RADAR Retro

2019

Most public companies include a letter to their shareholders alongside their annual report. This letter is a rare opportunity for operators to speak directly to shareholders on vision, milestones, and strategy. This year, we continue that ritual (review 2018 here). While most of you aren’t shareholders (yet), you’ve invested your time and energy to help us grow. This letter is to you.

Shipping Our Next Financial System

We can’t predict exactly what our next financial system will look like, but we know three things. First, it’s going to be more fair, more transparent, and more inclusive. Second, we know it’s going to rely on peer to peer exchange, peer to peer payments, and a whole lot of new infrastructure. Third, blockchain is the best database to build a new financial system on top of.

This year, we introduced two new products, REDSHIFT and DEPLOY. REDSHIFT uses LN as a payment rail and is being used for merchant integrations and programmatic liquidity management. DEPLOY is the first NodeOps platform, offering developers a simple way to spin up and manage their blockchain infrastructure. Our flagship product, RELAY, continues to grow with users around the world trading $100m this year.

Onboarding the World

Blockchain is a database. However, we believe it offers something no other database can - programmatic trust.

We believe our next financial system must shift trust from legacy institutions with opaque incentives to modern technology that mandates transparency. We believe our next financial system must shift trust from predatory platforms to fair protocols. We believe our next financial system must shift trust from the privileged to be globally inclusive.

In other words, our current financial system needs a database migration.

Like all new databases, blockchain must endure the difficult journey from education to abstraction. We’re humbled to play our part in creating new language, user actions, and design patterns. This year, we focused on evangelizing the Lightning Network. We created ION, the homepage of the Lightning Network, an App Store, developer tools, and an onboarding guide.

Culturing Culture

Our next financial system isn’t getting here next week, it’s going to take some time. We are building a durable culture, and on top of it, we are building an enduring, multigenerational company.

Most companies think about culture only as a noun, “culture is set at the top” or “we have a vibrant culture.” Culture as a noun is necessary but insufficient. We think culture is also a verb, it’s about maintaining conditions for growth. At RADAR culture is described through values, operationalized through principles, reinforced through rituals, and shared through stories.

Return the High Five

We are so inspired by the collective hope in our community. Thank you for your support! We can’t wait to show you what’s next!