“Increasing human freedom and economic freedom around the world is just a mission that I’m really passionate about,” says Peter Smith, Founder and CEO of Blockchain.com. That mission has remained at the heart of Blockchain since its inception in 2009. When still a graduate student at the London School of Economics, Peter became interested in the intersection of economy and technology, long before they were attached at the hip as they are now. Today, digital money is the greatest example of this intersection, and the Internet is the world’s largest GDP.
One major misunderstanding that persists is how long it takes to adopt new technology. Success requires being in it for the long haul, and Peter says that too many entrepreneurs want too much too soon. He shares examples of companies that have finally found major success, but only after years of struggle and even ridicule.
Being a CEO comes with a great deal of responsibility, stress and fluctuation. Hear Peter discuss the best approach to dealing with it all, and why all entrepreneurs have something wrong with them.
Quotes:
“It’s actually a common misconception that people don’t know about the image of Bitcoin, which is that there was a 10-year plus period of attempts to create digital cash.” ([7:24]-[7:40] | Peter)
“It’s really important to us that we build tools that enable people to hold their assets themselves, but their own key. And you know, this is our original slogan, be your own bank.” ([12:56]-[13:05] | Peter)
“One of the things I miss most about early crypto, was that it was not a business. It was a mission.” ([16:19]-[16:25] | Peter)
“When I got into crypto, it wasn’t it wasn’t to make money. It was like, wow, if we pull this off, really cool. We can build a financial system that lives on the internet that anyone can be part of, and I can honestly look back and say, I spent my early adult life doing that, no matter how it works out. It’s like a regret minimization framework. I could spend the next five years reinventing some enterprise SAAS tool, which is probably more likely to be successful, especially in 2000, and exit a lot faster. It’s really hard to exit crypto businesses. But when I look back on that life, I’m not going to be proud of that.” ([19:45]-[20:40] | Peter)
“You have to be very rooted in reality as a founder. And I think anytime you’re not, anytime you’re too optimistic, you’re just waiting to get lucky. That’s a very dangerous mode to be in. But you also have to realize as a founder that not everything is under your control.” ([33:14]-[33:29] | Peter)
Connect with Brendan Dell:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brendandell/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/BrendanDell
Instagram: @thebrendandell
TikTok: @brendandell39
Buy a copy of Brendan’s Book, The 12 Immutable Laws of High-Impact Messaging: https://www.indiebound.org/book/9780578210926
Connect with Peter Smith:
Website: Blockchain.com
Twitter: @justonemorepeter
Facebook:@justonemorepeter
Instagram:@justonemorepeter
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About the Author
Brendan Dell
Brendan Dell is an author and the founder of The Daily Creative. As a freelancer he's worked with clients like Expedia, Cvent, Panasonic, Brother, Windstream and 100+ more to build unignorable tech brands. At The Daily Creative, he shares advice and lessons to help freelancers level up.
