The first step in the application process is to produce content that’s on par with the research that we publish on our blog. We don’t expect you to write a 12 page formal asset analysis. But the quality of your application should be at the same level of quality as what we produce.
You must present a hypothesis and substantiate it. Any subject within crypto is fine. You must be very specific. Very very very very very specific.
The more contrarian, the better.
Do not present a macro thesis such as “Bitcoin is going change the world for reasons X Y and Z” or “Why Smart Contracts Matter” or “Why Jamie Dimon is wrong about Bitcoin” or “How blockchains are going to reshape X” or or anything of that nature. Do not present just an overview of crypto or a particular asset. You must be very specific. You must take a non-consensus view and defend it.
There are a few ways you accomplish this. You could write something like Kyle’s piece “Smart Contract Network Effect Fallacy” or a formal asset valuation. You could call out some deep flaw or failed token mechanic in a high profile project AND explain the impact on valuation. You could highlight a trend that is failing or working across a number of projects that demonstrate your ability to differentiate signal from noise. We want to see deep analysis that demonstrates superb understanding of the space.
Here are some examples of bad or mediocre applications we’ve received:
How government X will adopt crypto
Regional differences in how crypto will be adopted
90 day price analysis of X
An overview of a novel consensus mechanism, e.g. SCP or PBFT
An overview of NEO vs GAS (a good application would use a 1st principles analysis to call out the logical fallacies that the NEO team has presented for having 2 interrelated tokens… sorry that topic is now off limits. You must be original)
Do not present any technical analysis. TA tells us you’re short term focused. We aim for 100x in every investment we make.
We’d recommend staying away from Bitcoin or Ethereum. Too hard to produce truly novel thoughts there.
Any length is fine. If you can blow us away in 50 words, great. Proving you write concisely is fantastic. Feel free to leverage any graphics or videos from around the web to make your case. Or make your own. Whatever’s necessary to get the point across clearly.
As a point of reference, Myles, our current research associate, wrote most of what became our formal Augur analysis **before** we made him an offer.
To actually apply, please find/figure out Kyle’s **Multicoin** email address (not personal) and just email your application there using the subject “RA applicant – [Your name].” Please just call him Kyle. Not Mr. Samani.
We do not look at applicants who click “I’m Interested” or “Apply” buttons on AngelList. We literally have a gmail filter for those.
Bonus points for candidates who are technical, and who speak other languages (especially Chinese, Korean, Japanese).
Prior to applying, you should read our entire blog.
Feel free to engage Kyle on Twitter as you’re thinking about / crafting your application. He responds to basically all non-trolls.
We’ve received over 500 applicants for this role. We’ve hired 1.
This application process should be arduous. It should take a lot of time. It should result in one of the best pieces of content you’ve ever written. You should be proud of your output.
We say all of this to scare away candidates. We get far too many applicants who spend 1-3 hours and produce mediocre applications. We are looking for exceptional.
Do not optimize for speed. Optimize for quality. If you’re concerned that we’re close to issuing an offer to someone else and don’t want to risk the time commitment, just ask Kyle via Twitter.
After you’ve submitted your application, expect Kyle to push back on every claim you make. That’s the point of the exercise.
This job description is probably one of the most negative on the Internet. This is intentional. But we’ll leave you with a positive note. If you do manage to get the role, we can promise you this: this will be the most intellectually stimulating job you’ve ever had.
Also, we don’t care about your resume. At all. Kyle graduated college against his will. Myles worked in a kitchen in Mexico for 2 years. We convinced Ryan to drop out of college to join Multicoin.
