This week, we're doing something different on MoneyNeverSleeps.

You're coming inside the room for the Techstars Web3 Demo Day 2025, recorded live at Civic Hall in NYC during NY Tech Week, where we brought 5 incredible Web3 startups to the stage for a standing-room-only crowd of founders, investors, and builders.

These aren’t founders chasing hype - they’re building with traction, with purpose, and with an eye on the next version of the internet.

Along the way, you’ll hear:

• • A powerful fireside chat with Clarisse Hagege, founder and CEO of Dfns, on her journey from TradFi to web3 and the reality of raising in tough markets
  • Startups introduced by their mentors and customers, not just the usual emcee banter
  • Closing thoughts on what Techstars Web3 has meant to me and to Hugh McGirr, my partner in building this since 2021
• 
  

• You’ll hear from:

• • 🧠 Autonom – web3’s first full-context real-world assets oracle

  • 🛡️ DABL – the essential risk layer for onchain hedging

  • 🔐 Nera Systems – privacy-enhancing tech for secure data sharing in AI workflows

  • 🌱 nodes.garden – one-click platform for running testnet nodes and earning token rewards

  • 🔍 TRUSTBYTES – bringing predictive intelligence to institutional wallets
    Whether you’re a founder, investor, or web3 builder—this one captures the energy, the ambition, and the conviction of what’s next.

  🎥 Watch the full video on YouTube: Techstars Web3 Demo Day 2025

  LINKS:

  Leave a review & subscribe on: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | MoneyNeverSleeps (website)

  Email us: info@norioventures.com

  Pete Townsend: X/Twitter | LinkedIn

  MoneyNeverSleeps: X/Twitter | LinkedIn | Newsletter

  
  

This week, I caught up with Jesse Phillips, co-founder and CEO of Trustware, and one of the most quietly determined founders I’ve ever backed.

I invested in Jesse and his co-founder Jonathan Frazier through the Techstars Web3 accelerator in 2023, and since then, Trustware⁠ have done what most early-stage startups only dream of—shipping a real product, signing real customers, and generating real revenue… all on just $400K in capital and a team of six.

In this conversation, Jesse and I get into what it really takes to build through the mud - when you’ve got more vision than runway, and the only way out of the mud is through the mud. We talk about the early decisions that shaped Trustware’s roadmap, the week Jesse had to tell his team he couldn’t promise their next paycheck, and why raising less money actually made them a stronger company.

Trustware is building what Jesse calls “a switchboard for crypto” - a way for wallets and apps to exchange any asset for any other asset(s) across chains and identity layers. It’s a big vision with a deeply pragmatic approach - and one that’s already helping crypto-native teams clean up the mess under the hood.

This one’s a masterclass in staying focused, tuning out the hype, and building for the long game.

• The early decision to bootstrap and stay lean
• How Trustware helps wallets and apps simplify cross-chain ops
• Why team culture matters even more when the money’s tight
• What Jesse learned about founder storytelling while fundraising
• The value of persistence over polish in the early innings
  

LINKS:

Trustware: Website | X/(Twitter) | LinkedIn | Discord

Jesse Phillips: X/(Twitter) | LinkedIn

Leave a review & subscribe on: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | MoneyNeverSleeps (website)

Email us: info@norioventures.com

Pete Townsend: X/Twitter | LinkedIn

In this episode:MoneyNeverSleeps: X/Twitter | LinkedIn | Newsletter

This week, I sat down with my longtime Techstars colleague and friend Allard Luchsinger, Managing Director of the ABN AMRO + Techstars Future of Finance Accelerator in Amsterdam.

Allard and I have been on each other’s investment committees for years, so this conversation hits a bit differently. We’ve traded notes across dozens of startups, and we’ve seen each other call the shots on what makes an unstoppable founder. That theme became the golden thread through this episode.

We get into Allard’s journey from building startups during the dot-com era, to co-founding a zero-commission trading platform years before Robinhood, to leading one of Europe’s most respected fintech accelerators. We also dig into:

• His experience investing in African fintech and why mobile-first changed everything

• The early signals from AI and how they mirror fintech’s formative years

• The conviction you need to invest at pre-seed when all you have is a deck, a founder, and a feeling

• The power of mindfulness, presence, and early-morning meditation

• Why stablecoins and tokenized assets are quietly rebuilding the financial rails from the inside out

This one’s full of hard-earned wisdom from someone who knows both sides of the founder–investor equation, and delivers it all with a calm clarity that hits home.

LINKS:

Connect with Allard Luchsinger on LinkedIn

ABN AMRO + Techstars Future of Finance Accelerator: Website | LinkedIn

Leave a review & subscribe on: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | MoneyNeverSleeps (website)

Email us: info@norioventures.com

Pete Townsend: X/Twitter | LinkedIn

MoneyNeverSleeps: X/Twitter | LinkedIn | Newsletter