Ian Epstein
618 posts

Ian Epstein
@eppy314
Head of Capital Markets @joinrepublic Co-founder @profitr | fmr ceo @enigma_sec


Amazing letter by @Cornell President rejecting the resolution. Should be read by all: Dear Zora, Thank you for conveying SA Resolution 61: Calling for the Termination of Cornell University’s Partnership with the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology While Preserving Cornell Tech. I reject this resolution, which fundamentally conflicts with Cornell’s principles of academic collaboration and our core commitment to academic freedom. Cornell Tech is not a political entity. It is an academic partnership, created through shared investment by Cornell University, the Technion, and the City of New York for the benefit of the city and the state, according to a negotiated set of conditions that govern its development and the terms of its 99-year ground lease on Roosevelt Island. As one of Cornell University’s many international partnerships and collaborations, Cornell Tech deepens, enriches, and strengthens the ability of our students, faculty, and staff to pursue knowledge and advance the university’s academic mission. The Joan and Irwin Jacobs Technion-Cornell Institute, the core international partnership upon which Cornell Tech is based, is an extraordinarily valuable collaboration focusing on education and research in health tech, media tech, and urban tech, and supporting the development of new startup companies. Severing our relationship with the Technion—or with any entity affiliated with governments, institutions, or enterprises with which some of our community members disagree—as a statement of political protest, would not only hinder our research, teaching, and public engagement; it would imperil our academic principles. Our university, like all of our peer institutions, regularly faces pressure—from across the political spectrum, from within and beyond our own community—to make academic decisions according to political priorities. The phenomenon is not a new one: universities have grappled with such pressures from governments and societies for as long as the institution of the university has existed. When we yield to these pressures and proscribe specific collaborations or collaborators on grounds other than merit, we compromise our principles of academic freedom, undermine our own institutional excellence, and damage public trust in our work. Moreover, this resolution inaccurately asserts that “the continued operation of Cornell Tech as a Cornell University campus does not require an ongoing partnership with the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology.” Cornell Tech, while part of Cornell, is a joint effort of the university, the Technion, and the City of New York. It is no more possible for Cornell to unilaterally terminate that effort and claim full control of the campus than it would be for the Technion or the City of New York to do the same. Finally, I am deeply troubled by the selective manner in which this resolution singles out the Technion, alone of Cornell’s many international partners, for censure. Cornell currently maintains 159 active agreements with institutions in 59 nations and regions; all of these institutions have some government affiliation, and many conduct research with military and security applications. Cornell itself has military research contracts, conducts research with potential military applications, and has relationships with companies whose products are used in military contexts. Cornell also has relationships with institutions in countries whose governments have been accused of human rights violations—as our own has been. None of these publicly available facts are mentioned in the resolution; only our partnership with an Israeli institution is targeted for erasure. The political bias evident in this selective approach is deeply disturbing, and the resolution is incompatible with both the Student Assembly’s purpose and Cornell University’s core values. I reject it fully and forcefully. Sincerely, Michael Kotlikoff President and Professor of Molecular Physiology Cornell University

Well, it’s official now I have joined @AvaLabs as the new Head of Emerging Tech with the laser focus to get blockchain tech embedded in more businesses After a year off for baby-rearing I am thrilled to be back in the saddle, working alongside an amazing team that I’ve had the privilege of calling friends over the past years Let’s put a nail in the coffin of “blockchain is useless” articles and start showing the world how much more efficient they can be on digital financial rails

“Show me the incentive and I’ll show you the outcome…”


Surreal



Robinhood is planning to tokenized versions of certain private company stocks (i.e. SpaceX, OpenAI). Other startups and companies (e.g. Carta) have tried to do this in the past, but nobody has really succeeded. Companies staying private longer pushes closer towards private liquid markets. It feels inevitable that we'll get private stocks with more liquid markets. Institutional and retail investors want to own SpaceX, Revolut, Stripe, among prominent private shares. But what are the other reasons why tokenized private company markets will succeed (or fail) this time around? Obviously a large opportunity for whoever gets it right.








