Hard Fork | Talk Show | Season 01 | Episode 04 | Learning from a Blockchain Start-up

The world of startups

The world of startups is a roller-coaster ride from the very beginning — from the highs of emotions and zeal to make something happen and the lows of not having enough sales or funds to run the business! And the point is, if it has not been a roller-coaster, something is wrong! There are similar stories around the globe. There is this theory among business schools — which in many ways is true — that 95% of new businesses close operations within the first year of their inception, 90% of the rest within 5 years. Only a handful actually survive and an occasional one becomes a unicorn. India has been a hotbed of startup fever in the past 5 years and emerging technologies like cryptocurrencies and Blockchain have also given rise to new entrepreneurs.

Questions on our mind

While being your own master and having your own business to wake up to, has its own thrills; the journey of doing so needs a particular mindset and willingness to adapt to every new change. It is also important to keep improving day by day and be a survivor first and grow it from thereon. These things were on our minds when we thought about bringing a blockchain startup story on Hard Fork. We have already taken a legal angle, visited the funding angle, and talked about the trading landscape in India. But what does it take to be a startup in this industry; we had the following questions in mind:

• How does the decision of starting up in Blockchain come about?
• What are the primary challenges a startup faces?
• Is it advantageous for a technical professional or developer to start a Blockchain firm?
• What could be a startup’s focus areas in the blockchain space?
• How should an aspiring entrepreneur prepare for his startup?
• And many more…

The guest

There were many startups I had in mind for this particular episode. While I was mulling over the many recommendations, I came across a post by a good friend from the community who was celebrating 1 year of his Blockchain startup. This was a good driving point in the whole scheme of things and the theme of Season 1.

Vikas Singh, Founder & CEO of Bloque Labs, is an avid Blockchain evangelist, Ethereum blockchain developer, a Blockchain community leader in India, TEDx speaker, and a creator of some new ideas on Blockchain. He started off in developer jobs and then found his calling in blockchain developing smart contracts. His venture Bloque Labs has turned a year and thus made for a good chat.

His views

Vikas had some simple thoughts on the questions I asked, answers of which are pretty much applicable to any aspiring entrepreneur.

• Get into freelancing, learn as you go
• Decide on your technology core competency and focus on knowing everything in that area
• Don’t hesitate to build something
• Keep learning
• Build a team which believes in your vision

He also shared his simple analogy on how Blockchain compares to a stack of newspapers. It was a good chat and we both enjoyed it thoroughly.

Hear it more on the Episode.

End Notes

We premiered the Hard Fork on Amazon Fire TV on 22nd April 2019 and officially launched the founderINDIA channel on 23rd April. All Hard Fork Episodes will also be simulcast on other platforms including YouTube.

Watch Hard Fork Episode 4 with Vikas Singh on Amazon Fire TV (founderINDIA channel), YouTube and Facebook.

We would love to hear genuine feedback from our viewers about the episode. If you like it please leave a comment, like it, subscribe the channel and share it with like-minded people and beyond. Or write to us at [email protected] and/or [email protected].

Hard Fork Episode Playlist | Season 1 | Getting India started on Crypto and Blockchain:

Episode 1: The Legal Affairs of Crypto and Blockchain in India
Episode 2: The Mind of an Investor
Episode 3: The Changing Landscape of Crypto Trading in India