I'm James Smith - a builder, writer, and ecosystem strategist. I've built and sold two companies, and I currently lead Ecosystem Development at the Ethereum Foundation. I write about open infrastructure, AI agents, and the future of firms.
I spent 15 years building companies. Two e-commerce businesses, both bootstrapped, both sold. That experience shaped how I think: find the problem, build the thing, move fast, stay close to the people who use it.
After a nine-year break from traditional employment, I joined the Ethereum Foundation - my first job application in nearly a decade. I'd been a crypto skeptic until I experienced DeFi's self-repaying loans firsthand. That was the moment the technology stopped being abstract.
At EF, I lead Ecosystem Development (EcoDev) - 45 people across 10 teams responsible for enterprise adoption, developer growth, founder support, strategic events, community hubs, and grants. We shifted the division from grants-first to engagement-first, and operate with a bias toward making Ethereum useful for real institutions and real builders.
But the work I care about most lives at the intersection of AI, economics, and open infrastructure - specifically, what happens to firms, value capture, and coordination when transaction costs approach zero.
Infrastructure nobody owns beats infrastructure somebody owns. Every time.
Why Bill Gates is buying farmland while you're buying AI stocks. On the economics of a post-firm world.
How we shifted the Ethereum Foundation's ecosystem team from grants-first to engagement-first.
When LLMs become the front door, your website isn't for humans anymore.
Most people use AI note-takers to remember what others said. The real use case is self-awareness.
How the Ethereum Foundation ran for a decade without an org chart - and what happens to coordination when you design for spirit, not structure.
A newsletter and podcast on institutional blockchain adoption. 8,500+ subscribers, 85% corporate emails from 100+ financial institutions.
Read on Substack →Leading EcoDev - 10 teams across enterprise, developer growth, founder success, events, community hubs, grants, and funding coordination.
ethereum.org →The Coasean Singularity. AI agents replacing firms. How open protocols capture value when transaction costs hit zero.
I'm always open to conversations about ecosystem strategy, enterprise blockchain adoption, open infrastructure, or the future of coordination.