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Erick K. Watson

Erick K. Watson

Co‑founder & CEO at Randamu — Web3 infrastructure & product leader.

SproutVest
Redmond, Washington, United States
Joined January 2025
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Summary

Product leader who moved from enterprise tech to Web3: Erick combines >15 years of product, marketing and GTM experience from Microsoft and Google with multiple founder roles to build infrastructure-grade Web3 primitives (dcipher, drand). He emphasizes shipping secure, composable developer primitives that reduce trust assumptions (bridgeless coordination, time-locked encryption). erickwatson+2
Founder & ecosystem builder focused on governance: Beyond product and engineering, Erick has pushed institutionalization of threshold cryptography through the Threshold Association (Swiss non-profit) to set standards, operator certification, and token-aligned incentives for network security and longevity. techdogs+1
Bridges experience across domains — data, AI, and cryptography — rooted in a humanities background: Erick's BA in linguistics and earlier work on knowledge graphs and text analytics inform a perspective that blends human-centered product design with data/ML and cryptographic infrastructure. toptal+1
Operator, adviser, and connector in early-stage ecosystems: As Managing Director of SproutVest and an advisor to startups, Erick has repeatedly taken founder/operator roles and later scaled to CEO responsibilities at Randamu, demonstrating strengths in fundraising, partnerships, and translating research into product-market fit. wbaforum+1

Work

Education

Projects

Writing

Q&A – Erick Watson, Co-Founder and CEO of Randamu

June 1, 2025

Interview covering the vision for Randamu, bridgeless multi-chain coordination, threshold cryptography use cases, and the Threshold Association.

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From Big Tech to Blockchain: Erick K. Watson’s Vision for Digital Trust

May 1, 2025

Feature article summarizing Watson's transition from Microsoft/Google to building decentralized infrastructure focused on digital human rights, verifiable randomness, and decentralized governance.

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Personal blog and long-form notes (erickwatson.com)

Multiple long-form posts and essays on complexity, product design, knowledge graphs, and technical strategy (personal writing archive).

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Hobbies

Public speaking and writing on product strategy, decentralization, and digital human rights; participates in conferences and panels. erickwatson+1