David Bleznak

building 👷‍♂️🛠️ @dgbventures @litfinancial_ @aivreinc_ | prev: @coinbase, founder @totlecrypto

[Tim Draper @TimDraper]

This is an awesome article on an amazing firm ⁦@BoostVC⁩ . Way to go Adam and Brayton. About time the world recognizes you as the top performing VC firm you are. https://t.co/rp4AnYCExl

[Bill Hughes @BillHughesDC]

SEC: Defi swap interfaces do not need to register in the US as broker dealers under certain conditions

Overall, the guidance underscores that innovation in interface design does not exempt firms from longstanding securities regulations, and that regulatory scrutiny is increasingly focused on the role of front-end platforms in facilitating trades. But there are now knowable, actionable criteria you need to satisfy if you want to stay outside the regulatory perimeter.

It gives builders more than a roadmap. It provides a punchlist. One that does not dictate how but just clarifies what.

Really useful guidance.

https://t.co/gWZb2evZTN

[David Bleznak @bleznak]

@SawyerMerritt @grok replace all the people in this photo with robots

[Tim Draper @TimDraper]

One of the biggest red flags for me when I am pitched is when the entrepreneur talks about how he (or we) are going to make money. Or they talk about exits. Or they talk about how a competitor is worth $1 billion. None of that matters. A startup is a mission. A great entrepreneur is a missionary. Not a mercenary.

A great irony of entrepreneurship: The entrepreneurs who come in and say they're going to make everybody money, don't.

People who say that they're going to paint a picture of the world that's never been seen before often are the ones who make a fortune.

When entrepreneurs leave their cushy Facebook or Google jobs, some of them can't stop looking back. That is a bad sign to me.

If the entrepreneur ever says, I could be making $XYZ at Google, I am concerned that they've got one foot in and one foot out and won't make it as a founder.

The same can be said for founders who are building a company for the resume versus the mission.

There's been an influx of Ivy League MBAs who believe that starting a venture-backed company is the next logical career move.

I'd much rather invest in someone who has found a problem and believes with every fiber of their being, and knows deep in their bones, that they're the one who is destined to find the solution.

[Tim Draper @TimDraper]

People ask where my optimism comes from.

When I was younger, I played football. I joined five benchwarmers in a challenge against the 6 best athletes on the team.

So…it seemed hopeless.

So we changed the game.

We ran routes they weren’t expecting.

We lined up in ways that confused them.

And we humiliated them.

As cliché as it may sound, that moment taught me everything: Anything is possible. There is always a way. The underdogs always have a shot. Try anything.

In my VC career, I had a couple early investment wins that nobody expected. Same lesson, different stakes.

That's why I invest the way I do. That's why I back the founders other VCs pass on. They are underdogs. They are trying new possibilities.

All because I've SEEN the benchwarmers win. Again and again.

They can always surprise you.

[BlackRock @BlackRock]

Tokenization is shaping the next evolution of global markets. In @TheEconomist, Larry Fink and Rob Goldstein discuss how tokenization can modernize market infrastructure, enhancing efficiency, transparency, and access by connecting traditional and digital finance. Read more:

[Tim Draper @TimDraper]

After thousands of pitches, here's what matters:

1. 𝐋𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐜𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐫. Not "understand" them. LOVE them. If you don't obsess over making their life better, you won't make it.

2. 𝐁𝐞 𝐨𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐜. Pessimists don't build trillion-dollar companies. They give up when it gets hard. And it WILL get hard.

3. 𝐁𝐞 𝐢𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐞𝐞𝐫 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞. "A spouting whale gets harpooned" is the OPPOSITE of what I want. I want founders who speak up. Who don't care what everyone else thinks.

You're going to have dark moments. Jesus Christ had moments of doubt and pain (shoutout Rolling Stones). You will too.

The question isn't whether you'll face hard times. It's whether you'll push through them.

That's what separates the founders I back from everyone else.

[litUSD @lit_usd]

1/ Introducing litUSD, the 1st regulatory-compliant stablecoin for mortgage finance!

💵 Fully backed & redeemable 1:1 with USD
🏡 Sponsored by @LitFinancial_
🏛️ Compliant issuance via @brale_xyz
🚀 Live pilot on @Ethereum network
🔗 Coming soon to @base & other chains

[draper goren blockchain @DGBventures]

Matt from #DGB is speaking at @SuperReturn Secondaries North America 2025 in NYC!
Say 'Hello' if you are there! #SRSecondaries

[Jane Manchun Wong @wongmjane]

Coinbase is working on Prediction Market

[Jane Manchun Wong @wongmjane]

Coinbase is working on stock trading

[Chainlink Today @ChainlinkToday]

"It's going to change the way everybody does business."

@LitFinancial_’s @bleznak spoke with @Nasdaq TradeTalks’ @JillMalandrino about how Chainlink’s data and interoperability standard unlocks a transformative stablecoin-powered mortgage model. https://t.co/17c4Bd9qb0

[David Bleznak @bleznak]

@lit_usd GM

[aklil @_aklil0]

Onchain finance is accelerating and strategic M&A is one of the fastest ways to get critical tools in the hands of builders & users.

Great time catching up with @CRYPTO101Pod about what we’re up to at @coinbase & where we see the industry heading 👇

[draper goren blockchain @DGBventures]

Great conversation between @DavidwRankin, and
@theeoriginalnt with @aivreinc_ CEO Jake Lew about the modernization of the appraiser report.

[Rise @rise_pay]

We are proud to announce that Rise has just surpassed $1 Billion in Total Payroll Volume

$1,000,000,000 in total payroll processed across 190+ countries.

After several years since launch, earlier this year we celebrated $500M. Now just nine months later, we’ve doubled this lifetime volume and are continuing to accelerate.

Thanks to our incredible team, our customers, and the growing belief that hybrid payroll is the future of global work.

From day one, our mission has been simple:
Give companies the ability to pay their contractors and employees in any currency, in any country.

Hybrid payroll is no longer experimental.
It’s becoming the global standard.
And it’s only the beginning.

To every builder, operator, and teammate who helped us get here, thank you.

We’re just getting started.

[draper goren blockchain @DGBventures]

So excited for our expansion! We appreciate our partners @TimDraper, @AlonGoren and @bleznak with how they all lead our team by example!

[David Bleznak @bleznak]

@TimDraper @DGBventures @LitFinancial_ Thank you @TimDraper. Your support is invaluable. We’re thrilled for the future of @DGBventures and the larger @DraperVC ecosystem

[Tim Draper @TimDraper]

Michigan just became home to @DGBventures's second office.

@bleznak has been crushing it with our PropTech portfolio companies.

Troy-headquartered @LitFinancial_ (mortgage brokerage) and Birmingham-based AIVRE (AI-powered appraisal software) are both performing exceptionally well.

When your portfolio companies are thriving like this, you don't just watch from LA.

You plant roots.

Why Michigan? Why now?

Detroit is the mortgage capital of the country.

Rocket Companies is there. The PropTech ecosystem is exploding.

And we have multiple Michigan-based portfolio companies that need a centralized hub.

The new office at 3221 W. Big Beaver Road in Troy will serve as:

→ Strategic hub for incubating and accelerating portfolio companies
→ Meeting space for teams flying in from out of town
→ Coworking environment for our growing operator team (6 employees and counting)

All led by David, who knows this market inside and out.

When @AlonGoren, David Bleznak, and I founded Draper Goren Blockchain in 2023, we focused on early-stage blockchain startups.

But we followed the performance.

Our PropTech companies were outperforming. The market opportunity was massive.

So we doubled down.

Now we're betting big on real estate technology, and Michigan offers the perfect ecosystem for PropTech development.

When entrepreneurs have the freedom to build and the support to scale, amazing things happen.

Michigan is about to see a lot more of that.

[Alon Gorenᴳᴹ ✌️ @AlonGoren]

So proud of this move and so proud to be a part of the @DraperVC ecosystem!!! Couldn't ask for better partners than @bleznak and @TimDraper!!!

LETS GO @DGBventures!!!!!