Why we invested in Run

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The post originally appeared on the Unbounded Capital website and we republished with permission from its author, Jack Laskey.

At Unbounded Capital, we believe Bitcoin as BSV will fundamentally change the nature of internet applications. We believe that the businesses which make building new or transitioning old applications to a Bitcoin based architecture are some of the best short and long term investment opportunities in all of Crypto and the broader economy. Of all of these businesses, we think Microsoft/Snapchat alum Brenton Gunning’s Run leads the way in combining innovative design with a savvily practical emphasis on outstanding user experience. Accordingly, we are excited to announce that Unbounded Capital has invested in Run and looks forward to working with and supporting Brenton over the coming years.

Why build applications on Bitcoin?

We think the Client-Server model which has become ubiquitous in application development will transition to the Client-Bitcoin mode. Ultimately, we think applications which use Bitcoin’s public ledger as the server will have a distinct advantage over competitors who use private cloud servers. Why? There are a few key advantages.

Data on the Bitcoin ledger is immutable. Users can trust that their data will not be lost, corrupted, or changed if it is stored on Bitcoin. This same level of stability is not possible with private cloud servers or non-proof-of-work blockchains like EOS and Ethereum 2.0.

Bitcoin makes the creation of user-controlled digital property easy. Why leave control of your digital goods in the hands of others? Bitcoin makes it easy to maintain control over one’s digital property. 

Bitcoin facilitates permissionless innovation. On Bitcoin one maintains control over their data and digital property. In traditional models, the business controls these. In these models your data ties you to incumbent platforms. On Bitcoin, businesses can compete to serve your data to you. Unbundling data and digital property from applications creates a new paradigm for competition and will result in unbounded innovation.

Bitcoin will become cheaper than existing solutions. Bitcoin’s operators, the miners, also benefit from permissionless innovation. Anyone can become a miner, compete to offer a better product and profit accordingly. Private cloud operators will struggle to compete with permissionless innovators over the long term.

Application development is simpler on Bitcoin. This is likely an exaggeration today, but soon Bitcoin will help to eliminate one of the big challenges for developers trying to build applications today, managing servers and customer data. By using Bitcoin, developers can avoid managing servers, externalize the cost of storing data (if they wish), and outsource the headache of having to follow modern data regulations by having applications store data on Bitcoin’s ledger rather than warehouse user’s data on company controlled servers.

Bitcoin makes it easier for applications to communicate. When data is stored on a global, public ledger, it is easy for applications to interact in real time. As more and more activity and information ends up on the Bitcoin ledger, applications that don’t participate will be cut off from the major engine of global commerce. 

Why build applications with Run?

While many entrepreneurs have come to this same conclusion and are launching businesses which leverage these advantages, we are still in the early days of using Bitcoin’s ledger as an application backend. Up to this point, the absence of standard protocols and best practices for using Bitcoin in this way have limited the advantage that can be gained from this application infrastructure. This is where Run enters the picture.

Run is a platform to build apps and tokens on Bitcoin. Run solves several challenges at once for developers looking to build applications with a Bitcoin backend. Run is a protocol that applications can use to store data on-chain in a highly interoperable and functional manner. Run is also a platform that makes it easy for developers to integrate this on-chain data into their application. Best of all, this is all done in JavaScript, the most used programming language by developers today.

Run makes it so easy to build applications that first-time developers have successfully launched applications on Run which would have been well outside of their capabilities using traditional infrastructure or dealing with raw Bitcoin.

We believe Run’s founder Brenton Gunning has the right user-first attitude to create a platform that can dominate the application space on Bitcoin. Run has already proven to be the easiest way to build on Bitcoin and the features coming in the pipeline will solidify Run’s position as the simplest way to leverage the full benefits of building on Bitcoin.

Ultimately, developers and users alike won’t need any special knowledge of Bitcoin to enjoy a far superior user-experience. Brenton keeps this goal at the forefront and has the vision and background to make it happen.

As Bitcoin debundles applications from data, using data silos to create a network effect will cease to be a viable way to create a moat around one’s business. Instead, we will see standards and protocols as the new way of creating a strong network effect for tech businesses. We think Run will be one of these protocols and that Brenton’s ability to serve the network he creates will generate huge value for his customers and outsized returns for Run’s investors. We are thrilled to be working together and look forward to seeing Run and our other portfolio companies work to create the foundations of the new internet on Bitcoin BSV.