Unbounded Perspectives: Live in Austin
Austin - March 2023
Unbounded Capital recently held our second live, day-long event: Unbounded Perspectives. We hosted the day of presentations, panels, and networking in our hometown of Austin just prior to the SXSW festival. The event was a huge success!
Event Recap
At Unbounded Perspectives, attendees were immersed in a room full of a key subset of business leaders often missing from larger events like SXSW the following week: those focused on building long-term oriented businesses with the benefits of efficient and scalable blockchain technology. One attendee, a technology investor, remarked that the event "felt as if the PayPal mafia was gathering together some 20-30 years ago".
The intimate setting at Austin's Pershing venue facilitated deep networking between the entrepreneurs, developers, and investors present, with virtually everyone in attendance participating in the extended Q&As with speakers and panelists.
Throughout the event, we heard from a diverse group of speakers including UC portfolio companies DXS, RF Labs, HandCash, Haste, and Aldea, who, along with other speakers, shared their insights and experiences in the blockchain industry. From seasoned investors to startups, everyone had something valuable to contribute to the conversation. One of the highlights of the event was the networking opportunities that it provided. Investors and startups had the chance to connect with each other, exchange ideas, and explore potential partnerships.
We want to thank all of the investors and founders who attended for their participation and engagement, and we look forward to seeing the amazing discussions and perspectives that will come out of this event in the future. We hope to see you all again at our next event!
WATCH UNBOUNDED PERSPECTIVES AUSTIN 2023
Testimonials
“This Unbounded Perspectives event contained the most impressive insights I’d heard for a long while.
It felt as if the PayPal mafia was gathering together some 20-30 years ago.”
“Unbounded Perspectives Austin was a great event! The schedule of short panels and presentations enabled entrepreneurs like me to provide a lot of information to potential investors while keeping the audience engaged with extended Q&A more-so than other conferences I have attended.”
“Unbounded Perspectives was an incredible experience for me, both as an individual trying to open my mind to newer ideas, and as an entrepreneur building a network. It was great to see all of the work being done by other entrepreneurs and investors to bring scalable blockchain technology to the real-world. Coming in without any prior experience with blockchain, I was amazed at the authenticity and drive a lot of the people in the room had. The Unbounded team did a great job organizing an event that allowed speakers and attendees to converse and share their unique perspectives.”
SPEAKERS
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COO at DXS app
Interested for many years in the idea of settlement as a protocol (bitcoin) with focus on making retail trading platforms efficient, honest and transparent using Web3 tech stack.
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Co-founder and CEO at HandCash.
Product designer and serial entrepreneur focused on making new tech accessible and valuable for everyday people
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George P. Bush served as the 28th Land Commissioner for the State of Texas from 2015-2023. Prior to his election to statewide office, Commissioner Bush was a practicing attorney, co-founded a Texas-based private equity fund, and served his nation as an Intelligence Officer in the U.S. Navy Reserves for a decade. Commissioner Bush is currently a Partner at Michael Best LLP where he counsels business interests, public entities and individuals alike on a range of complex matters.
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Joe was born and raised in Los Angeles, CA. After spending 4 years playing professional baseball in the Chicago White Sox farm system, he co-founded his first venture, Barpay, in 2015 with Daniel Wagner. The company has since grown to become a leader in contactless solutions for in-venue dining at bars, restaurants, and hotels, with more than 10,000 accounts globally.
In January 2021, along with Wagner, he co-founded Haste, and released the Haste Arcade, the world's first Instant Leaderboard Payout™ (ILP™) arcade. The arcade demonstrates the utility of blockchain technology such as micro payments, tokens, and NFTs, through fun and simple games and experiences. Joe has been a guest panelist and speaker on numerous blockchain podcasts and conventions around the world.
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Founder of Aldea
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Mike is an early stage investor with experience in Direct Sales, Alliances, SaaS, Business Development, and Venture Capital, He co-founded PuenteLabs, an organization helping the best Latin American companies and entrepreneurs scale their businesses. He has served as a mentor, advisor, or investor to over 50 startups from the US, Europe, and Latin America including Ustream, Violin Memory, Cornershop, Mosaic, Wireline.io, MetalPay, CargoX, and Endeavor. Acquiring companies include IBM, Uber, LinkedIn, CBS, Hitachi, Rakuten, Groupon, and IPO.
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Joshua Henslee is a consultant, developer, writer and educator within the Bitcoin space. After completing degrees in Computer Science and Mathematics from the University of Georgia, he worked for 7 years as a Technical ERP consultant, helping to deliver full lifecycle software implementations for middle market companies.
Specializing in Retail and credit card implementations, he became fascinated with how Bitcoin can solve the problems his clients often faced with legacy payment systems and decided to leave his position and work full-time in the Bitcoin space in late 2019. He has developed several applications on Bitcoin, written many technical articles, and maintains a YouTube channel publishing videos discussing Bitcoin and web development tutorials.
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Byrne Hobart is a writer, investor, and consultant working in Austin, Texas. His newsletter, The Diff, covers inflections in finance and technology and has 49,000+ readers. The Diff also connects talent to new job opportunities, and raises capital for a select set of startups. Prior to the newsletter, Byrne worked at a mix of finance and tech companies, including stints at Yahoo, 21.co, SAC Capital/Point72, and M Science.
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Andrea is the Co-founder of Lontra Ventures where she invests in early stage deep tech. Aside from enterprise software, security, digital health etc, Andrea has an affinity for the crypto ecosystem. Andrea is always eager to learn and engage.
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Co-founder of AssetLayer
AssetLayer is a platform to create & manage digital goods for the open metaverse. Jack is an investor, software developer, pianist/composer, co-founder of poker education company Just Hands Poker. Jack’s eclectic background and penchant for taking on new challenges has led him to the world of blockchain.
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Senior Managing Director, CAVU Securities, LLC
Tim is an Investor in, and have worked with, institutional and emerging managers. Experience and proven track record of success with business development, investor relations, corporate strategy and budget plans, firm growth, and more.
Tim is experienced in Equity and Absolute Investment strategies; CTAs/systematic trading strategies and platforms, Private Equity & Private Credit, including performing and non-performing real estate debt; distressed debt (residential, commercial, consumer/C&I); Global Macro strategies; Senior Life Settlements; Special Situation investments; Real Estate Investments and Financing
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Maanit is an entrepreneur reinventing live gaming through hard tech, data, and analytics. He invented a connected poker table that tracks gameplay in real-time. Now his team is building technology to help players improve their game, automate live streams, and build player networks.
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Ted is a former SEC attorney turned entrepreneur, investor, and advisor who has been working in the blockchain industry since early 2013. He was one of the first individuals involved in the SEC’s Digital Currency Working Group, and is a Founder of the early-stage investment & advisory firm DecentraNet. As an angel investor, he has made multiple unicorn investments, and his advisory clients include Nasdaq listed companies. Ted is a Techstars Blockchain, Founders Institute, and Newchip mentor, and has served on the advisory board of over 20 companies in the blockchain space.
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Co-founder of AssetLayer
Dave is an investor, entrepreneur, and writer. After completing a degree in Economics from the University of Michigan and working in the film industry for two years, Dave worked on a series of entrepreneurial ventures and then joined Unbounded. He is passionate about leveraging Bitcoin to integrate the wisdom of the past with the technology of the present to innovate the future. He is the author of much of Unbounded’s research and articles including the fund’s first book.
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Paola Origel has over 15 years of experience working in the financial industry. Before entering finance, she worked in computer science, designing and launching international E-learning programs. Ms. Origel collaborated with renowned computer scientist Arthur Whitney to implement his latest APL-based computer programming language into the blockchain.
In 2017, she co-founded ChainLink Capital Management, a fund of funds that invests in Blockchain technology and Cryptocurrencies, which was named the best-performing crypto fund of funds in the world in 2021.
She is an advisor to The Kindness Campaign, a nonprofit based in the United States that creates easily accessible emotional and mental health tools for anyone going through emotionally difficult times. She is also a member of the Executive Council Network (ECN) and 100 Women in Finance.
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CEO of Salman Solutions
A globally sought after strategic advisor to family offices, CEOs, and founders. She is the founder and CEO of Salman Solutions, a trusted advisory firm.
The firm offers proprietary end-to-end solutions for investors and/or management teams requiring expertise or augmented capabilities to grow their companies and portfolios.
Ms. Salman has a $5.5 billion track record of structuring, funding, growing, and exiting global ventures, both private and institutional.
Ms. Salman has an LL.M. in taxation from the University of Houston, a JD and BS in international trade and finance with a minor in economics from Louisiana State University, and is licensed to practice law in Texas, Louisiana, and before the U.S. Tax Court.
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Co-founder & COO of Revere
Chris Shen is an entrepreneur, investor and lawyer. He is the co-founder and COO of Revere, a venture-backed fintech platform that is building the “Morningstar for VC”, empowering investment advisors, family offices and allocators with the tools to build custom venture capital portfolios.
Before starting Revere, Chris co-founded and invested with West 22nd Capital Advisers, a Hong Kong-based single family office and investment firm licensed by the Securities & Futures Commission of Hong Kong (SFC). Among other roles, Chris established the firm’s operations, served on the investment committee, and led venture capital and external asset manager investments. Before moving to the investment world, he was a special counsel with the global law firm Baker McKenzie, focusing on corporate finance and fund formation matters in the Asia-Pacific region.
Chris is a licensed Type 1/4/9 responsible officer under the SFC, is admitted to practice law in the State of Texas, and speaks fluent Mandarin Chinese. Originally from Houston, Chris lived and worked in Beijing, Taipei, and Hong Kong from 2006 to 2019 and now splits his time between Silicon Valley and Hong Kong.
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Justin is a venture capital investor in early-stage consumer technology companies. Justin is the co-founder and Managing Partner of Recharge Thematic Ventures, a seed-stage venture capital fund investing on a global scale in emerging consumer trends around financial services, healthcare, and web3. Previously, Justin founded Chaos Ventures and has held investment roles at Tusk Ventures, Argo Ventures, and Providence Equity Partners. Justin began his career in leveraged finance investment banking at Jefferies and financial services at Ernst & Young. He is a licensed CPA
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Kurt is an entrepreneur from Chicago with experience in Bitcoin mining, business management, and cybersecurity. As CoinGeek’s Chief Bitcoin Historian, Kurt is a wealth of knowledge on all things blockchain, and he has the unique ability to make complex ideas easy to understand. He is a frequent host, co-host and special guest across the blockchain media space. He is focused on teaching Bitcoin history, function and future utility for users and businesses through the written word, video and in-person media experiences.
Unbounded Capital invests globally in technical founders building seed stage infrastructure companies which utilize micropayments in order to serve the billions of people on the internet.