John Yi is the Group Product Manager for Services at Coinbase, a digital currency platform where merchants and consumers can transact with cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Ethereum and Litecoin. Based in San Francisco, Coinbase is on a mission to champion economic freedom through innovation in digital currency. John’s role is to manage the teams that build the infrastructure for consumer products.
What’s different about the decentralized business model of a company like Coinbase? Why do they measure success based on customer experience? And how do they find the best talent with the right mindset to join the Coinbase team?
John Yi is the Group Product Manager for Services at Coinbase, a digital currency platform where merchants and consumers can transact with cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Ethereum and Litecoin. Based in San Francisco, Coinbase is on a mission to champion economic freedom through innovation in digital currency. John’s role is to manage the teams that build the infrastructure for consumer products.
Today, John joins us to explain how a conversation at Occupy Wall Street sparked his interest in cryptocurrency. He shares Coinbase’s ‘hell yes’ hiring policy, describing the entrepreneurial mindset of the company’s team. John speaks to what’s different about a decentralized business model and the challenge of building interoperable products and scalable infrastructure. Listen in for John’s insight on the concept of non-fungible tokens and learn about Coinbase’s focus on customer experience!
Topics Covered
What sparked John’s interest in cryptocurrency
2011 at Occupy Wall Street rally in NYC
Conversation on transcending centralized money
Coinbase’s transparent hiring policy
‘If you’re not a hell yes, you’re a no’
Bias toward entrepreneurial mindset
What’s different about the decentralized business model
Build trust to keep people coming back (don’t hoard value)
Products interoperable with any number of others
How Coinbase employees get up to speed on the industry
Bias toward raw intellect and curiosity
Learn by nature of work, Coinbase University
What has surprised John about the crypto industry
Wrong about payments as main use case
Concept of non-fungible tokens (NFT)
John’s role at Coinbase
Build infrastructure behind consumer products
Work with consumer team on NPS
John’s definition of success
Work on stuff you enjoy with people you admire
Connect with John
Coinbase https://www.coinbase.com/
Coinbase on Twitter https://twitter.com/coinbase
Coinbase on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/Coinbase/
John on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnyi/
John on Medium https://medium.com/@johnyi275
John on Twitter https://twitter.com/johnyi275
Resources
‘Bar Raisers at Coinbase: If You’re Not a Hell Yes, You’re a No’ on The Coinbase Blog https://blog.coinbase.com/bar-raisers-at-coinbase-if-youre-not-a-hell-yes-you-re-a-no-68145c6fbe60
Ethmoji https://ethmoji.io/
CryptoKitties https://www.cryptokitties.co/
True Believer: Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements by Eric Hoffer https://www.amazon.com/True-Believer-Thoughts-Movements-Perennial/dp/0060505915
Connect with Boost VC
Boost VC Website https://www.boost.vc/
Boost VC on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/boostvc/
Boost VC on Twitter https://twitter.com/BoostVC