7 Questions with 15toGO’s Legal team — Stefan Trendafilov & Martin Sirakov
Stefan is a Legal consultant with International & European Law and Comparative Dispute resolution education background. He has experience in international and non-governmental organizations, consulting startups on becoming legally compliant.
Martin is a Legal consultant with International & European Business Law education background with an experience in International Tax & Commercial Registry documents, consulting startups on becoming legally compliant.
Check Stefan’s LinkedIn profile and Martin’s LinkedIn profile
- What is your background and why did you join 15toGO?
S:
My background is in International and European law. I have studied and worked in the Netherlands, Belgium and the UK in various law-related projects. In the last few years, I developed particular interest towards the interplay between technology and law. I worked in a legal tech startup in London, and upon my return to Bulgaria started with Martin our own legal consultancy firm (Lege Nova), which helps online businesses get their legal right.
Having worked with numerous online platforms on their legal compliance strategies, I was naturally interested in the emergence of the blockchain technology. So when I met Peter, George and Todor and they told me about the idea, I was fascinated by the opportunity to help create the “legal shield” of this amazing project.
M:
During my academic career, I was also focused on studying the different aspects of European and International Business Law. Since then, I have worked in multiple European Agencies and top-tier law firms, such as EUROJUST, Wolf Theiss and others, until ultimately deciding to focus on the legal entrepreneurship and the creation of our own consultancy with Stefan.
I gladly accepted the invitation to join the 15toGO team, due to the strong interest I had developed in the growing world of blockchain and cryptocurrencies and due to my passion for travel. The inspiring working environment and the professionalism the entire team showed, made me a person who believes in the idea behind the project, its values and its future.
2. What is your role in the 15toGO team?
S:
As a legal advisor, my goal is to build the legal framework of the entire project. Though this may sound boring at first sight, it actually includes solving complex issues which affect the project in its entirety. Of course, there is a considerable amount of standard documents to be drafted, but this is obviously part of the role of the legal consultant, which I have accepted in law school…
An interesting challenge is discussing blockchain, DLT, AI and all other tech related stuff with the tech masterminds who work on the project and transforming this into contracts and legal language. Sometimes I feel like I don’t understand a word of what they are saying, but in the end, we always find a solution.
M:
There is not much that I can say differently (Laughing). We try to look at the project as a start-up, developing in the complex and legally-unclear world of blockchain. It is, therefore, a real challenge to put all the legal pieces together in this (still) unregulated market. Legally speaking, at this stage, we make decisions “on the balance of probabilities”, researching and guessing which rules are likely to apply to which parts of the 15toGO operations, hence assisting and protecting the business to the maximum extent possible.
3. What gets you most excited about the project?
S:
For me, the most exciting part of the project is the social element of the platform. It lays the bridge between the travellers and the actual service providers, the local people you meet when you go to the place. The current big players on the market are huge booking platforms, that only throw thousands of “cheap” and “last minute” deals, with the only goal to get you paying more. I find this process quite intimidating for the users.
15toGO has the potential of changing this loop making the booking process part of the entire travel experience, and not just an irritating hassle you have to go through. Besides, you get the chance to find like-minded people to travel with, all with the help of blockchain and AI.
M:
The professionalism of the people involved in all the stages of development and the interesting and innovative idea, which would, on top of the blockchain, allow many people, including me, to make use of the group travelling of the future.
I also like the challenge so combining this great idea with blockchain is something which I am really interested to see develop. I believe the entire project has also widened my legal “perception”. It has allowed me to experience the entire newly-developing blockchain and crypto area first-hand. And I find this very exciting.
4. Where do you see the project in the next few years?
S:
I see the 15toGO app installed on the smartphone of anyone who calls himself a true traveller. I truly believe that the project has great potential. The travel market will adopt the platform fast. The way the platform is being built and the innovative features it includes will make people want to use it and actually be an active part of the ecosystem. The incentives for both travellers and service providers are countless, so I believe that we will see mass adoption within the travel community in just a few years.
M:
Knowing the individualities that we have in the team and their ability to collaborate with all other members, I have no doubts that a great many people from all around the world will be booking trips through 15toGo in the next few years. I would actually do so too. As mentioned by Stefan, the project offers many great incentives, which I find would be tempting for numerous fellow passionate travellers.
5. Which do you think are the main challenges that the project and the team will face?
S:
Every project of that scale and potential has a number of challenges, which come up on a daily basis. In the long run, I believe that keeping up with the demand for bringing in new people of the same quality the team has now will be a challenge. Finding the right people is always a hard task, and if we see the growth we are expecting, we will need a lot of new team members. The team we have now is truly amazing, but I know from experience how hard it is to find people with the same work ethic and mentality.
M:
From my side — definitely the GDPR. It is interesting to see how this “catching-up” instrument will be implemented in the contra-intuitive world of blockchain. We also have a number of very interesting internal project legal questions that we still need to make a good lot of thinking on.
Project-wise, I find that how the decentralisation of the platform will be correlated with the security of travellers would be the most interesting issue.
6. How would you describe the atmosphere around 15toGO?
S:
The atmosphere around the team is great. I think we are managing to keep the excitement at moderate levels and focus on the work and the end goal. When you are working on such a project, it is easy getting distracted off the plan and the small steps we need to take time at a time each day. I believe so far everyone is keeping their focus and doing a great job. What is more, everyone is proactive with ideas, so we can see each issue from different angles and ultimately find the best solution.
M:
As mentioned above, I am delighted to work with great people, each of whom is an admirable professional in the field they are working in. I believe the team spirit excites everybody to show their best, which is why I trust the project would be a great success. As mentioned by Stefan, every day your eyes are being opened about different issues that might and do actually arise, which is why such a knowledgeable team is of utmost importance.
7. Tell us one interesting thing about yourself?
S:
Most of my friends call me by a nickname, and not by my real name. It started when I was a kid on my basketball team, and it’s still with me to this day. I am so used to it that I don’t make a difference with my real name.
M:
I’m a real car enthusiast. And oh, do I care about my cars. I know so many useless facts about them too. As a part of my travel passion, I am also in the pursuit of the greatest driving (drivers’) road in Europe. Any suggestions are highly recommended.
