1/ After 2 years at EigenLayer, I'm parting ways to explore something new. I saw a rare 0→1 cycle: academic team of 10 to 120+. From ~$0 to at its peak, $20B in deposits. Will start a Substack to share my upcoming journey & learnings. Part 1: How to spot unicorns early 🧵

2/ I went all in with the company when it was at a few hundred million dollars in valuation. It hit $10B in 1.5 years after I joined. The secret? Finding the right problem to solve. Most miss opportunities because they don’t look hard enough. Here’s how I did it.

3/ Lesson 1: Alpha hides in volume When I first entered the space in 2022, I scanned 30-40 crypto projects daily at a VC. Nearly 1000/month. This "big data training" taught me pattern recognition that most people never develop. You need 100 data points for 1 good opinion.

4/ Applying this lesson: New industry? Read 10 reports, write notes. DM 30 people, 5 will give good insights. Jobs? Don't find jobs, look for good companies. Search for competitive landscape and mapping of a category, look into all of them.

5/ Lesson 2: When smart people are confused, that’s alpha. At Zuzalu Montenegro 2023, I researched restaking independently. Only a few high-signal people in Ethereum were intrigued and it's mostly unknowns. Confusion at the top = opportunity at the bottom.

6/ Applying this lesson: Smart people saying “I don’t get it, but it seems big”? Jump in. CEO repeats a problem? Own it. VCs call something “confusing”? Research it. If you’re the room’s expert in 2 weeks, you’ve found a gap. 🕵️

7/ Lesson 3: Look for signs, score it (/10): Brain rewiring: 9 (intellectual) 100x potential: 9 (category-defining) Self-spreading: 8 (restaking as fuel) Leadership: 8 (1st time but magnetic founder) Ownership: 7 (3rd strategy/biz employee) Score: 41/50 = unicorn territory

8/ The pattern I noticed: Bull market winners are built during bear market obscurity. In 2023, while everyone debated abstractions, 3 projects quietly built: @eigenlayer, @HyperliquidX, @ethena_labs. None were "hot" then. All became definitive later.

9/ Lesson 4: Create dots of goodwill I cold DM'd their CSO. No openings at first. But I'd been: - Tweeting about it when no one cared - Hosting their team at events - Writing about it Small deposits of value formed a line to opportunity. Eventually it was obvious to have me.

10/ Framework for finding unicorns early: Pattern recognition requires volume (100 data points minimum) Smart people's confusion = there's a gap Score on: intellectual interest, ceiling, distribution, leadership, ownership Build goodwill before you need it

11/ If you're hunting for your next opportunity: Study 50 companies solving interesting problems to find 5 worth joining. Then convince them to create a role for you. Look for the right problem & team, not a job.

12/ This is Part 1 of my 3-part series on building 0→1 at a unicorn. Part 2: The playbook for building ecosystem from scratch Part 3: What market forces and company scaling taught me about humility Dive into the full Part 1 story on Substack: More writing on Substack soon: #Startups, #Tech, #Career, #Life, #Crypto, #VC 🏗️