Running a Blockchain Startup - Part 1

This will be a new series exploring the ups and downs of starting a blockchain startup. Blockchain WTF’s office manager, Jordan Xavier, tells the story of our beginnings and how we’ve gotten to where we are.

Some context: Blockchain WTF is a education site full of resources. Taylor and I, Jordan, started it with the intention of informing the masses WTF is a BLOCKCHAIN?!? It may also have came to fruition because we both had grown tired of explaining blockchain technology (bct) to people, so Taylor came up with the idea to put it on a website that is digestible for all.

But we’ll go with the first reason because it sounds better. Blockchain WTF is an educational resource to learn about blockchain technology, cryptocurrencies, and everything else it entails. Check out our What the FAQ section if you want to learn more!

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Hello, I’m Jordan Xavier and I’m here to give you a glimpse and slight insight to what all we have got going over here at Blockchain WTF. It started off with our founder Taylor Gerring and I, and now we’ve grown and added eight team member within nine months of WTF’s existence. In this series, I will go over how WTF came about; the ups, the downs, and the growth of the space along with our growth.

We started by doing recordings and short animations and proceeded to recording Andreas Anotonopoulos and many other blockchain events. From working in living rooms to converting a dope ass condo into an office, it has been quite the ride. Blockchain.WTF is going to be raw, honest, maybe a bit vulgar (if our editor allows it 😉) but it will be the TRUTH. It’ll be my point of view about running a blockchain start up in 2017.

The idea came about around Valentines Day ’17, and the first team meeting was held in mid-March. The meeting consisted of team members who are still with us, and unfortunately some team members who are no longer with us.

The original starting point for WTF was to create an educational series featuring Taylor and Uni, our beloved Mascot used to explain blockchain technology and all it’s capabilities. Our target date to go “live” was on Cinco de Mayo, aka May 5th, 2017. That was the goal for our team of 4, not including Taylor and I. We had a video editor/audio person, content creator/talent, videographer/photographer and a social media person.

So the “Uni Series” was under way, and it was going okay. Not good, but not bad…just a bit longer than I’d like to it. At the time, I personally was just doing admin work and scheduling, but knew if we wanted to be live by May 5th, then something needed to come out.

So I came up with a few things, Blockchain Glossaries and Blockchain Quizzes. I believe I started off with two glossaries, beginner and intermediate, and 3 quizzes. They weren’t the biggest of the baddest but they were solid. I took what I knew and put it on digital paper. And the quizzes were kind of fun, so I didn’t mind those too much.

I can not take all the credit though, Jeremy C. (you will hear A LOT about him) helped me tremendously along the way. At this rate, if the Uni series hit its deadlines, we’d be good, but just in case, we had a few back-ups. Win-win right? We also had padded the site with content-specific articles to make sure the site had content across the board. We were ready for May 5th!

The closer that deadline came, the more and more it looked like the Uni series would not be where we would want it to be, but luckily we planned accordingly. One day while working out of Jeremy’s apartment, I had an idea for content that would give us some buffer room. Plus, it’d give us content to routinely post on YouTube, which is what Taylor wanted (check out our channel here!).

So I took my blockchain glossaries, and the team and I created Blockchain A-Z digital shorts — little blurps in alphabetical order covering key words or phrasing used often in the blockchain space. So between the Glossaries, A-Z, filler articles and the quizzes, we were more than covered — despite the Uni series looking like it may morph into a butterfly anytime soon.

I know it may not seem like much, but we had our first major hiccup right out of the gates! But it was okay, by having a team, we were able to throw ideas in the air, adjust accordingly and pivot! People we’re coming and going, ideas were being shot around and series were being formed… It was a crazy time! But we all had one goal in mind: to make WTF the one stop shop for blockchain and cryptocurrency information. It was going to be a long road, but we were in it together!

In the next episode, I will talk about the team moving into a condo turned office, the team meeting outside team members for the first time and Jeremy coming up with ICO or NO, all while learning the steps of media production! And I was in charge of all of it…Let me tell you what…

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This article was written by Jordan Xavier, Blockchain WTF’s office manager. Jordan has been an invested Blockchain Enthusiast since 2016, and he considers himself an Amateur Crypto Trader. He is an aggressive business man, with a passion for his work.