In this episode I sit down with Ivan, the newly appointed CEO of Neon Labs, a serial‑founder with six exits and a deep background in infrastructure, distributed systems and Web3. We explore how Neon Labs is tackling the challenge of running an EVM on Solana, what “network extensions” mean and why this matters for builders, founders and the entire ecosystem. 

We also dig into tokenization, open‑source business models and where the infrastructure layer of Web3 is heading. Whether you’re building a protocol, debating chain choice or simply trying to understand what’s next, there’s plenty to unpack here.

Key Learnings (with timestamps)

• 00:02:00 – Ivan’s background: from engineer to startup founder to now leading Neon Labs.

• 00:04:00 – Early Web3 attempt: building a multimedia messaging/email platform on Ethereum in 2017.

• 00:07:00 – What Neon Labs is solving: bringing EVM execution to Solana via a network extension rather than a traditional L2 or side‑chain.

• 00:10:00 – Advantages and challenges of this architecture: speed, composability, using Solana’s consensus & block‑space.

• 00:12:00 – Chain choice argument: historically Solana for speed vs Ethereum for liquidity. How this is shifting.

• 00:16:00 – Infrastructure costs of new chains: indexing, database/storage overhead, tooling.

• 00:18:00 – Vision: network extensions as the next wave of infrastructure—purpose‑built execution environments plugging into a main chain.

• 00:22:00 – Neon Labs’ focus areas: acquisition of ZK team, privacy‑scalability via off‑chain computation and proofs.

• 00:39:00 – Advice for builders & founders: build in public + join community/super‑teams + focus on solving real infrastructure problems.

• 00:42:00 – Neon’s current status & ask: financially stable, not actively raising now, looking for builders, early users and collaborators.

DisclaimerNothing mentioned in this podcast is investment advice and please do your own research. It would mean a lot if you can leave a review of this podcast on Apple Podcasts or Spotify and share this podcast with a friend. 

Connect

Ivan Bjelajac - https://www.linkedin.com/in/ivanbjelajac/

NeonEVM- https://www.neonevm.org/ 
Be a guest on the podcast or contact us ‑ https://www.web3pod.xyz/