Chris Dixon@cdixon
Today we are excited to announce that we are promoting Guy Wuollet (@guywuolletjr) to General Partner.
We first met Guy in 2018 while he was studying computer science at Stanford, where he also rowed varsity crew. He initially joined the firm as an intern working on the enterprise go-to-market team, but it soon became clear he was most passionate about crypto.
We kept running into Guy: first when he joined our Crypto Startup Accelerator to build a decentralized ISP, then while doing research at Protocol Labs, and finally as a teaching assistant for our research partner @danboneh.
After joining us full-time in 2020, Guy began investing in infrastructure, DeFi, and DePIN. He has been a steady and creative force, making significant contributions to more than 20 investments, including Solana, LayerZero, Gensyn, EigenLayer, Daylight, and Morpho.
Based on insights from prior investments like Orchid, Nym, and Helium, Guy defined our thesis on what would become known as DePIN. He wrote one of the defining blogs on why DePIN matters and helped us invest in Gensyn. Next he wrote about decentralized energy and led our investment in Daylight. Guy also invested in decentralized transportation, robotics, and AI projects as he helped run our accelerator.
DeFi has always been central to Guy’s thesis, but his early investment in Morpho was driven above all by conviction in the founders. He recognized in @PaulFrambot and his team a rare combination of technical depth and clarity of vision. Since then, Morpho has grown to billions in total value locked and become one of the leading protocols in DeFi. Their V2 launch marked a major leap forward in efficiency and scale for on-chain lending.
Through his work with founders, Guy has shown a rare mix of deep technical expertise and thoughtful pragmatism. Founders often tell me how impressed they are that Guy systematically reads, understands, and provides useful feedback on protocol design and other hard technical topics. His writing and advice on token and protocol design have helped influence many projects in our portfolio.
Beyond his investing skills, Guy has been a calm and positive presence, with a wry sense of humor, both inside the firm and for founders. As the crypto team grew from a small group to more than 80 people, he helped recruit and mentor many of the talented investors, researchers, and operators who make the team what it is today.
Guy is an invaluable member of the team, and it has been great to see him grow and develop over the last five years.
Guy joins me, @alive_eth, and @AriannaSimpson as @a16zcrypto’s fourth General Partner.
