Barclay’s Rise interviews me
This Interview was released in the newsletter for fintech community Rise. I was told later that many of Barlcay’s subscribers weren’t able to receive it due to “inappropriate language”.
Rise is a community of the world’s brightest thinkers and doers, from rising startups to industry leaders, working together to create the future of financial services
What is your favorite thing about working at Rise Vilnius?
Free ginger beer. I’m addicted to it. No but seriously: I wouldn’t want to pin it down to one thing. I really like the package. Its cosy atmosphere where I feel comfortable working, the keynotes and meetups you guys organize. All the work the rise team puts in to make it a great experience makes me feel like a family member. Keep up the good work.
Please describe your startup/business in one sentence?
I annoy the shit out of everyone who works on cryptographic technology (blockchain, holochain, hashgraph, AI), understand their needs, improve it and help them get their message out in the world.
How would you score Lithuania in terms of friendliness to startups nowadays?
I’ve been working with startups in Chile, Germany, London and the whole package for me is best represented in Lithuania. Although most of my clients are outside of the country I am a huge friend of the culture and openness the people have towards new tech. If you look at the UK or Germany everything kind of works. You want a job? You can get one. You want health care? You’ll get it. You want education? You get it for free (nothing is really free). There’s no interest in change. They live the comfort zone. Lithuania is still hungry to change. People are interested in creating cool projects to be on the forefront of technologic revolution. I like that!
What is the biggest dream of yours as a startuper/entrepreneur/expert?
I want to see governments burn, monopolies fail, robots take over our jobs so we can work from Koh Tao. Im kind of joking, and kind of not. I’d love to see our society create a progressive and effective infrastructure to grow in a healthy and sustainable way. A society where we remove poverty and where the smartest people are in charge of the most important tasks and take responsibility for their actions. And I’m doing my best to help achieve that. That maybe sounds too philosophical. So I just add: I want happiness with a purpose.
Before Rise, what was the most remarkable job you’ve ever had?
Uff thats a tough one. For many years I changed my job/project on average every 3–6 months. Among them were really cool and very interesting ones. Being approached by Snoop Doggs management for a project with 19 years was very cool. Working with Exosphere, learning about blockchain, slicing up a horses heart, exploring philosophy with a group of ambitious people next to the beach in Chile was super exciting. My current job lets me meet the most creative minds in the blockchain community which I find super interesting as well. I’m sorry. I can’t answer your question with only one answer.
If you would have to choose any other profession that is not related to business or money where would you imagine yourself?
Cook. Or magician. But definitely a cook. I’m joking around many times that I will quit the business and start my own restaurant. I’m a sucker for great food and spend way too much time in the kitchen. I have moments where I wake up at 4am in the morning, watch chef David Chang & Jamie Oliver Videos for 3 hours, and be the first one in the supermarket at 7 am. And when my roommates wake up I already cooked a major dinner, shove it in their face to get feedback to make it better next time. My experimental cooking style is both blessing and curse for the people around me. If you want to experience this, please contact me. I’m super happy to cook for you. My signature dishes are: Salmon salad and a greek dish called “Saganaki” (Imagine a whole bowl full of melting cheese with lots of spices and veggies).
