The post Jesse Walden’s Journey: From Music to Web3 Ownership appeared on BitcoinEthereumNews.com.

Jesse Walden built Variant Fund to support Web3 startups focused on empowering users through ownership-based platforms. He transitioned from managing musicians to quietly shaping Web3 through investments and simple, relatable ownership ideals. When Jesse Walden first became a household name in the Web3 world, many would have guessed that he was more familiar with music than code or protocols. Early in his career, Walden managed artists like Solange Knowles and Blood Orange through his agency Cool Managers. He was not just a manager, but also a bridge between musicians and new technologies. At the time, his goal was simple: help artists gain more control over their work. Jesse Walden: From Music Manager to Web3 Investor But life can be funny. His interest in technology that could empower artists led him far from the music industry. He soon discovered that blockchain could be a much more powerful tool than just a means of distributing music. From there, Walden founded Mediachain Labs, a blockchain startup focused on tracking the ownership of digital media. Mediachain wasn’t just any project—Spotify was interested enough to acquire it in 2017. After joining, Walden led blockchain research and development there. But yeah, if you already have a vision for the future of the internet, working at a big company can sometimes feel limiting. On the other hand, the experience gave him insight into how centralized systems work from the inside. And interestingly, that’s where his belief in the importance of ownership in the digital ecosystem emerged. After leaving Spotify, he joined Andreessen Horowitz and helped launch the Crypto Startup School. This is where his career really took off in the crypto space. He mentored new startups, but also saw a big gap: not many investors really understood the potential of user ownership of digital platforms. Thus was…

---

Filed under: News - @ May 5, 2025 4:29 pm