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This was my Token2049 calendar two years ago. Packed with side events because I said yes to everyone who invited me. Now I'm laser focused on a handful of events and fill the rest of my time with one-on-one meetings. The real value of conferences like Token isn't really the side events, it's that everyone's in town at the same time. You can have face-to-face conversations that make 10x more progress than a month of Zoom calls. Deep conversations > regular networking

You don't need to be technical to become valuable to crypto companies What you need is to understand how blockchain can apply to what you already know. Use your existing skills and expertise as your foundation, and leverage them to become irreplaceable

Hong Kong just got hit with the hardest storm of 2025–globally it was scary but we were never in any real danger. residential skyscrapers are designed with this sway in mind and utilities ran like every other day. government workers are already out surveying the damage and everyone will be back in the office tomorrow like nothing really happened none of this resilience gets built over night. it's taken decades of iteration across weather agencies, building codes, and various government and private services but the result it a city that can literally weather storms and get back to business with minimal downtime. proud to call Hong Kong home

I've gotten more opportunities from random conversations than strategic networking events The pub customer who changed my life wasn't there to make connections Yet most of crypto keeps networking with the same people at the same events expecting different results But during conferences, everyone has their guard up They're there to pitch, to get something, to make strategic connections... So every conversation ends up feeling like a transaction But random encounters are different. The pub regular who changed my life wasn't trying to network. He just liked our bar's name because it reminded him of his hometown. We talked about everything except business. He became a friend first, then mentioned his work in finance, then introduced me to his colleague who was hiring. None of it was planned or strategic. It was just genuine human connection. You can't manufacture serendipity, but you can increase your surface area for it. Have more real conversations with interesting people, regardless of whether they're in your industry. The next opportunity might come from the most unexpected place.

The most valuable companies of 2030 won't be the ones building the fanciest AI They'll be the boring ones using AI to reach markets everyone else ignored until now Think healthcare for rural communities, education financing in developing countries, or banking for small businesses that banks won't touch. The technology already exists, but it's not profitable ways to serve these customers. But AI changes that, now you can provide personalized service at scale to people who were previously unprofitable to help Innovation is great, but the real potential right now come from better distribution to underserved markets

The relationship-building playbook for introverts in crypto: When I started, I was terrible at small talk but great at building lasting connections My framework: 1. Pick 5 people doing interesting work 2. Study their projects deeply before reaching out 3. Offer specific help based on your skills 4. Follow through consistently for weeks/months 5. Build trust through reliable execution One-on-one coffee chats > networking events Async collaboration > forced conversations Helping with real problems > discussing market predictions Bonus tip: Geographic arbitrage works for relationships too While everyone fights for attention in events, I was building deep connections over video calls Introverts win through depth, not breadth

Some thoughts on founder success after working with tons of founders through our incubator: The ones who make it spend all their time thinking about what sucks for their users They'll completely flip their strategy when the data says they're wrong, but they never forget why they started building in the first place The ones who struggle fall in love with their product instead of the people using it They either keep polishing the same thing that nobody wants, or they chase every new trend without understanding why the last thing flopped The biggest tell is how they handle bad news, the best founders own the screwups and keep moving forward

Best hiring hack for crypto startups: Hire people who've built profitable side projects, regardless of their resume. A developer who made $1000 from a weekend project understands business better than one with a computer science PhD

I've worked across TradFi, fintech startups, and now Web3 Made some good moves and some terrible ones. Here's what I learned about choose the right crypto companies for your career: - Look for companies solving problems that existed before crypto Education financing, supply chain issues, cross-border payments. These won't disappear when the hype cycles end. - Join teams with diverse backgrounds The best Web3 companies I've seen combine traditional industry expertise with blockchain innovation. Avoid teams that are all crypto natives. - Check who they're actually building for If their customers are other crypto companies, you're in a circular economy. If they're serving regular people with real problems, you're creating new value - Ask about their business model beyond tokens How do they make money if crypto goes to zero? If they can't answer that clearly, keep looking. The best companies to join are solving real problems for normal people. They just happen to use blockchain to do it better.

Institutions aren't late to crypto. Crypto is early to institutions. Corporate treasury decisions take 12-18 months, government partnerships need 12-36 months, but Crypto Twitter expects results in 1-4 months. This impatience gap explains most "failed" partnerships

Open Campus events hit different Most crypto conferences feel transactional because everyone's networking, or looking for the next opportunity. Nothing wrong with that, but the energy is very surface level. EduFest was different. People showed up because they actually care about what we're building. You can feel it in the conversations, less talks about "what's your token doing" and more "how can we solve this problem together." That's the vibe I want to keep as a standard. If that resonates with you, I encourage you join future events.

Go from hacker to founder. OC-I is our commitment to helping hackthon winners and promising projects. Wanna go from 0-1 and get your first 1k users? We'll make that happen for you.

Higher.

Nobody knows how HTTPS or TLS protocols work, but everyone uses them safely every day. Yet right now, crypto asks users to navigate private keys, gas fees, and multiple chains which is a huge friction for the average person Winning projects are building infrastructure that abstracts away complexity. Users should benefit from decentralized apps without needing a blockchain crash course EDU chain designs systems where students can access global education financing without knowing anything about blockchain. They just get better student loans rates and more opportunities This is a huge first step to overcome that barrier Technology should disappear into the background and value should be obvious in the foreground

Things I believed about crypto in 2021 vs now: Then: "Everyone will be their own bank" Now: Most people can't even remember their Netflix password Then: "DeFi will replace traditional finance" Now: My grandma still can't figure out MetaMask We're not ready for retail yet

I've gotten more opportunities from random conversations than strategic networking events The pub customer who changed my life wasn't there to make connections Yet most of crypto keeps networking with the same people at the same events expecting different results But during conferences, everyone has their guard up They're there to pitch, to get something, to make strategic connections... So every conversation ends up feeling like a transaction But random encounters are different. The pub regular who changed my life wasn't trying to network. He just liked our bar's name because it reminded him of his hometown. We talked about everything except business. He became a friend first, then mentioned his work in finance, then introduced me to his colleague who was hiring. None of it was planned or strategic. It was just genuine human connection. You can't manufacture serendipity, but you can increase your surface area for it. Have more real conversations with interesting people, regardless of whether they're in your industry. The next opportunity might come from the most unexpected place.

"How do I get normal users instead of just crypto natives?" I get this question a lot, the answer depends on what you're building Some products need crypto natives, others can serve anyone At OpenCampus, we're solving real education problems, so we had to learn how to reach normal people Here's what worked for us: First, get away from the "crypto" tag. For most people, crypto means scams or gambling We position ourselves like a real education company, not a crypto project Second, partner with institutions people already trust In our case, universities don't just announce partnerships and walk away. They run systems, train staff, invest resources Plus, when Cambridge backs you, parents listen. Third, show actual results that matters outside of crypto Twitter. Student employment rates, loan default rates, cost savings... Last, be compliant. We do KYC even though it adds friction. Most competitors won't be serious enough to do this, so it becomes your advantage. All in all, it comes down to asking yourself: if you were in their shoes, what would it take to trust you?

The relationship-building playbook for introverts in crypto: When I started, I was terrible at small talk but great at building lasting connections My framework: 1. Pick 5 people doing interesting work 2. Study their projects deeply before reaching out 3. Offer specific help based on your skills 4. Follow through consistently for weeks/months 5. Build trust through reliable execution One-on-one coffee chats > networking events Async collaboration > forced conversations Helping with real problems > discussing market predictions Bonus tip: Geographic arbitrage works for relationships too While everyone fights for attention in events, I was building deep connections over video calls Introverts win through depth, not breadth

CT celebrates founders who: - Raise $50M pre-product - Get 100K followers with 0 users - Write viral tweets Real users reward founders who: - Solve problems they actually have - Build products that work - Ship more than they tweet Guess which one builds real businesses?

Mass adoption was always the goal. Everyone forgot about it after last cycle. We didn't. While others chased token prices, we kept building for real users with real problems. The goal is still the same: to improve how the world works.

Hong Kong just got hit with the hardest storm of 2025–globally it was scary but we were never in any real danger. residential skyscrapers are designed with this sway in mind and utilities ran like every other day. government workers are already out surveying the damage and everyone will be back in the office tomorrow like nothing really happened none of this resilience gets built over night. it's taken decades of iteration across weather agencies, building codes, and various government and private services but the result it a city that can literally weather storms and get back to business with minimal downtime. proud to call Hong Kong home

Crypto products fall into two categories: Built for crypto people or built for everyone else One group is just recycling money within the same bubble. The other is bringing new value into the space. Pretty obvious which will last

Some thoughts on founder success after working with tons of founders through our incubator: The ones who make it spend all their time thinking about what sucks for their users They'll completely flip their strategy when the data says they're wrong, but they never forget why they started building in the first place The ones who struggle fall in love with their product instead of the people using it They either keep polishing the same thing that nobody wants, or they chase every new trend without understanding why the last thing flopped The biggest tell is how they handle bad news, the best founders own the screwups and keep moving forward

You don't need to be technical to become valuable to crypto companies What you need is to understand how blockchain can apply to what you already know. Use your existing skills and expertise as your foundation, and leverage them to become irreplaceable

Harsh truth: Your crypto project isn't "disrupting" anything if institutions ignore you. I see projects making moon plans while assuming current systems will just give up their spot... That's not how the world works. Real disruption means institutions choose your solution over what they're using now. Not because they love crypto, but because you solve their problems better. Most crypto companies claiming to be "institutional grade" have never actually worked with institutions. They don't understand compliance requirements, risk management, or how decisions actually get made. Building something technically impressive isn't enough. You need to understand why a bank would risk their license to use your product, or why a university would bet their accreditation on your platform. Disruption without adoption is just expensive hobby projects.

The education system is broken 2 billion people want education but can't get loans for it as banks only lend in their own countries We're fixing this with blockchain Right now, if you're born in Nigeria, you're mostly stuck with Nigerian education options. If you're in rural Indonesia, you can't access courses from MIT. Geography determines opportunity. But what if it didn't? What if a student in Lagos could get financing for a course at Cambridge, or someone in Vietnam could access the same opportunities as someone in Silicon Valley? That's what we're building. Borderless education financing means students anywhere can learn from anywhere. The regulatory stuff is complex, but we're figuring out how to make cross-border education loans work. Different countries, different rules, but the same goal - getting people access to education regardless of where they were born. Opportunity shouldn't be limited by your passport.

The majority of crypto projects die because they never escape the echo chamber. They build for crypto people, market to crypto people, and wonder why they can't scale beyond a few thousand users. OpenCampus is breaking out of the bubble.

Joining an incubator is one of the smartest moves for new founders You get to: - Meet other founders and mentors - Learn proven methods - Stay accountable with weekly check ins Here's what we actually look for when deciding who to work with: You need to start with a real problem that bugs you personally. If you can't explain why this keeps you up at night, no one will be interested Show us you've talked to actual people about it. Not your friends, but real potential users who are genuinely frustrated with how things work now. We'd rather see a simple landing page that got 100 email signups than a beautiful app nobody uses The best founders know their first idea is probably wrong, and they're willing to change direction when users tell them something different Most applications are people who built something cool and then went looking for a problem to solve Whereas the winners started with a problem they couldn't stop thinking about Figure out if people actually care about what you're building first and foremost. Everything else will be smoother from that point

This was my Token2049 calendar two years ago. Packed with side events because I said yes to everyone who invited me. Now I'm laser focused on a handful of events and fill the rest of my time with one-on-one meetings. The real value of conferences like Token isn't really the side events, it's that everyone's in town at the same time. You can have face-to-face conversations that make 10x more progress than a month of Zoom calls. Deep conversations > regular networking