The Boston Blockchain Podcast EP.9 | Kerty Levy From Techstars

[Music] cubic Labs presents Boston blockchain week stepping into the future celebrating the creators innovators and heroes of blockchain and web3 I'm Mike Joshua from Mud House media reporting from Boston blockchain week 2022 presented by cubic Labs with me now is Kerdi Levy managing director of techstars hello kurdy hi great to be here so thank you much for uh thank you so much for joining me tell me a little bit about uh Tech Stars and what brings you here this week techstars is the worldwide Network that helps entrepreneurs succeed it's really a wonderful Mission and what brings me here this week is we have started a new accelerator here in Boston called techstars crypto Boston powered by algorand our partner in this is Al Grant and the AL Gran Foundation blockchain week is a great opportunity to get the word out to Founders and also network with investors and mentors as we get ready to start our accelerator it starts in January talk a little bit about the importance of Boston blockchain week and that's why it's so vital to have events like this well you know around um in in every ecosystem we think about the founder first but Founders need to be surrounded by all kinds of different resources so those resources as I mentioned might be mentors or investors but also different infrastructural places to go learn places to set up their co-working spaces places to meet other Founders and I think blockchain week leans into the ecosystem a lot and making sure that it's a great place for entrepreneurs to succeed I've met entrepreneurs from quite honestly around the world here I've also heard some great speakers we've seen representatives from different types of investment from regulatory bodies Etc so great place for entrepreneurs to be right now being in person now after a lot of screen time for everybody that it's got to be nice to be just among in the same rooms and under a tent with like-minded people oh absolutely IRL is where it's at uh what does the future of blockchain technology look like do you think yeah so it's very very early it's in its infancy and a lot of people are looking at it from different angles some people are looking at it from a financial perspective and accessibility for people getting access they're you know two-thirds of the world are not using Banks the way that the first world is using them for example so there's accessibility there's also the idea that blockchain can be used for monitoring how the environment is being affected and actually motivating people to act one way or another and creating reward systems there are also ways to use the blockchain for identity imagine people moving around the world and not having to be wed to the piece of paper that they have been given by a country but there's more freedom there I guess another air I mean there's just so many different use cases but people approach it pro approach the technology to leverage it for what they're interested in building why should businesses and Business Leaders if they haven't embraced it yet blockchain technology generally and then blockchain Boston blockchain week specifically in general I think just like in the early to mid 90s businesses needed to figure out what their internet strategies were I think now web 3 and blockchain strategies need to be in the minds of many businesses there's so many people here who are Educators in the space and great it's a great opportunity to network and learn about what what they need to be thinking about I've seen in the audience quite a few people who are admittedly not aware of what the blockchain is but they want to learn so blockchain week provides that for all kinds of people and like you said too we're it it's it's so early in the technology but some people it seems like they well I I can't like they feel like they've kind of missed the boat but I've even I'm a novice in it but I'm like no no it's so early we can all still learn are you are you seeing that out there that people are are more Open Arms to the technology now and they want to learn about it I do I think the boat is being built anyone who's helping to build it has been very open to sharing with others um what they're working on and also trying to educate them I think it you know they're just a fraction of the world who is building on blockchain right now and building in web 3 and the more people who understand it the better Kerdi is there anything any new tech or projects that you're rolling out this week or soon that you want to tell us about our applications are closing on September 28th so we are encouraging Founders who have a really big ideas who want to build on blockchain build on web 3 to apply we're looking for people who are building infrastructure and who are looking at building community and needed you know badly needed Services across web 3 yeah apply to techstars and how do they get in touch with you how do they find you out there so our website which is easily found by typing in techstars crypto Boston has an apply Now button and it has an office hours button so either way apply and we'll reach out to you or hit office hours and talk to us fantastic kurti Levy thank you so much thank you it's great to be here for more on Boston blockchain week go to bostonblockchainweek.com for more about cubic Labs go to cubiclabs.com