“Things Will Go Wrong, It’s How You Deal With Them That Prove Your Worth” With Darryll Dipietro of Coincierge Club

“Things will go wrong, it’s how you deal with them that prove your worth: My flight to Miami was grounded in Atlanta due to weather. As soon as I was informed that I had to take 3 other planes, to DC and NYC then to Miami, I rented a car and drove the 12 or so hours down to South Beach. Ironically, my good good friend lives with in minutes of the Atlanta airport so I was able to see her and catch up. We eventually got the entire trip refunded including expenses and the rental.”

I had the pleasure to interview Darryll DiPietro, Founder and President & CEO of Coincierge Club. Darryll DiPietro has worked in Las Vegas nightlife since 2008, he quickly moved up to manager and director roles at some of the biggest clubs in Las Vegas. Private key wallet with over 12,000 coins supported and transaction speeds at 250,000 per second. First crypto currency to have a concierge service.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! What is your “backstory”?

I have always loved art, and creating things. I took a design class in high school where I produced an elaborate foam core house. This led to a job as an assistant graphic designer, which led to enrolling in web and graphic design school. This is where I learned HTML, CSS and Java. I moved to San Francisco to attend a higher acclaimed college, and grew more interested in film. Switched majors to film and eventually moved to Southern California to pursue that career. In 2008 I moved to Las Vegas with the intent on continuing with film, but within months the recession had hit and I found myself seeking employment. I was young and in Las Vegas, so I started going to nightclubs with friends, which led us to start a hosting company, and then to my first gig, prive nightclub. I worked my way up the ranks, and over the next 8 years, developed a database of bottle service customers, casino managers and nightclub owners. This network of over 5000 people has helped us build Crypto-Cash Hub, Inc into what it is today. In 2016, with regulations changing how nightclubs operated, I went to work for Google on their Play Store and its verticals as well as 3rd party application support. I was promoted to operations after only 7 weeks. I developed a program that eventually rolled out to every tier 1 Play Store agent. I left Google in January of 2017 and started this in June of 2017. I am part of the xGoogler Blockchain Alliance

Can you share the funniest or most interesting story that happened to you since you began leading your company?

I believe the most interesting part of this story is how it began. We did not set out to build the payment processing disruptor we built, we set out to make sure people did not get ripped off. This “good intentions” story is the foundation of our business. The four founders were ripped off on a high yield investment platform and decided to do something about it. We began by giving away free bitcoin, and writing blogs about our experiences, good or bad. With in 3 weeks of setting up our faucet, and about a week before launch, we conceived the idea of a tourism coin, and the rest is history.

What do you think makes your company stand out? Can you share a story?

What makes our company stand out is our team. We set out to build a team of the best of the best. Our developer for example, subcontracts for the US Government, our investor was the director of marketing for Light Group and one of our board members is part of the IBM Hyperledger team.

What advice would you give to other CEOs or founders to help their employees to thrive?

Create the culture you would want to work in. Be fun, spontaneous and always encourage growth and development. When starting out, hire people you know. Remember, you can train someone on a skill, but not on loyalty.

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?

Two people, my parents, Bob and Anne. They have always supported me regardless if they know what the heck I am doing, which they don’t.

How have you used your success to bring goodness to the world?

We are establishing new trade routes that link secondary cities along the south of the United States to Mexico City and Mexicali. This will bring a plethora of technology companies to these cities.

What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Became CEO” and why. (Please share a story or example for each.)

1. You will have no free time, so don’t leave any projects unfinished: My father and I redesigned the kitchen in my house. He lives in Arizona and drive up for 2 weeks to completely gut the kitchen. When he left it was at about 90%, needing only some paint and a ceiling texture. It’s still at 90%, since we started this business 2 weeks after he left. Someday…..
2. Be prepared to not get paid for a while: I didn’t begin to take a salary until last month. I had other income so I was able to make it work, but remember, any money you take out of the company could potentially set you back on development. Pay your employees before you pay yourself.
3. Things will go wrong, it’s how you deal with them that prove your worth: My flight to Miami was grounded in Atlanta due to weather. As soon as I was informed that I had to take 3 other planes, to DC and NYC then to Miami, I rented a car and drove the 12 or so hours down to South Beach. Ironically, my good good friend lives with in minutes of the Atlanta airport so I was able to see her and catch up. We eventually got the entire trip refunded including expenses and the rental.
4. There is no off button: You are the drive of your business, everyone will feed off that energy. It is easy to relax when success begins to show its face, but that could also be the downfall of a business. Stay focused.
5. Business trips are exactly that, so plan accordingly: We take a bunch of trips. Comparing the Miami conference where we stayed in an Air BnB in South Beach with Dallas, where we stayed at the host hotel. Staying at the host hotel allowed up to network for nearly the entire time. These events produce a lot of passive gatherings and breakout sessions, so it is important to make sure you are logistically near the event or the suggested hotel.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”?

Wait until your chinmy starts to smoke. This was told to my father by my grandfather, and then told to me. It references children, but I have always applied it to everything.

Some of the biggest names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this :-)

Jay-Z. We literally played his first 5 albums over and over again for months while we built this out. The idea that no bottom is too low to climb out of, and that the flower that grew out of concrete could eventually be that tree.