Hosted by Brooke Pollack, Managing Partner of Hutt Capital, join “Inside the Hutt” as we talk with leading blockchain venture capital investors to discuss their origins, investment approaches, recent trends, and how they’re navigating this complex industry. Inside the Hutt provides invaluable insights for crypto enthusiasts and investment professionals alike.
Want to learn more about Hutt Capital and the show? Visit www.huttcapital.com
In this episode of Inside the Hutt, Brooke Pollack interviews Thomas Klocanas, Managing Partner at Strobe Ventures. Thomas walks through his path from traditional finance to early roles in the crypto space, including his time at Consensys and White Star Capital, before launching BlockTower Ventures and eventually spinning it out into Strobe. He and Brooke explore Strobe’s transition to independence, its investment strategy across tokens and equity, views on real-world assets and crypto infrastructure, and what differentiates Strobe in a crowded VC market. They also unpack token models, equity vs. token value capture, and his perspective on emerging DeFi trends.
Key Points From This Episode:
Thomas Klocanas’ background in investment banking and entry into crypto via equity research in 2014.
Early operating experience at Consensys and shift to venture investing at White Star Capital.
Launching BlockTower’s venture arm and the strategic decision to spin out and form Strobe Ventures.
Overview of Strobe’s investment strategy, focus sectors, and fund structure.
Importance of a measured deployment pace, thematic specialization, and founder relationships.
Views on regulatory clarity and how it has affected deal flow and geographic concentration.
Investment flexibility across equity and tokens, including public token exposure.
Breakdown of key themes: real-world assets, crypto consumer, lending protocols, and alt assets.
Perspective on current market dynamics: distribution vs. innovation in DeFi.
Explanation of perps and the thesis behind Architect’s expansion beyond crypto.
Strobe’s early bets on stablecoins and strategy around timing and infrastructure vs. issuers.
Evaluation of DATs used by portfolio companies like Ethena.
Discussion on the future of token design, network equity, and token-equity convergence.
How Strobe helps portfolio companies through strategic introductions and partnerships.
The value of the Strobe Summit as a strategic in-person event to build connections.
Thomas’s contrarian prediction: skepticism on tokenized single stocks as a near-term theme.
Insights on TradFi adoption of crypto rails and backend infrastructure upgrades.
Fundraising predictions: challenges ahead for some crypto VCs and the benefits of smaller fund sizes.
Spotlight on portfolio company TYB and its consumer engagement and loyalty infrastructure.
Thomas shares his alternate career path aspirations in fintech — and dream of being a soccer player.
Links
Thomas Klocanas on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tklocanas (https://www.linkedin.com/in/tklocanas)
Strobe Ventures: https://strobe.fund/ (https://strobe.fund/)
Brooke Pollack on Twitter: https://twitter.com/bhpollack (https://twitter.com/bhpollack)
Brooke Pollack on LinkedIn: https://twitter.com/bhpollack (https://twitter.com/bhpollack)
Hutt Capital: https://www.huttcapital.com/ (https://www.huttcapital.com/)
10 Dec 2025
David Gan (Inception Capital)
In this episode of Inside the Hutt, Brooke Pollack interviews David Gan, founder of Inception Capital. David discusses his journey from investment banking to crypto, including his time at Huobi and the launch of Inception Capital. He breaks down Inception’s two-pronged model—a venture fund and a fund of funds—highlighting their early-stage strategy, cross-border support, and commitment to backing emerging managers. The conversation also explores tokenization, Asia's evolving crypto landscape, exchange listings, and how David's experience and global network help founders scale across markets.
Key Points From This Episode:
David Gan’s professional background and time at Huobi.
Founding Inception Capital and its evolution from Huobi Capital.
Structure of Inception’s two funds: early-stage venture and fund of funds.
Strategy behind taking GP stakes in emerging managers and scaling them.
David’s investment focus on infrastructure, financial services, and tokenization.
Insights on helping U.S. startups expand into Asia and vice versa.
Overview of key Asian crypto markets: China, Korea, Japan, Vietnam, Indonesia, and Singapore.
Commentary on China’s restrictions and Hong Kong’s role in regional crypto.
Geographic differences in crypto product development between Asia and the U.S.
Tokenization trends, regulatory progress, and increased global access to financial products.
Growing founder activity in New York’s crypto ecosystem.
The importance of exchange listings and the evolving landscape of centralized vs. decentralized platforms.
Current token valuation dynamics and the impact on venture investing.
Community-driven public token sales like MegaETH’s conviction round.
Early traction and developer activity in the MegaETH ecosystem.
Investment highlights in projects like World Capital Markets
Framework for backing emerging fund managers and criteria Inception looks for.
Advantages of smaller, nimble funds and strategic synergy with Inception’s core strategy.
David’s alternate career dreams and how poker introduced him to Bitcoin.
Links
David on Twitter: https://x.com/DavidGan1818 (https://x.com/DavidGan1818)
Inception Capital: https://www.inception.capital/ (https://www.inception.capital/)
Brooke Pollack on X: https://x.com/bhpollack (https://x.com/bhpollack)
Brooke Pollack on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brookepollack/ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/brookepollack/)
Hutt Capital: https://www.huttcapital.com/ (https://www.huttcapital.com/)
19 Nov 2025
Jim Parillo (Figment Capital)
In this episode of Inside the Hutt, Brooke Pollack interviews Jim Parillo, Managing Partner of Figment Capital. Jim shares his unconventional journey from CPA and tax advisor at KPMG to leading an early-stage crypto venture fund. They explore the evolution of Figment Capital from its infrastructure-focused roots to its current emphasis on application-layer investments. The discussion covers Jim's investment philosophy, thoughts on emerging infrastructure trends, navigating ecosystem bets, and his views on overrated and underappreciated areas in crypto today. Jim also highlights portfolio companies he's excited about and reflects on lessons learned building the firm.
Key Points From This Episode:
Jim Parillo’s background, starting in tax at KPMG before transitioning to Figment Capital.
The origins and evolution of Figment Capital from a validator-aligned fund to an independent early-stage VC.
Strategic shift from infrastructure to earlier-stage application-layer investments in fund two.
The team’s approach to investing primarily at the pre-seed and seed stages.
Insights into portfolio construction and avoiding mandate creep by focusing on private, early-stage deals.
How Figment Capital assesses ecosystem risk when backing applications on emerging L1s and L2s.
Discussion on valuation dynamics and deal flow advantages in emerging blockchain ecosystems.
Reframing what "infrastructure" means today, with focus on middleware and liquidity-enabling tools.
Examples of innovative infrastructure bets like Predicate and liquidity tools for prediction markets.
Views on overhyped trends (e.g. hyper-gambling) vs. underappreciated ones (e.g. long-term wealth creation).
Reflections on the effects of degeneracy culture and short-termism in crypto investing.
Key lessons for emerging managers: team importance, process discipline, and avoiding idea-over-team bias.
Portfolio highlights including Monad, MegaETH, Fact Machine, Euphoria, Legend Trade, Fastlane, Pair Protocol, and Asula.
Links
Jim Parillo on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamesparillo/ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamesparillo/)
Figment Capital: https://www.figmentcapital.io/ (https://www.figmentcapital.io/)
Figment Capital on X: https://x.com/FigmentCapital (https://x.com/FigmentCapital)
Brooke Pollack on X: https://x.com/bhpollack (https://x.com/bhpollack)
Brooke Pollack on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brookepollack/ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/brookepollack/)
Hutt Capital: https://www.huttcapital.com/ (https://www.huttcapital.com/)
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Brooke Pollack host the show. Published by Hutt Capital.
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