Introducing our new team member: Lisa Cuesta
Aztec continues to grow! In July, Lisa Cuesta joined us as Head of Business Development.
Welcome to the team, Lisa 🎉
Please introduce yourself — what you did before joining Aztec and what got you to the team?
Hi, I’m Lisa and I recently joined Aztec as Head of Business Development. I live in New York.
I spent the last five years at an early stage venture capital firm, where I led our fintech/crypto investments. As institutional interest in crypto grew in 2020, I worked with the executives of a large asset management firm to establish their digital assets strategy and educate their portfolio managers on DeFi.
Seeing how quickly the space was developing, I was eager to help build it — specifically focused on the infrastructure layer that empowers developers to build new applications and improve existing ones. In my current role, I’m working with the top dapps to partner on the launch of Aztec’s DeFi bridge, which will offer affordable privacy to their users.
How did you stumble across crypto for the first time?
My very first run in with bitcoin was in 2011, when I was a consultant for a large international financial institution that was a victim of cyberattacks. Through our investigation, we found that the “bad actors” were being funded through bitcoin — so naturally, I assumed bitcoin was only used by criminals and steered clear until I learned about the broader crypto ecosystem in 2017.
What excites you the most about Ethereum today besides ZKP?
The permissionless composability in the ecosystem enables creativity and building at a rapid clip. It inspires people to create amazing things, like streaming salaries/payments and, soon enough, we’ll see Cryptopunks used as collateral in DeFi. More importantly, everyone seems to be having so much fun while building and making friends along the way.
Tell me, what are you going to be focused on with your new role at Aztec?
My two priorities are commercializing the DeFi bridge and decentralizing the Aztec network. In addition to that, I’m helping out wherever is needed including recruiting, marketing/content, and community.
Please describe your work routine — where do you usually work and how do you set up your work environment? What’s a must for you?
I work in my “office” aka spare bedroom, where I have an Asus monitor and laptop stand. I’m upstairs and the room is soundproof. That said, I can adapt to whatever environment is available.
What unique stuff do you enjoy doing outside of work?
I’m a runner — I’ve run over 25 races (including 3 marathons) and I’m running the NYC marathon in November. I love spending time with family and friends and traveling with my husband and dog, Korra. In 2020, we were digital nomads and drove 10,000 across the country — we spent the weekends hiking and exploring national parks throughout the western US. My husband is also in crypto, so we also spend a lot of time talking about the latest projects that we’ve tried out and investing in early stage crypto companies.
Do you have any special Netflix show you like to recommend?
I rewatched the entire Breaking Bad series in 2020, because it’s that good. I also really enjoy mindless shows like Friends from College, Workin’ Moms, and Firefly Lane.
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