Venture Studio

We build companies
from zero to one.

021 Ventures is a team of tech entrepreneurs and investors building next-generation infrastructure with AI and blockchain.

Our Network

Vayner/RSEEarly Stage VC Fund·LeadBlock PartnersSpecialized Blockchain VC Fund·TenOneTenNCSoft Investment Arm·EveryrealmLeading Metaverse IP Holder·Vayner/RSEEarly Stage VC Fund·LeadBlock PartnersSpecialized Blockchain VC Fund·TenOneTenNCSoft Investment Arm·EveryrealmLeading Metaverse IP Holder·Vayner/RSEEarly Stage VC Fund·LeadBlock PartnersSpecialized Blockchain VC Fund·TenOneTenNCSoft Investment Arm·EveryrealmLeading Metaverse IP Holder·Vayner/RSEEarly Stage VC Fund·LeadBlock PartnersSpecialized Blockchain VC Fund·TenOneTenNCSoft Investment Arm·EveryrealmLeading Metaverse IP Holder·
TJ KawamuraCo-Founder of Compound (acq. by Republic)·John KimEx-CEO of Expedia Group & CPO of PayPal·Eytan ElbazCo-Founder of Scopely & Applied Semantics (acq. by Google)·Gary VaynerchukCo-Founder of VaynerMedia & Resy (acq. by AmEx)·Raad MobremCo-Founder of Intro/Lettuce (acq. by Intuit)·Assaf GueryCo-Founder of Varo Money ($1B+ raised)·Chris ChaneyFounder of Infinite E-Sports (largest e-sports acquisition)·Peter ElkinEx-CFO of Auction.com·TJ KawamuraCo-Founder of Compound (acq. by Republic)·John KimEx-CEO of Expedia Group & CPO of PayPal·Eytan ElbazCo-Founder of Scopely & Applied Semantics (acq. by Google)·Gary VaynerchukCo-Founder of VaynerMedia & Resy (acq. by AmEx)·Raad MobremCo-Founder of Intro/Lettuce (acq. by Intuit)·Assaf GueryCo-Founder of Varo Money ($1B+ raised)·Chris ChaneyFounder of Infinite E-Sports (largest e-sports acquisition)·Peter ElkinEx-CFO of Auction.com·TJ KawamuraCo-Founder of Compound (acq. by Republic)·John KimEx-CEO of Expedia Group & CPO of PayPal·Eytan ElbazCo-Founder of Scopely & Applied Semantics (acq. by Google)·Gary VaynerchukCo-Founder of VaynerMedia & Resy (acq. by AmEx)·Raad MobremCo-Founder of Intro/Lettuce (acq. by Intuit)·Assaf GueryCo-Founder of Varo Money ($1B+ raised)·Chris ChaneyFounder of Infinite E-Sports (largest e-sports acquisition)·Peter ElkinEx-CFO of Auction.com·TJ KawamuraCo-Founder of Compound (acq. by Republic)·John KimEx-CEO of Expedia Group & CPO of PayPal·Eytan ElbazCo-Founder of Scopely & Applied Semantics (acq. by Google)·Gary VaynerchukCo-Founder of VaynerMedia & Resy (acq. by AmEx)·Raad MobremCo-Founder of Intro/Lettuce (acq. by Intuit)·Assaf GueryCo-Founder of Varo Money ($1B+ raised)·Chris ChaneyFounder of Infinite E-Sports (largest e-sports acquisition)·Peter ElkinEx-CFO of Auction.com·

The Problem

Zero-to-one is where companies are most vulnerable.

11%

of seed-funded startups make it from zero to one to reach Series A. The rest fail from mis-building products, mis-timing markets, mis-pricing offerings, and mis-sequencing fundraising.

Mis-built products

Building the wrong thing for the wrong user at the wrong time.

Mis-timed markets

Too early or too late. Conviction without evidence.

Mis-priced offerings

No pricing power, no unit economics, no path to revenue.

Mis-sequenced fundraising

Raising too much too early, or too little too late.

021 exists to compress the timeline from conviction to evidence-based, investor-backable ventures.

How We Build

Two paths to zero-to-one.

021 Labs

Founder-Led Ventures

  • We originate the vision, fund internally, and bootstrap from 0→1
  • Once market-ready, we raise external capital and bring on key team members
  • We stay as strategic support through the growth journey
021 Co-Labs

Partner-Led Ventures

  • We partner with entrepreneurs, enterprises, protocols, or AI platforms
  • 021 builds the tech to bring our partner’s idea to life
  • We stay highly hands-on through 0→1, then remain as strategic partner

Portfolio

What we're building.

Companies leveraging AI and blockchain to modernize outdated industries.

AccordsAI logo
Labs

AccordsAI

The Permission Layer for Agentic Commerce

NamedSource logo
Labs

NamedSource

The Source of Truth in the Age of AI

RightsRails logo
Co-Lab

RightsRails

Collaborations Fast-Tracked

SystemIQ logo
Co-Lab

SystemIQ

Systemic Inefficiencies, Intelligent Solutions

Explore Portfolio

Methodology

The 0→1 journey.

A deliberate, repeatable process from idea to market-ready venture.

1

Make

0.0–0.3

2

Build

0.3–0.6

3

Learn

0.6–0.8

4

Fix

0.8–0.9

5

Grow

1.0+

Team

Built to build.

Each member plays a different, critical role in the 0→1 journey.

Max Curnin

Max

Investing · Vision · Fundraising

Eric Maimon

Eric

Sales · Distribution · Partnerships

Samuel Lester

Samuel

Technology · Product · Architecture

Jennifer Rosenthal

Jennifer

Strategy · Marketing · Communications

Meet the Team