Build it or Drop it

The only thing you have to think about when building a career around what you are passionate about is what you need and not what you are hoping for because if you focus on what's needed you have perspective.

It's only a matter of time. The only thing you have to figure out are the financial needs, not the aspirations. You need a prototype, not a pitch deck. Sure, an MVP will have a lot of bugs and look rather...practical. But we don’t need another shiny homepage and White Paper when there is no service/software. Be really honest with yourself and reevaluate your needs both personally and as a business.

What problem are you solving? What are you improving? What's the goal?

Ask yourself why you feel the need to spend X amount of $ on A when B is so much cheaper and of similar or even the same value. Are you buying because it's practical and resourceful? Are you really?

It's so much about how you spend money rather than how much. Exactly how you allocate funds and actualize projects that you would be astonished to know just how little it actually takes. Creating stuff is far cheaper than you may think.

Take ICOs for example. When $1,000,000 are raised and spent on a project that simply does not require nearly as much, you can almost guarantee that the majority of it will be wasted. Unless they literally launch a whole network of satellites, 20-30 or even 2-300k would probably been more than enough. And what do you do with the remainder of capital? Buy a yacht?

The difference

So now you have a company with literally millions at their disposal. And no product or even a tech team that knows what they are doing. Next? Hire whoever - do whatever. Hold big events, overpay people without much thought and get virtually nothing done in years. Out of money? New seed round, second Airdrop, whatever. As long as you market it well it can even be shady and full of broken promises.

And then there are these 2-buddies-in-a-garage type of companies who tinker around, hire few but passionate people to help them out (or even do it just by themselves), spend a few thousand dollars altogether and create a product of value. Later they get labeled as "Unicorn" and put into the same box as the first type of over-funded pitch-deck polishing seed round seeking borderline scam venture.

I personally hope that you make a quazillion dollars a year in whatever it is you do. I sincerely wish success upon you, no jealousy, expectations or strings attached. Go get that money.

But

Figure out what you need, not what you are hoping for. Then you can wait. You can wait because you love it and it will take all the pressure out of growth. It creates a new playing field of focus and purpose. Imagine you start e.g. a new line of sneakers that you sincerely love. One you buy yourself. And then imagine you create a pair you hate but are told will sell (and will it really?).

The infamous Jeff Bezos's basement in 1999 picture. Be humble and stay foxy.

Press Bio:

I balance multiple high-level roles as the Vice President of the Security Token Alliance, the world’s largest think tank for the Security Token industry with over 100 partners, Advisor to the World Data Science Forum, and Brand Manager at bitgrit and Cosmology Inc. I've reached audiences of over millions on social media channels, aim to do so with writing as well and am also involved in a plethora of marketing campaigns mainly in APAC and CE.

I grew up without any family and started working in his tens. Had to teach himself how to read and write and started paying for his own food in his tens. I want you to know that it doesn't matter. Let's make this world a better place together. Meaningful projects, sustainable companies. Do well; do good.