Mike Dudas is the Founder of The Block, one of the leading information services company aiming to educate the web3 space in order for individuals to make smart decisions. He is also the Founder and Managing Partner at 6MV, and the Co-founder of Button, and Links Golf Club. ^[1]

Education

Mike Dudas pursued his undergraduate education at Stanford University, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree, completing his studies in 2001. Subsequently, he enrolled at Northwestern University - Kellogg School of Management. There, he pursued a Master of Business Administration (MBA) and successfully completed the program in 2006. ^[2]

Career

Mike Dudas started in Corporate Strategic Planning at The Walt Disney Company from 2001 to 2004. He then moved to Targetspot, where he served as Head of BD for two years, from 2007 to 2009. ^[3]

Following this, Dudas joined Google, where he spent four years as the Emerging Business Lead in Mobile Commerce from 2009 to 2013. ^[3]

During his tenure at Google, he played a crucial role in building the commerce and payments business, introducing products like Google Wallet/Pay. ^[3]

In 2013, Dudas transitioned to Venmo, where he took on the role of Head of Mobile BD for a year. Subsequently, he joined Button, Inc., serving as Co-Founder and Chief Revenue Officer for four years from 2014 to 2018. ^[3]

Blockchain Career

Early Beginnings

Mike Dudas first got interested in cryptocurrencies, particularly in Bitcoin, when he was working at Braintree in 2013. Dudas and his team were considering adding crypto payment methods for multiple services such as, Uber, Airbnb and Braintree's merchants. This discovery of using a digital asset for payments, led him to dive deeper into different projects and blockchain powered technologies. ^[4]

"I've been interested in cryptocurrency, digital assets, whatever you want to call it but really was Bitcoin in 2013 when I became interested and I was actually working at braintree and we were considering adding crypto payments, bitcoin payments to the gateway so that customers of some of our biggest merchants at braintree uber airbnb and others could use bitcoin to pay. The idea was you know lower transaction costs than credit cards."

Current Positions in Web3

In 2018, Dudas founded The Block, a full-time venture providing insights into the digital asset space. He led The Block for three years until 2021, contributing significantly to the platform's influence in the crypto and blockchain industry. ^[3]

From 2021 to 2023, Dudas assumed the role of Vice President of BD at Paxos, a position he held for two years. Currently, he is the Co-Founder and Chairman of Links Golf Club since December 2021, concurrently managing 6MV, an early-stage venture fund founded in February 2021. This fund focuses on investing in crypto applications and infrastructure across various blockchain ecosystems, boasting a diverse portfolio of over 100 companies and multiple unicorns invested in at sub-$30 million valuations. ^[3]