Author: Arain, ChainCatcher

"DeSci" is not a new concept, but since November this year, this However, the word suddenly hit the screen in the circle - especially during Devcon in November, it was highly praised by Binance co-founder CZ and Ethereum founder Vitalik, which made many people feel the trend. According to Dune data, DeSci’s popularity continues to rise and has become the number one popular narrative in recent times.

DeSci (Decentralized Science), which is decentralized science. According to the definition of the Ethereum Foundation, DeSci is a movement that uses the Web3 stack to conduct scientific research. Establish equitable public infrastructure in the field to fund, create, review, validate, store and disseminate scientific knowledge. Specifically, DeSci wants to solve challenges in traditional scientific research, such as financing difficulties, insufficient data sharing, low research transparency, etc. The current DeSci projects that solve financing problems are the main type of this track.

According to RootData data, there are currently as many as 32 projects in the DeSci track. Such a large number makes it difficult to filter, but "own" Projects with an outstanding Founder or Co-Founder are rare. It can be said that if these DeSci track entrepreneurs are sorted, a DeSci founder despise chain can be formed: highly vertical entrepreneurs > encryption / Top elites in other industries > Financial practitioners > Serial entrepreneurs in other industries.

The first echelon

The DeSci entrepreneurs in the first echelon not only have directly relevant resumes, but are also energetic and hold key positions in multiple projects - but this Entrepreneurs are very scarce, and there are first-tier entrepreneurs in the DeSci project promoted by CZ and Vitalik.

1. Tyler Golato

Haunted encryption projects: Molecule, VitaDAO, BIO Protocol, PsyDAO (Psychedelics), AthenaDAO (Women’s Health), Pump.Science

In the above projects, Tyler Golato serves as sponsor, consultant and other positions. The most noteworthy among them are the open source drug development protocol Molecule and VitaDAO, a community collective dedicated to the commercialization of longevity therapies. Tyler Golato is the co-founder, chief scientist and CEO of Molecule, and a co-sponsor of VitaDAO.

As far as resume is concerned, Tyler Golato is highly vertical in the field of biological sciences. He holds a BS in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (with a pre-med concentration) and worked at the National Institute on Aging - Laboratory of Molecular Gerontology from 2015 to 2017. Molecular Gerontology), studying under Dr. David M. Wilson III and Dr. Vilhelm Bohr, focusing on repairing endogenous DNA damage, focusing on repairing endogenous DNA damage.

He also worked in the laboratory of Robert Fine at Columbia University, studying the mechanisms of chemotherapy resistance in pancreatic cancer and developing novel treatment strategies for various cancers.

Awards and honors: Received the NIH Academy Fellows Program; became an Ignite finalist in 2016, etc.

Representative published research works: "DNA damage and the maintenance of nuclear genome integrity in aging and associated phenotypes" "Latest advances in aging research and drug discovery" " Role of DNA repair in carcinogenesis and cancer therapeutics" etc.

2. Alok Tayi

Haunted encryption project: Vibe Bio

Alok Tayi himself is an entrepreneur in the biomedical vertical field, but the only encryption project he is currently known to be involved in, Vibe Bio, seems to be little known (it is rarely reported in the news). Interestingly, Vibe Bio’s investment lineup is very eye-catching, such as Initialized Capital, which has invested in Avalanche and Coinbase, Balaji Srinivasan, former CTO of Coinbase and general partner of Andreessen Horowitz, and Naval Ravikant, who has invested in Uber, Twitter, and Ploymarket. investors.

Let’s talk about Alok’s own experience. Alok graduated from Cornell University and received his PhD in materials science from Northwestern University, where he completed postdoctoral work with George Whitesides. He has 15 years of experience in scientific research and 12 years of entrepreneurial experience. He founded two pharmaceutical SaaS companies, PreScouter and TetraScience - two companies with hundreds of employees and more than 400 customers.

Alok founded Vibe Bio after his own daughter was diagnosed with a rare disease and knew firsthand that the biggest obstacle to developing treatments was not finding a potential cure. method, but to fund them.

Alok has published articles in well-known media and journals such as Forbes, Nature, and Nature Chemistry.

3. Simone Fantaccini

Infested encryption project: SynapseDAO

This is a low-key but not simple entrepreneur in the DeSci track. In the guest invitation list of a biomedical forum, there is information that Simone Fantaccini is the founder of SynapseDAO.

In fact, Simone Fantaccini is still the head of medical affairs and chief strategy officer of Novartis, a Swiss multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology company.

SimoneAn avid activist for learning, Fantaccini holds an MD from the University of Florence, a PhD from the Politecnico di Milano, Italy, and an MBA from the MIP Polytechnic in Milan. Simone Fantaccini has been engaged in and promoted work in biomedicine most of the time, and mainly focused on research related to multiple sclerosis. Analysis" research work.

However, in 2023, he began to study encrypted digital currencies, first serving as a board member of Native Digital DNA (this is a physical asset based on RFID Smart Dust DNA project for on-chain authentication solutions), in the same year he founded SynapseSciences as its co-founder and president.

This year saw the emergence of SynapseSciences’ namesake, the Synapse DAO, dedicated to funding research and development for neglected neurological diseases. In this DAO, Simone Fantaccini also brought in Scott Howell, MD, former U.S. chief strategy officer of Novartis. In other words, Synapse DAO, with two Novartis, is not fighting alone.

Continuing to work at Novartis Pharmaceuticals and start a business at Synapse DAO, Simone Fantaccini is actively socializing and serves as an advisory board member at VitaDAO.

Facts have proved that powerful people always have plenty of experience and are slash people.

Second Echelon

The resumes of entrepreneurs in the second echelon are relatively less vertical, but they are definitely dazzling. There are many entrepreneurs whose project performance is highly regarded by the market. High hopes and mentioned often.

1. Brian Armstrong

Haunted encryption projects: ResearchHub, Coinbase

< p style="text-align: left;">Created Coinbase from scratch and is still the co-founder of Coinbase and Brian Armstrong at DeScEntrepreneurial moves in the i field have naturally attracted much attention.

Brian Armstrong graduated from Rice University with a double bachelor's degree in economics and computer science and a master's degree in computer science. He worked as a developer at IBM in the early days and worked at Deloitte Serve as a consultant.

In 2011, Brian Armstrong joined Airbnb as a software engineer. During this period, he was exposed to issues such as the payment system and the difficulties of cross-border payments, which inspired him to create cryptography. Ideas for digital currency related businesses.

In 2012, Brian Armstrong and Fred Ehrsam co-founded Coinbase, and Coinbase has become the largest cryptocurrency trading platform in the United States.

In the DeSci track, Brian Armstrong founded ResearchHu, a publishing DeSci project that aims to completely change the publishing model of traditional scientific research journals, with the help of district Blockchain technology has built a new scientific research exchange platform, allowing scientific researchers to publish their research results more conveniently on ResearchHub, and stimulating the vitality and creativity of the scientific research community with unique incentives.

Interestingly, after this, Brian Armstrong, Google Ventures partner Blake Byers, Greg Johnson, and Jacob Kimmel jointly founded NewLimit, a project to extend human lifespan. . There is currently little information about NewLimit, and it is unclear whether it is another layout of Brian Armstrong in the field of DeSci, but this starts Brian Armstrong's journey of exploration in the field of biomedicine.

2. Paul Kohlhaas

Haunted encryption projects: Molecule, BIO Protocol, Pump.Science

Paul Kohlhaas is a relatively active figure in the encryption field and has participated in multiple encryption-related projects. In addition to his work in well-known blockchain companiesRegarding ConsenSys’ work experience, the most noteworthy thing is that Paul Kohlhaas often appears in the same project with Tyler Golato of the first echelon, which may imply that the two have better working coordination.

Paul Kohlhaas graduated from the University of St. Gallen with a degree in economics and majors. Before entering the encryption field, he was a member of the private equity business group of the Frankfurt office of the law firm White & Case LLP. Members specialize in private equity transactions and cross-border mergers and acquisitions, providing advice in the fields of private equity, mergers and acquisitions and corporate law.

After entering the encryption field, he worked at ConsenSys and uPort for a period of time, and then started his entrepreneurial career.

Paul Kohlhaas first co-founded Molecule and later BIO Protocol with Tyler Golato.

Pump.Science is the Desci track meme currency issuance platform launched by Molecule based on Solana, allowing users to participate in the effects of drugs by trading meme coins representing drugs. Trading of predictions and experimental data.

3. Laura Minquini

Haunted encryption projects: VitaDAO, AthenaDAO

Laura Minquini can be said to be a representative of successful people in other fields. This is a female entrepreneur who has accumulated some entrepreneurial experience in the fields of longevity and women's health.

Laura Minquini graduated from York University in Canada with a bachelor's degree in linguistics, but she started her career in the fashion industry and is good at brand promotion and business development. She launched the first fashion-focused technology accessory product "Case Scenario" and achieved global high-quality distribution, millions of dollars in sales within a year, and became a third-party supplier to Apple. And has cooperated with companies such as Louis Vuitton, Apple, and Pantone.

2019, Laura Minquini founded MYKIGAI, a platform for longevity discovery and recommendation, which started her exploration into the big health industry.

After that, she entered VitaDAO as a contributor, met Tyler Golato, and established AthenaDAO, a new decentralized collective that funds women's health research and development (Tyler Golato serves as the director of AthenaDAO consultant position).

As a cross-border person entering the DeSci track, Ms. Laura Minquini can be said to have "the right" thigh, but perhaps it is because of her interest in the broad field of health. What about hobbies? Be more active and work harder, and Laura Minquini is expected to be promoted to the first tier.

4. Vincent Weisser

Participating projects: PrimeIntellect, Molecule, VitaDAO, BIO Protocol

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Vincent Weisser is primarily a technician. He does not have a very distinctive resume, but he has participated in three well-known DeSci projects, Molecule, VitaDAO, and BIO Protocol, and has collaborated with Paul Kohlhaas and Tyler Golato.

Vincent is also one of the co-sponsors of Vita DAO and provides consulting for Vita DAO. At Molecule he holds a consultant position.

His latest development is the creation and CEO of Prime Intellect, a decentralized artificial intelligence platform that aims to commoditize computing and intelligence , providing developers with more affordable distributed computing, as well as a sustainable business model with an open source model.

Maybe Vincent Weisser is not interested in DeSci, and Prime Intellect just announced the completion of a $5.5 million seed round of financing this year - maybe one day looking back, he It may slip to the third or even fourth tier on the DeSci track.

Conclusion

Compared with the DeSci entrepreneurs in the first and second echelons, the resumes of the founders in the third and fourth echelons appear to be ordinary. Take the popular hair loss treatment project HairDAO as an example. Its founder Andrew Verbinnen has been engaged in investment work in the commercial real estate industry for many years. He was troubled by hair loss and became interested in cryptocurrency, so he came up with the idea of ​​​​creating HairDAO. Another example is the data-based GenomesDAO, whose founder Aldo de Pape. He is the founder and CEO of the cloud learning platform TeachPitch. Earlier, he mainly worked in business development in the publishing industry.

These entrepreneurs are all remarkable. Although the work experience is commendable, the development of the DeSci track has attracted a continuous influx of elites in the vertical field, and a cruel "chain of contempt" has been formed. Judging from the characteristics of projects sought after by investors, founders with direct relevant experience are more popular: that is, there is reason to believe that they have a higher success rate in this track.