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Robert Leshner

Founder, Compound & Robot Ventures

Robot Ventures
Pre-seedSeedSeries ADeFiLendingInfrastructureReal World Assets

Investment Thesis

Founder-investor perspective at Robot Ventures. Deep expertise in DeFi, having built one of the most important DeFi protocols (Compound). Backs founders building foundational DeFi infrastructure.

What Excites Them

DeFi infrastructure, lending and borrowing innovation, interest rate mechanisms, institutional DeFi adoption, real-world asset tokenization.

What They Pass On

No data yet

How to Pitch

Robert built Compound — he knows DeFi deeply. Skip the high-level pitch and go deep on protocol mechanics. Show you've thought through edge cases, liquidation scenarios, and oracle dependencies. He values pragmatic engineering over theoretical elegance.

Notable Writing

The Future of DeFi Lendingblog

DeFi lending will absorb most of traditional lending within a decade.

Algorithmic interest rates enable trustless lending at scale.

Podcast Appearances

Building CompoundBankless
CompoundDeFilending

Key Quotes

DeFi will eat traditional finance, one protocol at a time.

Interview

DeFi lending is still in its dial-up era. We have barely scratched the surface of what's possible.

Interview

Background

Founder of Compound Finance, one of the pioneering DeFi lending protocols. Co-founded Robot Ventures with Tarun Chitra. Previously an economist. Built Compound into a multi-billion dollar protocol that defined the DeFi lending category.

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