228: A Serial Founder’s Fight for Mass Adoption of Cryptocurrencies, With Alex Mashinsky of Celsius

Serial founder and VOIP pioneer Alex Mashinsky has founded eight companies and raised more than a billion dollars in collective funding since his entrepreneurial start in the 1990s—and he is showing no signs of slowing down. Mashinsky is the founder of Celsius, which allows users to earn interest on and borrow dollars against cryptocurrencies. While Mashinsky wants his company to succeed, he sees much more at stake here than just his entrepreneurial resume. Mashinsky is devoting his latest startup to taking on the world’s financial systems and driving the mass adoption of cryptocurrencies. Subverting the “big guys” has been a common theme throughout Mashinsky’s career, starting with helping AT&T develop some of the first international VOIP systems, and now fighting to decentralize the world’s banking systems. According to Mashinsky, “This is the biggest battle that I’ve fought in my life. I fought with the phone companies…in the 90s. This is 10 times worse.” Listen in as Mashinsky reveals the details of his entrepreneurial journey's highs and lows, his dedication to educate the world about cryptocurrencies, and entrepreneurial lessons only an eight-time founder can teach. Key Takeaways How the 2008 recession took down his ride-share company (that was more popular than Uber at the time) Why Mashinsky is so passionate about educating the world on cryptocurrencies 4 entrepreneurial lessons to guide your business journey The mindset shift that led Mashinsky to focus on mass adoption of cryptocurrencies