7 Questions with Viktor Dessov, part of 15toGO’s Business Development Team
Viktor is a business developer with a focus on blockchain-based projects. Among his main tasks is perfecting the project’s business case and creating a vast network of 15toGO ambassadors. With his help they will be organizing monthly 15toGO events in major cities around the world.
Check his LinkedIn profile
1. What is your background and why did you join 15toGO?
I’ve actually been in the crypto-space for almost two years now. Mining, trading, ICOs, I’ve been through it all. Before that, I was in a few start-ups, where I learned a lot about marketing, management, etc. I’d like to think that everything in life so far has prepared me for 15toGO.
There are several reasons for me to join it and every single day I get more and more convinced that it was my best decision. First, the idea captured my attention — it has all the aspects of a successful project. It targets actual issues in an industry that is constantly expanding, with an original solution that will improve the experience for customers immensely. Second, the impact it would have on tour operators all over the world by minimizing the costs for them would be really positive and this motivates me even more. Third — the team. Even the greatest idea in the world is doomed if it’s not being realized by the right people. Peter Lozanov has managed to gather a superstar team that can overcome any obstacle and that gives me further confidence in the results.
2. What is your role in the 15toGO team?
As Jordan Schlansky from the ‘Conan O’Brien’s talk show’ would say — ‘I have various duties, my title is business development’. As vague, as it may sound, it actually includes a lot of responsibilities. My primary task is the creation of an ambassador network — which means that people from all over the world have to organize informal meetups with travelers, who on their hand can provide us with invaluable feedback about the project. The main idea is to have fun while establishing a sense of community. At the end of the day, these travelers could also be our first app users.
Besides that, I have some knowledge of the way cryptocurrencies work and I’m taking part in the token economics development. Just like every member of the team, I’m also present at the product discussions, during which we all do brainstorming. Each and every idea is considered by the rest of the team and I can say that so far it has been an incredibly productive process. I also represent 15toGO at conferences where I introduce the idea to potential investors. Actually, part of the reason for me to get invited to the project is that I am sort-of a polyglot, being fluent in 5 languages (Bulgarian, English, Spanish, Portuguese, Croatian) and speaking 4 decently (Polish, German, Russian, Chinese). Learning them started at a young age as a hobby and eventually they’ve helped me in my communication with both investors and clients. So, in a sense, they really are ‘various duties’.
3. What gets you most excited about the project?
The fact that I get to be from the very beginning in a venture with such an enormous potential. It’s an opportunity that I’m really grateful for and I often find myself working overtime without even noticing — I have such an urge to see 15toGO go viral and I can’t wait to see what the future holds for us!
The project also provides me with the opportunity to get in touch and exchange ideas with a lot of extremely bright people, not only from the travel industry but also from the startup realm and the blockchain space. I try to learn as much as possible on a daily basis and these individuals are like walking Universities to me… Being able to communicate with them is truly a privilege.
4. Where do you see the project in the next few years?
I don’t doubt the team’s capabilities to deliver a great product one bit.
That being said, I try not to expect or imagine anything in particular, as this would only make it harder for us to adapt when we need to — and adapting according to the market is inevitable for every business that strives to compete and survive. It may turn out that our platform becomes incredibly popular for reasons we have not even thought about. Or that our target audience is actually of a completely different age range than we originally imagined. All I can say with certainty is — the future will be quite exciting.
5. Which do you think are the main challenges that the project and the team will face?
We should not close our eyes to the fact that our competition is strong. They have existed for a few years now and although they are far away from the sizes that OTAs such as Booking and Airbnb have, it will not be easy to take some of their market shares.
The other thing we are aware of is the scalability issues that blockchains currently have. We are meticulously planning the blockchain infrastructure implementation in our Roadmap in such a way that we can adapt to any user-base growth and reach the most optimal results once we scale. The good news is that both the Ethereum team and their competitors (Cardano, Zilliqa, Aeternity) are working hard on resolving these issues and presenting us with solutions that are capable of sustaining thousands of transactions per second. By the time we reach millions of users, this should be a challenge of the past.
6. How would you describe the atmosphere around 15toGO?
It’s really positive, I love it. We have senior software developers and experienced managers who somehow exude the kind of enthusiasm fresh start-up teams have. I can clearly see that all of them are passionate travelers and that they are building the product they’ve always craved for in their lives.
There’s also a sense of respect in-between everyone in the office. Although I am among the youngest members, I can clearly see that my opinion is taken into consideration by people, who have several prosperous businesses behind their backs already. I guess that’s a part of the secret to their success.
7. Tell us one interesting thing about yourself?
This story is mainly interesting for some of the people in the crypto-space, none of my ‘ordinary’ friends was impressed by it (Laughing). I went for two days to Athens with a friend of mine to take a break from crypto after I found myself being over-obsessed with the market. Little did I know that right in front of the Parthenon, I would come across Charles Hoskinson — Cardano’s creator and one of the people behind Ethereum, Ethereum Classic and Bitshares. Usually, I’m not impressed by celebrities — but I was really nervous about speaking with someone who’s been so involved in the blockchain development since the very beginning and who is, sort of, a legend. He felt like a really kind and down-to-earth person though — and he was actually impressed that someone recognizes him outside of a cryptocurrency conference. We took a picture together and now we are following each other on Twitter (Laughing).
