Lalle Clausen Says Next Generation of Crypto Founders Need to Shift to Classic Entrepreneurial Models
Lalle Clausen, founding partner of 1kx, stated that Vitalik was once the perfect founder evangelist for Ethereum and the industry, but now it is necessary to attract more classic entrepreneurs.
These founders should be revenue-driven and IPO-focused, skilled in business development, building relationships with Wall Street, and distributing products, rather than relying solely on cryptographers or Discord evangelists.
Institutional capital and traditional investors are flowing into projects led by commercial founders, shifting funding from purely technical evangelist protocols to revenue and IPO-oriented crypto companies. Classic entrepreneur-type founders and related projects benefit, while early idealistic protocols face pressure on financing and growth.
Source: Public Information
ABAB AI Insight
Lalle Clausen, as a founding partner of 1kx Network, has long invested in consumer-grade crypto and infrastructure projects, previously focusing on community-driven and technology innovation teams. This public shift towards a "classic entrepreneur" narrative continues his observation of the industry's evolution from idealism to mature commercialization.
In terms of capital pathways, funds like 1kx are reallocating resources from purely technical evangelist projects to founders with business development capabilities, Wall Street relationships, and IPO readiness. By providing business networks and growth resources, they help projects stabilize revenue and achieve public market exits, creating a cycle of matching "capital + entrepreneurial capabilities."
Similar to the transition from the vision-driven phase led by Vitalik in Ethereum's early days to performance and commercial adoption-focused projects like Solana and Base, the crypto industry is currently in a mid-expansion phase transitioning from "evangelist-led" to "revenue and IPO-driven entrepreneur-led".
Essentially, this represents a concentration of capital: the traditional financing model relying on technical vision and community evangelism is being replaced by the commercial execution capabilities demanded by institutions, leading to a high concentration of capital towards founders with Wall Street distribution capabilities and revenue discipline, restructuring crypto entrepreneurship from "idealistic protocol building" to "sustainable business operations."