How Shorting AOL Shaped the view of Technology and Crypto with John Wu, CEO of Ava Labs

TL;DR

John Wu, President of Ava Labs, shares his journey from working on Wall Street to becoming a blockchain innovator.

Transcript

john fantastic to get you on real vision well it's a pleasure i love your product i love real vision and we have so many mutual friends that's even better when i see a familiar face so yeah i want to go through your journey because yours is an interesting journey like quite a few of our friends and sort of quite like me start at the beginning tell ... Read More

Key Insights

• 💌 John Wu's journey showcases the power of networking and taking initiative, as he landed a job at Tiger Management by writing a letter.
• 🤯 He had the opportunity to work on the macro desk during a time of significant market volatility, learning from some of the best minds in the industry.
• 🥺 Wu's interest in technology and the emerging internet era led him to attend Harvard Business School and ultimately start his own tech firm.
• 💗 He initially viewed bitcoin skeptically but later analyzed it from a macro perspective, recognizing the growing demand and limited supply as an investment opportunity.

Questions & Answers

Q: How did John Wu manage to get his first job at Tiger Management?

John Wu wrote a letter to various hedge funds, including Tiger Management, showcasing his knowledge of finance and impressive understanding of how George Soros broke the bank of England. This impressed the Tiger team and landed him the job.

Q: What led John Wu to leave Tiger and attend Harvard Business School?

John Wu wanted to invest in emerging technologies and saw the internet as a significant macro trend. He decided to attend Harvard Business School to gain the necessary credentials if he wanted to advance his career and invest in technology.

Q: When did John Wu start looking at crypto and bitcoin?

In 2013, after seeing bitcoin's impressive bull run, John Wu started studying it from a technology investor perspective. He initially thought it was a scam but became more interested after the Mt. Gox crash in 2014.

Q: How did John Wu's macro thinking help him analyze bitcoin?

John Wu shifted his perspective and started looking at bitcoin as a commodity or FX instrument, rather than an individual technology company. He studied the supply and demand dynamics and realized that the demand for bitcoin far outweighed the supply, leading him to go long on it.

Summary & Key Takeaways

• John Wu started his career as an investor and landed his dream job at Tiger Management by writing a letter to them.

• He worked on the macro desk during a time of great volatility in the markets, learning from the best in the industry.

• He went on to attend Harvard Business School, driven by his passion for technology and the emerging internet era.