What's The Damsker Report?
And why should you be getting it?
This isn’t actually my first newsletter…
I had a newsletter previously, doing a lot of what I’m planning to do here, but not quite for the same purpose. They are about taking information from the source, learning how to analyze it so you can understand it better than everyone else. Because following the market or the trend is not how you win or beat your competition or, ultimately, increase your net worth. Big wins come from understanding things that go against the market - understanding things before, differently, or better than everyone else. Contrary views matter. And, ultimately, however we became founders or for whatever reason we found ourselves on this journey - we’re looking to increase our net worth.
Why would you care what I think?
Honestly, maybe you don’t. But I’m direct, honest, and ethical. I will always tell you my bias. And I don’t care what decision you make, as long as it’s informed. And…I know a lot of stuff. It’s kind of fun at parties. Except that I am 100% not down for parties. If it requires makeup and/or shoes, I’m likely going to pass, unless I’m fundraising. And even then…
As for my background, I’m a corporate and securities lawyer, former US Securities and Exchange Commission and major firm. I’ve led a securities practice, had my own practice with clients on 4 continents. I founded 2 companies, exited, moved in blockchain in 2016 to build a financial marketplace (only Ethereum and Bitcoin then - and no one was going to wait 9 hours to close a trade). I was one of very few people to understand operational and regulatory issues in blockchain then, so I starting helping a lot of projects. I added work with AI and quantum computing in 2019 - those technologies are barreling towards blockchain.
Now I speak internationally, I advise companies, I advise several major accelerators and VCs, I’ve written a book on finance and DeFi, and I do a lot of education. And I’m happy to have you join me for all of it!
What kind of community is this?
We are founders - we run startups of all kinds, because we have to (jobs are disappearing) or because we love to (we are masters of our fortunes!). We understand our lives are barely controlled - or uncontrolled - chaos, but we trade that for boredom, because we know there is no safety in employment any longer.
We have big goals and big visions, and with that come big problems. I’m here to help you understand how to see these problems clearly and solve them. You’ll solve them yourselves, we’ll solve them together, you’ll solve them for each other.
We’ll talk about costs, benefits, misconceptions and use cases of key tech as it arises. Right now, we’ll focus on fintech, AI, blockchain and crypto, quantum computing, and how they work together. No bubbles here - we don’t fanboy or girl, and we don’t hate just because of market prices.
We’ll also talk about economics, finance and business - because many of you don’t apply the right business model, and neither do the big companies that are getting funded (and are subsequently crashing). We also need to talk about the impact of economic and market news, because at the end of the day, we are all here to grow our net worth, right?
Finally, every issue will show you speaking schedules for the upcoming week, and recordings of interest from the prior week.
If there’s interest, I’ll also answer a question from a reader in each issue.
Now, clearly this won’t all be packed in every issue (other than speaking schedules) - you’d be reading in the bathroom for a week. No one needs that. Topics will rotate as it seems appropriate, and as people request.
How often, and subscriptions?
Ok, I’m going to try to get this out weekly. It’s just me, so you have to give me a little flexibility.
I don’t know yet what I will offer for subscriptions. Or if I will. Right now, I want to know if people want this information. I think you do. I think no one else is offering it, and no one else can explain it like me.
If you like listening, you should follow me on X: @alexdamsker. I do a free pitch space with investors and advisors, and lots of information. You can also check out what I do on my website: damsker.com.