VIDEO
Mathias Ruch speaks about beginning his career in the dot-com boom, becoming an investor, enabler and facilitator of the blockchain ecosystem in Switzerland, leading the Blockchain Taskforce of the Swiss government, why blockchain technology presents the most important opportunity of his life and for Switzerland, how he screens investments in blockchain companies, entrepreneurial characteristics, why passion eats strategy for breakfast, what he would do differently as an entrepreneur today, Switzerland as a business location for blockchain entrepreneurs, and much more.
Mathias is the Founder and Managing Partner at Lakeside Partners, one of the leading early-stage investment companies in Switzerland’s Crypto Valley, and he is the Co-Initiator of the Blockchain Competition and Initiator of Crypto Valley Labs. Mathias has been in the digital startup scene for 20 years as an entrepreneur and angel investor, and before focusing on blockchain technology, he built and exited several successful online and media companies. Mathias is also leading the Blockchain Taskforce, assembled by the Swiss Federal Council.
The Blockchain and Us newsletter
Several new interviews go live on this podcast each week. Get an email from me every two weeks with a very short summary of new podcast episodes, so you can immediately pick those interviews you’d like to listen to. You’ll never receive any marketing and definitely no spam, and you can unsubscribe at any time. To stay up to date about what blockchain pioneers, innovators and entrepreneurs from all around the world think about the future of this space, just enter your email in the sidebar on the right.
Related Episodes and PostsAugust 2, 2018 A Recap of Zug’s Bitcoin Experiment and How it Energized Switzerland – Dolfi Mueller, Mayor of Zug July 13, 2018 How to Tell the Story of Blockchain Technology – Tom Lyons, ConsenSys Research and Advisory July 11, 2018 How the Blockchain Disrupts Venture Capital – Michael Sidler, Partner at Redapline February 27, 2019 Why You Need Digital Identity Before Anything Else – Daniel Gasteiger, Founder & CEO, Procivis August 20, 2018 Why Cryptoassets Will Soon Be Part of Every Bank’s Business – Niklas Nikolajsen, Founder, Bitcoin Suisse July 30, 2018 Bitcoin’s Early Days and its Eternal September, Bitcoin Association Switzerland, and Why Regulation Kills Innovation – Luzius Meisser, Meisser Economics July 23, 2018 How Digital Jurisdictions Help Us Escape 1984 and Take Back Control – Luis Cuende, Co-Founder of Aragon March 20, 2019 “Blockchain Is Successful When People Don’t Know They’re Using It” – Johannes Schweifer, Co-Founder & CEO, CoreLedger January 16, 2019 How to Build on Bitcoin – Lucas Betschart, Founder, 21 Lectures, President, Bitcoin Association Switzerland December 5, 2018 Blockchain Identity and the Importance of Ethics – Monique Morrow, President and Co-Founder of The Humanized Internet November 28, 2018 The Human Story Behind Blockchain Technology – Matthew Allen, Zurich Bureau Chief/Business Reporter at Swissinfo September 26, 2018 How Blockchains Could Solve the Tragedy of the Commons – Ryan Jesperson, President of the Tezos Foundation September 19, 2018 Why Education Is the Killer App for Blockchain Technology – Cedric Waldburger, Co-Founder of Dfinity August 29, 2018 How Journalists and the Financial Press Stay Objective About Cryptocurrencies and Blockchain Technology – Peter Hody, Editor-in-Chief, Finews August 6, 2018 How Blockchain Technology Redefines Entrepreneurship – Daniel Doll-Steinberg, Atari Token July 6, 2018 Science, Academia, and the Blockchain – Roger Wattenhofer, Professor at ETH Zurich July 4, 2018 Putting Insurance on the Blockchain – Paul Meeusen, CEO at B3i June 29, 2018 The Rise of Cryptoassets – Jack Tatar, Author of “Cryptoassets” June 27, 2018 Is The Real Value of Bitcoin Zero? – Adriano B. Lucatelli, Founder, Descartes Finance June 22, 2018 The Bitcoin Queen and Her Mission to “Tokenize Everything” – Olga Feldmeier, Co-Founder, Smart Valor June 20, 2018 The UN, the Pirate Party, and Bitcoin – Alexis Roussel, Co-Founder, Bity June 18, 2018 The World’s First Bitcoin PhD – Christian Decker, Core Developer at Blockstream June 13, 2018 Making Bitcoin More User-Friendly – Jonas Schnelli, Bitcoin Core Developer June 11, 2018 Cryptoasset Management in Switzerland – Lidia Bolla, Co-Founder and CEO, Vision& June 8, 2018 The Promise of Blockchain Technology – Rik Willard, Founder, Agentic February 6, 2019 How Skin in the Game Combats Fake News and Leads to Truth – Preethi Kasireddy, Founder and CEO, TruStory February 13, 2019 Why Good Content is King in Blockchain PR – David Wachsman, Founder and CEO, Wachsman August 9, 2018 Why Blockchain Standards Create New Business Models for Companies and Developers – Ron Resnick, Enterprise Ethereum Alliance November 7, 2018 Why Blockchain Technology is Transformative and Irritating – Monty Munford, Mob76 June 1, 2018 Trailer – The Blockchain and Us July 2, 2018 China and the Blockchain – Zhang Ruidong, Academy of Internet Finance at Zhejiang University October 24, 2018 How Digital Scarcity Helps Artists and Creators – Eric Elliott, Author, Developer, Mentor October 16, 2018 Why Executives Need Blockchain Literacy – Alison McCauley, Author of Unblocked January 23, 2019 “This Is What the Blockchain Is and How It Can Change Your Life” – Niloo Ravaei, Head of Education at Blockgeeks July 26, 2018 Marketing Basics for ICOs and Blockchain Projects – John Hargrave, CEO at Mediashower July 16, 2018 Analyzing the Price of Bitcoin – Tone Vays March 15, 2019 Crypto Weekly: 24 Crypto Podcasts with Tips from Industry Experts February 20, 2019 Why the Blockchain Space Needs Better Access – Alexis Gauba, Co-Founder she(256), Mechanism Labs November 21, 2018 Why Crypto Funds Have to Become Tech Companies – Ryan Yi, Investment Analyst at CoinFund March 27, 2019 How Cosmos Enables the Internet of Blockchains – Brian Fabian Crain, Co-Founder & CEO Chorus One, Co-Host at Epicenter December 12, 2018 Why Blockchains Empower a New Social Contract for the Digital Age – Don Tapscott, Co-Founder and Executive Chairman, Blockchain Research Institute June 6, 2018 Blockchain Revolution, Two Years Later – Alex Tapscott, Co-Author “Blockchain Revolution” March 13, 2019 How a Blockchain Venture Studio Works – Mervyn G. Maistry, CEO & Founder, Konfidio and Kintaro Capital December 26, 2018 How Blockchains Could Create Community Consciousness – Toni Lane Casserly, Founder of Cultu.re November 6, 2018 Podcast Review: How to Get The Public Interested in Your Blockchain Project, Inside Bitcoins October 3, 2018 “Hey Zuck, Let’s Tokenize Facebook!” How Blockchains Could Stop People Farming – Trent McConaghy, Founder, Ocean Protocol January 30, 2019 “Crypto Means Cryptography” – Jan Camenisch, Head of Research at Dfinity May 13, 2019 Hackernoon: Five Blockchain Podcasts You Shouldn’t Miss (Spoiler: The Blockchain and Us is #1) March 6, 2019 Why New Technologies Need Sharper Critical Thinking – Andrea Bauer, Founder & Senior Advisor, BEAM Innovation Studio July 9, 2018 The Future is Decentralized, and Why Decision-Making is a “Big, Fuzzy, Hairy, and Messy Thing” – Joe Lubin, Founder, Ethereum