Thread by @ianjohnlee

1/ Very excited to share that @WillPapper & I are launching @SyndicateDAO, a protocol & social network to democratize investing for all.

I will continue to be investing @IDEOVC (which led Syndicate's round) & am excited to continue to work with founders in my new combined role.

https://twitter.com/SyndicateDAO/status/1372196063822508034

2/ In fact, because of what Syndicate is and enables, it's already led to many new relationships, collaborations & opportunities—I'm excited to continue investing at @IDEOVC & helping take the firm to new heights.

Especially since we believe Syndicate is the future of investing.

3/ I've been in crypto since 2014 and have dedicated my life & career to it because of its transformative potential to make our world more open, free, fair, equitable, democratic & meritocratic.

This passion is part of my life's quest to bring more equitableness to our society.

4/ However, for some time, I've believed that crypto still needs to go a lot further to achieve this mission, particularly re: investing.

It doesn't make sense to me that crypto startups and technology (and now NFTs) are decentralized, yet the capital investing in them is not.

5/ The centralization of capital, investing, and power in our world is driving greater inequality in access, opportunity, and wealth. This has been happening for decades outside crypto.

Crypto, as a tech and tool, can make this worse or change things for the better, permanently.

6/ We want Syndicate to be a part of using crypto, a once-in-a-generation technology, to make things better for all.

Now is the right time to do it, especially because the world wants and needs it and L1/L2, cross-chain, DeFi, DAO, and Dapp infrastructure are ready.

7/ It has been my greatest privilege & honor to work alongside my team @IDEOVC, founders we've invested in, and other investors & people I've met over the last 6+ years.

I'm lucky to be embarking on this new journey with many of them—and hopefully many more in the years ahead.

8/ @WillPapper and I met 3 years ago when he became an @IDEOVC fellow (fun fact: @jinglanW is an ex @IDEOVC fellow too!). We've stayed close ever since, and I'm so excited to be working with him on this important project. I can't think of a better person to do this with.

9/ The investors in our seed round are like-minded and like-hearted friends—and in many cases as close to family members—of mine and Will's.

We're grateful for their support and the opportunity to work with them. It's been an absolute blast so far ❤️

10/ The @IDEOVC @ideocolab @ideo team has been my family for the last 3+ years, and I'm so excited to continue to be growing @IDEOVC for years to come.

@Joe_Gerber_ @GavinMcDermott @taratan @bramanathan and alumn @delitzer have been there everyday through every up and down.

11/ @ElectricCapital has basically been my second family in crypto with @avichal @puntium @jubos @MariaShen as some of my closest friends in the space.

They're some of the most talented, experienced, kind, and thoughtful people I've worked with. And they laugh a lot with me.

12/ @Delphi_Digital is my newest fam. @ZeMariaMacedo reached out to me on a whim and from there the rest is history. @anildelphi @lukedelphi @mediodelphi @Shaughnessy119 @YanLiberman have been awesome partners and friends. We meet with them every week. We're like the same team.

13/ @coinfund_io @jbrukh is someone I've always admired, and like @IDEOVC has been very hands-on in the crypto space for years before it became popular. He sees things well before they happen, especially in the NFT space, and it's exciting to finally work with him & @EvanTheFeng

14/ @robotventures, run by @rleshner & @tarunchitra, is a phenomenal partner. As experienced crypto founders w/ @compoundfinance & @gauntletnetwork, I've learned a lot from them already, and we've been collaborating with @rleshner on multiple fronts including @compoundfinance.

15/ With @kleinerperkins, it's exciting to work with @mondesai and @aliciaglau, who have known @WillPapper as a Kleiner Perkins Product Fellow. We can learn a lot from them as we expand access to the traditional world and also can't wait to learn from Monica's depth in crypto.

16/ @defialliance is a partner of @IDEOVC for months now, and I've loved how they've taken a founder-first approach to helping startups and investing in them—which is very similar to our ethos at IDEO. @lmrankhan and @QwQiao have been friends for a while now!

17/ @nascentxyz was co-founded by @IDEOVC alumn @delitzer who helped us start things over here 6 years ago, and we're proud to continue working with him as he is & always will be a part of our family. Most of Dan and my chats weekly are about the Marvel Universe, so it runs deep!

18/ @adamjacksonsf, founder and CEO of @usebraintrust and ex founder of @drondemand, is a portfolio company founder of @IDEOVC, and in the process, I've worked with him closely and learned a lot from him and the team about how to build a market, create a crypto company & invest.

19/ @alpackaP is someone I'm excited to work with deeply, given that he runs one of the largest rolling funds on @AngelList, and helped the teams at @dragonfly_cap and @BainCapVC with their investing and crypto strategies.

20/ @AshAEgan @Accomplices is great—not just as an investor but as a thought partner and co-builder. He's super forward thinking, willing to push the edges, and he was the first angel to commit to Syndicate before anyone else. He's been here since the beginning.

21/ @holdenbrad @amazon and I go way, way back to the days when I was at @CitiVentures. He's been a friend and collaborator all these years, and he's helped connect me and @IDEOVC to incredible folks who have been a big part of our success. So grateful to have him involved.

22/ Brandon Cook at Proxy is an incredible marketer and worked with @WillPapper. Super excited to be collaborating with him, especially as Syndicate starts to broaden its message and reach to more people outside of crypto in the years ahead.

23/ @TheCryptoDog is one of the leading influencers in the space globally. I've gotten to know Crypto Dog and can say they are a very values-aligned person who I'm excited to have onboard and will help us explore the edges of what Syndicate can do and means.

24/ @DavidNage @arca has become a friend who I've been collaborating with for a while now. I went on @BaseLayerPod a long time ago, and ever since, we've been sharing ideas and talking about the future. Love his ethos and approach to the crypto space but also life in general.

25/ @DeFi_Dad has been a friend of @IDEOVC for a long time—he's spent a lot of time at our studio in SF prior to Covid and has become a favorite of ours. Most importantly, he's values aligned, generous with his time and talents, and overall just a really nice person. Much love.

26/ Don Ho @Quantstamp @pioneerdotapp has been super collaborative and helpful in connecting us with folks in and outside crypto. I'm excited about working with him and taking Syndicate to new frontiers in and out of crypto.

27/ @ericwu01, Founder & CEO of @Opendoor, is one of my closest friends whom I've known for 12+ years. He and I lived together, hung out far too many times & have grown together as people over the last decade. And he's created an amazing company we can hopefully collaborate with!

28/ @jmart_199 @coinbase is someone I've been collaborating with for a while on investments but also broader collaborations between Coinbase and IDEO. He's always been so thoughtful and experienced, and we're so excited to have him onboard.

29/ @niraj @polychaincap has been so much fun to jam with since getting him involved in Syndicate—his depth of knowledge has pushed us already into new territories and opportunities that are very exciting. I can't wait to work with him on the future of Syndicate, DAOs, NFTs, etc.

30/ @RAC @sixnft is an incredible creative, whose music I've loved for 10+ years. Getting to know him over the last year has been awesome, and he's truly a pioneer in crypto. We're excited to work with him to take Syndicate deeper into the artist, social token, and NFT spaces.

31/ @RyanSAdams @BanklessHQ has been super fun to get to work with, as a contributor to Bankless but now as a collaborator on Syndicate. His knowledge and social networks in crypto are incredible, and we're excited to be working with him on the future of it.

32/ @scott_lew_is @defipulse @SlingshotCrypto is so much fun to jam with. Whenever we meet, it's 50% business, 50% crypto-related jokes. Pretty great mix IMO. Also, he's doing incredible work in DeFi and crypto, and we're honored to have him on the team.

33/ @StaniKulechov @AaveAave @variantfund has been a friend of @IDEOVC for a while now, and he's obviously someone we can learn a ton from in the years ahead. The collaboration potential is boundless, and most importantly, we've always felt a strong values alignment with him.

34/ @theklineventure @graphprotocol is absolutely amazing. I was introduced through @ricburton (thank you Ric!), and it's been incredible collaborating with her and her teams. She's a force, and we're excited to be working with her.

35/ @whatdotcd @lilmiquela is a visionary and super sharp, principled guy. It's exciting talking and working with Trevor on helping actualize his bold plans, and we're thrilled to be collaborating with him in the years to come. We're going to make magic.

36/ Lastly, there are so many people who have been directly and indirectly a part of this project in inspiring and collaborating with me over the years and hopefully in the months and years to come.

@jessewldn @prabhakar2reddy @robbiebent1 @sinahab @ricburton @thePalenimbus

37/ @Micah_Johnson3 @cjliu49 @AlexMasmej @thattallguy @3LAU @_kinjalbshah @alexangelj @demibrener @js_horne @Flynnjamm and so many more... you know who you are!

38/ We're just at the beginning, but I want to thank so many for getting us to where we are, to have the opportunity we now have, to go do what we now can.

This is just Day 1 for @SyndicateDAO, but we're so excited to reveal what we've been building very soon. Onwards 🚀