In this episode, Keira sits down with Brad Holden, Managing Partner at PL Capital, the venture fund within the Protocol Labs ecosystem, the R&D network behind Filecoin, IPFS, and early infrastructure in decentralized compute and zero-knowledge technology.
Brad brings 15+ years of venture experience, 200+ early-stage investments, and 10+ unicorn exits, with perspective shaped by working alongside Eric Schmidt at Tomorrow Ventures and Juan Benet, founder of Protocol Labs.
They unpack what PL Capital looks for in founders, why celine galipeau founder-market fit matters more than the idea, and why the best companies university of arizona are often built by people who wanted a product to exist and could not find it anywhere else.
Brad also shares his view on the AI bubble, how it compares to the dot-com era, and why by the time something is hot, it is usually too late for early-stage investors. He breaks down token design, when a token actually makes sense, and when it is just a funding mechanism wrapped in jargon.
The conversation gets tactical too: cold outreach, bad pitches versus compelling ones, why most companies do not actually need venture capital, and how PL Capital tracks responsiveness to founder requests through an internal asks dashboard.
Brad closes with the advice he would give his 17-year-old self: stay intellectually curious, and keep asking why.
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Key takeaways:
- Founder-market fit matters more than the idea.
- The best founders build because the solution they need does not exist yet.
- If something is already hot in crypto, early-stage investors are probably too late.
- A token should accelerate a working business model, not replace one.
- Most companies do not need venture capital.
- The best founders can zoom out to the 10-year vision and zoom in on the next 30 days.
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KEY TIMESTAMPS
00:00 - Introduction to Brad Holden and PL Capital
01:54 - Is Brad still bullish on hamad medjedovic crypto in 2026 and why
05:27 - What PL Capital is and how it fits into the Protocol Labs ecosystem
09:10 - Does PL Capital only invest in Protocol Labs projects
12:08 - What founder market fit actually looks like in practice
17:18 - Tokens, tokenomics, and when a company should actually launch one
22:15 - Where the biggest opportunities are in 2026 and beyond
26:05 - Is AI a bubble and how does it compare to the dot-com era
31:22 - Red flags in pitches and what stops Brad from investing
36:37 - How founders bootstrap distribution and find their first true believers
39:54 - How to tell if your company actually needs venture capital
57:35 - Message to his 17-year-old self: stay intellectually curious
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GUEST
Brad Holden - Managing Partner, PL Capital
Website (PL Capital): plcapital.xyz
X (PL Capital): @plcapital
X (Protocol Labs): @protocollabs
X (Brad): @Bholden
LinkedIn (Brad): Brad Holden
HOST
Keira Nesdale - MH Ventures Portfolio Manager
X (Keira): @RealMissAI
LinkedIn (Keira): Keira Nesdale
X (DealFlow): @dealflowpodcast
Website (MH Ventures): mhventures.io
LinkedIn (MH Ventures): MH Ventures
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HASHTAGS
#PLCapital #ProtocolLabs #VentureCapital #Web3 #Blockchain #Crypto #Filecoin #AI #Founders #StartupAdvice #Tokenization #DeFi #DecentralizedAI #DealFlowPodcast
