Written by Walker, TechFlow
Level 2 is a bit dull, but level 1 is full of big moves.
On June 11, the modular zkVM project Nexus announced the completion of a US$25 million Series A financing round, led by top VCs Pantera and LightSpeed, with participation from Dragonfly Capital, Faction Ventures and Blockchain Builders Fund.
It is well known that crypto VCs prefer infrastructure projects, so it is not surprising that they invest heavily in zero-knowledge proof-related infrastructure.
But investing in a project whose CEO is a recent graduate is somewhat surprising.
In Pantera's open letter "Why We Invest in Nexus" on the same day, Pantera believes that Nexus' greatest advantage actually lies in its team composed of professional cryptography and computer talents.
The CEO of the project team is Daniel Marin, a recent graduate from Stanford University.
Do top Western VCs also prefer the halo of prestigious schools?
In the context of the domestic public opinion that "a master's or doctoral degree is worse than a dog" and the employment pressure, a graduate from a prestigious overseas university getting US$25 million in startup financing seems a bit too outstanding.
So, why is the Nexus project favored by a number of VCs? What are the outstanding features of the team whose graduates serve as CEOs?
What is Nexus?
Before talking about the project team, it is important to understand what the project is actually doing.
According to the information given by Nexus official Twitter, Nexus is currently in the 1.0 stage. It is a modular, extensible, open source zkVM written in Rust and focused on high performance and security.
So, what exactly is zkVM?
In the blockchain and Web3 world, the virtual machine (VM) is a key component. It is responsible for executing smart contracts on the blockchain and can manage transactions and agreements without third-party intervention, such as EVM (Ethereum Virtual Machine).
After adding zk, everything is about optimizing privacy:
-Privacy protection: When conducting transactions on a public blockchain, all data is publicly visible. ZK can help protect user privacy and ensure that the details of the transaction will not be leaked.
- Improved efficiency: ZK can reduce the computing resources required to verify transactions and execute smart contracts, because the verifier only needs to check the proof without re-executing the entire calculation process.
- Enhanced security: Through zk, the blockchain system can ensure the authenticity and integrity of data without exposing the specific data content.
Therefore, Nexus' zkVM can achieve the above three optimizations, which means that you can prove that a transaction or operation is legal without revealing the specific details of the transaction.
In addition, Nexus zkVM is a bit like a versatile translator, which can understand and run programs written in multiple programming languages (such as Rust, C++, etc.). Developers can write smart contracts in their favorite language and then run them on zkVM.
Finally, you can also think of Nexus zkVM as a Lego building set, which can modularly add some special functional modules to speed up specific computing operations or expand new computing solutions.
Privacy protection, security, efficiency and modularity, the narrative and selling points of zkVM are clear.
Currently, part of the code of Nexus 1.0 has been open sourced on Github, which to some extent demonstrates the strength and confidence of the project.
Obviously, this is another low-level project.
There are thousands of VMs, and to be able to apply zk reasonably to them, one must at least be very good at technology.
Then a team with strong technical capabilities and professional expertise becomes very necessary.
Excellent graduates play the C position, and the expert team plays the supporting role
The CEO of the Nexus project is indeed a young man who is just starting out.
In its introduction, Pantera used the term “recent Stanford graduate” to describe Daniel Marin.
However, this "newbie" guy is obviously a smart academic master at first glance.
On Daniel’s LinkedIn profile, there are two paragraphs about his “award-winning experiences” that only fresh graduates would include on their resumes. However, this award is indeed quite significant:
He won bronze medals in the International Physics Olympiad twice.
Daniel then studied at the School of Software Engineering at Stanford University and became a software engineering intern at the school's AI laboratory and Google; he then directly became the CEO of Nexus.
In addition to his impressive awards and job resume, if you check Daniel's Github, you will find that he has been contributing code continuously from 2020 to 2024. It turns out that a CEO who doesn't understand code is not a good programmer.
Judging from the public information, we can at least assume that this CEO is somewhat capable, and his technical strength and foundation are beyond doubt.
He is a typical young man majoring in science and engineering, but being the CEO of a web3 project seems a bit overwhelming.
Therefore, the Nexus project also has a team of experts providing assistance.
After Daniel’s introduction, Pantera specifically mentioned that the student was advised and mentored by the famous cryptographer Dan Boneh.
Dan is indeed a big shot in the industry and is currently a professor of computer science at Stanford University. His research areas include cryptography, computer security, and distributed systems. In 2016, Boneh was elected a member of the National Academy of Engineering for his contributions to the theory and practice of cryptography and computer security.
At the same time, he has made important contributions to well-known technical fields in blockchain, such as elliptic curve cryptography, and is also one of the main contributors to the development of pairing-based cryptography.
In addition, other core members of Nexus are also composed of highly professional cryptography teams and have extensive experience in the Web3 industry, including work experience in multiple organizations such as Difinity, Jump Crypto, Matter Labs, and a16z training camp:
With a professional team as the foundation and cryptography experts assisting outstanding graduates in working on zk-related web3 projects, it is indeed a great combination of industry, academia and research.
Should I apply for a science class or set up a resource bureau?
Investing in a project means investing in people.
Judging from Nexus, VCs such as Pantera clearly favor teams with matching expertise.
Students studying cryptography, top professional professors, an executive team with rich industry experience... With such a configuration, it doesn't seem so strange for a graduate to be a CEO; after all, letting young people take the lead and having a group of professional assistants under their command can also produce a wonderful chemical reaction.
Regardless of the structure, at least the resume and work have reflected the professionalism of this team.
For infrastructure projects with extremely clear niches, venture capitalists seem to prefer professionals with professional training and trust their potential and experience in cryptography, which is also in line with the logic of "professional people using professional technology".
In contrast, there is another way to play the resource bureau.
The narrative can be recreated, and the original team can come together again to form a team based on industry resources and information gaps. This is common in some crypto projects that have quick results, high narratives, and a lot of noise but little results.
These types of projects focus more on creating assets and exchanging resources, and quickly launching certain asset gameplay, but involve less hardcore technology itself.
Invest in a technical school or set up a resource bureau? Crypto VCs are also voting with real money.
However, for an industry that emphasizes wealth effect, speed and restlessness are the focus of attention; but for the long-term survival of the industry, slowness and solidity are better boosters.
