Dylan Field’s seed-stage pitch for Figma video is a time capsule for early ambition.
Takeaway: The best pitches are crystal clear on the problem and the hero journey of the user. Every founder we back should be able to tell their story this cleanly. Before the traction, before the market believes.
Peter Fenton (Benchmark) podcast shared a line that stuck:
“During a pitch, maybe you know you’ll pass. But ask the questions that make it productive for you. Probe for connections, ask: who’s the smartest person you’ve worked with?”
Takeaway: Curiosity compounds. Every founder interaction is a chance to deepen your map of talent, market edges, and future opportunities.
Loot Boxes as Commerce
John Wang makes a sharp point: Pop Mart-style random loot boxes are the future of consumer engagement.
Why this matters for SGV:
Mystery + resale = habit loops
Onchain infra can unlock instant secondary liquidity
Cultural alignment with gaming, collectibles, and status
Courtyard: The $50M/mo Digital Vending Machine
Fortune profiled Courtyard’s $30M raise.
Hidden lessons for consumer crypto:
Article mentions “NFT” once, never says “crypto”
Instant liquidity → cards can be sold back for 90% FMV or listed fee-free
Volume compounding: the same card trades 8x/month
GMV exploded from $50K/mo (Jan 2024) → $50M/mo today
They are now the largest buyer of trading cards globally
Takeaway: Crypto-native patterns (digital ownership + liquidity) work in the mainstream without leading with crypto language. Utility and market loops drive adoption first.
The SEC basically confirmed crypto super apps are coming (Hoss G).
Signal: The regulatory environment is coalescing around large, integrated apps. Expect Farcaster, Base, and wallet-native platforms to consolidate experiences into fewer, more powerful consumer entry points.
Crypto-Powered Ads Are Here
Spindl’s post and our own experience on Farcaster/BASE confirm a core SGV thesis:
Every interaction in crypto can become monetizable attention
Protocol-aligned ad rails will drive new revenue streams
Early players like Spindl are showing what onchain ad networks can become
zkTLS as a Consumer Edge
Hersh @ Opacity goes deep on how zkTLS enables net-new data sources.
Takeaway: This is how consumer apps gain asymmetric insight without compromising privacy—vital for the next generation of personalized crypto UX.
This week crystallizes three slow hunches we keep circling back to at SGV:
Mystery + Liquidity = Habit Loops
Loot boxes, collectible cards, and tokenized items aren’t toys, they’re retention machines.
Infra Meets Consumer Only Through UX
Whether it’s zkTLS, Base, or onchain ads, mass-market adoption will come when these tools disappear behind delightful experiences.
Great Founders Are Storytellers
From Dylan Field to the Sperm Racing kids we just funded, clarity and narrative courage are what set the trajectory long before the market agrees.
We’re here for the weird, the early, and the relentless.
Social Graph Ventures
