🧭Navigating Tess Ventures, Web 3, AI: Tess Hau In-Depth Interview | Ep #81

Holistic Investment w Constantin Kogan

WATCH MY FULL PODCAST HERE! https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLNEb9qQeDa_TQ1ts_ply9s7xjIpeUQb&si=1UoKrsmcxhCZEfYt LISTEN TO MY FULL PODCAST HERE! https://anchor.fm/constantinkogan For any business inquiries, email me here: [email protected] KEEP UP WITH Tess Hau Tess Ventures https://www.tessventures.com/tess-hau-1 LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/tesshau/ Twitter https://x.com/tesshau1?lang=en Links: https://www.tessventures.com/ https://www.gaialabs.xyz/ SUBSCRIBE TO MY CHANNEL https://www.youtube.com/@UCeM6DzWBS9KMHXMIEiCjSw FOLLOW ME ON SOCIALS: https://ckogan.com/ Telegram: @Constkogan / https://t.me/constantinkogan Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/constkogan Twitter: https://twitter.com/constkogan Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/constantinkogan Medium: https://constkogan.medium.com/ Timestamps: 0:00 Introduction 1:18 Tess's personal journey 3:01 Developing teamwork skills and leadership at a young age 10:52 Differences between equity deals and token deals 12:01 PostTGE (Token Generation Event) challenges 14:16 The role of the ETF in mass adoption of blockchain 15:04 Importance of community engagement postTGE 15:16 Successful investments and portfolio examples 16:00 Tess’s diligence process and investment thesis 20:13 Founders' equity structure and incentives 21:33 Balancing equity and tokens in crypto startups 22:04 Introduction of Gabs Accelerator for Web 3 AI startups 22:31 Convergence of Web 2 and Web 3 as Web 2.5 23:02 Setting up token incentives and ESOPs in Web 3 startups 24:00 Criteria for accepting companies into Gabs Accelerator 25:16 Importance of founder commitment and coachability 26:30 Referrals and endorsements for new founders in the accelerator 27:33 Tess’s time at Stanford and exposure to leading startups 29:05 How Tess applies her experience to evaluate risks in startups 30:13 Balancing Web 2 and Web 3 startup principles 31:55 Importance of understanding the Web 3 playbook 34:21 Tess’s investment structure and geographic flexibility 36:16 Test Ventures' range of investment sizes 37:29 Raising funds through node sales: Ather example 41:00 Importance of timing in fundraising and node sales 42:42 Ather’s transition to AI and decentralized computing 43:50 Strategies for fundraising during market volatility 46:13 Regional focus: Middle East’s potential in blockchain 47:00 AI’s growing importance in Web 3 and beyond 48:25 Bitcoin ecosystem and the rise of AI agents 49:19 Gaming as a persistent trend in the Web 3 world 52:02 Tess’s advice to founders for fundraising in a volatile market 55:04 Tess’s biggest lesson as a female venture capitalist 59:03 Book recommendation: The Lean Startup