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Derek is an Investment Research Partner at Variant. He got interested in crypto in late 2020 around DeFi summer after conducting high level research on blockchain as an analyst in Georgetown’s student-run hedge fund. Looking to learn more about the space, Derek interned at Accolade Partners, which launched one of the first institutional crypto fund of funds. His interest and conviction only seemed to grow; he soon dove into the on-chain world and became a part-time contributor at Index Coop and AladdinDAO; he was recently elected to Aladdin’s research council where he pitches stable farming strategies. After teaching himself SQL and working as an analyst for a project finance startup, Derek began writing for Spencer’s newsletter, OurNetwork, applying his interest in data querying and fundamentals analysis. Realizing the generational opportunity in front of him, Derek left Georgetown to join the team full-time in June 2022. His primary research interests are on-chain data analytics and token distribution. In his free time, Derek enjoys working out (former D1 rower), 90s movies, cooking, and traveling.
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Geoff Hamilton
Geoff is an Investment Research Partner at Variant, where he focuses primarily on DeFi. Prior to joining Variant, Geoff spent 15 years investing in private and public companies. During that time, helped start and grow five investment firms, including Askesis Capital, Dayah Capital, Sachem Head Capital Management, and Conatus Capital. Before that, Geoff worked at Bain Capital and Bain & Company and studied Economics at Harvard.
Alana Levin
Alana is an Investment Partner at Variant Fund. Her initial interest in crypto stemmed from a broader interest in public goods and financial regulatory policy– she spent a summer at the SEC and graduated summa cum laude with degrees in Finance & Public Policy from Wharton. Alana’s interest in crypto has since evolved to focus primarily on token design, governance structures, scaling costs, and privacy mechanics. She often writes about these concepts on her Substack, Back-of-the-Envelope, and on her Mirror profile. Prior to Variant, Alana worked as a consultant at BCG. In her free time, Alana enjoys running, writing, kayaking, and exploring old bookstores and cafés.
Mason Nystrom
Mason is a junior partner at Pantera Capital and was previously an Investment partner at Variant and Senior Research Analyst at Messari. Before Messari, Mason worked at ConsenSys as a Content Marketer focused on marketing strategy for ConsenSys and its portfolio companies. Mason first entered the crypto industry as an Analyst at Gatecoin, the first cryptocurrency exchange to list ether, Ethereum’s native cryptocurrency. Mason obtained his Master’s in Business Management at Hong Kong Baptist University.
Li Jin
Li Jin is the co-founder of Variant Fund and the founder of Atelier Ventures. Prior to that, Li Jin was a partner at Andreessen Horowitz (a16z).
Jesse Walden
Jesse Walden is the Founder, General Partner at Variant Fund. Jesse Walden was a partner on the a16z crypto investment team. Prior to joining, Jesse co-founded Mediachain Labs, the group that led open source development of Mediachain, a decentralized media attribution protocol for connecting creators to their audience directly through content. Mediachain Labs was acquired by Spotify in early 2017. Before Mediachain Labs, Jesse co-founded an artist management firm that leveraged technology in direct-to-fan distribution for Grammy-award winning artists, including Solange Knowles, Blood Orange, Majical Cloudz, and many more. Jesse holds a B.A. in Art History and Economics from McGill University in Montreal, Canada.
Cooper Kunz
Cooper Kunz is an investment partner at Variant Fund and previously worked on products at Aztec, and before that was CTO at Calaxy and software development engineer at Hedera Hashgraph. He graduated from the University of Arizona.
Jack Gorman
Jack is the data scientist at Variant. In this role, he uses data analytics and modeling to help Variant and its portfolio founders make better data-driven decisions. Prior to Variant, Jack worked at Deloitte Consulting in its AI & Data Engineering practice focusing on big data, cloud computing, and AI applications. Jack has contributed to onchain data analytics and research for various protocols on platforms like Dune Analytics and Flipside Crypto. He is particularly interested in onchain identities and token distribution. Jack holds a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from Georgia Tech. In his free time, Jack enjoys hiking, competing in triathlons, and reading.
Caleb Shough
Caleb Shough is the CFO & COO at Variant. Caleb has also served on the Community Board Director at Myriad Botanical Gardens from July 2018 to June 2020. Prior to that, they were a Senior Manager at BKD CPAs & Advisors from November 2017 to October 2021. Caleb started their career as a Senior Associate at BKD CPAs & Advisors from July 2012 to March 2017. Caleb also has experience in Technical Accounting Consulting Manager at RSM US LLP from April 2017 to October 2017. Caleb Shough has a B.A.A. in Accounting from Oklahoma Christian University, and is certified by IBM as an IBM Blockchain Foundation Developer, the Oklahoma Accountancy Board as a CPA, and DataCamp as an Intermediate R and Introduction to R programmer.
Nina Suthers
Nina is the chief marketing officer at Variant where she is responsible for the brand, marketing, communications, and events. She also advises projects in our portfolio on their marketing strategy. Nina was previously a marketing partner at Andreessen Horowitz, where she helped build the crypto fund’s brand through media, events and special programs like the Crypto Startup School. Prior to her work at a16z, she was an account director at the OutCast Agency, a marketing agency specializing in comms, creative, and digital.
Dan Roberts
Dan is the Editor in Chief at Variant. He has been writing about crypto since 2011. Prior to joining Variant, Dan was Editor in Chief at crypto news site Decrypt, where he recruited a team of writers and editors, led the site’s news strategy, created and hosted the gm podcast, planned and emceed live events, and moderated panels at conferences around the world. Before that, he spent five years at Yahoo Finance and five years at Fortune. He has written about tech, sports business, and books for a broad range of publications including Sports Illustrated, TIME, Vice, Air Mail, The Guardian, The Paris Review, NPR, Deadspin, Salon, The Daily Beast, The Morning News, and many more. He is the primary author of the 2013 book “Zoom: How to Supercharge Your Career.” He graduated from Middlebury College and the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism.