TEAM

Jesse Walden is a Co-Founder and General Partner at Variant. Jesse led the firm's investments in Uniswap, Phantom, Mirror, Flashbots, Foundation and others. Previously, Jesse was an investment partner on the first crypto fund at Andreessen Horowitz and later led a16z Crypto Startup School.
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Li is a Co-Founder and General Partner at Variant, where she leads consumer investing for the firm and supports portfolio companies in their comms, community building, and go-to-market strategy.
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Geoff is an Investment Partner at Variant, where he focuses primarily on DeFi. Prior to joining Variant, Geoff spent 15 years investing in private and public companies.
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Alana is an Investment Partner focusing on infrastructure. Prior to Variant, Alana worked as a consultant at BCG.
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Mason is an Investment Partner at Variant, where he focuses on consumer crypto. Prior to joining Variant, Mason was a Sr. Research Analyst at Messari focused on Web3 infrastructure, NFTs, social tokens, and DAO infrastructure. He also worked at ConsenSys focused on marketing strategy for ConsenSys and its portfolio companies.
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Derek is an Investment Partner at Variant, focused on DeFi. His primary research interests include on-chain data analytics and token distribution. He is also a frequent contributor to Spencer’s newsletter, OurNetwork.
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Jack is the data scientist at Variant. In this role, he uses data analytics and modeling to help Variant and its portfolio founders make better data-driven decisions.
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Caleb is CFO and COO at Variant Fund. Prior to Variant, he was a Senior Manager at BKD CPAs & Advisors.
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Tom is the Chief of Staff at Variant, where he supports the firm across a wide range of functional areas and strategic projects. He previously worked as a Senior Investment Associate at HarbourVest Partners, a global private markets investor, where he covered venture capital managers.
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Nina is the chief marketing officer at Variant where she is responsible for the brand, marketing, communications and events. She also advises projects in our portfolio on their marketing strategy. Nina was previously a marketing partner at a16z crypto.
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Dan Roberts is the Editor in Chief at Variant. He has been writing about crypto since 2011. Prior to joining Variant, Dan was Editor in Chief at crypto news site Decrypt.
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Alli is the Director of Education and Events at Variant. In her role, she partners with founders, builders, and community members alike to provide the tools, education, and support needed to bring the ownership economy thesis to fruition. She also hosts an ongoing interview series called “Fem3 Voices,” which aims to highlight the work of women and non-binary builders in web3.
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Henry is the Controller at Variant. Prior to joining Variant, he was a senior associate at the public accounting firm, Ernst & Young, where he performed attestations over financial institutions.
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Jake Chervinsky is one of Variant's strategic advisors. He is currently the Head of Policy at Blockchain Association, the largest advocacy group for the crypto industry in Washington DC.
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Marc is one of Variant's strategic advisors. He is currently Chief Executive Officer at Polygon. Before joining the Polygon team, Marc served as CLO at dYdX. Before that, he was a partner in the blockchain and cryptocurrency and financial services group at Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP alongside Rebecca. Marc is an expert on blockchain and digital assets, and he frequently speaks and provides education about issues related to blockchain technology and cryptocurrency regulations.
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Calder is one of Variant’s strategic advisors focused on the talent and recruiting efforts of the fund and our portfolio. Currently, Calder is Head of Recruiting at OpenSea — he joined as the company’s first recruiting hire, before building out and leading their recruiting function. Prior to that, he held various recruiting positions at tech companies including Facebook, Google, Zynga and Path.
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Elyse is an Executive Assistant at Variant. She has over six years of C-level support at financial institutions.
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Maria is an Executive Assistant at Variant Fund, bringing over 8 years of experience to the role.
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Jesse Walden

Co-Founder & General Partner

Li Jin

Co-Founder & General Partner

Geoff Hamilton

Investment Partner

Alana Levin

Investment Partner

Mason Nystrom

Investment Partner

Derek Walkush

Investment Partner

Jack Gorman

Data Scientist

Caleb Shough

CFO/COO

Tom Dils

Chief of Staff

Nina Suthers

Chief Marketing Officer

Dan Roberts

Editor in Chief

Alli Pope

Director of Education and Events

Henry Adams

Controller

Jake Chervinsky

Strategic Advisor

Marc Boiron

Strategic Advisor

Calder Zwerling

Strategic Advisor

Elyse Murphy

Executive Assistant

Maria Falcone

Executive Assistant