Lukas Bronsvoort of Klayr Labs: 5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Became A Founder
An Interview With Doug Noll
Diversity is key, but it’s also hard. Diversity leads to more different perspectives, which, in the end, leads to better results. The challenge is, though, that a lot of people tend to hire a copy of themselves. With Klayr Labs, we have a founding team of 4 Dutch guys, and we all look alike in terms of demographics. Today, we have a blend of people in the team with a lot of different cultural backgrounds. It is always funny to see the culture clash at lunchtime, but this diversity also requires an open mindset from everyone, as working methods also differ strongly.
As part of our interview series called “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Became A Founder”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Lukas Bronsvoort.
Lukas Bronsvoort is the CEO of Klayr Labs, a layer-one web3 startup with a mission to bring digital ownership to more people. He leads the Dutch company that oversees and maintains the layer-one blockchain formerly known as Lisk. Lukas hails from the blockchain ecosystem and has previously co-founded several ventures, including Colecti, an NFT marketplace, and Liskscan, a popular blockchain explorer. He previously served as a digital transformation manager at BNP Paribas, where he specialized in creating impactful partnerships and advised on digitization strategies. He studied marketing at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (VU Amsterdam) for his master’s degree and at the HU University of Applied Sciences Utrecht for his bachelor’s degree. He is an excellent source on the diverging goals of layer-one blockchains vs. layer-two blockchains and the future of web3, cryptocurrency, digital assets, and NFTs.
Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?
I was working in digital transformation at a large corporate organization when I was approached by friends who had been in web3 for years. They asked me whether I wanted to set up an NFT-focused startup with them. I was immediately interested in the project’s potential, seeing it as the next big step in digitization through tokenization.
The speed of innovation in this space is incredible, which is what attracted me to web3. Coming from the corporate world, where I focused on digital transformation, web3 is a whole new level. Here, automation isn’t just a goal; it’s at the heart of everything we do. The potential impact of web3 truly inspires me. Bridging the traditional world of tech and web3 has become my personal mission.
Can you tell us a story about the hard times that you faced when you first started your journey?
Timing is everything. When you start building a startup, you don’t have much time to make it happen. If your timing is off, success will be hard to achieve. Additionally, minimize technological dependencies that are beyond your control, as product roadmaps are always delayed. Relying on someone else’s timeline can jeopardize your startup, often without any recourse.
When we started with NFTs, the big hype was just behind us, and the market took a huge turn at the beginning of 2023. That put us in a difficult position. Next to that, we were dependent on Lisk blockchain going live, which was postponed time after time. When we started our company in early 2022, the goal was for Lisk to launch by the end of that year. However, it ended up taking an extra year!
Where did you get the drive to continue even though things were so hard?
Building a company is tough, but it’s also an amazing journey. Once you have gotten a taste of entrepreneurship, it’s almost impossible to go back to a ‘normal job.’
So, how are things going today? How did grit and resilience lead to your eventual success?
After Lisk went live, we had the opportunity to take over their platform and continue as an L1 blockchain instead of an application. That was an enormous challenge, but we now have an organization that is running efficiently and ready to start scaling the platform.
Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
We once jumped on an airplane to Rome to meet with a potential investor. In the end, it turned out to be a scam, and thankfully, we did not fall for it. However, it’s incredible how sophisticated such schemes and practices work. We were completely convinced of this business opportunity after a nice time in Rome, and only after coming home and doing some due diligence did we find out that it was shady. The main lesson we learned is to do more homework in advance in such cases and not to put too much faith in the due diligence of other parties involved.
What do you think makes your company stand out? Can you share a story?
Building blockchain apps is still very complicated for developers, mainly because it requires quite some specific expertize. We are here to make that easier by guiding developers through the process without detailed documentation. Our platform is fully built in Javascript, the world’s most-used programming language. That means that programmers do not first need to learn a new language before they can start building.
Which tips would you recommend to your colleagues in your industry to help them to thrive and not “burn out”?
Make sure you keep a clear eye on what’s really important. In web3, your days can be quickly influenced by community sentiment or price volatility. Ensure that you have a team around you with whom you can discuss where to prioritize and not be swayed by the latest trends.
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story?
I’m here because my fellow founders got me on board. Without them, I would not be here today. I’m a real team player and need good and talented people around me to thrive. Without our strong founding team, I would not be able to function as I do today.
How have you used your success to bring goodness to the world?
I truly believe that decentralization will improve tomorrow’s tech by making it fairer and more transparent.
What are your “5 things I wish someone told me before I started leading my company” and why. Please share a story or example for each.
- Don’t depend on someone else’s tech. You have such a short time to make your company successful that the risk is too big otherwise.
- You need time. As a startup, you want to do everything in the first year, but companies need time to grow, and so does your product.
- Focus on the product. Your product is the most important thing. Make sure it’s your top priority.
- Remember to prioritize automation in your processes to ensure smooth operations. Select the right tools and ensure that everyone understands their purpose. For instance, at Klayr Labs, we use email only for external communication with partners, while all internal communication is managed through our project management tool (Clickup) and Slack for direct interaction.
- Diversity is key, but it’s also hard. Diversity leads to more different perspectives, which, in the end, leads to better results. The challenge is, though, that a lot of people tend to hire a copy of themselves. With Klayr Labs, we have a founding team of 4 Dutch guys, and we all look alike in terms of demographics. Today, we have a blend of people in the team with a lot of different cultural backgrounds. It is always funny to see the culture clash at lunchtime, but this diversity also requires an open mindset from everyone, as working methods also differ strongly.
Can you share a few ideas or stories from your experience about how to successfully ride the emotional highs & lows of being a founder”?
It’s important to be able to step out of it occasionally. Especially in your founding team, when the pressure is high, it’s good to take some time, take a walk, and continue your discussion the next day. It will make a huge difference in keeping quality in the analysis and keeping emotion out.
You are a person of great influence. If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. :-)
Let’s bring data ownership back to users.
In today’s internet, centralized control often leads to unfair practices such as data monopolization, unequal access, and lack of transparency. At Klayr Labs, we believe applying blockchain in the right places can make apps more user-centric.
How can our readers further follow your work online?
You can follow us on Linkedin, X and visit our website: www.klayr.xyz. I’m also happy to connect with you over LinkedIn!
This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for joining us!
About the Interviewer: Douglas E. Noll, JD, MA was born nearly blind, crippled with club feet, partially deaf, and left-handed. He overcame all of these obstacles to become a successful civil trial lawyer. In 2000, he abandoned his law practice to become a peacemaker. His calling is to serve humanity, and he executes his calling at many levels. He is an award-winning author, teacher, and trainer. He is a highly experienced mediator. Doug’s work carries him from international work to helping people resolve deep interpersonal and ideological conflicts. Doug teaches his innovative de-escalation skill that calms any angry person in 90 seconds or less. With Laurel Kaufer, Doug founded Prison of Peace in 2009. The Prison of Peace project trains life and long terms incarcerated people to be powerful peacemakers and mediators. He has been deeply moved by inmates who have learned and applied deep, empathic listening skills, leadership skills, and problem-solving skills to reduce violence in their prison communities. Their dedication to learning, improving, and serving their communities motivates him to expand the principles of Prison of Peace so that every human wanting to learn the skills of peace may do so. Doug’s awards include California Lawyer Magazine Lawyer of the Year, Best Lawyers in America Lawyer of the Year, Purpose Prize Fellow, International Academy of Mediators Syd Leezak Award of Excellence, National Academy of Distinguished Neutrals Neutral of the Year. His four books have won a number of awards and commendations. Doug’s podcast, Listen With Leaders, is now accepting guests. Click on this link to learn more and apply.
