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In 2013, Srinivasan co-founded 21.co, a [[Bitcoin mining]] [[Startup company|startup]] that failed as a [[bitcoin mining]] business<ref>{{Cite web|last=Srinivasan|first=Balaji S.|date=2018-04-16|title=The Turnaround|url=https://medium.com/@balajis/the-turnaround-2d145589d814|access-date=2021-04-30|website=Medium|language=en}}</ref>{{Non-primary source needed|date=April 2021}} but pivoted to become [[Earn.com]], which allowed senders to pay users in digital currency to reply to emails.<ref name=":0" /> Earn.com was acquired by [[digital currency exchange]] company [[Coinbase]] in April 2018 for over $100 million.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Rooney|first=Kate|date=2018-04-16|title=Bitcoin exchange Coinbase buys Earn.com for a reported $100M and adds key executive|url=https://www.cnbc.com/2018/04/16/bitcoin-exchange-coinbase-buys-earn-com-for-a-reported-100m.html|access-date=2021-04-24|website=CNBC|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|date=2018-04-17|title=Coinbase Acquires Earn.com|language=en-US|work=Wall Street Journal|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/coinbase-acquires-earn-com-1523926544|access-date=2021-04-29|issn=0099-9660}}</ref> After Coinbase purchased Earn.com, it became Coinbase Earn and Srinivasan became Coinbase’s first [[Chief technology officer|CTO]].<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":4">{{Cite web|last=Russell|first=Jon|date=2019-05-04|title=Coinbase loses its first CTO after just one year in the job|url=https://social.techcrunch.com/2019/05/03/coinbase-cto-balaji-srinivasan/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191130234828/https://techcrunch.com/2019/05/03/coinbase-cto-balaji-srinivasan/|archive-date=2019-11-30|access-date=2021-02-06|website=TechCrunch|language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Armstrong|first=Brian|date=2018-04-16|title=Welcome Balaji Srinivasan, Coinbase's new Chief Technology Officer|url=https://blog.coinbase.com/welcome-balaji-srinivasan-coinbases-new-chief-technology-officer-e746503d7ab6|access-date=2021-04-23|website=Medium|language=en}}</ref>
In 2013, Srinivasan co-founded 21.co, a [[Bitcoin mining]] [[Startup company|startup]] that failed as a [[bitcoin mining]] business<ref>{{Cite web|last=Srinivasan|first=Balaji S.|date=2018-04-16|title=The Turnaround|url=https://medium.com/@balajis/the-turnaround-2d145589d814|access-date=2021-04-30|website=Medium|language=en}}</ref>{{Non-primary source needed|date=April 2021}} but pivoted to become [[Earn.com]], which allowed senders to pay users in digital currency to reply to emails.<ref name=":0" /> Earn.com was acquired by [[digital currency exchange]] company [[Coinbase]] in April 2018 for over $100 million.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Rooney|first=Kate|date=2018-04-16|title=Bitcoin exchange Coinbase buys Earn.com for a reported $100M and adds key executive|url=https://www.cnbc.com/2018/04/16/bitcoin-exchange-coinbase-buys-earn-com-for-a-reported-100m.html|access-date=2021-04-24|website=CNBC|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|date=2018-04-17|title=Coinbase Acquires Earn.com|language=en-US|work=Wall Street Journal|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/coinbase-acquires-earn-com-1523926544|access-date=2021-04-29|issn=0099-9660}}</ref> After Coinbase purchased Earn.com, it became Coinbase Earn and Srinivasan became Coinbase’s first [[Chief technology officer|CTO]].<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":4">{{Cite web|last=Russell|first=Jon|date=2019-05-04|title=Coinbase loses its first CTO after just one year in the job|url=https://social.techcrunch.com/2019/05/03/coinbase-cto-balaji-srinivasan/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191130234828/https://techcrunch.com/2019/05/03/coinbase-cto-balaji-srinivasan/|archive-date=2019-11-30|access-date=2021-02-06|website=TechCrunch|language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Armstrong|first=Brian|date=2018-04-16|title=Welcome Balaji Srinivasan, Coinbase's new Chief Technology Officer|url=https://blog.coinbase.com/welcome-balaji-srinivasan-coinbases-new-chief-technology-officer-e746503d7ab6|access-date=2021-04-23|website=Medium|language=en}}</ref>


He is an early investor in cryptocurrencies, including [[Bitcoin]] and [[Ethereum]], as well as an angel investor in over 100 [[Technology company|technology companies]], including Benchling,<ref>{{Cite web|title=Benchling wants to become the Salesforce of biotech|url=https://fortune.com/2015/04/15/benchling-funding-biotech/|access-date=2021-04-29|website=Fortune|language=en}}</ref> [[Clubhouse (app)]] {{Citation needed|date=April 2021}}, [[Dapper Labs]],<ref>{{Cite web|date=2018-03-20|title=CryptoKitties blockchain sensation raises $12 million|url=https://venturebeat.com/2018/03/20/cryptokitties-blockchain-sensation-raises-12-million/|access-date=2021-04-29|website=VentureBeat|language=en-US}}</ref> Golden,<ref>{{Cite web|date=2020-09-30|title=Golden raises $14.5m Series A led by a16z, closes $1m US Air Force contract, and Marc Andreessen joins board|url=https://golden.com/blog/golden-raises-14-5m-series-a-led-by-a16z/|access-date=2021-04-29|website=Golden Blog|language=en}}</ref> Omada Health,<ref>{{Cite web|title=Omada Health Raises $23M Series B Led By Andreessen Horowitz For Digital Health That Actually Works|url=https://social.techcrunch.com/2014/04/09/omada-health-raises-23m-series-b-led-by-andreessen-horowitz-for-digital-health-that-actually-works/|access-date=2021-04-29|website=TechCrunch|language=en-US}}</ref> OpenGov,<ref>{{Cite web|last=Alden|first=William|date=|title=Andreessen Horowitz Bets on a Government Software Start-Up|url=https://dealbook.nytimes.com/2014/05/15/andreessen-horowitz-bets-on-a-government-software-start-up/|url-status=live|access-date=2021-04-29|website=DealBook|language=en}}</ref> Roam Research,<ref>{{Cite web|title=A $200 Million Seed Valuation for Roam Shows Investor Frenzy for Note-Taking Apps|url=https://www.theinformation.com/articles/a-200-million-seed-valuation-for-roam-shows-investor-frenzy-for-note-taking-apps|access-date=2021-04-29|website=The Information}}</ref> and [[Soylent (meal replacement)|Soylent]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Soylent, Created by CoE Alum, Raises $1.5 Million in Seed Funding|url=https://www.coe.gatech.edu/news/2013/10/soylent-created-coe-alum-raises-15-million-seed-funding|access-date=2021-04-29|website=Georgia Tech College of Engineering|language=en}}</ref>
He is an early investor in cryptocurrencies, including [[Bitcoin]] and [[Ethereum]], as well as an angel investor in over 100 [[Technology company|technology companies]], including Benchling,<ref>{{Cite web|title=Benchling wants to become the Salesforce of biotech|url=https://fortune.com/2015/04/15/benchling-funding-biotech/|access-date=2021-04-29|website=Fortune|language=en}}</ref> [[Clubhouse (app)]] {{Citation needed|date=April 2021}}, [[Dapper Labs]],<ref>{{Cite web|date=2018-03-20|title=CryptoKitties blockchain sensation raises $12 million|url=https://venturebeat.com/2018/03/20/cryptokitties-blockchain-sensation-raises-12-million/|access-date=2021-04-29|website=VentureBeat|language=en-US}}</ref> Golden,<ref>{{Cite web|date=2020-09-30|title=Golden raises $14.5m Series A led by a16z, closes $1m US Air Force contract, and Marc Andreessen joins board|url=https://golden.com/blog/golden-raises-14-5m-series-a-led-by-a16z/|access-date=2021-04-29|website=Golden Blog|language=en}}</ref> Omada Health,<ref>{{Cite web|title=Omada Health Raises $23M Series B Led By Andreessen Horowitz For Digital Health That Actually Works|url=https://social.techcrunch.com/2014/04/09/omada-health-raises-23m-series-b-led-by-andreessen-horowitz-for-digital-health-that-actually-works/|access-date=2021-04-29|website=TechCrunch|language=en-US}}</ref> Roam Research,<ref>{{Cite web|title=A $200 Million Seed Valuation for Roam Shows Investor Frenzy for Note-Taking Apps|url=https://www.theinformation.com/articles/a-200-million-seed-valuation-for-roam-shows-investor-frenzy-for-note-taking-apps|access-date=2021-04-29|website=The Information}}</ref> and [[Soylent (meal replacement)|Soylent]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Soylent, Created by CoE Alum, Raises $1.5 Million in Seed Funding|url=https://www.coe.gatech.edu/news/2013/10/soylent-created-coe-alum-raises-15-million-seed-funding|access-date=2021-04-29|website=Georgia Tech College of Engineering|language=en}}</ref>


== Public profile ==
== Public profile ==

Revision as of 20:05, 13 May 2021

Balaji Srinivasan
Srinivasan in 2017
Born1979/1980
Known for

Balaji Srinivasan (born 1979/1980)[1] is the former chief technology officer (CTO) of Coinbase, a former general partner at Andreessen Horowitz,[2] and an angel investor.

Early life and education

Srinivasan received BS, MS, and PhD degrees in Electrical Engineering and an MS in Chemical Engineering from Stanford University.[citation needed]

Career

In 2007, Srinivasan co-founded genetic testing company Counsyl which provided tests to prospective parents to screen for Mendelian diseases.[1][2][3] Counsyl was acquired by Myriad Genetics for $375 million.[4][5]

In April 2014, he co-founded Teleport, a search engine for digital nomads. Teleport was acquired by Topia in 2017.[6][7]

In 2017, the Trump Administration reportedly considered Srinivasan, as well as former HHS official Jim O'Neill, for appointment to FDA Commissioner.[8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15]

In 2013, Srinivasan co-founded 21.co, a Bitcoin mining startup that failed as a bitcoin mining business[16][non-primary source needed] but pivoted to become Earn.com, which allowed senders to pay users in digital currency to reply to emails.[1] Earn.com was acquired by digital currency exchange company Coinbase in April 2018 for over $100 million.[17][18] After Coinbase purchased Earn.com, it became Coinbase Earn and Srinivasan became Coinbase’s first CTO.[1][19][20]

He is an early investor in cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin and Ethereum, as well as an angel investor in over 100 technology companies, including Benchling,[21] Clubhouse (app) [citation needed], Dapper Labs,[22] Golden,[23] Omada Health,[24] Roam Research,[25] and Soylent.[26]

Public profile

In 2013, Srinivasan taught a MOOC at Stanford University with Vijay S. Pande.[27][28]

He gave a talk in 2013 at Y Combinator's Startup School titled "Silicon Valley's Ultimate Exit" and published "Software Is Reorganizing the World"[29] in Wired which advocated for the technology industry to digitally exit the US and move abroad. The talk was received positively by Reason,[30] Wired,[31] and Bloomberg News[32] and criticized in The New York Times[33] and The Wall Street Journal.[34] Srinivasan joined Andreessen Horowitz as a general partner in 2013, as well.[35]

In 2021, Srinivasan published a series of articles[36][37][38] in collaboration with ISPIRT and Nandan Nilekani, former CEO and co-founder of Infosys, which argued for legalizing cryptocurrencies in India and adding cryptocurrency support to the India Stack API for payments and identity.[39][40]

In 2021, among a resurgence of the COVID-19 pandemic in India, Srinivasan and Vitalik Buterin organized total donations of more than $3 million[verification needed] in cryptocurrency to COVID relief in India.[41][42][43][44]

In 2013, MIT Technology Review named Srinivasan on its list of "Innovators Under 35".[3] In 2018, Fortune ranked him 26th on its "The Ledger 40 Under 40" list.[1]

Politics

In 2013, after TechCrunch published an article exploring links between Silicon Valley tech leaders and the Dark Enlightenment movement, Srinivasan suggested doxing reporters who bring these links to the attention of the public. In an email to Curtis Yarvin, he wrote, "If things get hot, it may be interesting to sic the Dark Enlightenment audience on a single vulnerable hostile reporter to dox them and turn them inside out with hostile reporting sent to *their* advertisers/friends/contacts.”[45][46]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e "Balaji Srinivasan". Fortune. 2018. Archived from the original on 2021-01-12. Retrieved 2021-02-06.
  2. ^ a b Kafka, Peter (2017-01-14). "Balaji Srinivasan, who may run the FDA for Trump, hates the FDA. But Silicon Valley likes Srinivasan". Vox. Archived from the original on 2021-01-31. Retrieved 2021-02-06.
  3. ^ a b "Balaji Srinivasan". MIT Technology Review. 2013. Archived from the original on 2021-02-06. Retrieved 2021-02-06.
  4. ^ "Myriad Genetics Signs Definitive Agreement to Acquire Counsyl, Inc. | Myriad Genetics, Inc". investor.myriad.com. Retrieved 2021-04-30.
  5. ^ "Myriad Genetics to Acquire Counsyl for $375M". Genomeweb. 2018-05-29. Retrieved 2021-04-30.
  6. ^ Cutler, Kim-Mai (2014-05-19). "Andreessen-Incubated Teleport Aims To Make Location Irrelevant For Mobile Workers". TechCrunch. Archived from the original on 2015-03-01. Retrieved 2016-08-04.
  7. ^ Hankewitz, Sten (2017-04-03). "Estonian startup Teleport acquired by MOVE Guides". Estonian World. Archived from the original on 2019-03-16. Retrieved 2021-02-06.
  8. ^ Balakrishnan, Anita (2017-01-12). "Trump met with two Silicon Valley insiders who may join the FDA". CNBC. Retrieved 2021-04-29.
  9. ^ Burton, Thomas M. (2017-01-13). "Donald Trump Looking Beyond Traditional Medical Experts for FDA Commissioner". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2021-04-24.
  10. ^ George, Varghese K. (2017-01-17). "Indian American could be FDA head under Trump". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 2021-04-29.
  11. ^ Langlois, Shawn. "The coronavirus will forever change us, according to an investor who was once eyed for Trump's top FDA gig". MarketWatch. Retrieved 2021-04-29.
  12. ^ Burton, Thomas M. (2017-01-13). "Donald Trump Looking Beyond Traditional Medical Experts for FDA Commissioner". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2021-04-29.
  13. ^ RAJAGOPAL, DIVYA. "Balaji S Srinivasan may join Trump's team". The Economic Times. Retrieved 2021-04-30.
  14. ^ Kafka, Peter (2017-01-14). "Balaji Srinivasan, who may run the FDA for Trump, hates the FDA. But Silicon Valley likes Srinivasan". Vox. Retrieved 2021-04-30.
  15. ^ George, Varghese K. (2017-01-17). "Indian American could be FDA head under Trump". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 2021-04-30.
  16. ^ Srinivasan, Balaji S. (2018-04-16). "The Turnaround". Medium. Retrieved 2021-04-30.
  17. ^ Rooney, Kate (2018-04-16). "Bitcoin exchange Coinbase buys Earn.com for a reported $100M and adds key executive". CNBC. Retrieved 2021-04-24.
  18. ^ "Coinbase Acquires Earn.com". Wall Street Journal. 2018-04-17. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2021-04-29.
  19. ^ Russell, Jon (2019-05-04). "Coinbase loses its first CTO after just one year in the job". TechCrunch. Archived from the original on 2019-11-30. Retrieved 2021-02-06.
  20. ^ Armstrong, Brian (2018-04-16). "Welcome Balaji Srinivasan, Coinbase's new Chief Technology Officer". Medium. Retrieved 2021-04-23.
  21. ^ "Benchling wants to become the Salesforce of biotech". Fortune. Retrieved 2021-04-29.
  22. ^ "CryptoKitties blockchain sensation raises $12 million". VentureBeat. 2018-03-20. Retrieved 2021-04-29.
  23. ^ "Golden raises $14.5m Series A led by a16z, closes $1m US Air Force contract, and Marc Andreessen joins board". Golden Blog. 2020-09-30. Retrieved 2021-04-29.
  24. ^ "Omada Health Raises $23M Series B Led By Andreessen Horowitz For Digital Health That Actually Works". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2021-04-29.
  25. ^ "A $200 Million Seed Valuation for Roam Shows Investor Frenzy for Note-Taking Apps". The Information. Retrieved 2021-04-29.
  26. ^ "Soylent, Created by CoE Alum, Raises $1.5 Million in Seed Funding". Georgia Tech College of Engineering. Retrieved 2021-04-29.
  27. ^ "Stanford software engineering MOOC aims at future startup CEOs | Stanford News Release". news.stanford.edu. 2013-06-03. Retrieved 2021-04-29.
  28. ^ Falk, Tyler. "How to build a startup: Stanford's new free course". ZDNet. Retrieved 2021-04-29.
  29. ^ "Software Is Reorganizing the World". Wired. ISSN 1059-1028. Retrieved 2021-04-30.
  30. ^ "Tech Should Make It Easier To Escape Government Control, Says Startup Veteran Balaji Srinivasan". Reason.com. 2013-10-30. Retrieved 2021-04-30.
  31. ^ "Silicon Valley's Elite Don't Want to Secede. They Just Want to Stay on Top". Wired. ISSN 1059-1028. Retrieved 2021-04-30.
  32. ^ "Is Silicon Valley Arrogant? Not by My Definition". Bloomberg.com. 2013-11-08. Retrieved 2021-04-30.
  33. ^ Giridharadas, Anand (2013-10-28). "Silicon Valley Roused by Secession Call". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2021-04-30.
  34. ^ Manjoo, Farhad (2013-11-04). "Silicon Valley Has an Arrogance Problem". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2021-04-30.
  35. ^ Gannes, Liz (2013-12-10). "Balaji Srinivasan Joins Andreessen Horowitz as General Partner". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2021-04-29.
  36. ^ "Why India Should Buy Bitcoin". Balaji S. Srinivasan. 2021-02-04. Retrieved 2021-04-23.
  37. ^ "How India Legalizes Crypto". Balaji S. Srinivasan. 2021-02-16. Retrieved 2021-04-23.
  38. ^ "Add Crypto to IndiaStack". Balaji S. Srinivasan. 2021-04-10. Retrieved 2021-04-23.
  39. ^ Phadke, Sanjay (2021-04-10). "Can digital currencies and crypto investors help close India's SME financing gap?". ProductNation. Retrieved 2021-04-23.
  40. ^ Manikandan, Ashwin. "'India can pip others in cryptocurrency by adding it to UPI, Aadhaar'". The Economic Times. Retrieved 2021-04-29.
  41. ^ "Buterin, Srinivasan Donate to COVID Relief Fund for India 'Shaken' by Second Wave". finance.yahoo.com. Retrieved 2021-04-29.
  42. ^ "Tech bosses pad up to help India in Covid fight; angel investor Balaji Srinivasan, Vinod Khosla, Sundar Pichai offer monetary support". The Economic Times. Retrieved 2021-04-29.
  43. ^ "Why Ethereum's Vitalik Buterin, Tron's Justin Sun, Balaji Srinivasan Donated To India's Covid Relief". www.msn.com. Retrieved 2021-04-29.
  44. ^ "InFlow Funds | CryptoRelief". Airtable. Retrieved 2021-04-30. [dead link]
  45. ^ Cavaliere, Victoria (February 21, 2021) “Venture capitalist Balaji Srinivasan reportedly suggested doxxing a journalist who reported on narratives he didn't like.” Business Insider. (Retrieved April 21, 2021.)
  46. ^ Metz, Cade (February 22, 2021) “Silicon Valley’s Safe Space.” New York Times. (Retrieved April 21, 2021.)
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