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Balaji Srinivasan
Formerly CTO at Coinbase, GP a16z. Cofounder of Earn, Counsyl, Teleport, Coin Center. Angel Investor.
Balaji S. Srinivasan is a prominent figure in the technology and cryptocurrency sectors, known for his entrepreneurial ventures, investments, and thought leadership. Here's an overview of his background and accomplishments:
Professional Experience
Balaji Srinivasan has held several high-profile positions throughout his career:
- CTO of Coinbase (2018-2019): He served as the Chief Technology Officer at one of the leading cryptocurrency exchanges.14
- General Partner at Andreessen Horowitz (2013-2015): He was a venture capitalist at this prestigious firm.5
- Board Partner at Andreessen Horowitz (2015-2018).5
- CEO and Co-founder of Earn.com (2017-2018): This company was later acquired by Coinbase.12
Entrepreneurial Ventures
Srinivasan has co-founded several successful companies:
- Counsyl (acquired by Myriad): He served as co-founder and CTO from 2008 to 2012.125
- Teleport (acquired by Topia).124
- Coin Center: He is a co-founder and board member of this non-profit research and advocacy center focused on cryptocurrency policy.136
Education
Srinivasan holds multiple degrees from Stanford University:
- Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering (2002-2006)
- M.S. in Chemical Engineering (2002-2003)
- M.S. in Electrical Engineering (2000-2001)
- B.S. (1997-2000)125
Current Work and Investments
Currently, Balaji Srinivasan is:
- An angel investor in numerous successful tech companies and crypto protocols.24
- Building The Network School at ns.com.4
- The author of the Wall Street Journal bestselling book "The Network State".24
Academic Contributions
Srinivasan has also contributed to academia:
- Lecturer in the Departments of Statistics and Computer Science at Stanford University (2006-2018).5
Balaji Srinivasan is widely recognized for his expertise in technology, cryptocurrency, and entrepreneurship, making him a influential figure in these fields.
Highlights
THE SUBSCRIPTION STATE
Brian and Toly are correct about how complex the tax code is. But I propose an even more radical-yet-proven simplification: the subscription state.
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Begin with the observation that large tech companies like Google, Dropbox, and Netflix collect billions of dollars from millions of people around the world without pointing a gun at anyone.
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If you don’t pay your SaaS bill, these cloud services simply shut you off. You can’t log in till you pay. They issue a few warnings, then flip a switch. And this nonviolent mechanic for global “tax” collection nevertheless allows the largest tech companies to pull in more revenue than most countries[a].
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That means subscription can scale like taxation. Extended to communities, it’s the new SaaS: society as a service. You would pay to maintain your digital passport, which is the next step after digital currency.
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And what does a digital passport do? Much like a login to a cloud service, it would gate access to a country’s land services — like the ability to drive a car, open a bank account, or cross the border. If your account isn’t in good standing, your ability to access land services is gradually tapered.
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Just like cloud services gradually increase the severity of warnings to people who haven’t paid before shutting them off, there are many ways a state can gradually and nonviolently taper the services offered to nonpaying passport holders. It’s hard to imagine it being less humane than the current system, which is implicitly quite violent.
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Moreover, digital passports already exist in some form from Estonia to India. We just need to think of them as “logins” to the physical world. And connect them to existing logins, private keys, proof-of-human, and hardware wallets.
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Finally, the amazing part about the subscription state is that it’s not even a flat tax, it’s a flat fee. If you think about it, these super profitable tech companies mostly don’t care how much you make. They just charge a monthly fee for a useful service.
And a subscription state could do the same.
