Riva’s Crypto Punk

WWIII Already Exists But This Time It’s a Cultural War and It’s Happening on the Internet

Interview with Riva-Melissa Tez

Danielle Newnham
8 min readNov 12, 2021

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Riva-Melissa Tez is one of my favourite people on the internet. She studied Philosophy at UCL before digging deeper into technology and engineering, and starting the Berlin Singularity.

She also co-founded Permutation Ventures — an early stage VC fund which focused on AI startups and, most recently, worked with Jim Keller at Intel as Senior Director for Strategic Technology Initiatives.

At nineteen, Riva-Melissa started Notting Hill toy shop R.S. Currie & Co. She continues to pursue interests in her fields of interest which include philosophy, technology and finance. Here’s her story…

Newnham: Can you tell me about your childhood — what were the events/experiences which shaped you?

Tez: I grew up poor — some years in a homeless shelter with my mother. People like to pity me but I look at my childhood and think of all the stuff I learned and feel immensely grateful, to be honest. Probably some sort of blatant survivor bias happening here…

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Danielle Newnham

Host of Danielle Newnham Podcast — interviews with tech founders and innovators. Writer. Author. Recovering Founder.