Podcasts

Blockchain Capital’s Spencer Bogart: ‘Wall Street should be paying attention to blockchain right now’

  • Blockchain Capital isn't just investing in blockchain -- it's even issued its own digital asset.
  • Head of Research Spencer Bogart joins us on the podcast to talk about the investabiity of these new assets.
close

Email a Friend

What do you do as a sell-side analyst when you write the seminal research report on Bitcoin? You join a new type of venture capital firm that invests solely in the blockchain ecosystem. That's what Spencer Bogart, head of research at Blockchain Capital, which has made dozens of investments in blockchain did. Bogart was previously at Needham and Company, joins us on this week's episode of the Tearsheet podcast. We talk about the transition from the sell-side on Wall Street to venture capital and how his experience impacts his research. We also discuss his newest fund which was funded in its own cryptocurrency, BCAP. This form of investing, still really just an interesting experiment, could potentially change the mechanics of investing in private companies. Subscribe: iTunes I SoundCloud Below are highlights, edited for clarity, from the episode. What was it about Bitcoin that caught your attention when you were on Wall Street? "Like a lot of people, I looked at Bitcoin as something highly unlikely to succeed, but also very intriguing intellectually. Eventually, it finally got to a point with Bitcoin and its underlying technology that it made sense for a company like Needham & Co. to get out in front of the opportunity, start meeting all the companies in the space, and become a thought leader." The transition from sell-side research to venture capital "One of the hardest things going from a traditional sell-side research role where you're covering large publicly traded companies to a venture role is that you really have to go without a lot of data in the beginning. With a sell-side research approach, I would start with a quantitative approach when analyzing a company, look at its multiples and growth, how it compares to its peers, and then layer on a qualitative aspect of whether we believed a company would continue to grow and whether it has a sustainable advantage. With venture capital, it's the exact opposite. You have to start with a qualitative aspect and then layer on a quantitative approach when thinking about an investment opportunity. We call ourselves 'stage agnostic and seed biased'. The vast majority of our investments were made in seed and Series A rounds. Companies at this stage just don't have a lot of data to work with." Why should the vp of marketing at Goldman Sachs care about blockchain and Bitcoin? "We look at blockchain as fundamentally changing the way value is transferred in a digital world. If you think about some of the other ways to transfer value digitally, like Paypal, they generally have made it easier to use legacy infrastructure, but they haven't created new pipes. Blockchain is that new infrastructure and architecture for value transfer. For a company like Goldman Sachs, it's definitely time to be diving in to blockchain. It could still be a year to five years out, though, that blockchain is knocking on their door, ready to disrupt their business." Blockchain Capital's new venture coin "For our third fund, we did what we believe is the first fully-compliant Initial Coin Offering. We sold tockens, BCAP, the ticker for our ICO, on a one-to-one basis with the U.S. dollar. Doing it this way, we raised capital from over 700 investors around the world in an average check size you wouldn't normally see in a venture fund. We wanted to practice what we preach and use the technology we advocate so strongly for to disrupt our own industry. Venture capital suffers from two primary problems: access and liquidity. VC has typically been the domain of privileged endowments and institutions. And capital is normally locked up for 5 to 10 years. Our tokens will be traded in a way that their holders won't have to wait this long to sell their investments."  

0 comments on “Blockchain Capital’s Spencer Bogart: ‘Wall Street should be paying attention to blockchain right now’”

Partner, Podcasts

Customer expectations in a digital world with Deloitte’s Jonathan Valenti

  • Join Jonathan Valenti from Deloitte Consulting as we delve into evolving customer expectations and the role of technology in financial services.
  • Discover insights on personalization, equity, inclusion, faster onboarding, and partnerships, all in response to recent market events.
Zachary Miller | September 28, 2023
Podcasts

Looking deeper at mortgage demand and products with BMO’s Tom Parrish

  • A BMO survey found that 64% of Americans are delaying homebuying due to concerns about mortgage rates.
  • Tom Parrish, managing director of consumer lending product management at BMO, joins us on the podcast to talk about home buying, financing, and general market trends.
Zachary Miller | September 25, 2023
Partner, Podcasts

‘Getting the model right’: How Regional Finance balances customer-centricity and fraud prevention in digital lending

  • In this episode of the Tearsheet Podcast, Regional Finance explores credit modeling in the digital lending landscape, focusing on the balance between serving customers and preventing fraud.
  • We speak with Chris Martin, head of product management at the $1.5 billion consumer lender, and with Argyle's Matt Gomes, who leads the firm's data and tech efforts in banking and lending.
Zachary Miller | September 21, 2023
Podcasts

Evolving Regulations, Evolving Payroll: The future of Earned Wage Access with Clair CEO Nico Simko

  • In this episode of the Tearsheet Podcast, join us as we delve into the evolving landscape of Earned Wage Access with Nico Simko, CEO of Clair.
  • Nico walks us through the changing regulatory environment, defensible distribution strategies, and his vision for a full-service frontline bank for hourly workers.
Zachary Miller | September 19, 2023
Partner, Podcasts

Navigating the future of digital banking: A conversation with Deloitte’s Nick Cowell

  • Join Nick Cowell, Deloitte Partner, as he discusses the digital banking landscape in North America and how traditional banks are adapting to meet evolving consumer demands.
  • Explore the changing dynamics of the banking industry and learn about the rise of digital neobanks, evolving customer expectations, and the critical success factors for incumbent banks in a digital-first world.
Zachary Miller | September 14, 2023
More Articles