In this episode of Inside the Hutt, Brooke Pollack speaks with Jesse Walden, founder of Variant, a seed-stage crypto investment firm. Jesse shares his journey from founding Mediachain to launching Variant, highlighting his focus on the ownership economy and regulatory clarity in crypto. He explains Variant’s barbell strategy of early-stage and liquid investing, insights on vertical integration, and their team’s legal-forward approach. Jesse also covers evolving opportunities in DeFi, NFTs, and why he believes crypto is still early in its adoption cycle—especially in the U.S. market.

Key Points From This Episode:

Jesse Walden’s background, founding Mediachain, and transition from Spotify to A16Z.

Founding Variant and its origin as a seed-focused crypto fund with a distinct ownership thesis.

Variant’s evolution, team structure, and strategic decision to remain lean.

Importance of legal and regulatory infrastructure, including internal policy expertise.

Original ownership economy thesis and how it’s held up over time.

Regulatory shifts in the U.S. and potential impact of the market structure bill.

Founder behavior in anticipation of upcoming SEC rulemaking.

Liquidity strategies and long-term approach to token investments.

Current investment themes across DeFi, infrastructure, AI, and consumer.

Investment logic behind L1s and L2s, and vertical integration trends.

Thoughts on corporate players launching blockchains (Stripe, Coinbase, etc.).

Investment in Blockaid and the opportunity in crypto security.

Hype vs. reality in categories like prediction markets and stablecoins.

Why DeFi remains underappreciated despite stablecoin traction.

Long-term vision for NFTs and their infrastructure layer role.

Jesse’s views on competition, Variant’s positioning, and platform differentiation.

Ongoing importance of policy support even with regulatory clarity.

Links

Jesse Walden on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessewalden

Variant: https://variant.fund/

Brooke Pollack on X: https://x.com/bhpollack

Brooke Pollack on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brookepollack/

Hutt Capital: https://www.huttcapital.com/

In this episode of Inside the Hutt, Brooke Pollack welcomes back Joe Eagan, co-founder of Anagram and the podcast’s very first guest. Joe shares how Anagram has evolved from a two-person operation to a 25-person holding company and crypto venture platform. He explains their build-first strategy, the firm’s emphasis on composable synergy between building and investing, and the structure behind their asset management arm. Joe also discusses recent spin-outs like Glider, Swig, and Breeze, reflects on the firm's approach to engineering-led ideation, and addresses the growing role of Solana within their portfolio. The conversation closes with thoughts on crypto treasury plays, regulatory shifts, and the firm’s outlook as a holding company with permanent capital.

Key Points From This Episode:

Joe Eagan’s background and the early days of Anagram.

Anagram’s thesis: pairing human and financial capital for crypto investing and building.

Structure of Anagram’s 25-person team, including asset management, investment, engineering, building, and talent teams.

The evolution of Anagram’s internal build process and emphasis on rapid iteration.

Overview of projects like Glider, Swig, Breeze, and the firm’s Solana validator.

Strategy behind internal product development and its relation to supporting portfolio companies

The value of engineering-led ideation and bottoms-up product creation.

Examples of internal tools and spin-outs powering Anagram’s flywheel.

Role of Lily Liu as co-founder and her involvement with Solana Foundation.

Why Anagram remains chain-agnostic despite a strong Solana footprint.

Overview of Anagram Asset Management and its three crypto-focused funds.

Unique structure of short-duration, niche venture funds to match crypto’s pace.

How Anagram Liquid Ventures mirrors its venture strategy

The rationale behind running a holding company instead of a traditional VC fund.

Joe’s thoughts on long-term investor adoption and why skepticism still exists.

Links

Joe Eagan on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joseph-eagan-22531577

Anagram: https://www.anagram.xyz

Anagram on X: https//x.com/@anagramxyz

Brooke Pollack on X: https://x.com/bhpollack

Brooke Pollack on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brookepollack/

Hutt Capital: https://www.huttcapital.com/

In this episode of Inside the Hutt, Brooke Pollack interviews Serge Kassardjian, co-founder of Sixth Man Ventures. Serge recounts his journey from early stints at Google and Sony to founding StayTuned and later co-launching Sixth Man Ventures. He discusses the firm’s investment focus on crypto applications, their early conviction in NFTs and Solana, and how the team approaches building with founders. Serge also unpacks market trends, token and equity dynamics, and the evolving sophistication of crypto founders, while offering insight into standout portfolio companies like Pump.fun and Sleepagotchi.

Key Points From This Episode:

Serge Kassardjian’s background and path from Google and Sony to founding StayTuned and Sixth Man Ventures.

How Sixth Man Ventures began with NFT trading and a small experimental wallet fund.

The firm’s focus on application-layer investments in both consumer and enterprise crypto use cases.

Why Sixth Man Ventures is chain-agnostic, despite early success in the Solana ecosystem.

Strategy around liquid token investments and preference for long-term theses over short-term trading.

Views on opportunities beyond financial use cases, including gaming, DePIN, collectibles, and RWAs.

Approach to evaluating projects like Pump.fun and conviction-driven investing.

Thoughts on the current state of the crypto venture market and signs of increasing regulatory clarity.

Comparison between crypto VC and traditional VC in terms of liquidity, M&A, and overall returns.

Perspective on investing across tokens and equity and the impact of IPO and token unlock trends.

Serge’s investment focus areas within the firm, including speculative apps, content, and gaming.

Insights into portfolio companies Sleepagotchi and Hogg, and their novel approaches to crypto use.

Why disciplined capital deployment and founder-fit remain key differentiators for Sixth Man Ventures.

Observations on founder quality in crypto and evolving investor behavior in the space.

Serge’s alternate dream career: basketball podcaster.

Links

Serge Kassardjian on X: https://x.com/sergekass

Serge Kassardjian on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sergekass/

Verda Ventures: https://6thman.ventures/

Brooke Pollack on X: https://x.com/bhpollack

Brooke Pollack on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brookepollack/

Hutt Capital: https://www.huttcapital.com/