NFT will make Crypto and blockchain more mainstream
原文标题：《 Nansen.ai Founder Alex Svanevik Talks Cryptocurrency Crashes And Trends 》
Originally written by Alice
Noodle, Deep Tide TechFlow
Nansen is one of the most powerful on-chain data analytics platforms. It tracks and analyzes public blockchain information in approximately 90 million Ethereum wallets to provide individual and institutional crypto traders and investors with data and information so they can make better decisions. Nansen's clients include cryptocoin-centric funds such as Polychain, Three Arrows Capital, Pantera and Defiance Capital.
Founded in 2020, Nansen has raised $13.2 million in seed rounds and A $12 million Series A round to date, with investors including some of the biggest names in the crypto space, such as Coinbase, QCP Capital, and A16Z.
Based in Singapore, Nansen has a team spanning more than 20 countries. I sat down with globe-trotting entrepreneur and founder Alex Svanevik to get his insights on cryptocurrencies and blockchains.
From artificial intelligence engineers to crypto entrepreneurs
Born in Norway and trained in artificial intelligence (AI), Alex has worked in data science and consulting across Europe. In 2017, he discovered Ethereum and became obsessed with cryptocurrencies and blockchains.
He said: "for a long time, I have ignored the currency, because it have nothing to play. But the etheric fang is a completely different scenario. There is so much potential, so many applications. For the first time ever, I see encryption currency and block chain technology is all about. From the point of view of artificial intelligence, intelligent contract concept is very attractive."
Alex quit his job to work full-time on cryptocurrency. He landed his first job in Hong Kong as chief data Scientist at Coinfi, a market intelligence platform that provides professionally curated research, analysis, trading signals, trading algorithms and news for crypto investors.
That was in 2018, at the tail end of the initial coin offering (ICO) boom, when many companies were trying to raise money through ICOs, where low compliance standards and poor delivery led to a sell-off that contributed to the crypto crash.
Coinfi has proved to be one of the losers of this cycle. It raised $15 million, mostly in ETH, and when ETH plummeted from $400 to $80, it didn't have enough money to pay its employees.
"I am in a bind because I have a two-year contract with Coinfi and live in Hong Kong, the most expensive property market in the world. Yes, I am one of the victims of 2018, but I am also a survivor."
According to Alex, Coinfi failed because its management team was chaotic and incompetent. It has not managed the Treasury in a responsible way. The company has no clear road map and no clear product vision. The company is good at marketing and raising money.
In fact, this has been one of the biggest doubts and shames about the crypto industry. The ease with which money can be raised through ICOs means a lack of compliance, a lack of regulation, and a lower standard for anyone starting a substandard project, who could easily give up because of poor skill or fraudulent intent. The market is riddled with fraud, scams and project failures, which explains the distaste for the cryptocurrency market among traditional financial investors.
"Well, it's a delicate scene," Alex says when I point this out. "Yes, you have a lot of difficulties and failures, but on the other hand, you also see a lot of real innovation. There are a lot of companies and deals that are revolutionary."
Alex added that despite his low point in 2018, he never reconsidered working in crypto. "I never doubt the future of cryptocurrencies and blockchain," Alex said firmly. "As an engineer, I understand how revolutionary this technology is and that this is the future. Getting there may not be the smoothest trajectory, but we will get there."
Just to give you an idea of how optimistic he is about the cryptocurrency industry, 99% of his personal assets are invested in cryptocurrencies, including his shares in Nathan.
"I learned a lot from the Coinfi experience," Alex said. "It's interesting to see how a startup can collapse from within, and now as a founder, I'm making sure that doesn't happen to Nansen."
After Coinfi failed, Alex set about founding Nansen, which was a modification and upgrade of Coinfi's product. He said he was committed to doing things differently this time.
First, Alex needs to make sure he oversees the team and anticipates everything. He didn't want to lay off people because of poor management and money management. He defended the company for a long time and dedicated himself to building the best company and the best product.
He also decided to adopt a private limited organizational structure rather than a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO). He has traditionally raised money from angel investors and venture capitalists, rather than doing ICOs.
"The problem with ICOs is that a lot of times you have to find a way to integrate tokens into the product. So a lot of times companies design sub-optimal spin-offs just to justify tokens. I don't want to worry about all that.
As a result, Nansen is not as decentralized as many other cryptographic companies, but Alex still adheres to many of the concepts that apply to DAO, such as transparency, collaboration, and co-creation.
What does it take to build a crypto company
According to Alex, the biggest challenge facing any cryptocurrency founder is a lack of focus.
"The crypto space is evolving at a breakneck pace. Every day there are new inventions, new companies or DAOs are created, new ICOs are proposed, new protocols are launched, and new trends are emerging. As a result, it's easy for founders to get distracted."
The essence of cryptocurrency development is co-creation. Ownership and product creation are decentralized through tokens, and things are built openly using open source code and protocols. Anyone who is savvy enough can contribute to building protocols.
He said: "As a cryptocurrency founder, you almost have to throw out the old playbook. Everything is transparent, but it's much messier and messier because of it. There are so many distractions and possibilities that it can be difficult for anyone to stick to long-term plans and visions. Infrastructure, agreements, market sentiment and even regulation are changing so rapidly every day ".
Some of the general principles of building tech startups apply to crypto startups, such as team and culture building, effective management, and fundraising. However, crypto founders need to be more agile, adaptable, curious and innovative than normal tech founders.
"The barriers to starting crypto companies or projects are low, which makes the whole space more democratic, with greater potential for innovation, but also rife with scams and incompetent founders. It's easy to be a crypto founder, but it's not easy to be a good crypto founder," Alex said.
Easy fundraising, a lack of regulatory enforcement and low operating costs have all helped lower barriers to entry. For example, projects often don't need large teams because they are creating a smart contract that, once deployed, can live on the chain forever, so many DeFi protocols don't require maintenance or administration costs.
"A good crypto founder needs to be flexible to change while maintaining a high level of focus and commitment. That's the secret to success."
Courage, transparency, speed, curiosity
Named after a Norwegian polylogist, Nansen symbolizes explorer, scientist, diplomat and humanitarian.
Nansen's core values are courage, transparency, speed and curiosity.
"Again, although Nansen is a traditional private limited company, we do a lot of things in a way that is inspired by the crypto and blockchain space," Alex explained.
"First of all, it takes courage to create new products in new markets, have the courage to pursue their own vision and beliefs, regardless of the opinions of others. Second, I always default to transparency. Transparency make every thing more fair and efficient, especially in the aspect of the communication with the whole company. Everyone is a one-time notification, everyone know what is the game plan. Next, we have speed and curiosity, which is very important to stay competitive in this area. As I said, things are moving at lightning speed, so you also have to move very fast and you have to be curious about the latest developments and innovations. I give priority to people who are curious."
Alex gets a lot of inspiration from innovator Elon Musk, who started out as an engineer and went on to become the most successful entrepreneur in the world. "I now consider myself a well-rounded person, more of an entrepreneur than an engineer," Alex tells me. "I'm not a fan of Elon, but I find his approach to things to be very visionary and unique, which helps him to be successful, and I like that. I think Elon embodies some of Nathan's values, like courage and curiosity."
Since 2020, Nansen. Ai has become one of the fastest growing crypto startups in the world. It has been rated as an excellent and useful product by many sophisticated cryptocurrency traders and investors large and small. Alex says his family and friends, who went from being skeptical when he gave up everything to work on cryptocurrencies in 2018, are now fully supportive.
The future of crypto space
Looking to the future, Alex envisions building a data analysis platform that is user-friendly enough for mainstream users. "Right now Nansen is very niche and only useful for more sophisticated and wealthy investors, such as large funds. However, my goal is to develop the entire crypto ecosystem to also support all other ordinary traders and investors. Information is power, and I want to empower everyone."
Alex says it's ok to start with a product for a wealthy customer, then develop a roadmap to build a product that everyone else can access. "Just like Tesla, their first car was the Roadster, which only wealthy enthusiasts could afford. But their goal is to make electric cars mainstream, so they want to reach as many people as possible. We feel the same way at Nansen." Our goal is to build a more mainstream product from the profits of our current product and audience."
I asked Alex what he was most excited about the development of Web 3.0, and he said that in the long term he looked forward to seeing cryptocurrencies go mainstream. He is pleased that he will be involved in achieving this goal. "It's not going to happen overnight, I don't expect to see a billion encrypted users next year, but we'll get there slowly."
"In the short term, I am excited about the development of the NFT space, which will be a key driver to make cryptocurrency and blockchain technology more mainstream and available to all. People don't care much about finance, but in terms of pop culture, games, entertainment, music and art, NFT makes cryptocurrency more attractive and fashionable to more people, "Alex said.
When asked what he worries most about Web3.0, Alex says he's not a person who worries too much about anything. "I find it useless to worry about things that may or may not happen," he says.
"What's the point? When a problem arises, either things are out of your control or you respond and mitigate it as best you can. But worrying or hoping for the worst is pointless and counterproductive."
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