Creating Success; Experience, Innovation & Dedication to Form a Winning Team
In 2017, the blockchain was thought to be a fledgling technology but was already 9 years old. It was a better-known entity by 2017 as the basis for Bitcoin, though people now know it’s so much more than Bitcoin. 2017 was also the year Karuschain began creating a blockchain platform designed to help solve mining’s biggest problems.
How do you develop a world-class technology for a $680 billion industry?
“My philosophy is to hire the best team, take good care of them and they will take care of the business. Therefore, the first step for Karuschain was assembling the best team for the job and I think we’ve done that.” CEO, Richard Verkley.
According to Statista, #3 in the top reasons startups fail is choosing the wrong team. In fact, the quality of the team is the single most important success factor after the business concept. A good idea is just that until a talented team is assembled and can make the vision a reality.
https://www.statista.com/chart/11690/the-top-reasons-startups-fail/
Millennial Genius + Senior Wisdom = A Winning Team
One of the things that set Karuschain apart is the blend of wisdom and youth within the team. Each has a crucial role in tackling the critical issues that plague the mining industry. The problems of proving compliance, increasing transparency and the ability to trace the precious metals directly from the mine all the way to its final consumer have been extremely difficult to manage accurately, until the invention of blockchain.
Our Chain of Success
Richard Verkley, CEO
As a serial entrepreneur and businessman, Richard has decades of experience in bringing large scale commercial ventures to market.
His past experience includes building international franchise organizations. Two of those franchises specialized in teaching other companies and leaders how to make the most of their business.
- Richard has an ability to generate strong business plans with market opportunity in mind and he builds expert teams to support his vision. His secret is in choosing the best leaders in each area of the business and, since they are the experts in their field, letting them lead their team to success.
- After running a mining concern in South America, his experience with compliance issues and the difficulty of running a clean mine spurred him to find new technology to solve the problems.
Presently, Richard sees Karuschain as the key to solving environmental challenges in the mining and precious metals industries.
Robert van der Zalm, CFO
Robert’s distinguished career includes working as CFO in Global 100 organizations like BHP Billiton, Shell, and Unilever. He has lived all over the world and specializes in business development and financing.
- Robert has 30 years’ finance management experience across Consumer Products, Chemicals, Oil & Gas and Mining.
- An Oxford chemist by training, Robert went through many front line finance roles, from mergers and acquisitions to forming world-scale joint ventures. He was also Group CFO of a Singaporean listed Global Commodity Trader. More recently he has built a wealth of experience in the area of helping to launch best in class and socially relevant startups.
- During his career as a commercially oriented CFO, he has built a deep understanding of the economy and of the industry, bringing strategic experience in growing and operating global organizations.
His ability to simplify complex problems, apply leading-edge financing ideas and help build world-scale partnerships has made him the perfect choice to lead the financial side of the business.
James McDowell, COO
James began his career in the finance sector and has broad knowledge and experience in risk management, operations, business development, strategy and embracing technology to revolutionize business and industry workflows that improve industry standards.
- Over 12 years of operations and finance experience working and leading teams for some of the world’s largest investment banks and asset management firms such as JP Morgan, Schroder’s and Deutsche Bank.
- He spent 7 years working at one of the world’s largest exchanges, Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), which owns NYSE and Bakkt.
- His experience leading the commercial side of the largest global CDS affirmation fintech company (ICE Link) meant he was responsible for crafting and implementing strategic direction, streamlining processes, reducing operational risk, developing robust internal processes, having full P&L responsibility, and leading all contract negotiations. As such, he is well equipped and excited to help shape Karuschain into a dominant market player as the business rapidly expands.
- In 2016, James was involved in the first-ever successful test of blockchain technology to manage the entire trade life cycle for credit default swap (CDS) trades. He saw first hand the power of blockchain and recognized it’s potential.
James’ strengths in strategy, new business development and operational experience working alongside technology and fintech startups brings an assured and calm operator with a wealth of experience into the blockchain industry.
Our Partners That Push Us Forward
Our strategic partners and advisors were hand-selected for their unique set of expertise in law,
technology, marketing, and business. As is our philosophy, we choose to work with the best. We work closely with our partners and rely on them to continuously improve our systems, technology, and ability to adapt to what the mining supply chain needs.
David Pierini, Blockchain Strategist
David Pierini is our expert in all things Blockchain Technology. David focuses on looking at how to solve what some people consider unsolvable problems, with technical systems. His specialty
is the intersection of legal/regulatory systems with the technology that can solve them, including the development of blockchain systems and smart contracts.
- He began his legal practice in Silicon Valley focusing on advising early-stage startups
- Started with a focus on the Dodd-Frank Act and worked with a team of developers using machine learning as one of the first ecosystem partners to use IBM Watson for regulatory solutions.
- Stepped into the role of Global Compliance Project Counsel for OnRamp Systems, a financial tech startup affiliated with Cisco Systems and IBM
- Saw blockchain as the next key technology in his journey from machine learning and shortly after, met Richard and saw the opportunity to bring blockchain to the mining industry.
- David has also spent time with McGuire Woods LLP and the legal department of Freddie Mac.
- He earned his J.D. from William & Mary and his LL.M. in Taxation from the Georgetown University Law Center.
To say the least, David keeps our tech in-check.
Professor Jim Porter, Mining Expert, and Consulting Engineer
Professor Jim Porter is our own Consulting Engineer with 39 years of operational, project management, and consulting experience. He holds several degrees, teaches and consults when he’s not on a mine site. His boots on the ground experience in mining around the world is what really sets Jim apart and his insight into what miners need from blockchain and how to easily and practically create synergy within is unmatched.
- He spent time with AngloGold Ashanti, at a senior level. Jim ran several large shaft sinking projects and oversaw numerous technology and mechanization initiatives
- Jim established a sound safety and production record and used these experiences to help other companies adopt best practices.
- He has managed and supervised mines with teams of up to 8,000 onsite, no small feat.
- He’s a Visiting Adjunct Professor for the Centre for Mechanised Mining Systems at Wits University.
A sought-after industry expert, Jim is constantly traveling and consulting for other companies. We are fortunate to have a lot of his time and energy invested in Karuschain Jim adds so much wisdom to our project that makes all his achievements impossible to sum-up
Stan Synko, Blockchain Specialist
Stan is an early believer in both public and private blockchain systems and advocates the use of
both; depending on the situation and system. With a talent for creating systems that employ the best of both worlds, Stan is the master architect behind our blockchain platform.
- Stan began his career in information technology advising startup and enterprise clients on the best possible technical implementation of complex systems and building software products.
- He has helped companies integrate smart contracts on the Ethereum blockchain
- Stan has architected award-winning public and private blockchain systems with a focus on Hyperledger
- Has developed blockchain solutions for Tier 1 banks in Switzerland.
- He has expertise in secure multiple signature solutions and bitcoin wallet development
- A guest speaker at Harvard, Rutgers Business School and more, Stan is considered a thought leader and innovator in blockchain.
Stan believes that product development should be fast and results-oriented which is why we focus only on technology where we can add impact and value.
Luciano Pesci, Economist
“Humanity’s collective progress is being forged in the precious metals market. I was drawn to Karuschain because of the technology’s ability to bring perfect transparency to this supply chain while pioneering new methods of blockchain data science.” Luciano Pesci
Luciano is an economist, data scientist, and futurist. He combines his expertise in economics, marketing data science and agile methods to determine accurate tokenomics models.
- Luciano participated in the design and implementation of the organizational data culture for one of the world’s first Blockchain-based banks.
- He creates course development and execution for the fields of blockchain analytics, blockchain data science, & blockchain research.
- He is a highly loved professor at multiple higher educational institutions, he’s the founder and CEO of Emperitas, a business intelligence solution that combines data science with agile research and economic modeling.
Want to learn more?
This is an introduction to some of Karuschain’s key team members and advisors but visit us at karuschain.com to meet Bruce and Nicky, and the rest of our Advisors.
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Karuschain is a blockchain technology platform for the precious metals mining industry, giving mining companies a powerful tool to ensure data integrity, safeguard human rights, reduce risks and improve environmental regulations in their supply chain.
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