Katalyzers Spotlight: Dan Park (Hashed)

Dan Park is an OG member of the Kaito Katalyzers community. This series highlights our top power-users, showcasing their diverse backgrounds and how they utilize Kaito.

Note that this interview reflects the thoughts and experiences of our guests, and nothing here should be taken as financial advice.

Can you tell us a little bit about your role and responsibilities at Hashed?

My name is Dan Park, and I work as a Research Associate at Hashed. I'm part of the investment team, but I prioritize research more than other teammates. I joined the Hashed team full-time just before KBW 2023 and TOKEN2049 Singapore last year after graduating from college, having worked as a Research Analyst in a same company for a little over a year since 2022. Upon joining, I followed our Founding Partner Ryan, who relocated to Singapore. And in my time here in Singapore, I’ve been working closely with him to expand our network and shift our focus from Korea to the broader Asian market.

My role at Hashed can be broken down into three main areas:

1) New investments: This includes deal sourcing and due diligence for primary investments, as well as due diligence for some secondary and OTC investments.

2) Portfolio management: We are a hands-on VC firm that spends significant time working closely with the founders we invest in, even after their token launches. Our goal is not just to provide seed funding but also to support companies in various ways throughout their growth.

3) Research: I focus on both in-house qualitative research projects and data-driven research. Since joining as a Research Analyst, I have been dedicated to developing insights that inform our investment strategy and decision-making.

How did you come across Kaito and what drew you to the product?

When I first joined Hashed in 2022, I was using various analytics and research tools — Nansen, Artemis, Messari, etc. Individually, they were all great tools that I used daily, but I sometimes found it kind of frustrating to use them separately since I couldn't complete my entire workflow on a single platform or service. Then, late last year, I came across Kaito, and it's been a game-changer ever since.

There are three main reasons why I continue to use analytics and research tools, and Kaito meets all of them. First, I use these tools for industry-level research and to gain general insights and intuition from different media sources. Second, I use them to make my processes more efficient for portfolio management. For example, we use Kaito to understand which keywords in our current portfolio are gaining traction publicly, to evaluate the success of campaigns, and for projects that have already launched their tokens, to identify events that have influenced recent price movements. The third aspect has been the most challenging so far: identifying potential deal opportunities from early social signals.

I've used several tools for this purpose in the past, but I haven't found one that fulfills all three aspects well, particularly the last one — enabling deal discovery. For me, Kaito was the first tool that seemed to address all of these needs comprehensively. I didn't want to pay a ton for multiple tools and get only partial functionality, so Kaito's ability to provide these three core capabilities was very appealing to me and also other teammates.

Can you walk us through your typical process for using Kaito for deal sourcing?

My workflow usually starts with the Smart Following tool. I customize my X feed based on my interests, and every Monday (or every other week, depending on market conditions), I set aside a couple of hours to review new accounts and narratives that have emerged over the past week through ‘my smart following’ of Smart Following in Kaito.

Then I identify 3~5 accounts that seem particularly interesting and then use Kaito's other features (such as MetaSearch, Audio Library, etc.) to dig deeper into the narratives associated with those accounts. I also cross-reference my Smart Following and narrative tracking to see which topics and sectors are emerging. This helps me develop an informed investment thesis for a particular sector.

Next, I reach out to the teams I’m interested in by sending them a direct message or setting up a call. The whole process is very iterative, and I constantly refine my X following and ‘My Circles’ as well, and outreach based on what I observe in the market. I actually have deals that have been closed this way.

How do you approach due diligence for potential investments?

My due diligence process is much more focused on the founders and teams who are trying to capitalize on market dynamics and narrative shifts to create larger business opportunities than on the shifts themselves. There are three key things I look for:

1) Founder's integrity: How authentic and consistent are the founder's words and actions?

2) Communication capabilities: How effectively are they communicating their story and narrative to potential customers, partners, and the public?

3) Speed of execution: How fast does the team move and iterate regardless of market conditions?

I rely more on gut instinct and reference checks than on strict quantitative metrics, which are very limited for early stage investments. I also try not to make overly aggressive assumptions because markets are inherently very volatile. Instead, I focus on finding founders who have the right mindset and execution to weather various market cycles, and looking to be in the same boat with them for the long haul.

Do you see any emerging narratives or trends in the crypto space that you're particularly excited about?

One of the areas I'm really interested in is the tokenization of real-world assets. I think this is where crypto can have the most fundamental impact by enabling the pricing and trading of assets that were previously illiquid or untradable in a more transparent and decentralized way. In simple terms, it's about putting a price tag. If you think about the evolution of IT, where all the value has come from the irreversibility of innovation in an industry or a particular company, I don't think there's anything that can bring more value than discovering a price of a particular asset on-chain.

Projects like Story Protocol, which is working on IP provenance and monetization, or a company I recently invested in that is enabling on-chain funding of traditional computing providers (which I can't name yet) are examples of this trend. Even if the specific investment logic doesn't materialize right away, I think the overall direction of bringing more “real world” assets to the blockchain is very promising.

How do you differentiate yourself compared to other VCs in the space?

I think the biggest thing that differentiates me from my VC peers is my background and perspective. I studied architecture, which gave me an interest in different histories, cultures, philosophies, etc. And my initial approach to crypto was also through the lens of emerging governance like DAOs and topics like cross-border payments, which I understood from the perspective of the movement of money (which I thought needed to change in a globalized world). As someone with a traditional investor mindset, rather than someone who is completely degen, I tend to approach the market with a slightly different perspective.

For example, I spend a lot of time tracking developments in the Web2 space and trying to understand how these trends and business model innovations can be applied to Web3. I've been particularly skeptical of some of the hype surrounding crypto-native AI and social media projects, as I've found that many of them simply don't compare to the conveniences offered by Web2 solutions by today's standards. Of course, in the very long run, we'd all be better off if AI was developed in a more decentralized environment and social graphs were created in a much more transparent environment, but I've come to believe that these are models that can be applied once a larger population resonates with blockchain in a different way and uses crypto in a daily manner.

At the same time, I'm very focused on the tokenization of real-world assets as a major opportunity area for crypto right now. As I mentioned earlier, I think this is where the technology can have the most fundamental impact in the first stages of adoption by enabling assets that were previously illiquid or untradable to be priced and traded in a more transparent and decentralized way, just as it has been doing so far, including with iconic examples like stablecoins.

As such, I believe I have a comparative advantage in combining a traditional venture capital mindset with a deep understanding of the crypto space. I try not to get caught up in the latest hype cycle and buzzwords, and instead focus on identifying the underlying trends and business model innovations that will have lasting power.

Moving back to the question regarding Kaito. What's your favorite feature or aspect of using Kaito in your workflow?

It's hard to pick just one favorite feature because I find it most useful when I can combine different features. For example, when I do my quarterly portfolio check-in, I start with a meta search to get a high-level overview, then dive into the TLDR summary to quickly identify key updates. I use advanced features to analyze market sentiment and partnerships, and I cross-reference mindshare to understand how my portfolio companies fit into broader industry trends.

But if I had to pick one feature that's been particularly useful, it would be the TLDR summaries of conferences and industry events. It is pretty much obvious that I can't attend every relevant event, but TLDRs allow me to quickly grasp the key highlights and messages from founders and project leaders. It's a huge time saver and helps me stay on top of what's happening in the market. Hence one last thing I can quote about Kaito is “making the impossible possible”.

Anything else you'd like to add before we wrap up?

The last thing I'd like to emphasize is what I learned recently: the importance of time management as a VC. I've found that how I allocate your time is often more important than the specific investment decisions I make. It's easy to get caught up in market volatility and short-term price movements, but it's really important to focus on fundamentals, especially founder quality, for the long term. This is what I'm focusing on doing best right now.

Kaito has helped me optimize workflow (and our team as well) and stay on top of the ever-changing crypto landscape without getting swayed by hype or speculation. The platform's ability to aggregate information and maintain efficiency plays a huge role in how I approach this fast-paced space.