Startup

FABIO FEDERICI’S STORY – COINALYTICS FOUNDER’S STORY

This week we are introducing Fabio Federici, founder and CEO of Coinalytics – a Bitcoin and Blockchain analytics platform. Fabio is a recurring guest at Startup Basecamp while working with 500 Startups and every time he has to visit Silicon Valley.

Discover his great story and how Bitcoin changed his life!

# 3 : Fabio Federici, founder

A side project taking over.

After studying marketing in Madrid, Spain, I decided to get into product management. I started coding in my spare time, and in one of those courses I got introduced to Bitcoin; from there on, it just stuck in my head.

In 2014 I was pursuing my MBA in Switzerland and started working on Coinalytics as a side project, testing some ideas and expanding my knowledge around Bitcoin.

In February 2014, I travelled to San Francisco, knowing that this would be the best city to learn more about Bitcoin and prove my idea. It was then when I met Sean Percival, venture partner of 500 Startups and he really liked what we were working on, so I dropped out of my MBA program and by April we joined the 500 Startups program. I moved to Mountain View for the next 3 months, and now spend most of the time in San Francisco.

Being an entrepreneur isn’t something I had planned,

When I got into Bitcoin, I immediately got sucked into this ecosystem. The best thing about this business is not only the freedom I get, but also working along great minds in creating the future. The potential upside was just too big to ignore.

I have also learned more in the short time being a founder than I ever did during my studies. As a CEO you get the chance to realize your vision and have a lot of freedom you don’t get in a 9-to-5 job, but the most valuable learnings come from the downsides. I learned to take responsibility for others, as I am now leading a team that relies on me and I have been forced to let go. When you start a venture, you do everything on your own, but as the company grows it becomes impossible to handle everything on your own and you need to start delegating tasks to your team.

To future entrepreneurs…

Hire people who are passionate, who believe in the vision and who will stay when things go south. We have worked hard and have been lucky in a very competitive environment, attracted great talent and managed to keep them motivated. Having a great team proves the value of what we are doing.

Read smart, think smarter

I really loved Ben Horowitz’s “The Hard Thing About Hard Things” – it shows the bad sides of being a CEO. Normally books show you the best strategies and success cases, but the author focuses the story on the things that could – and normally will – go wrong. Not only this, but it gives great insights into how he managed to get out of a crisis and how he could have avoided it in the first place.

Like Nike says, Just Do It.

This motto has helped me not only as a founder, but also in all my life’s endeavours. Most people shy away from entrepreneurship because of the risk, but I took the chance when I could and would do it again. Don’t focus on the negative, life is a roller coaster and as an entrepreneur a single day can easily be the best, as well as the worst day of your life.

I think it was Steve Jobs who said

You can only connect the dots looking backward. You have to embrace the bad and continue striving. Once you’re far enough you will look back and see how every pitfall was really just another opportunity to rise. Always think positive.