# Balaji Srinivasan

> Balaji Srinivasan is a serial founder, investor, and author who holds four Stanford degrees and has co-founded companies sold for nearly half a billion dollars. Former General Partner at Andreessen Horowitz and first CTO of Coinbase, he is best known for writing The Network State — a WSJ #2 bestselling book advocating technology-enabled sovereign communities — and for building The Network School, a live experiment in startup-society living on a private island near Singapore.

- **Role:** Founder at The Network School
- **Organizations:** The Network School, Balaji Fund, Coin Center, Andreessen Horowitz (former), Coinbase (former)
- **From:** Plainview, New York, USA
- **Nationality:** American (Indian-Tamil descent)
- **Education:** BS Electrical Engineering, Stanford University, MS Electrical Engineering, Stanford University, MS Chemical Engineering, Stanford University, PhD Electrical Engineering (Genetic Circuits), Stanford University
- **Known for:** Co-founded Counsyl, acquired for $375M (2018), Co-founded 21 Inc / Earn.com, acquired by Coinbase for $120M (2018), WSJ Innovation Award for Medicine (2010)

## Career timeline

- **2007** — Co-founded Counsyl, a genetic carrier screening startup
- **2010** — Counsyl wins WSJ Innovation Award for Medicine; named Scientific American Top 10 World Changing Idea
- **2013** — MIT Technology Review Innovators Under 35 (TR35)
- **2013** — Joined Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) as General Partner for crypto and biotech
- **2013** — Co-founded 21 Inc (Bitcoin mining startup), raised $116M
- **2013** — Published 'Software Is Reorganizing the World' in Wired
- **2014** — Co-founded Coin Center, the leading US crypto policy nonprofit
- **2015** — Coined term 'network state'; became one of first three Estonian e-residents
- **2017** — Vetted by Trump Administration as potential FDA Commissioner
- **2018** — 21 Inc / Earn.com acquired by Coinbase for $120M
- **2018** — Counsyl acquired by Myriad Genetics for $375M
- **2018** — Became Coinbase's first CTO; oversaw USDC launch; ranked Fortune Ledger 40 Under 40
- **2019** — Departed Coinbase CTO role
- **2020** — Among first tech investors to publicly warn about COVID-19 pandemic in January
- **2021** — Relocated to Asia; became first Singapore Tech.Pass visa recipient
- **2022** — Published The Network State — WSJ #2 bestselling e-book
- **2023** — Launched Balaji Fund (backed by Brian Armstrong, Naval Ravikant, Fred Wilson)
- **2023** — Made $1.5M Bitcoin bet; settled early, donating to Bitcoin core devs and Give Directly
- **2024** — Founded The Network School on private island near Singapore in Forest City, Malaysia
- **2025** — Network School v2 launched with 256 members; enrollment grew to 550+

## Achievements

- Co-founded Counsyl, acquired for $375M (2018)
- Co-founded 21 Inc / Earn.com, acquired by Coinbase for $120M (2018)
- WSJ Innovation Award for Medicine (2010)
- Scientific American Top 10 World Changing Ideas (2010)
- MIT Technology Review Innovators Under 35 (2013)
- Fortune Ledger 40 Under 40, ranked 26th (2018)
- WSJ #2 bestselling e-book for The Network State (2022)
- 5,000+ Google Scholar citations in genomics research
- General Partner at Andreessen Horowitz — first GP dedicated to crypto
- First Coinbase CTO; oversaw USDC stablecoin launch
- Co-founded Coin Center, leading US crypto policy nonprofit
- First Singapore Tech.Pass visa recipient
- 250,000+ students enrolled in Startup Engineering course on Coursera
- Early COVID-19 warning acknowledged by Bloomberg and American Enterprise Institute
- 274 distinct angel investments across 229 active companies
- Built Network School attracting 4,000+ applicants from 80+ countries for 128 slots

## Latest updates

- **2025-03** — Network School v2 launched with 256 members for year-long program on Forest City island campus
- **2025-06** — Network School enrollment reached 550+; Bloomberg covered the crypto techno-utopia experiment
- **2025-06** — Financial Times reported ~120 startup societies globally inspired by the network state movement
- **2025-06** — Announced additional Network School locations planned for Miami, Dubai, and Tokyo
- **2024-09** — The Network School v1 launched with 128 members selected from 4,000+ applications from 80+ countries

## Links

- Website: https://balajis.com
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thebalaji
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/balajis
- GitHub: https://github.com/balajis
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@BalajiSrinivasan25

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/balaji-srinivasan
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-04-23