Working & Reading Group (#4) call on 07/20/20

[blockstackers]

Date & Time: Monday, July 20, 2020 @ 2:00pm UTC / 11:00am ET

Main Focus: Decentralized Applications

Agenda:

• Quick update on #HackStacks
• Reading group session on Decentralized Applications: What's Now, What's Next

Please do the following before Monday's meeting:

• Watch *Decentralized Applications: What's Now, What's Next* by Arianna Simpson

If you would like to join, please share your email in the comments below.

[whoabuddy]

I spent some time looking through the video list on the a16z website, and these two stuck out to me as possible topics based on their descriptions:

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Decentralized Applications: What’s Now, What’s Next
by Arianna Simpson - August 29, 2019

Decentralized apps or “dApps” are the much-promised innovation of crypto. Imagine a decentralized version of every major application out there today, as well as new applications native to crypto. Given how early things still are though, what are some of the most concrete or near-term applications to be aware of?

Arianna Simpson, founder and managing director of ASP and crypto angel investor (and former product manager at BitGo with stints at Facebook and Shoptiques) shares where we are right now, and where we might be heading — from open financial tools and decentralized finance (“DeFi”) to infrastructure, gaming, and digital collectibles/ goods.

This talk was originally delivered at the inaugural a16z Crypto Regulatory Summit 2019, which brings together leading crypto experts and builders, other technologists, academics, industry executives, and government officials — along with forward-thinking regulators — to foster collaboration and the exchange of ideas around this important emerging industry.

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What’s Next for the Internet?
by Chris Dixon and Jonah Peretti - December 19, 2019

How can we evolve the web for a better future? Has the web become a mature platform — or are we still in the early days of knowing what it can do and what role it might have in our lives? Just as “social/local/mobile” once did, what are the new trends — like crypto and blockchain networks and commerce everywhere — that might converge into new products and experiences?

Chris Dixon (general partner at a16z and co-lead of the a16z crypto fund) discusses all things internet with Jonah Peretti (founder and CEO of BuzzFeed). Their conversation ranges from the early days of the web to the way innovation happens (what Chris calls “outside-in vs inside-out”) to the promise of a community-owned and operated internet, and more.

Together they explore the possibilities that could co-evolve and converge are we enter into the next era of the web, and they share how we might not be quite as far removed from the “wild west days” of the internet as we imagined.

[blockstackers]

Arianna Simpson's video seems pretty relevant!