- Asa Hutchinson, 25, and Blake Finucane, 30, both took unconventional paths to venture capital.
- They share how they broke into VC with Pluto Digital and their approach to crypto investing.
- They highlight top token, NFT, and blockchain gaming picks from their portfolio.
To those on the outside, breaking into venture-capital investing can seem impossible.
There are two common paths to follow: Spend years working at early-stage startups or work in the finance industry and secure a top-class MBA.
And even then, it’s still tricky to secure a role at a venture-capital firm.
But Asa Hutchinson and Blake Finucane managed to break in while also breaking the mold.
Hutchinson and Finucane joined UK digital-asset firm Pluto Digital in early 2021. They started running the firm’s venture branch about six months ago.
So far, the fund has invested about $5 million and is focused on play-to-earn gaming, decentralized finance, and NFTs.
The core tenets of the investment strategy are based on overall industry trends and the quality of the startup team, from their technical skills to their background and experience in crypto, Finucane said.
“We’re not looking for the quick flip. We always see our investments as long-term investments,” Finucane said. “And in crypto, sometimes that’s just not the norm with VC. So we’re really committed to that”
Hutchinson’s and Finucane’s backgrounds are completely nontraditional, which adds an edge to how they invest.
Hutchinson, who is just 25, had been investing personally as a side hustle alongside her day job in account- and relationship-management roles. When she joined Pluto in early 2021, she started to refine her investing approach under the guidance of the “Captain,” Andy Frangos, the founder of Pluto Digital.
“I was approached by the founder, and we just kicked it off from there. He taught me absolutely everything I know … and I’ve gone from personally investing, to growing a fund now,” Hutchinson said.
Finucane, who is 30, studied art history as an undergraduate and in further study. Her master’s thesis focused on how blockchain technology and cryptocurrency can be used in art.
“In 2018, I actually published one of the first academic theses ever on crypto art. Obviously, at that time, it wasn’t that well-received by academia, just because no one really understood crypto,” Finucane said. “People were like, ‘Crypto and art together? What’s happening? I don’t understand it.'”
But as crypto took off, Finucane’s work gained more interest, and she started being invited to lecture at universities and to collaborate with academics. Her paper, in collaboration with a team of academics, “Crypto Art: A Decentralized View” was published in both ArXiv and Leonardo.
When the “crypto winter” hit, Finucane joined an investment firm for about two years, learning the nitty-gritty of tech investing before joining Pluto Digital.
NFT picks
Finucane leads Pluto’s nonfungible-token fund. Her investment process involves spending hours trying to understand the community’s feelings toward projects, as well as the team behind the project and how engaged it is. Her investments can vary from gaming assets to virtual land and popular profile-picture collections.
She highlighted three standout projects that don’t have super-high floors for investors.
1. Interleave and Treeverse
“I would say everything that Loopify is doing, I think is incredible,” Finucane said.
Loopify is the founder of the Treeverse, a 2D pixel-art virtual world. It’s also involved with Interleave, an NFT production studio that is creating a 3D animated film called “The Arcadia Trilogy.” The first Interleave NFT drop gives the owner voting rights on decisions for the film.
2. Parallel
Parallel is a sci-fi card game on the ethereum blockchain.
“I think what they’re building is exceptional,” Finucane said. “Their lead investor is Chad Hurley, who was one of the cofounders of YouTube.”
3. Punks Comic
Punks Comic is an NFT comic series that is drawn by Chris Wahl, who’s done artwork for Marvel, DC Comics, and LucasFilm.
“They’ve built up an incredible ecosystem,” Finucane said. “The team is wildly committed. We’ve seen them execute time and time again.”
Blockchain gaming
The other core focus of the fund is investments in crypto gaming. This is a strategic decision, Finucane said.
“Gaming allows you to become both a user as well as an investor, and we think that’s a new paradigm shift,” Finucane said. “We think that’ll be a really, really significant funnel.”
A key component of this strategy is looking for strong teams that have tested their idea and are working through blockers, Hutchinson said. She highlighted two exciting projects within the portfolio.
1. Good Guild Games
Good Guild Games is a gaming hub for play-to-earn games.
“These guys are working with pretty much everyone on the market,” Hutchinson said. “We found them really, really early-doors, and what we love about these guys is that they will give anything a try.”
2. Sidus Heroes
Sidus Heroes is a collaboration among multiple NFT teams to create an AAA-level role-playing game that employs blockchain technology. Dan Khomenko, the CEO, also founded NFT Stars and SpaceSwap.
“They’ve created two projects already,” Hutchinson said. “It’s just like a no-brainer for us. We love the team. They are fully devoted to the space.”
Altcoins
The final component of the venture-fund portfolio is a digital-asset treasury, with tokens including polkadot (DOT) and uniswap (SWAP).
With bitcoin and ether both struggling over the past few weeks, Hutchinson and Finucane highlighted the tokens they expect to outperform in 2022.
1. Cardano (ADA)
“We’ve got so many friends of ours who are building different games, projects, and many DeFi protocols with cardano that people haven’t done before,” Hutchinson said. “I know it’s having a dip at the moment, but I do really think that we’re going to see it take off.”
2. Avalanche (AVAX)
“One of the best teams we’ve seen in terms of product builders,” Finucane said. “We’re also seeing projects come out that are looking to build on avalanche, and I think we’ll continue to see that team execute, and so I think we’re both excited about that ecosystem too.”