During the MIT Sloan reunion last month, I finally got to attend a seminar by Professor Andrew Lo. He's one of the sharpest minds in finance and innovation. I had tried (and failed!) to get into his class during my MBA, so this was a full-circle moment.

His talk on Financing Deep Tech hit home. He spoke about the “valley of death”, the risky gap between breakthrough research and real-world application. It reminded me of what many crypto projects face today: strong tech, but struggling to survive without the right capital, ecosystem, and patient backing.

Whether it’s deep tech or web3, it’s mission-aligned capital and long-term conviction that ultimately bridge the gap.

Grateful to be back at Sloan, still learning from the best.