Let’s be honest. The greatest founder of all time.

The future job market is just Nvidia engineers becoming astronauts.

Everyone’s talking about the jobs AI might replace, but I don’t think enough people are talking about what it could create too. Seeing more conversations lately around layoffs, AI replacing jobs and companies operating with leaner teams. And whilst that can look scary for the job market, I do think there’s another side to it. Yes, companies are adapting and learning how to operate at the same capacity with smaller workforces. But AI is also lowering the barrier to building startups. Smaller teams can now move faster, operate cheaper and compete much earlier. Which probably means: -> more startups -> more competition -> and ultimately more job opportunities overall (even if teams themselves are smaller). The structure of companies may just change. Fewer layers, employees sitting closer to leadership, more ownership and probably a higher quality bar for talent overall. And from a wider market perspective, more competition usually forces more innovation and competitive pricing, which in turn is how more efficient markets are formed long term.

Another project coming after HL’s pie, let’s see how it plays out

The shift in the crypto fundraising landscape the past 6 months has been insane. Crypto VCs used to have to constantly be networking/writing/podcasting/going on spaces/promoting your thesis/getting on 10 deal flow calls a week, to get into good deals...now it's literally enough to just have capital to write checks. Deals are being pushed rather than dug out. Inbound if people know you have money is at an all-time high. Most firms are either 1) Out of money 2) Moved to Series A and beyond or 3) Fundraising (with no success). Deals that used to close in 2-3 weeks now close in 2-3 months. Firms with questionable business models or copy pasta of the latest trend are getting zero primary or follow-on funding (Good news!). There are now realistically <20 firms writing checks in pre-seed/seed. VCs basically have the pick of any deal they want, with more time to do DD. IMHO 25/26 are going to be historic vintages for those who stick around.

EthCC 2026: Cannes recap Great to be back on the Riviera. The proximity to DAS in NYC clearly split attendance, a lot of US folks opted for one over the other, and in a few cases, DAS won. What I'm seeing: Companies changing: M&A in staking/restaking is accelerating. Protocols are consolidating or shrinking. Foundations and infrastructure-only plays are struggling. The data backs this: crypto M&A hit 267 deals worth $8.6B in 2025, and consolidation is expected to intensify in 2026. The restaking narrative peaked but sustainable revenue models didn't follow. What's working: Payments, stablecoin infrastructure, and consumer products that generate revenue and scale. @raincards raised $250M Series C at $1.95B valuation. @KASTxyz raised $80M Series A at $600M. Real businesses with real cash flows. The VC thesis: Bigger cheques into revenue-generating products. Less appetite for seed rounds into copycat B2B plays. Higher focus on new niches and genuine consumer capture. The bar for Series A has moved, ARR expectations set, clear traction, institutional readiness. The narrative shift: Away from "amazing tech" and toward "how does this protocol produce revenue and scale as a business?" Bottom line: The filter is on. If you're building with real unit economics and a path to revenue, capital is there. If you're still leading with technology and tokenomics, it's going to be a long year. S/o Good Mate for best caps ☕

EthCC 2026 Takeaways 👇 VC and Fundraising: • Extremely low VC attendance, used to be the biggest crypto VC event just 1-2 years ago • >90% of founders are out of touch with valuations (still) - hurting their fundraises • We're in the early innings of startups and VCs not being able to come back to market expect another 6-12 months of this • VCs with Fund 2 and above are raising relatively well in Europe, LP interest is still here Founders and Builders: • Many OGs have left. The ones still around are either building or involved with the most interesting projects • The best teams are uniquely balancing an ambitious long-term vision with a practical bear market GTM • Tech and first-mover advantage are not moats anymore - I still get pitched this by a lot of founders • People are extremely bearish tokens - tend to agree although some of the best products that haven’t been built yet will still have tokens imo, pessimism seems overblown Crypto x AI • Agents are still early but showing promising signs of generating higher yield than regular DeFi products • Critical infrastructure is being built that is necessary for its future growth Ethereum ecosystem: • There’s still a lot of people building startups in the Ethereum ecosystem - remains to be seen if these builders are business-oriented enough to make it work • DeFi in Ethereum is clearly working and is here to stay long-term - almost all of the best early-stage teams are working in this category • EF Founder success team has done a great job with providing ecosystem support - the foundation needs to focus more on this or else projects will migrate Overall, I’m cautiously optimistic on the Ethereum ecosystem. Only serious people are left. The market is forcing better ideas and more valuable / sustainable products. The best teams are taking the biggest swings, hungry to win, look / feel institutional and are finding early traction with extremely limited resources - good signs of long term durable businesses. If I missed you at @EthCC and you’re keen to pitch us @frachtisvc, send me a DM

I am working with a ton of start ups, protocols, and institutional partners in the web3 world. One thing almost all of them have in common is that they want to hire cracked rust engineers. If you consider yourself a connoisseur in the art of rust, I’d really like to speak with you. We have a lot of opportunities for you @Blocksource_co

RT @Austin_Federa: If you’re in AI, pivot to crypto.

Seeing more vertical integration and M&A across crypto lately. Feels like the move from survival mode → durability mode. “Cool tech” alone isn’t enough, owning more of the stack = control over revenue, users, margins and distribution. This is usually what maturing markets look like. Net positive signal.

Seeing a big push for Designers (especially Product Designers) lately. Anyone else noticing this? Feels like teams are spinning up new verticals to adapt to market shifts and need people who can quickly translate complex engineering into user experiences.

🥹

Interesting work coming up for London-based engineers with experience in low-latency trading or ex-HFT systems

A friend of mine has been hit by a few layoffs. Each time he bounces back within a month- usually with a pay bump, sometimes a promotion. He lands on his feet every single time. I asked him what he does- it's the stuff recruiters always say and many people say- "I did that" or "I've tried that"- but just operates this way. He saw a job he wanted before his layoff happened. They required a security cert- one he'd want anyway. He used his final month of benefits to book it immediately and applied right away. He checked linkedin for connections at the company and found an old one. He reached out and asked them to flag his resume to the recruiter. After every interview he followed up with the recruiter AND the interviewers, thanking them. He also hopped on calls to debrief. This signals interest- and when two candidates are close at offer time, you default to the one who showed they actually want it. He treats the interview like the job, acting like interviewers are already colleagues and the hiring manager is already his boss. He communicates like he's already on the team. when explaining technical concepts he's mindful of who he's talking to and how they're reacting- start broad, read the room, go deeper only if they're tracking. You don't want to lose someone or show them up. The basics work, many people just don't do them consistently.

Hiring meta for 2026. Find this guy:

The pressure to perform is about to 10x. Not because your job is at risk tomorrow, but because you're now being compared to something that doesn’t sleep, *rarely* misses and outputs 24/7. I don't think AI will replace entire workforces overnight, and imo its not going to be as bad as some on the TL are speculating. But I do think it's going to expose anyone who's been coasting. The bar is about to rise fast.

Looking to connect with deeply technical DevRel professionals who’ve managed large developer communities. Mandarin-English bilingual required.

The FUD around BP being in London is wild

After 5 years recruiting in web3, one trend stands out. As technology accelerates and teams can ship faster, storytelling and positioning appear to be playing a bigger role in how founders and organisations differentiate. I don’t see that easing any time soon.

I’m hearing more clients say they don’t need to expand headcount where they previously would have, as AI fills the gap. Staying current with AI tools is becoming less optional and more about career longevity. The people who remain valuable are the ones who can do the same work faster and at greater scale.