Here’s why I left the best job in the world

As I stepped out of the office in London for the last time, I couldn’t help but think about the poster on the wall across my desk, asking:

“What would you do, if you weren’t afraid?”

I recently left my role at Facebook, where I drove product strategy and global growth, to start Federman Capital, an investment firm focused on blockchain technology and crypto assets.

Many of my friends and colleagues wondered why I’ve decided to leave my coveted job and start a crypto-focused investment firm, so I thought I’d share my reasoning more broadly in hope that others may find it helpful as they reflect on their passions or next career move.

You see, starting Federman Capital is my answer to that question.

My experience at Facebook was incredible

Facebook is a great company to work at. I’ve enjoyed my time there and learned a ton. I was fortunate to launch products that shaped our industry, impacted more than 2B users around the world and helped build Facebook’s multi-billion-dollar ad empire.

I feel humbled to have been given the responsibility and trust in driving the product strategy and global growth of some of Facebook’s major ad products. Above all, I’m grateful for the opportunity I had to forge great friendships and learn every day from some of the best and brightest in their field.

So, why did I decide to leave? Simply put, blockchain technology blew me away

I’ve fallen in love with a new technology. One that I believe is going to significantly transform and better our lives.

It began innocently enough when I met as part of my role with the CEO of a major crypto company. Ahead of that meeting I decided to read more about bitcoin and the technology behind it.

The more I read, the more I became fascinated by blockchain. Industry visionaries Jed McCaleb, Vitalik Buterin, BrendanEich and Joseph Lubin inspired me to keep digging deeper.

Over the following months I went down the rabbit hole, learning all about the underlying blockchain technology that powers cryptocurrencies. I read books and crypto white-papers, watched numerous lectures online and spent most of my nights deep-diving into the technology.

I became so excited about the potential implications of this groundbreaking technology that sometimes I found it difficult to sleep at night. I kept envisioning different use cases to exchange value as part of a new, immutable and open platform that doesn’t require intermediaries.

It became increasingly clear to me that blockchain and crypto were here to stay and are about to disrupt the financial system as we know it.

My new passion didn’t go unnoticed by my wife. She told me she hasn’t seen me that excited about something since we moved in 2009 to Silicon Valley for me to pursue my MBA at Stanford.

At the same time, I knew that the mode I was operating in couldn’t continue for much longer. Spending so much time after work, delving into the different nuances of blockchain technology, wasn’t sustainable.

Ultimately, it was time for me to make a decision. While it wasn’t easy, I knew it was the right one. The path forward was clear. I decided to quit my job to focus on blockchain and crypto full-time.

The reasons that led me to become an investor

Once I decided to play an active part in the burgeoning blockchain community, I wondered what path I should take.

I thought a lot about the best way to get involved and leverage my 15+ years of experience in some of the biggest tech companies in the world. I led product, marketing and analytics teams and wanted to pursue a path that would allow me to take advantage of all the skills I’ve built over the years.

While I considered starting a new company or joining an early stage crypto startup, I ultimately realized my passion and strengths would best be served by starting a fund and becoming an investor in blockchain technology and crypto assets.

There are a few reasons that led me to that decision.

First, I’m convinced that blockchain technology is going to change the world. While I was tempted to build a new product, I believe the tokenization of assets is going to impact many industries and being an investor allows me to gain broad exposure and support innovation across the board.

Second, I believe that by taking products from concept to massive scale, I’ve developed skills and strategies that that would be particularly useful as an investor. I enjoy engaging in fundamental, rigorous analysis of companies, assessing the value, use cases and token economics of their business model.

Finally, while the crypto market has grown and matured significantly over the past few years I believe these are still very much early days. I’m convinced significant investment opportunities are emerging and I’m excited to help our clients capture value.

And so the journey begins

It’s been great getting so much support already from my friends and colleagues, including those from Facebook, SAP and my Stanford days. I’ve been humbled by all the excitement so far from investors about our fund.

The world is about to enter a new, decentralized and more transparent era. I look forward to engaging with more people who share our passion and seeing all the ways our investments can help accelerate the development and adoption of distributed ledger technology.

One last thing

You can also subscribe to our newsletter here to get the best insights in crypto delivered straight to your inbox (you can unsubscribe whenever you want).