Andreessen Horowitz, the Silicon Valley-based venture capital firm with $10 billion assets under management, announced the a16z Crypto Startup School, a free seven-week blockchain and crypto learning program. The program will start next year in February.
In the announcement, Andreessen Horowitz said that interested individuals will hear from leading technologists and investors in the field of blockchain and cryptocurrenciesm and learn on how to create blockchain or crypto startups.
Blockchain and cryptocurrencies are relatively new technologies; however, they are yet spreading rapidly like the wind. There are numerous organizations from various areas and fields that have already begun exploring blockchain and bringing out its use cases to the real world. Cryptocurrencies, on the other hand, have been receiving mix responses in the last couple of years, mainly due to regulatory uncertainty. However, a few nations have welcomed crypto in a manner that it can revive their economies.
Out of the many challenges that these new technologies are facing are awareness and regulatory concerns from global lawmakers. Cryptocurrencies, being new to most and have the potential to replace fiat currencies, are the ones criticized by several policymakers around the world. Cryptocurrencies also struggle with a bad reputation and misconceptions hovering around them that make it harder for them to become a mainstream payment option for exchanging goods and services.
Hence, educating individuals and helping crypto startups to bring solutions to these issues become a must. With this aims in mind, a16z announced the seven-week program which will entail lectures held in person in Menlo Park, California.
The announcement also relates to the general acceptance of a new technology:
“Blockchains have endured a variety of challenges, false starts, and misconceptions. Some of the challenges are technical (e.g., scalability), some are product-related (e.g., user experience), but many are due to the lack of widespread understanding of the technology’s capabilities, and the best practices required to take it mainstream.”
The VC firm has been associated with crypto and blockchain startups for a while now and is well aware of the opportunities and challenges these startups face. “Product and technology design, organization development, go-to-market strategy, and legal/regulatory best practices” are a few of the challenges described by the firm.
The company further announced that it will not make any direct profit from participants in the new program as it is designed solely as n educational initiative; the initiative is aiming to boost the development of blockchain and crypto-friendly infrastructure.
“The program is completely free. There is no charge and we don’t take equity. The curriculum is meant to supplement — not replace — the many other excellent programs and resources that help founders learn about building tech startups.”
Educational crypto videos and other materials of the event will also be uploaded online for free to access.
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