The Summit Series kicks off with host Dirt chauffeuring Barrett (co-founder of Ranger Finance & mtnDAO) through Salt Lake City for a candid, on-the-go conversation about building in crypto, the power of co-working spaces, AI adoption, and the future of decentralized finance on Solana.

Recorded while driving out of the mtnDAO office, Barrett shares insights into mtnDAO's evolution into a premier builder hub for Solana and beyond, Ranger Finance's roadmap as a unified trading superapp (from perps aggregation to upcoming prediction markets, vaults, mobile, and more), and why now is the perfect time to build amid market dips.

Timestamps:

• 00:00 – Intro & welcome to the Summit Series; Barrett joins from Ranger Finance & mtnDAO (driving out of the office).
• 00:30 – What is mtnDAO? Co-working for Solana/crypto builders, recent expansion to 14,500 sq ft in downtown SLC, attracting AI folks and diverse builders.
• 01:15 – Office upgrades, culture, dream setup for remote workers, provided lunches, networking, and fast user growth/testing.
• 02:20 – Secret teams, workshops, mobile dev handouts; excitement around AI agents as an unlock, not distraction.
• 02:35 – AI as productivity multiplier; advice for founders/teams: just start playing/experimenting with LLMs, like early Google search mastery.
• 03:40 – Optimizing agents like managing humans; iterative learning from one to many agents.
• 04:45 – Diving into Ranger: excitement over pipeline (prediction markets soon, mobile app in progress despite Apple delays, Earn/vaults priority, growing TVL).
• 05:50 – Current ~$24M TVL in vaults; goal to hit nine figures in Q1; need better marketing of products.
• 06:40 – Vision: end-to-end financial management platform (perps, spot, prediction markets, yield optimization).
• 07:30 – Prediction markets details: aqua-hire of Four Markets team, own DEX (auditing), plus aggregation for liquidity/arbitrage.
• 08:20 – Aggregation roots (started with perps due to no aggregators then); belief in app-layer monetization and abstraction for mainstream users.
• 09:20 – Moving beyond chain tribalism; integrating top venues like Hyperliquid; new Solana perps (Bulk Trade, Phoenix, Bullet).
• 10:30 – Importance of perps for DeFi velocity and capital attraction; app layer as the sticky user touchpoint.
• 11:40 – Full future vision: seamless on/off ramps, one app for banking, equities, crypto trading (consumer + prosumer bifurcated experiences).
• 13:20 – Dual front-ends for cohorts; treating them almost as separate apps while sharing backend engine.
• 14:15 – Balancing running Ranger + mtnDAO; mtnDAO now largely self-running with strong culture and ops team.
• 15:00 – mtnDAO as a builder machine; future case study potential; people > place; Solana shipping ethos elevated.
• 16:50 – Talent wins from mtnDAO (e.g., Voltar → vaults/Earn, Forum Markets team).
• 17:50 – Personal story: how attending mtnDAO years ago changed everything from casual listener to deep in the space.
• 19:00 – Shoutouts & closing: Ranger updates coming (more tweets, app overhaul); build through bears, noise is gone—prime time; touch snow, enjoy life, stick around.

Tune in for real talk on crypto building, AI acceleration, and why Ranger is positioning itself as Solana's go-to trading superapp. Peace! 🚗🏔️