Making Markets · Colossus | Investing & Business Podcasts

Haseeb Qureshi: The TAM of Crypto - [Making Markets, REPLAY]

·1 hr 23 min·5 clips

Haseeb says poker is "one of the most trust-based industries" even though it looks like pure gambling.

Eric Golden opens by framing Making Markets as a show about the psychology and structure behind markets. He brings in Haseeb, whose path into crypto investing has been unusually visible. That path includes making millions through poker before age 21. It also includes going viral for an article on negotiation. And it includes being hired personally by Naval Ravikant to become a crypto VC. The interview uses that background as a way into how Haseeb thinks about incentives. Eric asks what changes when someone moves from trading and poker into venture capital. Haseeb draws a sharp contrast between secretive competitive games and the more public, advisory nature of VC. He describes venture as a business where people say more or less everything in public. He says the role involves backing founders, helping them through dark moments, and celebrating wins. Eric does not let the point rest there. He pushes on the competitive reality underneath the polished surface. Capital is not hard to come by anymore. Founders can speak to many firms and raise from many places. That makes the process look more cooperative than it is. Haseeb agrees that there is competition. He argues that competition is not the same as simple zero-sum warfare. He still acknowledges a hidden struggle for access and deal flow. Eric then steers the talk toward what that means in practice. The pair keep coming back to the idea that markets often advertise one kind of logic while operating on another. The conversation closes on crypto and its audience. Haseeb says prices have done well, but retail is not really back yet. He points to Coinbase's app-store rank as a crude but useful barometer. He contrasts the recent period with 2021, when Coinbase sat at the top of finance charts for days on end. The implication is that the market may still be early. If retail returns, he expects more volatility and wacky ideas to reappear.

As heard by us

A practical talk on VC competition, crypto, and why retail still feels absent.

Haseeb's route from poker and negotiation writing into crypto venture capital gives the episode a clean entry point for a discussion about markets and incentives.

Read the full review in PlayNext →

Why you'd press play

Hear how crypto looks from inside VC, where competition, market structure, and retail timing all collide.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

Listen to the show on

Apple Podcasts Spotify

Play clips from this episode More from Making Markets