Behind the Startup: Andrea Lerdo's Journey from JPMorgan to Blockchain Pioneer

Welcome to another exciting installment of our "Behind the Startup" series, where we delve deep into the stories, strategies, and visions that fuel some of the most innovative startups in the tech world. Today, we are thrilled to have Andrea Lerdo, the Executive Director of the Palm Foundation, joining us. Andrea's journey is a fascinating blend of finance, technology, and creative exploration, making her a pivotal figure in the evolving Web3 space.

With her extensive background in the financial industry, including a significant role in JPMorgan’s Blockchain initiative, and her passionate involvement in blockchain technology for societal betterment, Andrea is here to share her insights and strategic vision for Palm Network.

So, let's dive into the world of decentralized technology and understand how Palm Network is shaping the future of Web3!

Andrea Lerdo Unveils the Visionary Future of Palm Network in Web3

Ishan Pandey: Hi Andrea, It's great to have you here for our "Behind the Startup" series. Can you share with us about your background and what inspired you to found Palm Network? Can you outline your strategic vision for the continued growth and development of Palm Network in the Web3 space?

Andrea Lerdo: Hi Ishan, I'm Andrea Lerdo, Executive Director of the Palm Foundation. I'm excited to be here for the "Behind the Startup" series. With over 15 years in the financial industry, I've been instrumental in building new financial infrastructures and innovative products. My notable experience includes leading the digitalization of law and automating controls, and serving as part of JPMorgan’s Blockchain initiative, Onyx, as the Head of Business Architecture and Marketplace.

The inspiration for founding the Palm Foundation came from my passion for decentralization and how blockchain can give access to people shut out of the current system by design and to uplift historically marginalized creative communities in Web3 and this Web2 space. We are missing half of culture, all the people unbanked or off the grid. My vision is for web3 and dapps to act in the same way cellphones act for landlines.

Many parts of the world who could or didn’t need landlines, went directly to cell phones. In the same way the hope is for existing web users to transition to Web 3 and for new people onboarding today to skip web2 and move directly to web3 and decentralized applications. Thus, the mission of the Palm Foundation is to democratize art and technology, fostering creativity, and supporting artists from underrepresented backgrounds.

Our strategy at Palm Foundation focuses on amplifying the work of creators, fans, brands and developers within the Web3 ecosystem, and broadening the usage of the Palm Network through partnerships, grants, and scholarship programs. Education is a key pillar, with our Palm Academy providing Web3 education across various topics.

Looking ahead, the Palm Network is undergoing significant technological advancements. Initially using a Proof-of-Authority (PoA) mechanism, we transitioned to a Proof-of-Stake (PoS) chain in August 2023, enhancing our network's security and decentralization. The next big step in 2024 is transitioning to a Polygon ZK Supernet. This move will scale our network's capacity significantly, leveraging zero-knowledge proofs (zkEVMs) to improve scalability and privacy while maintaining Ethereum compatibility. This strategic shift aligns with our goal to make NFT-related activities more accessible and efficient, particularly in the realms of creators, sports, and entertainment.

So, our vision at the Palm Foundation is to create an inclusive, innovative environment where culture & creativity meets technology. We're passionate about the future and committed to making a significant impact in the Web3 space, continually adapting and growing to meet the evolving needs of our community.

Ishan Pandey: What initiatives are in place to support and attract diverse projects and platforms across various creative disciplines?

Andrea Lerdo: The Palm Foundation has developed:

The Palm Collective: comprehensive Governance as-a-service Toolkit: the Palm Collective, marking a significant advancement in the realm of decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs). The Palm Collective, built and supported by both Consensys, a leading blockchain and web3 software company and Polygon, a growth and development team in support of the Polygon network, empowers users to create, manage and govern their Palm Communities by leveraging blockchain technology. It ushers in a new era where creators have control over their outputs and communities, and brands can transform user experiences into community exercises, giving users or fans a voice.

Palm Foundation in partnership with Patio by ZsONAMACO: Palm Foundation, the non-profit nurturing projects developed on Palm Network, is offering a $45,000 grant to artists selected by Patio curatorial committee. The award will be shared among artists chosen to have installations exhibited at Patio by ZsONAMACO during the Art Baja California art fair.

Palm Foundation in partnership with LagosMX / Momentum: The partnership introduces an expanded initiative for 2024, inviting international artists and curators from around the world to participate in the Momentum-Lagos Artist Residency Program. This collaborative initiative lies in the 20 grants offered by the Palm Foundation, providing artists with up to $750 in 2024 to support their residencies in Berlin or Mexico City.

A distinctive feature of the Momentum-Lagos program is its integration of blockchain technology and Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs). To be eligible for a grant, artists are required to commit to creating 3-5 NFTs as part of their residency project. The Palm Foundation will provide technical assistance for NFT minting, ensuring that artists can navigate this innovative space with confidence.

Ishan Pandey: In what ways does PalmDAO empower individuals to shape their destiny through blockchain technology?

Andrea Lerdo: The Palm Collective Toolkit offers a suite of tools and modules designed to overcome the limitations of traditional DAOs. This enables Palm Communities to create their unique governance systems, influencing the broader Palm Collective ecosystem while maintaining independence and developing governance structures tailored to their own needs.

It also introduces the PalmID, a feature that lets users establish an identity on the Palm Collective protocol. This identity, backed by multiple verifiers, enhances the legitimacy of user participation and strengthens the integrity of the collective’s governance protocol. The protocol rewards users who chose to add verifiers, allowing the user to unlock more functionality.

Among other advantages introduced by the User’s Toolkit will be the ability for users to create and collect soulbound tokens called Proofs like badges for their contributions to the Palm Collective, Palm Communities and/or individual initiatives. These Proofs can serve as totems of recognition and membership to the Palm Collective and Palm Communities (SubDAOs) granting exclusive access, voting rights or privileges within an ecosystem.

In a significant departure from other web3 platforms, voting on the Palm Collective has little to no cost, removing barriers to participation and fostering a more inclusive environment. The platform is committed to evolving alongside the rapidly changing landscape of decentralized governance, ensuring a vibrant ecosystem of innovation. The Palm Collective incentivizes feedback from the community as new features are enabled with the aim of making the Palm Collective build and design a community driven effort.

Another cool feature is the unique contribution-weighted voting system, tied to the Proofs collected by the user. In order to unlock votes, users will require both Proofs and the native $PALM token, establishing a more democratic system than traditional DAO models which match one token to one vote systems.  Together, these features ensure an democratized and impactful decision-making process, giving users the chance to have their voices heard in the management of the Palm Collective and respective Palm Communities.

PolyArts Community:  an assembly of global artists representing a broad range of mediums of Polygon, invites all artists to participate in the bleeding-edge intersection of technology, art, and community. All artists are encouraged to join in celebrating a dedicated digital home for creators where value can be dictated by artists themselves.

• PolyArts Call for Artistic Creators Open February 15th to Feb 28rd, 2024: Collect the Poly Arts Membership Proof & Submit your art for the chance to win a $1000.00 dollar grant by the Palm Foundation.

  
  

Palm Academy Community: The Palm Academy Mission is to provide high-quality education that equips people with the skills and knowledge they need to thrive in the web3 era. At the Palm Academy we are all students and we are all teachers.

Ishan Pandey: Can you elaborate on Palm Foundation's plans to improve global access to Web3 education and training, and how do you intend to achieve this goal? Could you elaborate further on the factors influencing the decision to move from PoA to PoS and the current progress in migrating to a zkEVM?

Andrea Lerdo: The Palm Academy aims to move from “upload resume” to “connect wallet”. By Collecting Attendance of Course Completed Proofs, people can show the skills they have learnt by taking Palm Academy courses, giving the broader palm community visibility of such skills. Thus, it's the community that will determine if such skills match a role or need in the broader Palm ecosystem. Moving away from a centralized form of certification / education and into a community weighted recognition of our skills.

The Proofs collected by attending or completing Palm Academy courses will give the user the ability to unlock votes within the Palm Academy Community in order for the community to decide what courses and training they want to activate in the future.

If you have something to teach and want to share it with the community, please submit your Class Syllabus at https://academy.palmfdn.org/.

Ishan Pandey: What role do you see partnerships playing in the future success of Palm Foundation and PalmDAO?

Andrea Lerdo: Palm is on the road to radical decentralization which is why we migrated from a POA to a POS chain, now a fully decentralized chain on Polygon technology that allows anyone to become a validator on the network. In alliance with two of the largest technology partners in web3: Polygon and  ConsenSys. This allows for a network that is very fast and interoperable, robust with low waste, specifically designed for the needs and transactions of communities. We are democratizing the ability for creators to connect and gather their community directly through a deep investment in building low-code tools and platforms. As well as using those tools to educate people about the technology and uses of the Palm Network.

Palm is the home of global sports, entertainment, and creative IP because these partners trust our foundational technology and the teams who build on it. The scale of these partners delivers immediate value, reducing the risk of creating or building with our tools and transacting in the Palm ecosystem.

Ishan Pandey: How does Palm Network ensure compliance with existing and anticipated regulations related to blockchain and cryptocurrency?

Andrea Lerdo: Palm understands the difficult regulatory environment we are in, which is why we are planning for the most decentralized token launch ever. At launch the early contributors of the network will mint their token allocation directly from the Genesis contract, and the remainder token supply will go directly to the Palm Collective (DAO) treasury. Additional tokens will be claimable or airdropped to the community and validator reward reserves, instead of having the token allocated to the Foundation and then from the foundation to the Contributors.

Ishan Pandey: How does Palm Network contribute to the broader global impact of Web3, and what role does it play in shaping the next generation of the digital and creative landscape?

Andrea Lerdo: Palm is the low code no code chain that allows for the web2 or crypto-curious user to use blockchain solutions without a developer or coding background.

Ishan Pandey: What challenges do you foresee for Palm Network in the evolving Web3 space, and how do you plan to navigate these challenges?

Andrea Lerdo: Onboarding and adoption are the main challenges we face as an ecosystem, we hope that the creators, brands and fans who chose to build on Palm find in our network the home for them to explore web3 in a friendly, seamless and secure way.

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