About me.
What am I currently doing?
I am currently the CEO of Waymont.
My background
Here's a brief overview of the last ten years or so.
It all started with Minecraft. In the 4th grade, my friends and I were obsessed with Minecraft. I learned that if you could code, you could add your own functionality to the game. I spent that summer learning everything I could to publish a Minecraft mod that would get thousands of downloads. This was the start of my development journey.
I then used those development skills in the 5th and 6th grades to begin developing iOS applications. I started making apps and games like this and this.
In the 7th grade, I learned that you could make money by making apps for others. I started Freelancing, using my development skills to make money. I created some cool websites like this. I even got to work for Oreo, yes the cookie company.
Once I had some development skills, in the 8th grade I got a cool gig working for Sean Parker's newest company: Screening Room, on the mobile app.
In the 9th grade, I discovered digital assets. I was convinced it was the future. Older people asked me for my investment advice, which was very nerve-wracking. I created an easy way to interact with the new generation of finance called Ambo, a way to invest in digital assets easily.
Throughout the 10th grade, I continued to work on Ambo as the CEO, growing the company and our user base. I brought in a team of my best friends to come and help me run it.
In the 11th grade, we sold Ambo to a company called MyCrypto.
Throughout the remainder of 11th and 12th grade, I worked at MyCrypto as the VP of Strategy, leading our ventures into DeFi for a year. I also briefly consulted with Dormzi, perfecting strategies for onboarding Gen-Z users.
As I began college (at Iovine and Young Academy), I decided to pursue a dream of mine: creating a financial protocol. I started Rari Capital, the most efficient way to deploy idle capital and autonomously achieve the highest returns. Rari Capital grew to $95M inside, which was super cool for my freshman year. As written here, we decided to forward 50% of all profits to charity which enabled us to actually make a positive change in this world, during a time of utter chaos (2020: covid, economy wrecked, etc). Then I came up with the idea for Fuse, enabling anyone anywhere to borrow and lend assets.
In sophomore year, we built and grew Fuse within Rari Capital and grew it to more than $1.5B inside. Then, I helped steer Rari into the first-ever billion-dollar merger with the Fei Protocol. At this point, I stepped back to consider what I want to do.
My investments
Over time I've had the opportunity to invest in many really cool projects. Some of my private investments include Layer3, Fion, Morpho, Goldsky, Matrix, Friktion, Llama, OlympusDAO, zkSync, Sense Finance, Kinetic, Pixl, Argus Labs, Antimetal, Presto Labs. Additionally, I hold a variety of cryptos (ETH, OHM, and LINK to name a few). I am no longer investing. I am focused on building. Apologies.
Associated links
January 5, 2022: I participate in discussion with Bankless to discuss the biggest protocol merge ever.
December 21, 2021: Coindesk writes about the Rari <> Tribe merge passing as the first DAO merge
November 23, 2021: Yahoo News writes about the proposed Tribe <> Rari merge
October 13, 2021: I join Bankless to discuss The Rise of Rari Capital
July 26, 2021: I join Yunt Capital to discuss The Future of Rari Capital
July 21, 2021: I talk to Money.com about Gen Z and how to think about finance
March 2, 2021: DailyTrojan publishes IYA freshman co-creates cryptocurrency company
November 26, 2020: Launching the autonomous philanthropy machine within Rari Capital
August 3, 2020: Forbes writes about Rari Capital and how we work (as teens in a crazy industry)
July 14, 2020: Launching Rari Capital (DeFi Rate, The Defiant, CoinTelegraph, The Block)
June 9, 2020: The announcement of Rari Capital (Finance Magnates, FinTech Direct, 3News)
January 24, 2019: The sale of my company, Ambo (ETHNews, Bizjournal, Coinjournal, Finance Magnates, Breaking news headline, BTC News Hub)
November 26, 2018: The introduction of Ambo to the world
May 12, 2017: Attending Apple's Worldwide Developer's Conference as a Student Scholar
June 22, 2015: Podcast discovering game development
May 31, 2015: Discussing my coding abilities