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The Only Guide You Need To Build A Career In Web3, with Tzahi Kanza, CEO of Syndika
3 Plays3 minutes ago
In this episode, Jack sits down with Tzahi Kanza, founder of Syndika, to unpack what nine years deep in Web3 really teaches you, from why most founders fall in love with the wrong ideas, to how market reality brutally exposes weak assumptions.
They explore why Web3 is fundamentally different from Web2, how founders should validate ideas before raising capital, why “technical CEO” is often a red flag, and how young operators can build outsized careers faster than in any other industry.
From startup failure patterns to institutional money, alt-season myths, and the future of Web3 talent, this is a grounded, no-nonsense conversation for founders, builders, and anyone serious about building in crypto.
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Transcript
Introduction and Background
00:00:00
Speaker
Sahi, welcome to the show. How are you? Thanks a lot. Yeah, all good. Thank you for inviting me. Yeah, no problem. For people who don't know who you are, before we get into the podcast, could you give us a bit of an introduction, please?
00:00:16
Speaker
um Yeah, as you can see, I'm a lot of time in technology. I've done a lot of web 2.0 startups mostly. I'm Israeli, so it's more common here because it's small country.
Syndica's Mission and Role
00:00:28
Speaker
It's more common to work with startups than corporates.
00:00:32
Speaker
And 10 years ago, nine and a half years ago, started to do web 3.0. just ah I have no clue even why. It's just a friend told me there's something interesting called smart contracts and if I can assist.
00:00:45
Speaker
And since then, I'm working in Web3. I've done a lot of projects, startups. um And now I have one startup that I'm really deep into it. And our company, my company, it's called Syndica, which we can talk a little bit later, maybe.
00:01:03
Speaker
Yeah, absolutely. i was going to ask, actually, before we, again, before we dive into the podcast too deeply, if you could just give us a bit of an intro to what it is that you're building, like what is Syndica, like talk us through it. Okay, great.
00:01:15
Speaker
So basically when we started in Web3, like I said, it was a just a friend didn't know what to do because he needed is some kind of smart contract developer and I didn't know what is a smart contract. So I needed to dig a little bit and find out. And we started, it was the first startup that we started. And then because I was in IT before, I was in software and I knew a lot of how to grow startups.
00:01:41
Speaker
and and We started to give it as a service to others, other Israeli companies and web-free startups all over. And it was back in the
Challenges in Web3 Entrepreneurship
00:01:52
Speaker
old days and most of the entrepreneurs then, we found out slowly, slowly or quickly, quickly that they they have no clue about the new world of web-free. They have an idea, they think, but so, sooner than later, a lot of them asked us to assist them in other stuff, not only the technology. So,
00:02:11
Speaker
And as we all know, Web3 is a very wide, ah because it's very new, it's very wide. Because as an entrepreneur, you're expected to to to do to know everything, right? So a startup that is one year old needs to be now a traded company and yeah employ market makers. This is something that is really, let's say, doesn't make sense at all.
00:02:36
Speaker
in in the the old world, right? Entrepreneur, after they go to NASDAQ, you know, and the company is 1,000 people and they have, i don't know, 50 people in the finance, they have no clue what the market maker is doing.
00:02:49
Speaker
And here, 23-year-old guy needs to understand what is the market making. um So what happened is slowly, slowly, we become more and more involved with the project that we're doing.
00:03:02
Speaker
and And we developed our own mechanism. So basically, Syndica is around 60 people. Our core is technology and BizDev and BD, let's call it general BD for startups.
00:03:15
Speaker
But really our core is first of all to make sure that the product is working.
00:03:21
Speaker
And then for a new startup, it can go to the next day step. so We see a new startup, we think that strong team, good team, good idea. And then we join very early and put all the efforts to bring them to the next step.
00:03:37
Speaker
Next step means a
Support and Services for Startups
00:03:41
Speaker
a product with a market fit. That's in one sentence. So investor will take a look and we say, okay, makes sense. I want to invest, right?
00:03:52
Speaker
People in the web three will take a look and we'll say, okay, it's needed. um So this takes time, it takes time for planning, but also to test it. So sometimes you can test by just asking people questions, which is easy relatively if you know the right people to ask.
00:04:11
Speaker
But sometimes it's not enough, you need to to to build something because it's very, very difficult to ask someone if you had something how do you How would you use it, right? It's impossible sometimes.
00:04:23
Speaker
um It's possible to ask, but you cannot trust the answer. So before running, let's make a proof of concept. So all these processes to organize all this machine, that's what we're doing. And usually after half a year, one year, we we're out, basically, at the beginning, we're very, very involved. like and five six seven eight people from our team on a daily basis and then hopefully they raise more money and they know what they're doing, there's enough people so they can take care and we can be advisors. So in the last nine years, we've done almost 20 projects like this, some smaller, some bigger from our involvement
00:05:03
Speaker
one of them is very big and i was involved like for four years let's say really a lot because it was a big infrastructure And in addition, Syndica is also doing a service, technology as a service, which is that's a 95% service and 5% we always always assist our clients with whatever they need.
Advice for Aspiring Entrepreneurs
00:05:24
Speaker
Connections, let's think together, let's plan together. And the other thing Syndica is doing, Syndica is a a syndicate of founders. in the In the years working in the ecosystem, we found out one of the biggest problem of entrepreneurs is other entrepreneurs to to get good information.
00:05:45
Speaker
Reliable and also quick because you can research, no problem, but it will take you a month. but you don't have a month for every question. So if you have someone reliable, let's say in the Web3 banking, then it's easy.
00:05:59
Speaker
You're not sure, okay, what is the common, let's say fee that the people, delay you know, take from a moving crypto to fiat in the Philippines using a debit cards? Who knows, right?
00:06:12
Speaker
An expert knows. Otherwise if you need to research, it will take you really a lot of time. So this kind of things, or for example, let's say what are the requirements for KYC in different countries. In a specific country you need to know because you're not sure and you have a client that is asking. So you can do the research, bring three other lawyers and they after one year come up with a book with the answer.
00:06:38
Speaker
But ah basically a good entrepreneur needs to understand opportunities. both from taking advantage of the opportunities and also close these opportunities that the waste, that are wasting these energy.
00:06:54
Speaker
a lot of time entrepreneurs look for, I'm bringing in great opportunity. Okay, the opportunity is not great. You know, the opportunity is opportunity.
00:07:06
Speaker
right now the question is is it great or is it really bad so in the way to decide if it's really bad you don't it's really important not to waste time and and i see it's really hurting a lot of entrepreneurs wasting time on things they shouldn't and they do it because they really is very difficult for them to understand the opportunity sure so it's a long answer for a short question No, it's interesting. It's interesting. It sounds like you're making it ah easy or easier for entrepreneurs to really get started. um Or at least so that they don't necessarily have to deep dive so much into every single topic, right? Like they can they can focus on what they're good at, which is, as you said, spotting the opportunity, getting something built. And then rather than having to spend all the time and researching
00:07:58
Speaker
everything that you could possibly imagine wearing every single hat uh yeah you guys can kind of take from over that and there um just while we're on that on that uh subject it sounds like you've had a super entrepreneurial journey uh so far are there any like key lessons have stuck with you throughout that whole journey that you just fall back on like time and time again stuff that always crops up Yeah. First of all, unfortunately, there's a lot, you know, because you see a lot and you understand a lot. But I think one of the biggest thing is that people say, i need to to
00:08:37
Speaker
i need a startup. I must have a startup. And okay, let's think now about a small thing, the idea of the startup. This is not important. What's important is the startup. So let's spend a few hours and think about the idea and then let's go, which is a huge, huge mistake. people get in love with their solutions, even if they they never tested them, they never took a look at the competition really deeply.
00:09:02
Speaker
And it's I think it's something amazing. And I don't think it's ah I think it's like really something that is built in. in in human beings, you know, like protective mechanism, I don't want to know because if I will know, right, maybe I'll see that what I have is not so great.
00:09:21
Speaker
You know what I mean? and And you see it in a lot of things, you know, a lot of people believe in something and ask why do you believe? Did you try other things? No, no, no, of course not.
00:09:32
Speaker
Why not? If you believe then try it and increase your belief. No, they don't want to increase it. They are afraid that it will be broken. Now they they feel it here.
00:09:43
Speaker
Okay, I'm in peace and quiet. No problem. so If you decide to live in one village and you don't want to test other villages and you say my village is best, okay, no problem. But because you're not in a competition, but in startups you're in a deadly competition.
00:09:59
Speaker
So if you don't check, you have no chance. And the the usual process would be something like this. You have, let's say that you're a good guy, whatever people like you and you're trusted, whatever. So you'll be able to raise the first pre-seed,
00:10:15
Speaker
And then you're starting ah a marathon, you know, with money for a, you know, for very, very short distance. But you said, okay, I started already.
00:10:27
Speaker
Can I go back now? so Because I'm started. So what you started? No, I started. And then you're wasting one or two years of your life a for nothing. And this is, I think the the the worst thing that people in startup are doing. They're starting.
00:10:44
Speaker
to be committed to the ID before really checking if this is the right ID. and And what happens usually is a huge frustration because after you do one startup that is not working, it's not that you will start another one in two minutes.
00:11:00
Speaker
It takes time to to to close it. It takes time to over... And and there are different types, right? that There are the good types and there are bad types. You know, the bad types is that you run out of money and then you need to work few months without salary, so you need, and you're a young guy or young girl, so you can, you need really need to work quick in another place and it's not a very positive experience.
00:11:25
Speaker
So if if you need, if I need to say one thing is, don't go fast to the idea and really check everything. It's, you really need to be the expert in this field, not only a tech, let's say,
00:11:42
Speaker
Let's say that your product is 100% technology and you're a tech guy.
The Role of a CEO in Startups
00:11:46
Speaker
Okay, genius. Okay, no problem. great so you're the guy that can do it i'm sure i'm positive you're the one that can do it now what about the competition if the competitor you know just raised i don't know 800 million dollars yesterday do you think you can compete okay maybe yes but at least check it don't start working when you have a giant you have a monster next to you and you don't even take a look or you think okay i can beat the monster why because i'm smart no
00:12:16
Speaker
You know what I mean? So I think this is the, just people fall in love with the idea. when the With the idea of also being entrepreneur, right? I'm an entrepreneur, i I have a startup. Okay, so what? you know it's not a The target is not to have the startup, I think, I hope.
00:12:35
Speaker
no for sure I'm sure it it might be the ah for some people, right? I think maybe if you're 60, you know, and you want to spend your time, you know, and you can say, okay, I have a startup, you know, and you're happy about it, maybe. as But young guys are doing it, I think, to be successful, to make money, to, you know, go to next step, not to retire, you know, we in the That is not to to spend ah time you know doing nothing, right? 100%.
00:13:02
Speaker
100%. Yeah. So where do you where do you go then to test these ideas? Where do you go? like Do you just chat to people that you know in a particular industry? Do you ah build a proof of concept, try and grab a bunch of users and and try and test the idea? like How how do you do it? Yeah.
00:13:21
Speaker
It's really, most of the things that we discussed today, right, depends on really on on the case, because it's not very clear all the time. But let's say that ah you have some kind of technology, you think that it's unique.
00:13:37
Speaker
Let's start with this, that there are very, very few technologies that they are unique, like inventing the wheel, right? So it's not that, you know, not that surprising. People can imagine what does it mean?
00:13:51
Speaker
Right? so So, you have the technology and you and you want to know and where it's needed. So, you should imagine yourself, let's say that you have a technology, I don't know, it's like an example for privacy.
00:14:05
Speaker
Okay, specific, it doesn't matter. You know, how to hide data on blockchain, you know, I have a more efficient, faster, what doesn't matter what. That can be better for one, two, three. No problem.
00:14:16
Speaker
Let's find the use case because you can say, okay, I'm going for the generic. Okay, yeah I will build a tool that you can use to hide everything. What do you want to hide? It's your problem, right? It's not my problem. I give you the tool.
00:14:30
Speaker
This is one way. It's good usually when you're the first. Why? Because you say, okay, I'll be the first. Maybe when someone needs it, it will come to me.
00:14:41
Speaker
And if I have enough, let's say, money in my pocket, I can be patient for this you know to come if you take one year two years doesn't matter and then but if not you need to find the use case so how do you find the use case first of all you need to think where you're better than other solution you should think and then really talk to people that want to give you their time they they give you their time for assisting you it's not that you want to sell them the product
00:15:17
Speaker
No, you you ask them, where do you have a problem? The base of everything is a problem. If there's no problem, but you cannot solve, right?
00:15:28
Speaker
you know And if you cannot solve, nobody will pay you for solving. So where are you going? So if you think there's a problem, It's not good enough. They should tell you, the guy with the problem, you know the guy in the hospital should tell you, I have a problem, something is hurting me. If you say, no, no, no, something is hurting you and the guy says, okay, but I feel nothing and we'll go to to the beach, right?
00:15:50
Speaker
It's not like that. You need to ask the the the patient, where is the problem? And he should say, yes, here is the problem. And then, first of all, one is not enough, right?
00:16:02
Speaker
But then after that, the question is, okay, How severe is the problem? Meaning how much you'll be happy to pay for fixing the problem if there is a problem, but it's very small.
00:16:15
Speaker
So, you know, no money there, right? Nobody will pay you really what you need. And then the question is, how many people have the same problem? Because if there's only two, one in ah Jamaica and one in Singapore with the same problem, it's not enough.
00:16:32
Speaker
It's not enough. You can... So you need to see, okay, there is a problem, it's big enough, so people will be, let's say, there to put attention to solving it.
00:16:44
Speaker
And then there's enough problems like this so I can multiply. it um and a lot of times you just don't do it. In a lot of, let's say, standard decks, right, when you prepare a deck of, you know, so...
00:16:59
Speaker
they here they are the traditional questions. What is the total market, whatever. And then people say, you know throw numbers. you know I'm selling shoes, okay, the total market is, if I sell to the whole world for 50 years, how many shoes I will make? No, but it will it will never happen.
00:17:15
Speaker
loved it But this is the the that's the problem. So if you say to investor, no problem. But if you say to yourself, it's a big problem because Do you believe you will sell shoes to other people in the world? you know Of course not.
00:17:32
Speaker
So why do you write it? um Check exactly who will buy your shoes. um um And it's funny to see that people after one year, two years in startup, when problems start to occur, they realize they didn't do it before.
00:17:49
Speaker
They have no clue. about what really they have no clue like not clue generally they are not top experts in what they're doing they don't know every feature that the competitor has they don't know um and then you waste your time and then when the failure come it comes from very very basic things i can give a lot of example if you want but uh Think about the simple of the simple of the simple. People say, I'm doing it cheaper.
00:18:21
Speaker
Okay, no problem. Good advantage. How much cheaper? And does this delta is good enough for people to move from one solution that they know to another one? I usually give the the the example of Gmail.
00:18:36
Speaker
I'm sure there are a better solutions than Gmail. I'm sure, 100%. I'm sure they are cheaper solutions than Gmail, but people are used to it, you know, and it it doesn't cost them $1 million dollars a day, so they'll, you know, the it's not a big problem for for for them. They pay $6 a month. They're happy.
00:18:53
Speaker
You want me to save $1 and spend, you know, two years of searching? So understand where you live. It's really the most important as entrepreneur.
00:19:05
Speaker
I like that. a Second, yeah. I think that's really good. Second thing, and now i will I will not talk about it a lot, but the CEO all needs to be all over the place, has to be. So you cannot say I'm a technical CEO.
00:19:19
Speaker
Technical CTO. you There is no technical CEO. CEO is in charge of everything. oh It's not that you can say, i will define CEO differently so the company will behave like this. No, the company needs to to have a CEO.
00:19:35
Speaker
If you want to be technical, be CTO. If you want to be cleaner, be the cleaner. But you cannot see CEO cleaner because CEO is taking responsibility of everything, raising money,
00:19:48
Speaker
Taking a look at technology is going great. The marketing is going well. BD, he is the... Right? So if you want to be CEO, it's not only to feel that I'm the top person in the company.
00:20:04
Speaker
It's not. Usually it's not the best. Actually, it's maybe one of the worst positions in the company. Yeah, but I guess if it's your...
00:20:14
Speaker
If it's your startup, then you you take that responsibility, right? Like you own everything. You you kind of own decision making. Yeah, you take that responsibility on your on your shoulders, right? it's kind of what
Web2 vs. Web3 Startups
00:20:27
Speaker
you sign up for up to a point, obviously, until you can then hire in maybe a leadership team who ah can help or has done it before or something like that. And then you can move into a slightly different role perhaps. But um yeah, the responsibility sits sits with you, right?
00:20:41
Speaker
do you want do Do you see many of the similar sorts of problems in the Web3 space as well? Is that very specific to Web3 startups or is anything else that kind of crops up when it comes to Web3 startups specifically?
00:20:55
Speaker
Any other challenges stuff? ah First of all, if you compare Web 2 and Web 3, in Web 2 you have a a lot of entrepreneurs, right, that worked 15 years in the industry?
00:21:09
Speaker
Yeah. And, okay, made a change. In Web 3 it's not like that. you know There's nobody 15 years old that did something. And even like three years old, it's different products. So if you want to compete, look about the Web 2 giants, right, or successful products.
00:21:28
Speaker
they are known, they have a lot of market. So this is one type. The second type in Web3 is more young guys that come with specific ID for specific market, which you can see.
00:21:41
Speaker
In Web3, it's very unique because a lot of the startups are very, very
00:21:51
Speaker
new new concepts, right? New concepts trying to change something from, and you you you see always, we revolutionize this, we revolutionize that. It's not that we improve, it's not with that we do something better. No, we are change.
00:22:05
Speaker
And the the the market is so new and so fragmented that the it's very, very difficult. You know, the market is too young. It's too young for really comparing it into Web2 from my feeling
00:22:24
Speaker
And it's coming also from the infrastructure. Let's take a look at the Web3, right? So we started Bitcoin, right? Then Ethereum, no problem. Then oh i'm I'm leaving aside, you know, the Litecoin, all of this Bitcoin cash, whatever.
00:22:39
Speaker
But in the last two years, have, I don't know, 20, 30 new L2s. So each one of them needs... Lending in all the defy tools and and all the infrastructure tool and the wallets whatever so there's a lot of going on but it's not really new it's you can say copy paste The market is is too young is really too young in order to Really put a finger this startup is entrepreneur and this one is ah just doing something same for a new L2, right?
00:23:14
Speaker
so
00:23:18
Speaker
web two is crazy you i really believe it's very different this is why it's not going into joining web 2 and become the same it's too different yesterday i talked to a friend about being a product product manager in web 3 and he asked me okay how does it look in web 2 and how many you take a very very professional guy in web 2 to a product for twenty years i don't know for the big theory i don't know
00:23:50
Speaker
tree he will feel that he fell into a new world he doesn't know what we're talking about at all zero nothing he doesn't know what is the wallet so what do you mean database we don't have right what can you talk about so ah blockchains no clue ah different you know why you have different you know let's use one impossible so It's still very distant. I think it will take a lot of, let's say, more than five years, three years, until a product product manager will, in let's say, in fintech, will have to know blockchain as well.
00:24:33
Speaker
That's a minimum in in fintech, because a lot of the infrastructure we will be on blockchain. So at least the basic, he would need to know. But we're not there at all. so I think it's also an opportunity.
00:24:49
Speaker
If you want to be product manager in the Google, you cannot be as young as you can do it in our industry. Strong guy in the Web3, can know a lot of projects, products, whatever.
00:25:06
Speaker
Yeah, I agree. It's definitely an industry. like If you're at the start bureau start of your career, you can really carve the name out for yourself super, super quickly um and be in amazing positions after two years, three years. You can be chief product officer at a at a major protocol and stuff just because you can deep dive so much into that particular topic.
00:25:28
Speaker
Yeah. I think I'm going to get it small into it.
00:25:33
Speaker
a specific startup that is doing something that is very hot. Let's say now let's take two examples. Prediction market that is now very hot and let's take ah for perps. right So let's say that these two companies, new one, old, doesn't matter. They need a strong smart contract to do it on Solana. Smart contract line. How many like this you have? you know Really?
00:25:53
Speaker
How many in the whole world that have experience with that? Exactly. So you don't need to be 50 and you don't need to be 40 and you can be 11. Who cares?
00:26:05
Speaker
You just did it in the last two years. You can make
00:26:10
Speaker
five times more than any other developer anywhere. so 100%, Just the other day, maybe like two or three days ago, i saw a an advert that was posted for a smart contract engineer on, I think it was like five hundred k base. Yeah, for what? like war like For which a specific... like ah Solidity, that was.
00:26:34
Speaker
Solidity for what? But it's not a regular one, right? Probably the need for something specific. Yeah, it was a, it was a deep I can't remember the DeFi protocol. It was a DeFi protocol. So like they needed to solicit engineers worked in in doing a ton of different DeFi stuff. But yeah um crazy. I mean, and there wasn't a, there wouldn't be like a limit on that. There wouldn't be a, you need a minimum of X amount of experience. It's as long as you've delivered and written these contracts for projects with this amount of TV out, like you can, you can
Opportunities and Challenges in Web3 Markets
00:27:02
Speaker
get these jobs. um Whereas if you were to look at a comparable role in
00:27:07
Speaker
web 2 the people that were going for those roles would be 20 25 years into their career as an individual contributor they'd have done all this stuff throughout their career and that kind of stuff whereas a smart contract engineer you could have you could have been the protocol for two years and be walking into that type of for good and bad for good and bad because tomorrow perhaps will be old and they need something new and then you'll be just a regular solidity developer and they'll want to give you ten k a month ah but yeah but it doesn't matter you know just processes are different in world 3 still because it's so young because it's so new uh for good and bad yeah i was gonna say which is a good thing but also can be a bad thing right i think of course um maybe some of the not all the time obviously but i think some of the
00:27:59
Speaker
Some of the things that have helped Web2 companies scale and help the product scale and grow and that kind of stuff in Web2 gets overlooked maybe sometimes in Web3, which can kind of hinder the growth sometimes and that kind of stuff. And I think it's treated very, very differently.
00:28:13
Speaker
um And as you said, it's like good and bad because, I mean, if we try to bring some more of Web2 stuff over, maybe it would help with the growth and that kind of stuff. But it's hard to know, right?
00:28:26
Speaker
It's very difficult to know. It's very difficult to know. we We can, if it's okay to open you know our discussion, right? It's okay? or we get yeah Let's take a look what happened in November, right? When Trump entered.
00:28:41
Speaker
He changed a lot. A lot for the bad, but let's focus on the good because for us... Okay, let's start with the bad. The intervention between politics you know and Web3 not a good idea, I think.
00:28:53
Speaker
so But let's do that and spend all the time for the good. or let's say not the good, let's on the change. Now, what changed is that ah the focus now can be on more institutional money, right? Because when everything is clear, then the... And what we see, I think, ah is that a lot of money is going now, let's let's say in in the past, when it was what we call a bull run or whatever, it doesn't matter how we call it, then a lot of money went into the startups. Why? Because we said, okay, there's...
00:29:26
Speaker
the market becoming bigger let's put it in startup because there there's a need for new products and when we started here i see the market is going into let's say three things one is the startups and i see it's really better because if you take a look at startups that are going to mainnet and issue their token i really see very difficult results in the last let's say year so it's not going there and And the second thing that we see is um that a lot of money is going into the trading part or let's say the making money part of crypto.
00:30:04
Speaker
So basically, okay, let's make ah treasury company. Let's make another stablecoin. Let's do remitter. All of this part. which the innovation there is, let's say, not top.
00:30:16
Speaker
And then the third thing is ah going to web three startups that are making big money. What do I mean? For example, perpetuals. and Later you can explain to me the difference between a perpetual and gambling, and I'll be happy to hear it. And there's also prediction market. And if you also want to explain the difference between this and gambling, I'll also be happy to hear it.
00:30:39
Speaker
But it doesn't matter. It makes money and a lot of money is going there. um So if it's me, I really prefer that the money would go to the startups, right? Because I really love Web3 and I really love it to see new things. And I really believe believe that from new things we see, let's say, and let's not exaggerate better world, but let's say more efficient way to handle our ah activity here.
00:31:06
Speaker
So um this thing changes the industry. so if this will continue to be in the next three four years
00:31:17
Speaker
where will we be we will be that probably bitcoin is up ethereum is up solana is up new startups like you know the big ones will be up but all the rest not sure and they will need to find another solution for themselves not the regular way that they've done until now and maybe maybe like in web two that they should work under a big company right so it's a be like an accelerator for a specific company, let's say. I don't i don't want to throw names, but let's say yeah Google of the web three okay, one of them will say, okay, you know, I'm interested in 12345. I'm giving out on 100K, so you go, and and I will be the first client, something like this, maybe.
00:32:11
Speaker
But the market is changing, and I think after a year, and now with trump we we can really understand that it's not going to change or i don't see how it will change remember the the talk about ah
00:32:28
Speaker
Alts bull run which is not coming at all so out season exactly out season where is it do you think now it's time to sorry no go no no I'm saying you know If you don't believe me, take a look at the numbers, right? Now, after a year, I think ah you you want to wait 10 years to see alt season is not coming. No problem. Let's wait 10 years. But I think it's too much. One year is enough.
00:32:59
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. No, I tend to agree. I tend to agree. I think there'll be there'll be pockets that will will obviously do really well and explode. But the whole thing of like everything always goes up during an alt season. Like, yeah, I think there's going to be a lot of people left.
00:33:13
Speaker
A lot of people left holding the bag, doing round trips on bags for a long time, I think, when it comes to um yeah to stuff that they bought. um The positive thing is Just to say just the one sentence. The positive thing is that I think that institutions, financial institutions will understand that that they need to go this direction because of they will see that others are doing and and they make money. It's very simple.
00:33:38
Speaker
You see a competitor makes money, you need to
Career Planning in Web3
00:33:41
Speaker
change. so I also believe that Stadler can offer something to institutions.
00:33:51
Speaker
Yeah. We'll enjoy this. you um Do you think that that is something that people need to be aware of now about the industry before joining it? Like before you could join a project and were guaranteed that the token was going to go up and you were going to have all this money you can invest and build something and that kind of thing. But obviously now, if not everything goes up,
00:34:11
Speaker
Does that then make it way more risky to join various different Web3 startups and stuff? do you think that is something that people should be aware? You may mean join as a team member or or yeah as an investor?
00:34:23
Speaker
As a team member. Both. both both and much because it affect It affects both, right? um you think that or Do you think there's something else that people should be aware of before they join the industry? Like anything like this?
00:34:36
Speaker
I don't know. I think in general, okay, very general, people need to understand that Web3 is a unique industry. It's small, really small.
00:34:47
Speaker
Like if you're an expert in Web3, you go to Web2 and you have no idea what they do there. Same as what happened here. People in Web2 are not communicating, you know, in telegrams with the potential clients. They are not... ah yeah It's not going like this. It's totally not going like this. The investors are usually not exactly the same. How many, let's say, VCs that are working like VCs in Web 2 and Web 3? Most of the investments are the crypto funds, the angels. It's really a messy industry in this perspective.
00:35:26
Speaker
a I'm talking about the 80%. I'm not talking about, ah let's say, the 20% that raise money like this. So it's very, very different. And there's a risk that if something is going wrong, then it won't be easy. Let's say that it's a difficult time in Web3.
00:35:44
Speaker
It won't be easy to to to find a work in Web3. On the other hand, if you're an expert in Web3, there's a lot of opportunities, a lot. So ah
00:35:59
Speaker
I really believe do what you, At the end, looking long term, you should do something that you really believe you'll be good at. Because if you believe that this is where you should be and you have the energy and you will spend the energy,
00:36:15
Speaker
right you can just take a position and work ah eight hours a day or you can be take the same position and work 12, not because you work harder. but because you really like it. So you read material, you talk to people, you meet people, it's what you like to do and you go deep.
00:36:33
Speaker
So you'll be good at it. And at the end, successful people are everywhere, right? They just need to be in the right position. Yeah, i think that's I think that's a good point because I...
00:36:47
Speaker
I speak to a lot of people actually who um they may not be necessarily feeling like they're performing in a particular role, they may have been let go, whatever it might be, and then they end up joining another project or another team and then you see them absolutely thrive. and as far as the flowers Of course, of course.
00:37:03
Speaker
I think a lot of it, I don't know, obviously just making up percentages, but good 60-70% work you
00:37:15
Speaker
60, 70% of your success is probably down to your environment and whether or not you're actually fully invested in that particular brand and business, right? like You could have the same skill work at work in a different company and not be able to... Of course, of course. We say it like like this. We say there's no bad employee. There's an employee not in the right position. you know yeah yeah It's not that you're not good. You're not the right person for this position.
00:37:37
Speaker
So go ah go from this position to a position when you will be better. that that it's It's not about you that you're bad or good. No, in this position, it's not your position.
00:37:49
Speaker
So it's very easy to to understand and also very easy to explain to people that you don't accept to, ah to a let's say they go into interview and they want you to explain. So they need to understand it's it's not, you need to find a position that you will be the best over there from all the reason your experience, the way you treat people, you you you like to work with people you know in the same office, or it's difficult for you to work remote, or... doesn't matter. There are 3,000 things that you know with a specific management in this company, I don't know, they are, let's say, Vietnamese.
00:38:26
Speaker
Do you manage with with Vietnamese? Because you know It's personal. so These guys are more difficult. you know These guys are more gentle. this one soul Don't take it difficult. Just find the best build position for you.
00:38:44
Speaker
It's not really 100% about the position in you. right It's a combination. so yeah agree i was going to ask you actually like say if someone wants to come and work in the industry and they're trying to look for that first role they're trying to break in like do you have any advice for how they can actually land that first gig in web3 because it'd be quite difficult to break in right yeah i first of all i think you need to to to find the right thing that you want to go for
00:39:16
Speaker
Let's say that you're a tech guy or you're not a tech guy. You have different opportunities, right? then you need to see what's going on in the industry related to the future or your future in this industry. But let's say that you chose one, a then it's really, really difficult to see how to start.
00:39:37
Speaker
But like always, think...
00:39:43
Speaker
You need good connections. You need someone to trust in you or believe in you and give you the opportunities. Otherwise, it's a it's not easy. But I'm not sure also that finding the first position Web3, it depends what you're doing, right? If it's tech, it's it's very, let's say, straightforward.
00:40:05
Speaker
But in other positions, a lot of time, the position that you will get is not bringing you anywhere. That's one of the problems. So you will do this in the in the next company after one half years. You'll do the same and probably with the same salary because, okay, maybe a little bit more because you have a little bit more experience and they don't need to teach you for one month.
00:40:29
Speaker
Two days is enough. But after three years, what will happen? Right? Four. So I think one of the things is not only where to start, but let's see that this place is bringing you to
00:40:44
Speaker
to a future that is there right so let's say you you want to be bd no problem take a look at bidding in this industry with five years experience where are they this is what you want to be right yeah um that's a good way of looking at it because don't think a lot of people really plan that far ahead i think people especially young people look very very for good and bad you know but sometimes you don't have a choice right you need to to work somewhere you You need to bring home, I don't know, 1K, 2K, 3K, 10K, that doesn't matter.
00:41:21
Speaker
So you say, OK, for now it's good. Let's see about the future later. And you get stuck, right, in that in that cycle. So I think, yeah, being quite intentional, especially in Web3, you'd be surprised how and I guess you alluded to this as well, but you'd be surprised how um much impact it can actually have if you're super intentional about who you want to work for, the types of problems you want to work on, the types of things that you start to learn and be really intentional about those things. You'd be really surprised like how far you can get.
00:41:52
Speaker
and Let's say you were ah working for, or really like the Sound of Lending protocols, for example. and you thought right i want to be a bd in a lending protocol you learn every single thing there is to know about how lending works and then you went to every single lending protocol and said i haven't got any experience in web3 whatsoever but i can tell you the ins and outs of every single one of these uh projects how they work how everything functions how they differ from one another how one is slightly better in one area than maybe another one is in another like this kind thing
00:42:23
Speaker
you'd be super surprised how many doors that would open for you, I think. um yeah just Just having that real like intentional approach to actually getting that first role it's is key. I don't think that works as well in other industries as it would do in Web3, really.
00:42:43
Speaker
I think in in in the aspect of human resources, you're more expert and than me for sure, right? so I don't know. It sounds like you've hired a lot of people over your time. So maybe, maybe not. Yeah, but more, let's say, on a personal level, let's call it, right? so i don't see the really the big picture. I can see small pictures in a few things, and then I go deep to understand what this guy is looking for. And even people that I work here in staff that I work, you know, and I'm talking to them from time to time, even if over a coffee, whatever, I just put them the question, okay, are you...
00:43:19
Speaker
Do you have any clue where you're going? right Ever thought about it? and And sometimes it's it's more like like like just throwing a question.
00:43:31
Speaker
it's It's like saying, OK, look, you work in this company. You know what they're doing. you know we We're in the same startup. right So one, two, three, four. OK, in one year, we'll bring you to this position. What do you want to do next? You know.
00:43:42
Speaker
Just let's talk about it so that you you can take advantage of the next year. So after one year, you'll know more. For example, okay, you're doing product, but try to go into project. Okay, talk to this guy, he's the project.
00:43:57
Speaker
Learn how he's working, how he's managing the project. So you have better. Okay, also, you're a product. Okay, take a look at the QA. You have automatic QA. Okay, so you understand the pull that you're there and then talk to the other fish, right? So you're already there.
00:44:15
Speaker
Take a look, sit next to the guy who's doing QA, take a look what he's doing. Where is the problem? Learn. So when you go and people will see, it they'll feel it and they'll give you more opportunities because opportunities are coming from people know you. It's not sitting in the street. they they They say, okay, you know, this guy is really knowledgeable. It's not only that he's doing his job, he understands how project is working, how the product is working, how the QA is working, how the support is working.
00:44:45
Speaker
So, okay, let's consult with him. Let's think with him. Okay, take this responsibility, whatever, right? Absolutely. Yeah, i was gonna ask you how someone can try and build a really successful career for themselves in Web3 specifically. But it sounds like you you touched on it there about just get involved, like understand how the different roles work and how they all fit together and and how you can actually help to improve those different parts in the business. And you make yourself invaluable, right? To founders and stuff.
00:45:15
Speaker
I think it should come from many aspects. First of all, be a team player, really. and Maybe it's a boomer you know a concept, but and I really feel that it's really missing now.
00:45:27
Speaker
People say, okay, I'm just working here, tomorrow I'll go.
00:45:31
Speaker
Sure, but it was 1,000 years ago that someone could go. No problem. Of course you can go. But the question is, if you're here, what what are you doing? And what is best for you? leaving aside the company. For you, best is to be a team player because the success of this company is your success for now until you leave.
00:45:52
Speaker
And then you can learn a lot. Why you learn a lot? Because people look at you as part of the team. If you're part of the team, people treat you as part of the team. And then you have more, let's say, resources.
00:46:07
Speaker
You're not alone. So be a team player. Be involved and
00:46:15
Speaker
it's It's bringing us to the to the first thing that we've discussed. If you really like what you're doing, you don't need your boss to tell you what to do. You just like it. So you read, you explore, you take you you you go to a conference, you talk to the people and ask them, really ask them in order to really understand what are you doing, what is good in what you're doing. And and then opportunities come because you understand opportunities.
00:46:40
Speaker
right Let's say that I'm going to i don't know to Greece and I see a statue. right I have no clue if it's worth $1 or $1 billion. I have no clue because I was never interested in this. So why should people come and talk to me about it?
00:46:55
Speaker
No, but if you work there and you do understand the differences and you don't do understand the opportunities and you do not to evaluate the opportunities, you can take advantage of the opportunities. Otherwise,
00:47:08
Speaker
You just walk like me in Greece and say, okay, another statue, another statue is the same. No, it's not the same. The statue is not the same. It's me that I don't have a clue about statues, right? And I don't know anything about history of Greece.
00:47:21
Speaker
I'm the problem, not the statue, right? So I don't know how to... I'm the the wrong person in in Greece to be, to look at statues. It's not that she know it's not that they have nothing to offer. They have huge amount of things to offer. I just don't understand it.
00:47:37
Speaker
So you understand what I mean? 100%. Yeah, for sure. Yeah. If you know nothing, then everything is the same. Yeah, I agree.
00:47:48
Speaker
I agree. and That's why you have specialists, right? In different different fields. um Exactly. So, Saki, over the last 45 minutes or so, you shared yeah ah she some great advice. You talked us through your journey and and what you guys are up to. um One thing i always like ah to to finish up with, one question is knowing what you know now,
00:48:12
Speaker
about web3 about entrepreneur entrepreneurship about leadership any closing words of advice or closing words of wisdom you'd like to leave us with um
00:48:26
Speaker
maybe maybe maybe something like this do what you really believe you can do don't do something that you don't you do it just because people think it's good to do or important to do whatever to do you need to believe if This is the right thing for you.
00:48:43
Speaker
and And always be curious, always learn, learn, and learn, because really when you learn, when you know more, you have more much more interest in life.
00:48:55
Speaker
I'm putting aside money, success, whatever. You have interesting life because you understand better. Everything is different for you. Like I gave you the the example of the statues. Learn about Greek statues. You go to Greece and you enjoy a week.
00:49:09
Speaker
Take me to Greece for a week, I'm bored. I'm saying, you know, I were wasted the week. No, but you're not. You didn't waste, you just don't know what. So be curious, learn everything, learn everything. Sociology, psychology, you know, everything, you know, cultures. We work in very multicultural world.
Networking and Closing Remarks
00:49:31
Speaker
and You will enjoy and then you see that you have much, much more opportunities, more friends, more things to enjoy.
00:49:40
Speaker
And if if I can conclude with something, look, we work a lot when we're young to make money, right? Because we need money and then we get older and we see that our real assets, of course, you cannot live without money, but you the real assets that you have are, money is not your asset really. It's it's that something that you need in order to, so let's say, survive, right? Or to live well.
00:50:06
Speaker
But if you don't have friends or interests, your life is very, let's say, unhealthy.
00:50:17
Speaker
And if I have one minute more, I'll explain. You can be in the best place in the world in Bali, like you, right? Best place alone. I think it's boring. If you can be in the five-star hotel, you know, all day alone, who cares, right? Who cares? It's boring. Also, the example I gave you about the Greece, if you don't understand the world, you don't really, you're,
00:50:41
Speaker
everything will will be boring for you. So this is my advice. Learn more, be more curious, friendly, have more friends, spend more time with people, you know, give yourself to people.
00:50:54
Speaker
You'll have much better life, much, much better life. That's it, I think. I like that. It's good advice. Yeah. Well, Sahih, thank you very much for taking the time the conversation today. um If you want to understand or learn a bit more about you or about what you're doing at Syndica, is the website the best place to to catch you guys? Is it crypto Twitter?
00:51:17
Speaker
Where's the best place to... Yeah, all of this. Yeah, website, Twitter, you know, all of this. Yeah. LinkedIn. But Twitter, I think, is best. Okay, nice. nice Well, um yeah, thank you again. Really enjoyed the conversation. And next time we go to Bali, we can do it face to face. I think it's a it Sounds good. I'll make sure do that.
00:51:40
Speaker
We'll avoid rain season. Yeah, yeah, tell yeah. Awesome. so Well, thank you very much. yeah And I'll catch you soon. Thanks a lot for the time. Yeah, great.