MoneyNeverSleeps · 2026-06-03 · 15 min
Pete Townsend is joined by Sal Ternullo, CEO of SVRN and Managing Partner at A100x Ventures, for a conversation about how to tell the difference between a token that represents ownership of the value-creating thing and one that's an accelerant bolted onto something else.Sal has been underwriting these decisions at A100x at the pre-seed and seed stage. He walks through what's actually changed in the market, what a defensible answer on value accrual sounds like in a pitch meeting, and why the race-to-TGE game that defined the last cycle is largely over. Topics covered: - Why the era of tolerating tokens with no claim on cash flows is ending - How to tell whether a founder has real conviction on decentralization or is bolting a token onto an equity business - The cap-table tensions between SAFEs, token warrants, and Series A investors who can't touch tokens - Why building the product before designing the token is the new discipline - The question Sal wishes more founders walked in with an answer to CHAPTERS: 00:00 Bad Tokens Ruin Good Projects 00:30 Welcome Sal Ternullo 01:10 What Changed in Token Value Accrual 03:00 Equity vs.
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