A MORE
PERFECT NETWORK

VERSION:6

THE BAZ LIGHTYEAR NODE

EXCERPTS

Welcome to my corner of the internet.

I care about radical innovations that improve our lives in seemingly-impossible ways.

To that end, and as of the year 2024, I spend most of my time working on Tonk, an early-stage startup developing a communications network to make good on the original promise of the internet. We are based in Clerkenwell, a historic district of London that has incubated transformative design and dissident groups over the last 4 centuries.

In terms of skillset, I typically play the role of an "executive producer" - I spend my time understanding systems, connecting likeminded souls and securing bountiful resources so that technical auteurs can pursue a creative mission.

Since 2022 I have been squarely focussed on producing answers to the following two problems:

  1. How can post-platform communication technologies radically improve our (a) interactions with each other and (b) access to information?
  2. Given the real socioeconomic infrastructure of the early 21st century, how do we bring that future into reality?

More on my dream.

For some, this will strike a chord. Please reach out if so. Let's do something amazing together.


scheming / selling / cajoling / listening / scouting / managing / soothing / plotting / analysing / learning / prioritising / pitching / leading / firefighting / accelerating / selecting / programming / hiring / studying / recruiting / aligning / writing / curating / speaking / fundraising / quelling / growing / persuading / designing / thinking / storytelling / planning / reading / inspiring / serving / deciding

PREVIOUS MATERIAL

My formal academic training is in analytic philosophy. I have since picked up a solid foundation in computer science and finance.

In a former life, I was a dancer and actor. I remember that in one adolescent chapter I claimed an ambition to be a warrior poet (?)

Since then, I have played a leading role in producing:

  • New media applications for frontier cryptography
  • Foundational web software to protect children
  • A COVID-19 delivery startup
  • A climate crisis publication

Thanks to my fortunate upbringing, I've been subliminally trained in memes and magic media and marketing by my dad, one of the best men I know.



A NOTE ON NOMENCLATURE

My meatspace name is Harry Kingdon. I'm not particularly precious about doxxing myself. I use "baz" for a few reasons:

  1. I enjoy privacy, and light separation of my work persona from my personal persona. I grew up in a particularly nasty age of the tabloid press and brutality towards celebrities. For the same reasons as I suspect @sluttycheff chooses to do so, I may get more precious about this separation in the future.
  2. I want to avoid the mid and defy the algorithms. Curating my interfaces to networked culture grants me a lot of autonomy in doing so. I recommend it!
  3. "Baz Lightyear" is a persona that expresses my current multiyear feeling of exploring into the bold unknown. Bowie did this with Ziggy Stardust. I may switch it up in the future much like he did with Aladdin Sane. I suspect I have a Dewey Finn phase coming on at some point.
  4. Tonk should be a headless brand in the medium term. I like the idea that I can pull an escape hatch at any time by leaving the "baz" persona behind. Satoshi did this very well.
  5. People struggle to believe this when I tell them, but it's always been my nickname ("Harry Kingdon" -> "Barry Smingdon" -> "Barry" -> "baz")

A NOTE ON STYLE

I'm aware that this site is quite earnest. I've found that being earnest can be a helpful way to overcome cynicism in my relationships.