# Juan Benet I Building Web3 Startups | Protocol Labs I Pragma Tokyo 2023

- Speakers: [Juan Benet](https://streameth.org/speakers/juan-benet)
- Channel: [ETHGlobal](https://streameth.org/ethglobal)
- Date: 2023-10-09
- Duration: 1:04:03
- Topics: Juan Benet, Protocol Labs, Filecoin, IPFS, libp2p, building web3 startups, decentralized storage, interplanetary file system, Proof of Replication, crypto infrastructure, hackathons, SAFT, CoinList, zero knowledge, public goods, hypercerts, decentralized compute, crypto databases, DePIN, web3 Japan, crypto games, DAOs, interplanetary consensus, startup advice, product market fit, minimum viable product, web3 fundraising, crypto founders, Pragma Tokyo, ETHGlobal
- Watch: https://streameth.org/watch/yt-jkIqVf0jZEA
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jkIqVf0jZEA

## Description

Join Juan Benet, founder of Protocol Labs and the visionary behind Filecoin and IPFS, in this fireside chat at Pragma Tokyo as he shares lessons from building foundational web3 infrastructure and startups. Juan dives deep into the origins of IPFS and Filecoin, explains why decentralized storage matters, and how protocol-level innovation reshaped the crypto ecosystem.

He discusses the challenges of early crypto fundraising, inventing Proof of Replication, and launching core tools like libp2p, Drand, and CoinList. More than a retrospective, Juan lays out a roadmap for aspiring web3 founders—highlighting current opportunities in public goods, decentralized compute, crypto-native databases, zero-knowledge infrastructure, games, DAOs, and interplanetary consensus. If you’re thinking about starting a crypto project or building the next generation of web3 companies, this talk is filled with insights you can’t afford to miss.

00:00 Intro to Juan Benet & Protocol Labs
01:24 Early crypto interest and lost Bitcoin
02:32 From peer-to-peer research to IPFS
04:04 Why Filecoin was a separate protocol
05:37 IPFS vs Filecoin use cases explained
06:38 Early crypto scene and Ethereum origins
07:40 Why Filecoin built its own chain
08:39 Protocol Labs’ protocol innovations
10:16 Invention of Proof of Replication
11:48 Building Filecoin's storage market
12:49 Inventing the SAFT and launching CoinList
13:51 Are we still early in web3?
14:58 Comparing web3 to the early internet
16:26 Infrastructure and UX still need work
17:55 Web3’s next major applications
18:51 Key opportunities: games, social, compute
20:20 The case for on-chain Twitter scale
21:25 DePIN and wireless network opportunities
22:28 Need for crypto-native databases
24:06 Scalability without compromising decentralization
25:37 Interplanetary consensus vision
26:10 Web3 startup opportunities in Japan
27:17 Japan’s strengths in games and DeFi
28:46 Frameworks for early-stage founders
30:10 The idea funnel and finding “secrets”
31:38 Role of hackathons and project evolution
33:00 What is a true MVP in web3
34:31 Start small, test, and iterate fast
36:49 Defining product-market fit in crypto
38:08 Why “make something people want” still wins
39:42 Picking new primitives vs proven models
41:03 Optimize for speed and traction
42:34 New capital structures for public goods
43:55 Building with public capital and legitimacy
45:20 Startup tools: hackathons, grants, accelerators
46:42 Programs to bootstrap web3 startups
48:36 Question: Hosting the Internet Archive on IPFS
51:42 AWS, S3, and the cost advantage of Filecoin
52:36 Question: The future of hypercerts
54:35 Creating impact markets with hypercerts
56:04 Question: New public capital infrastructure
58:31 Aligning incentives to grow good public goods
59:02 Question: Human augmentation via computing
01:01:07 Brain-machine interfaces & coordination tools
01:02:40 Twitter as a coordination primitive
01:03:34 Closing remarks and invitation to connect

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🇯🇵 *Pragma Tokyo*
It’s always been about hackathons. Until now! Kicking off in Tokyo we announced the latest edition to the ETHGlobal family last week. Pragma will be one day summit, focusing on high quality talks in an intimate atmosphere that fuels reimagining the world and networking with like-minded individuals. Watch the full Pragma Tokyo 2023 playlist here: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXzKMXK2aHh72VNBeeMzsvxnDdJH-vPhZ&si=z7enlsk30_DUjIoL

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✅ *Follow Juan Benet*
X: https://x.com/juanbenet

✅ *Follow Protocol Labs*
X: https://x.com/protocollabs

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X: https://x.com/ETHGlobal​
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Website: https://ethglobal.com
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