’ve been doing core research and development on a number of Ethereum projects the past year. My primary focus is a technical project called Ewasm, which stands for Ethereum-flavored WebAssembly. It’s an initiative to upgrade the smart contract engine in Ethereum to a much more powerful, standards-based engine, and it’s part of the “Ethereum 2.0” roadmap.
In addition to this core R&D work, I’ve done a bunch of outreach, community organizing and event planning over the past year. I founded and help run a blockchain coworking space and community in Manhattan called Crypto NYC with a mission to make blockchain and Web3 accessible to all humans. I organized an event around Ethereum governance earlier this year. I’ve also done a bunch of independent research and talks on topics like social scalability, governance, and UX design.
Q: What are the most exciting blockchain developments that you see coming?
Lane: Everything about blockchain and Web3 excites me :) At the moment, the Ethereum community is mostly focused on scaling, both technical as well as social scaling, so I’d say the thing I’m most excited about is taking the work we’ve done, taking this amazing Ethereum global computer, and scaling it into something that can run real-world applications that millions or billions of people can rely on. I think we’re close to that goal.
Obviously a huge part of that is the technology, but there’s a human component to scaling as well. This is what I’m talking about when I refer to “social scalability.” This includes things like UX design, education, messaging, and branding, which are all very much a work in progress as well — but we are making rapid progress.
Q: Why are you excited to be part of the Alchemist Blockchain Techstars Accelerator?
Lane: When I was taking my first steps down the entrepreneurship path about five years ago, mentorship and accelerator programs like Techstars made a huge difference and gave me the knowledge and confidence I needed to succeed as an entrepreneur. It’s time to give back.
Also, I believe blockchain and Web3 tech today represent a really unprecedented opportunity to build products and services that will change the world — truly a once-in-humanity event, and I want to do everything I can to see that important disruption succeed.
We can’t do this alone, and we need way, way, way more entrepreneurs, engineers, strivers, and schemers working in the space.
Q: What are you looking forward to about working with Techstars companies?
Lane: I’m looking forward to learning from them — learning about how they see the world, learning what excites them and what opportunities they see, learning what they think about blockchain and Web3.
Q: What’s your mentoring style?
Lane: Extremely hands-on. I like to go deep — deep relationships with people, deep investment in the projects I’m involved in. That means I have to be extremely picky about who I work with, so that I don’t over-commit to too many things!
Learn more about the Alchemist Blockchain Techstars Accelerator and apply here.
