For those of you who are interested in a 2025 move to Puerto Ricoโฆ
(1) Move to apartment complexes such as Ciudadela or Gallery Plaza or Atlantis that have built in communities
(2) Join Liv Fitness Club
(3) Work out of Cafe Regina or Piloto 151
(4) Get a club membership with
I met
@BrendonSedo
and
@richrines
at
@Coredao_Org
last year because
@Coredao_Org
is a Halborn client. Since then I've had the pleasure of hosting Halborn side events with them around the world and am not surprised they broke top 60 on CoinMarketCap today!
They take security
If you work in crypto, there's 99% chance you are:
(1) an adrenaline addict
(2) a workaholic
(3) an internet addict
(4) a gambling addict
(5) just passionate about (and in it for) the tech, ok?
With the shortage of top talent in Web3, it's hard to find someone who is strategic and still wants to be a "doer" and hands on executing on different campaigns and interfacing with the community directly.
How do we solve for this?
Joining a Web3 company is likeโฆ
joining a group of friends that you will be traveling with and eating with and drinking with across 10+ cities a year while wearing matching T shirts and hosting happy hour events.
I am happy to announce that I have resigned from Polygon to pursue other opportunities.
Special thanks to
@sandeepnailwal
for helping me along the way.
There are two types of people in Web3:
(1) people who feel like they have finally found their true calling among a community of chronically online neurodivergents
(2) another camp that threatens to rage quit crypto and go back to Web 2.0 every 6 months due to the volatility
When marketing a new brand in Web3 there is usually a 3-6 month window where no one has heard of you and no matter how hard you try, it seems like nothing is working.
And then all of a sudden you realize awareness is picking upโฆ
And you become an overnight success.
The biggest life hack is to live in a Tier 1 city half the year and Tier 2-3 city the other half of the year.
>Tier 1 city exposes you to entertainment and offers networking opportunities and ability to meet a lot of new people
>Tier 2 city lets you focus on more internal goals
The technical talent coming out of China continues to impress me.
But what region is producing the best BD & marketing talent in Web3?
India definitely up there.
I used to spend 2 hrs commuting between Palo Alto and SF every day.
Now, living on an island, I live a 15 min drive from the airport + a 5 min drive from gym, friends, food, etc.
I use the extra 2 hrs a day to sleep, work out, and have lost 50 lbs since. Island life= best life.
At age 23 I took my first full-time marketing + BD role at a small 10 person startup as one of the first non tech hires.
After 9 months of 10-20 hour work days, I ended up in the emergency room at midnight due to an anxiety / panic attack which I initially thought was a heart
Sadly, in Web3 even if you hire the best CMO, Head of Comms and Head of Brand Strategy, if your community managers and BD managers are not representing the company well, your NPS and brand equity will still be low.
Thinking about compiling a list of top CMO's in the blockchain industry and doing an interview series about growth hacking techniques.
What are some questions I should ask? ๐
If you are a Web3 events lead and not:
running one full length 8 hour side conference
in addition to 3-4 parties, happy hours
and a hacker house
in addition to placing your CEO on 10-20 panels every month
you may not be cut out to compete for attention in what is now the
A friend bought me dinner last week because I had introduced him to a project that he invested $10K in which went up to $4M at the coin's ATH.
He has four daughters and the investment helped support his family. '
Makes me more motivated to find the next hidden gem~
I also recently helped a guy find a job in crypto after which he spread rumors about how I had seduced men to get to where I am in my career despite the fact that I am an Ivy League and National Merit Scholar and have never done such
Four years ago, a girlfriend told me her dream job would be to be CEO of a company where she could hire her friends to work, travel and hang out with her.
People's responses to this were: "What!? Sounds legit crazy..."
As I spend more time in Web3 her response seems less off.
We need a crypto conference where everyone in crypto gathers and tries to talk about non crypto topics and if you talk about crypto you are asked to leave.
The last man standing wins a prize.
That way weโd get to know each other not only as professionals but also as humans.
The best Web3 BD is all about soft power.
Attracting opportunities inbound through positive vibes, happy community, good reputation
*Rather than* aggressively trying to get the deal done, overnegotiating and chasing the same deals to compete due to scarcity mindset.
Bought a Christmas present for myself! ๐๐ โ๏ธ
An apartment in Puerto Rico on the 20th floor Iโm going to Airbnb while I live on the 2nd floor of the same building ๐ค
If you are a builder or a woman in crypto come visit me in San Juan- I promise to host you 2 days for free! ๐
Most underrated hire at any Web3 startup isโฆ
hands down the Head of Events role given up to 50% of a startupโs initial marketing budget will be spent on travel and online and offline events in the initial bootstrapping phases.
I'm psyched for Korea Blockchain Week and have pledged to spend at least 60 days in Seoul every year going forward to invest in the Korean Web3 ecosystem.
I'm on pace to hit 60 days this year and watching K Dramas to level up my Korean - let me know if you will be in town!
Marketing a Web3 project based on technical innovation
>>requires the marketing team to digest the product and spit it out into marketing collateral across 5 different levels of complexity from explaining it to a five year old to explaining it to a researcher / PhD.
Couldnโt sleep seeing whether weโd hit $2 MATIC and just woke up and we did!
Message me for invites to Polygon events at NFT NYC - wish I could be there.
Networking events in Puerto Rico:
Guy wearing sunglasses indoors: "I'm fuzzy koala and I'm an early contributor in a few protocols. I'd prefer we not take any selfies together - I've never been doxxed. This is my first in person event I've been to this year- I'm trying to keep
As a fresh grad I had many recruiters tell me that I was not an ideal candidate and that I should change the way I talked and presented myself in order to land a job.
Weirdly, I didn't listen and kept showing up as authentically me.
Years later I've made a personal brand
The awkward moment when you're approached by a company that JUST poached your best BD and marketing people around a partnership announcement.
Only in Web3.
I literally know one founder in Web3 that wears his company T-shirt more than 183 out of 365 days a year.
How much extra would you need to get paid by your company to wear company swag 183 days a year?
There is no shortcut to community building in Web3 -
it is not something you can outsource by hiring a Head of Community.
It should be a founder led activity that involves mentoring, hosting events, giving back to the community without expectation of receiving something back
Everyone asks about the Web3 marketing playbook.
But there also needs to be a Web3 marketing anti-playbook - what NOT to do.
There are so many things that can go wrong within a Web3 marketing department and many are variations of the same theme.
Many amazing operators in crypto are semi-retired.
It is still better to engage these operators part time at a high hourly or monthly rate than to work with someone full time who has less context, knowledge, and hustle. Also fewer contacts.
This is why having an amazing
Nothing can tank your reputation faster in crypto than news of a hacking incident.
Yet teams still think a $5K-$10K difference in smart contract audit quotes is the deciding factor in which vendor to go with.
This is a cost benefit analysis I will never understand.
In college: "You should learn to play golf and learn Chinese - it could be useful for your career."
Ignores advice for 10 years and takes Italian in college and does not invest in career-relevant hobbies.
Current status:
Learning how to play golf and speak Chinese.
All great L1's and L2's become Web3 marketing agencies / media companies for their ecosystem companies at 50+ headcount with 50% of staff on non-tech roles.
All great Web3 marketing agencies / media companies become crypto VC's.
All great crypto VC's become... AI / memecoin
I love working with DeFi projects because these projects have (1) younger, more energetic teams (2) are not afraid of taking brand risks (3) have leaner / flatter org charts (DAO structure) (4) lean into anon / meme culture (5) team chemistry usually off the charts
If you are marketing to a small community of people that can fit into an auditorium (let's say 500-1,000) you don't really need a CMO.
You need a good Head of Events and Head of DevRel that can run 100's of online and offline hackathons for you as well as a killer BD.
More and more people are asking me to introduce them to part time marketers and part time business developers who are extremely good at XYZ expertise rather than full time hires.
This could be a good strategy considering the best BD and marketing folks already have great jobs.
(1) Iโve always wanted to bring people into the space and help my unemployed friends get back on their feet but others see this as lack of boundaries
If you are the social media manager of a Web3 brand with zero followers and trying to scale from zero to one, it really is a volume game.
10x more tweets are going to generate more followers, impressions, and results!
I worked at a winery sales associate part time in 2020 for one year to practice my sales skills.
Went from having no knowledge of wine to being the highest performing sales rep for club membership sales.
Now trying to brainstorm how to combine my 2 great loves - wine & Web3.
How people usually evaluate job opps:
>Health insurance, 401K matching, Unlimited PTO
How people evaluate job opps in Web3:
>Is this job remote and does it allow me to do all my work using Telegram and calendly and 100% on my phone instead of a laptop. Also do I need to doxx.
2022 is the year enterprise adoption and many Layer 1โs have now hired Enterprise leads.
Those that have focused on the enterprise vertical for a longer time may reap more benefits from this trend as they already have proven case studies and have already crossed the chasm.
Big news from
@Google
today. One of the most important companies in the world has built a dedicated team to focus on the promotion and adoption of blockchain technology. Congratulations to
@RichJWidmann
and
@Bakxys
for their foresight and leadership. I'm here for it!
The best Bitcoin L2 I was pitched so far told me he will walk around in a corn suit for the next conference as a nod to the degen culture of Berachain.
After moving to Puerto Rico, I have become obsessed with ceviche, mashed root vegetables, and papaya.
And despite rumors of PR being a food desert, half of my favorite restaurants here have opened in the past year.
Bullish on the culinary growth trajectory inflection point. ๐
For every 15 minute intro call with a founder or investor, I always try to make at least one relevant intro either during the call or immediately afterwards.
Have been doing this for the past 7 years.
My goal for 2025 - make 2 relevant intros instead of 1.
Korea Blockchain Week booth staffing completed!
I am in Seoul until Sunday and would love to grab coffee with folks in town, please ping me on Telegram at "therealminkim"!
What I thought would make me happy atโฆ
age 16- going to a prestigious college.
age 22- getting a prestigious job.
age 30- practicing integrity, gratitude and positivity. acquiring a nice couch, reading books, hiking, eating salads. avoiding those who care about prestige.
Happy Sunday everyone!
Caught up with my mom who came to visit me from Palo Alto today and two things I realize I have inherited from her are (1) Optimism (2) Creativity.
These qualities are things I've benefited from in
#cryptomarketing
and are essential in
#startupscaling
.
Practicing โbeing earlyโ is an essential skill in Web3.
Not only does it require the insight to spot an emerging new trend.
It also requires the courage to affiliate with a fringe community and express a contrarian opinion that many people may vehemently disagree with.
What are the best roles for non-technical strong individual contributors in crypto?
Chief of Staff could be one to start or General Manager of a geographical region.
I have heard of so many stories of networking in clubs recently.
People walking up to strangers on the dance floor and asking if that person is interested in security audits or whether XYZ investor can invest in ABC project.
What is the proper etiquette around this if any?
Over the last few years as an operator in Web3, my work schedule has increasingly revolved around working around the Asian time zone.
Feels like this trend will continue to grow as time goes on.
Thought of the day -
In my Web3 career, those who have been unrelentingly blunt with me have become long term collaborators.
How do we incentivize the act of being straightforward and blunt?
Biggest growth hack - team up with 3 of your biggest competitors to create an event series- i.e. "Bitcoin L2 Shake Shack Showdown" and then productize this event and hold the same side event at 8 conferences a year.
Best way to position yourself + jointly grow the narrative.
So many recruiters come to the crypto meetups that I host trying to meet with crypto founders.
What we realistically need are personal stylists and personal chefs coming to crypto meetups - def untapped markets that some entrepreneurial stylist and chef can corner.
Someone needs to graph the average base salaries for new CTO's and CMO's of L1's and L2's getting offers (weekly)
+ overlay this with the average FDV valuation of L2's and L2's getting funded (weekly)
+ also show Average FDV/# of employees
to fully understand where we are in
Nighttime routine for top 1% Web3 growth hires:
>Brush teeth
>Floss
>Skincare
>Meditation
>Open Telegram and respond to Asia colleagues
>Organize Telegram folders
>Set alarm
>Go to sleep
Out of all the other things I've tried including meditation, breathwork, mantras, pilates, yoga, walks, etc.
*vacuuming* is the only thing that consistently turns a bad mood for me into a good mood.
This is why I own 3 vacuums now.
Apparently burnout has affected 89% of Americans- Iโd estimate 100% of those who work in crypto for more than one year have been affected.
Burnout causes us to make bad decisions and act out of character.
The five tips Iโve used to avoid burnout in crypto:
(1) At the end of
Weirdly, people who I've had the most awkward, blunt honest conversations with about why their product / idea is flawed...
Have now become great professional and personal friends 2-3 years later because they pivoted afterwards and achieved success.
Funny how that works.
Gm
#runclub
Iโm thankful to be working in such an amazing, cutting-edge industry doing what I love with people I care about.
What are you thankful for?
Got to meet the amazing
@BaronDavis
at the
@CalaxyApp
party!
Always pumped to see athletes working to bring more folks into Web3 and canโt wait to brainstorm on some amazing initiatives together, stay tuned!!
Please DM me if you're a builder and interested in an HBAR grant or just want to say hi.
We will be hosting many online and offline events in the upcoming months.