Episode Highlights with Timestamps:
- [00:45] Yael shares her entrepreneurial journey, shaped by experiences like hyperinflation during the Soviet Union's collapse, an entrepreneurial father, Wall Street, and moving to Israel during the startup boom. She also transitioned from traditional finance to a PhD in startup valuations.
- [10:08] The similarities between Israel and Silicon Valley, with startup hubs growing beyond Silicon Valley and new opportunities arising after Yael’s move to Israel.
- [12:29] Yael discusses how her background in economics and finance led to her interest in startups. She highlights the importance of understanding funding stages, equity distribution, and creative financing for startups in tough times.
- [15:55] Yael’s introduction to blockchain and Bitcoin, her disillusionment with traditional finance, and the power of smart contracts and ICOs. She reflects on the early days of SolidBlock, building one of the first real estate tokenization platforms.
- [22:36] Navigating pivots and business model changes when unit economics aren’t working, the importance of resilience, and managing fixed costs against revenue as a founder.
- [28:57] A sidebar on the Draper Venture Network and Draper Portfolio Companies.
- [30:29] Yael reflects on her hustle during COVID-19, the blessings of remote work, and the first wave of institutional adoption of tokenization technology by firms like JP Morgan and Goldman Sachs.
- [34:43] Yael breaks down SolidBlock’s services, which focus on brokers and syndicators, not average investors. The importance of trusted broker and seller networks.
- [39:20] How Web3 can bring clarity to affiliation and attribution, success in NFTs & royalties, and why AI will never disrupt brokers & agents in real estate.
- [43:21] The benefits of blockchain and smart contracts in tracking deals and introductions, ensuring transparency in commissions and conversions. The discussion emphasizes the importance of rewarding successful introductions and the visibility that blockchain provides in sales processes.
About Our Guest
With a background in law and technology, Yael Tamar has become a leader in blockchain innovation, empowering asset owners to tokenize real estate and democratize investment. Under her leadership, SolidBlock successfully tokenized major properties. She’s passionate about blockchain adoption and is now expanding her technology to tokenize assets beyond real estate.
Since the recording of this podcast she has now expanded her technology to tokenize assets beyond real estate. Yael is currently building DIBS, a multi-broker network for the secondary market of private company shares, offering secure, transparent, and compliant Web3-powered transactions.
About SolidBlock
SolidBlock provides an all-in-one platform that enables asset owners to easily tokenize their real estate holdings. This process breaks assets into digital shares, allowing investors to trade them.
They made history by tokenizing the world’s first commercial property in Aspen, Colorado, raising $18M for the renowned St. Regis Aspen Resort.
Now, SolidBlock is partnering with real estate projects globally and working to grow their network by collaborating with real estate companies, municipal projects, and investors.
Resources & Links Mentioned:
- SolidBlock [https://www.linkedin.com/company/solidblock-co/] [https://x.com/SolidBlockCo]
- Follow and stay up to date with Yael Tamar [https://www.linkedin.com/in/yaeltamar/] [https://x.com/yaeltamar]
OVERNIGHT SUCCESS
PRESENTED BY DRAPER UNIVERSITY
HOSTED BY CHRIS JOANNOU
