E188: Building (And Spinning Out) Open Source Projects With Informal Systems

The podcast covers a company focused on building modern financial infrastructure with an emphasis on reliability and security in both software and financial systems. The company develops tools such as Quint, a formal specification language used for designing systems, and provides security auditing services. It also creates financial spin-outs, including Hydro, an on-chain robo-advisor, and Cycles, a decentralized clearing house.

Founded in 2020, the company runs as a worker cooperative, prioritizing technical excellence and democratic decision-making in its governance model. Its funding comes mainly from service agreements and a small 2023 funding round. The company follows a strategy of incubating technologies before spinning them out as independent entities when they require distinct market entry or fundraising approaches. The companys long-term vision extends beyond blockchain, aiming to apply formal methods and verification to broader software security challenges and distributed systems. It seeks to make formal verification more practical and accessible, while also exploring the integration of AI with its tools to enhance software correctness and development processes.