Joining Paradigm

I’m excited to share that after a few months of exploring opportunities as an entrepreneur in residence at Paradigm, I have joined full-time as an Investment Partner. I am eager to invest in the future of the internet and believe Paradigm is the premier place to do so.

Since my breakthrough last year in understanding crypto as an enabling technology, I’ve found it near-impossible to see opportunities without this new lens. Crypto, like any technology, is merely a tool and framework to build with. But I believe its impact on consumer internet, social systems, identity and coordination, creators, community, fandom, culture, games, media, and more can be just as profound as its impact on the global financial system. I’ve always been obsessed with how the internet enables creative people — whether while building 100 Thieves or investing in a wide range of companies at Lowercase Capital and Universal Music Group — so crypto and Web3 feel like a natural progression on my journey.

My intention in coming to Paradigm as an EIR was to dive deeper into this new world alongside the firm’s world-class teams and start a new project. As I explored, I realized how many areas of this growing ecosystem I’m excited about, and how aligned I was with Matt and Fred’s views on how foundational crypto will be to building the internet of the future. Rather than focus on building one thing, I realized that the best path for me is to work on many projects as an investor.

The flow of talent interested in building with crypto continues to blow me away, and we’re just getting started. We’re approaching a world where "internet entrepreneur" and "crypto entrepreneur" become synonymous, and Paradigm’s ambition will scale with that shift. We’re a firm with great flexibility, and while my focus will be broad, my entrepreneurial roots make me particularly keen to work with founders at the earliest stages. I expect to support our founders on product, go to market, brand, and business development as the aperture for crypto opportunities continues to widen.

Some might read my words on the grandeur of crypto’s impact and suggest hyperbole or remind me that crypto and Web3 are currently niche. But to the founders for whom the above resonates, those who see the opportunity to use this technology to build the internet we’ve always hoped could exist, I’d love to meet you: jackson@paradigm.xyz.

Thanks

There are far too many people to thank in a single blog post, but to a few of you in particular, I am especially grateful: Matt Mazzeo, Chris Sacca, and Carlos Adame for taking a chance on a kid excited about investing in the internet; Matt Haag, John Robinson, and Jason Ton for teaching me how to create and build something people love; and to the brain trust: Blake Robbins, Laz Alberto, Joe Albanese, Dylan Eirinberg, Kai Gayoso, Adam Faze, Brenner Spear, Andrew Ettinger, Jonny Cohen, Michael Dempsey, Alex Zhang, Matthew Henick, Greg Bettinelli, and Blair and Linda Dahl.