Founders' Journey - Episode 115
Policy, Protocols, and the Power of Memes
From parliament corridors to protocol trenches, we’ve been testing how emerging tech rewires the flow of money, ideas, and – crucially – understanding. Inside you’ll find:
how agentic AI can speed up government tenders without elbowing humans out of the loop;
why tokenisation is shifting from buzzword to back‑office muscle;
fresh insights from regulators‑turned‑rebels on our podcast mic;
and a reminder that the right meme can teach complex technology faster than any textbook.
Read on for the stories, the lessons, and the quiet infrastructure wins that are edging us all a little closer to a smarter economy.
Reminder, you can read all of this interactively on my website: https://mark-monfort.netlify.app/newsletter/founders-journey-115
When Policy Meets Protocols
Had an energising conversation with someone who knows government from the inside — now diving into emerging tech. We explored how agentic AI workflows could be used to rewire tender processes, council planning approvals, and even national infrastructure funding.
TL;DR: AI isn’t replacing government — it’s helping humans stay in the loop better.
We also swapped views on how blockchain can restructure capital flows — especially in sectors where bureaucracy has buried velocity. Tokenisation isn’t about Web3 hype anymore — it’s about reclaiming time and trust in public systems.
Tokenisation Isn’t a Buzzword — It’s a Workflow
We showcased some things we’re working on with partners including invoice factoring and receivables on-chain, powered by actual clients. We’re building systems where:
Receivables get tokenised
Smart contracts trigger funder workflows
Capital flows traceably and transparently
All while linking to the bond market infrastructure beneath
This is not another blockchain tech test for the sake of it. This is live infrastructure work — think swimlanes, smart contracts, and real dollars moving with fewer delays and no 2-day reconciliation lag.
Podcast Mic On: Truth Mode Activated
We hosted an incredible guest who’s seen both sides of the financial regulation fence — now championing smart, ethical innovation in the blockchain space. Her new book? A wake-up call wrapped in insight.
The conversation hit hard on what happens when tech outpaces governance — and what to do about it.
You can check out this new podcast series sponsored by Fableration below where we spoke with Lisa Wade, David Birch and Victoria Richardson in episode 1
And Sarah Kaur in Episode 2
Better yet, you get to interact with all this on the new Australian DeFi Association website
Make sure to subscribe and stay tuned for more like this next week.
Memes move minds—use them wisely.
We spent the week watching how even the most technical conversations light up once you drop a well‑crafted meme or an anime‑inspired visual. Studio Ghibli is the classic case‑study: a niche animation house that conquered the globe not through feature lists but through emotionally sticky stories. (Yes, the brand isn’t spotless—yet the imagery still travels faster than any white‑paper.)
Take‑aways for anyone explaining complex tech—whether that’s RWAs, zero‑knowledge proofs, or yield mechanics:
Culture is a distribution layer. Facts alone rarely trend; a single resonant image can escort your idea into boardrooms and Discord channels overnight.
Ethics still matter. Borrow pop‑culture aesthetics, but pair them with transparent sourcing and clear educational intent. All style, no substance is a short‑lived hack.
Gamify comprehension. When the community caption, remix, or meme your explainer graphic, they’re teaching one another—saving you hours of slide‑by‑slide hand‑holding.
Narrative beats novelty. Fancy tech lingo gains staying power when wrapped in a story arc people already love.
Action prompt: Before your next deck or demo, storyboard the feeling you want the audience to remember, then let visuals and micro‑memes carry the jargon. If Ghibli can make a forest spirit iconic, you can make on‑chain risk controls unforgettable.
AI Journeys and Community Discovery
Been working on something I’ll hopefully release soon around learning and engagement with AI. Think Profile-based onboarding, Learning journeys tailored to user types, Community features built for signal, not noise and more.
We’re building beyond the LMS. This is AI-powered upskilling for those who don’t want to scroll — they want to build.
📘 Lesson of the Week
“Infrastructure Wins — but Only When It’s Understood.”
This week reinforced a simple but powerful truth:
It’s not just what you build. It’s how you communicate it.
We’re deep in the world of blockchain, AI, and emerging tech — and yes, we care about the architecture. We care about trust layers, token mechanics, finality, and fault tolerance. We should care.
But outside our circle? Most people don’t.
They don’t care that your system is ZK-compliant, composable, or battle-tested. They care that it works. That it saves time. That it’s safer. That it doesn’t crash when they need it most.
So the lesson is this: We need to get better at translation. Not by dumbing things down, but by telling stories that connect.
→ Turning “default fund smart contracts” into comfort and control.
→ Turning “agentic workflows” into less admin for councils and SMEs.
→ Turning “block finality” into real-world settlement you can rely on.
The tech matters. But the way we explain it? That’s what earns adoption.
Final Thought:
Forget being the loudest in the room. Be the one who quietly builds the rails everyone else ends up needing.
This week proved again that better infrastructure wins — whether it's for capital, content, or culture.