By Kaitlin Argeaux
Each month, Blockbeat will conduct an exclusive interview with a visionary founder within the world of blockchain technology, showcasing their impactful contributions to the field. Founders Spotlight is proudly presented by CryptoMondays London
Hi Amber, Tell us a bit about yourself and your background, how did you get into the web3 industry?
My foray into decentralisation began in my teenage years, following the shutdown of Napster by the US government in 2001. This paved the way for the Gnutella protocol, one of the first decentralized protocol focused on peer-to-peer file sharing, on which platforms like Limewire and BearShare were built. I witnessed firsthand the challenges of incentivizing users to contribute to the network, with a notable imbalance between downloaders and uploaders. This early exposure laid the groundwork for my understanding of decentralized networks.
The real eureka moment came in 2010 upon reading the Bitcoin white paper. I was struck by the similarities between Bitcoin miners/users and Gnutella’s uploaders/downloaders. Crucially, Bitcoin addressed the incentivization dilemma that had plagued Gnutella by rewarding miners with bitcoins for their computational efforts in transaction validation. Although my career at Goldman Sachs initially kept me from delving deeper into this space, it eventually led to the launch of AllianceBlock in 2018.
What is the 200Bn club? What inspired you to start it?
The 200Bn Club is a female focused accelerator with a proprietary training program. Our objective is to contribute £200 billion to the UK economy by strategically investing in women-led startups. The name “200Bn Club” originates from a quote in the Alison Rose Review: “If the UK achieved the same average share of women entrepreneurs as best-in-class countries £200Bn would be added to the UK Economy.” Around 1% of venture capital funding is directed towards female-led startups, despite women constituting 20% of all founders. Contrary to misconceptions that women-led businesses underperform, our investigation uncovered a different narrative. Diverse companies led by women demonstrate great performance, boasting 2.5 times higher cash flow per employee and yielding 20% more revenues than their counterparts. In essence, the 200Bn Club aims to rectify this disparity as we strive to solve the unconscious bias in the investment space.
What are some challenges you’ve encountered in building and growing the 200bn club and how did you overcome them?
One significant challenge we faced was the limitation in our capacity to support every founder, as we initially aimed to leave no founder behind. This was particularly frustrating as we had hundreds of founders applying. The advent of ChatGPT provided a breakthrough. We are in the process of launching PitchGenie, an AI-driven co-pilot, designed to replace us! It will offer slide-by-slide deck analysis, provide feedback, train founders on VC questions, and, if they achieve a certain graduation score, connect them with VCs.
As a female founder and entrepreneur, what advice would you give to other women looking to break into the startup world?
Having a grand vision is crucial, but for your VC fundraising, it’s essential to concentrate on just ONE product and ONE revenue stream. We often encounter startups with multiple undeveloped products. The key is to maintain a laser focus on your core offering.
Can you share any memorable success stories or impactful initiatives that have emerged from the 200bn club’s activities? Any milestones you are particularly proud of?
One of our recent highlights is a graduate from our program we’ve been following for a year now closing a $10M Series A round. Moments like these are incredibly rewarding.
Lastly, what words of wisdom or encouragement would you offer to aspiring founders who are just starting their entrepreneurial journey?
Ideas may set the stage, but it is execution that steals the show. Everyone has grand ideas, but their worth is zero without solid execution. Superior execution of an average idea always outshines mediocre execution of a brilliant one.
And just for fun: what is your favourite area of London and why?
St. James Park, you’ll often find me feeding the parakeets and squirrels.
