Product Before Token | Sal Ternullo | SVRN + A100x Ventures [EP. 315]

Pete Townsend is joined by Sal Ternullo, CEO of SVRN and Managing Partner at A100x Ventures, for a conversation about how to tell the difference between a token that represents ownership of the value-creating thing and one that's an accelerant bolted onto something else.Sal has been underwriting these decisions at A100x at the pre-seed and seed stage. He walks through what's actually changed in the market, what a defensible answer on value accrual sounds like in a pitch meeting, and why the race-to-TGE game that defined the last cycle is largely over.

Topics covered:

– Why the era of tolerating tokens with no claim on cash flows is ending

– How to tell whether a founder has real conviction on decentralization or is bolting a token onto an equity business

– The cap-table tensions between SAFEs, token warrants, and Series A investors who can't touch tokens

– Why building the product before designing the token is the new discipline

– The question Sal wishes more founders walked in with an answer to

CHAPTERS:

00:00 Bad Tokens Ruin Good Projects

00:30 Welcome Sal Ternullo

01:10 What Changed in Token Value Accrual

03:00 Equity vs. Token: Where Does Value Accrue

04:55 Signs a Founder Has Real Conviction

06:15 Ownership or Loyalty Points

08:30 Tokens After 18 Months: Pump.fun and the Lag

10:00 The Race to TGE Game is Over

11:30 The Cap Table Reality

13:00 The Question Founders Should Ask

Connect with Sal:X: @sal_ternulloEmail: sal@svrn.net

SVRN: https://svrn.net

A100x Ventures: https://a100x.vc

Connect with Pete:X: @PeteTownsendNV

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/petetownsendnv/

Norio Ventures: https://norioventures.com

MoneyNeverSleeps: https://moneyneversleeps.ie#crypto #venturecapital #tokens