Alon Goren, Co-Founder of Crypto Invest Summit: The Early VC days of Crypto

— Alon Goren's early career path from tech startups (MySpace, IMDB) to building InvestedIn, a fintech crowdfunding platform that inspired lessons about full commitment and investor confidence.

— Discovery of Bitcoin and early crypto involvement around 2012, including building a Litecoin mining rig as a team exercise before the hardware costs and power bills became prohibitive.

— Evolution from crowdfunding conferences (Crowdinvest Summit) to Crypto Invest Summit as ICOs and blockchain conversations dominated the industry landscape.

— 2017 ICO mania boom followed by 2018 conference market collapse; most opportunistic conference organizers failed while quality-focused events like CIS sustained and improved.

— Crypto Invest Summit positioning: free/discounted tickets for students, military, and diversity organizations; media partnership booths; expo stage and main stage programming including live podcast recordings.

— Goren Home Ventures strategy of using CIS as a platform to build and support a portfolio of crypto companies, including investments in Totle; plans for two LA-based conferences annually plus a Security Token Summit.

— Attend Crypto Invest Summit in LA using code POMPVIP for free tickets (first 25) or significant discounts; all content is later released publicly for those unable to travel.

— Consider Security Token Summit (securitytokensummit.com) as a focused opportunity to learn about tokenized securities and regulatory frameworks shaping the next phase of blockchain finance.

— Follow Alon Goren on Twitter (@alongoren) and LinkedIn, and monitor CIS.LA for speaker announcements and updates on upcoming portfolio companies and industry developments.