7 Lessons From Tai Lopez’s Private Cryptocurrency Mastermind
On Oct 4th, 2017 I got invited to be at a private Cryptocurrency mastermind that Tai Lopez hosted at his place in Beverly Hills. He brought in some of the top minds and experts on the topic in an evening of absolute openness and transparency on how best to navigate this new emerging technology and economy.
We had the event in the part of his home which Tai calls the “War Room” and from the picture you can clearly see why such a name was relevant.
Napolean Hill would have been proud seeing such an event take place as he stated masterminding is one of the Law’s of Success. In Think and Grow Rich it’s the first principle where he writes.
“A Master Mind is when two or more people come together in a spirit of harmony. It is believed that when they come together they will engage a third, greater mind, which will allow new ideas to come to them.”
I walked in and was welcomed by a door mat with “Knowledge Society”
I knew this was going to be fun.
My goal coming in was simple. Provide my maximum value to the group at large.
But how does one do so at a Mastermind?
For me it was to ensure everything I mentioned was articulated in a way that was simple to understand and left the group with something to think about through their own independent thinking.
It was actually Ray Dalio, founder of the largest Hedge Fund in the world and is worth $17 Billion that helped me form that ability. In his latest book Principles he describes having the ability to form a culture through independent thinkers that share information with radical transparency while being open-minded and welcoming thoughtful disagreements. In his organization, Bridgewater Associates LP it formed a culture of Idea Meritocracy where essentially the best ideas win.
I went with it and it worked really well. Lots of great discussions during networking ensued afterwards and many new friends made.
So let’s get into it. Is this new blockchain technology the start of a “New World Economy?”
Conspiracy theorists have long theorized of a New World Order where a group of secretive power elites would rule through an authoritarian world government, but let’s face it, all it really is is a play on our emotions.
Now with blockchain technology and the rise of cryptocurrency, it has enabled a decentralized way of transferring value, data and information from peer-to-peer instantly and securely without any intermediaries. We’re witnessing a transfer of power back to the people so once and for all a New World Order will now only go down in history books as a conspiracy theory at best as there is no single way for any group to ever take rule of our world anymore.
And as much as the emotional center of my brain tries to influence my thoughts (originating in the lower part called the limbic system and more specifically the neurons of my hippocampus) I constantly have to battle and compete because my logical thoughts (forming in my cerebral cortex and my frontal lobe) recognize that it’s important to keep emotions completely out of this and strictly focus on truths, reasoning (with probabilities of success) and logic to fully understand the scope of this emerging technology and the opportunities it will provide to our world.
Ready for the 10 lessons taken away from yesterday? Here are my own opinions that emerged from the Mastermind.
- Know your role — technology adoption has a life cycle:
The most important thing you can do right now is know what role you want to play in this space at this given time. By defining it now, you’ll be able to control your risk/reward ratio and be positioned in such a way that you can prepare yourself by setting the right expectations.
We talked about where blockchain and cryptocurrency currently sits in the technology adoption life cycle as illustrated in the book Crossing the Chasm.
We concluded that although Satoshi Nakamoto launched the Bitcoin network by creating the “genesis block” in January 2009, today we are still very much somewhere in the innovators, visionaries and early adoption phase of the life cycle. It’s where there is highest risk, but also highest reward.
2. ICO’s are in a bubble — play to create real value or risk going to jail.
Do not pass go, do not collect $200. Go straight to jail. Yea yea, that’s a monopoly reference but the reality is that the financial industry is very controlled and regulated.
If you’re thinking of trying to take advantage of the ICO (Initial Coin Offering) hype that has raised over $2 Billion already in 2017 (more than VC funding) then be prepared to face your consequences.
There are a lot of “shitcoins” on the market and once the bubble bursts, like we’ve seen time and time again, only the strong survive. You’ll need strong fundamentals and technicals to get you through. You’ll need cash-flow and proper money-management in place.
Be real and build a real business. Your reputation, your assets and your ability to play in the space (or not) are all on the line.
Yes, there are many unknowns from a compliance perspective and it is the Wild Wild West but you better bet they are watching your every move, especially if you’re a US Citizen and are playing in US jurisdiction.
Look at RECoin or should I say RECon. Look how fast they got shut down and are now facing the consequences.
Ultimately, there is strict compliance and regulations in place that have evolved through the SEC (U.S Securities & Exchange Commission) and the laws around the issuance of securities. There have been many frauds and scams in the industry which caused a lot of people to lose a lot of money over the years especially during “pump and dump” penny stock days and Bernie Madoff pyarmind schemes and there’s no way they will let any of that pass again.
3. Treat your tokens and ICO’s the same way you would securities.
I would even tell you to “get a lawyer” but the reality is that even lawyers themselves (as some of them mentioned in our mastermind yesterday) are still trying to figure out how to navigate this new landscape.
Look at what happened with The DAO’s token sale — the SEC came down on them and will continue to do so if you are not filing according to SEC laws. It was led by the SEC arm that handles this titled the Distributed Ledger Technology Working Group (DLTWG).
And by the way, the so called “Howey test” is exactly that, just a test. Do you really think the SEC is going to say no to your ICO or token sale based on that? Be real.
So it’s important you are thinking independently and de-risk yourself as much as possible. That means, don’t take shortcuts and file the right securities exemptions with the SEC. Why would you spend all that time and effort in launching an ICO or token sale to only have all of that backfire on you?
Wouldn’t it be nice to raise tens of millions or even hundreds of millions in a way that allows you to keep the funds, continue building your vision and actually help add value on the blockchain economy?
Read these SEC investor alerts to ensure you are following the proper SEC guidelines.
2. https://www.sec.gov/oiea/investor-alerts-and-bulletins/ia_icorelatedclaims
4. KYC, KML and KFC
You may or may not have heard these acronyms and how they relate to Blockchain and Cryptocurrency.
KYC = Know Your Customer refers to due diligence activities that financial institutions and other regulated companies must perform to ascertain relevant information from their clients for the purpose of doing business with them.
AML = Standing for “Anti-money Laundering”, it is a set of procedures, laws or regulations designed to stop the practice of generating income through illegal actions. In most cases money launderers hide their actions through a series of steps that make it look like money coming from illegal or unethical sources was earned legitimately.
KFC = Is an American fast food restaurant chain that specializes in fried chicken.
You laughing? Ah yes it worked. Surely KFC has nothing to do with what we’re talking about other than comic relief.
But seriously, the best resource I have on more information here is this one on BitCoinTalk — read it thoroughly.
5. There is a massive opportunity to solve real-world problems — find one and stick to it.
If you want in on this new Blockchain economy, find a project or start one and stick to it. The bigger the problem you solve, the bigger the reward will be.
Make sure you plan properly like any real business. If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.
You need a strong team, complimentary skills, a deep passion for what you’re pursuing with a calculated approach to success.
Long-term consistency trumps short-term intensity so don’t be in it for the money or for the short-term as you’ll get burned.
6. Marketing is currently a grey area — you have an opportunity to find an edge.
Whether it’s with your own ICO or helping others with their project, we all have seen ICO’s being marketed through social media, forums, Reddit and with influencer marketing and it’s currently a grey area.
7. Have fun, create an impact and get rewarded huge (yes that means making lots of money!)
The incentives and rewards are huge right now so have fun while doing it!
Would love your opinions on this and what you think.
