Blockworks lost 82% of its revenue when conferences vanished. The rescue - podcasts, research, and a data platform - became a more interesting company than the one the founders had planned.
A bitcoin news site grew into crypto's newsroom, meeting place and market-data desk. Its most important product may still be the uncomfortable question asked at exactly the right moment.
The company that built Cardano is attempting a harder trick: turning peer-reviewed blockchain research into products people can use, while gradually handing more of the machinery to independent teams.