CryptoSync

Hey all, wanted to share some quick stories about @0xErbil who is the cofounder of @humafinance. He is also my good friend of many years and a very accomplished tech leader in facebook, lyft and many other valley companies. I talked about him extensively in a past interview with @KevinWSHPod (see 1:18 in the podcast) and also on stage on Catstanbul, but figured it is a good time to do a post here as well. First off, I've know him for about >10 years. We first met on Quora, obsessively answering questions about everything tech, social & growth, eventually becoming friends in the tight knit tech circle of early web2. A fun personal note is that he kindly invited me to stay with him during on of my trips to SF, a nice spot along the bay. We would also work out of Dogpatch Labs ( a small cowork space where Instagram & Twlio was being built), hung out sometimes in Angellist and just talked lots of shit. Unfortunately, it came to an end when his girlfriend (now wife) found me too annoying n kicked me out of their house. I still have no idea what i did actually, but i do remember his slightly embarrassed look. Anyway, she's not the first nor last to find me annoying, so i accept this as my fate. LOL. Later in that year, we continued hanging out in sunfire in mountain view, which was founded by @yishan (who subsequently became ceo at reddit and now runs @TF_Global). A fun tidbit was that a couple of ladies had a big crush on @0xErbil, calling him "the cute turk". 🤣🤣 A few years later, when Erbil was heading up major growth efforts at Facebook, we also organized the first Bitcoin talk at Facebook, where i brought along the smartest guy I know (joseph, the inventor of lightning/plasma) to speak. Only 5 people showed up, but as usual, ifykyk. ;) We kinda lost touch over the next few years as we each went about our own paths - me starting out a whole new path in crypto/defi, and him continuing to kick ass in lyft and beyond. Our paths converged again when he started Huma, which is a really interesting take on solving the major liquidity issues of enterprise finance with defi. He was bringing Huma to Solana and wanted to work much more closely with Jupiter. For support, @sssionggg and I did a small allocation of in their oversubscribed Series A, at a valuation of $171m, joining previous / present investors @circle, @robotventures, @santiagoroel & others. A few months later, I called him with a big favor. He was originally from Istanbul and is deeply connected to its art and hospitality scenes. I asked him to help us put together a really challenging event for Catstanbul. The major challenge was that we wanted to burn a giant cat statue to mark the 3 billion JUP burn, and we didn't know if it's even possible. Without hesitation, he said, "Don't worry, I'll figure it out". He put together a team of incredible artists, engineers, laser and fire technicians to create that magical moment we will never forget. They took care of hotels, transportation, music and many other details that I don't even know, so every member of our community could have a great time. He of course also had a great presentation with @DrPayFi about Huma in Catstanbul, and the community loved their work - eventually leading to the DAO alliance that is being proposed in the coming days. In summary, me & @0xErbil go way back, and I am very supportive of what him and is trying to accomplish at @humafinance to bridge traditional & decentralized liquidity. All the best for your TGE, @0xErbil and @DrPayFi ! 🐈 PS: Me interviewing them & with the burning cat at Catstanbul. Was lots of fun!