Ep. 74: Fintech Applications & Cryptocurrency in Emerging Markets with Helghardt Avenant of REHIVE

If you want to work in the cryptocurrency or fintech space, there is no doubt that Silicon Valley is the place to be in terms of access to opportunity, financing and a network of peers. But what if your home country happens to be an emerging market like South Africa? What is it like to be part of a foreign national startup in the San Francisco Bay Area? And how do you effectively manage a distributed team working from a different time zone? Helghardt Avenant is the co-founder and CEO of Rehive, a platform working to help founders and businesses rapidly build, launch and scale fintech products by providing the necessary building blocks. Users mix and match a core set of features to their specific fintech use case, much the same way Shopify serves the eCommerce industry. Though Helghardt is based in Silicon Valley, 80% of Rehive’s engineering team works from his home country of South Africa. Today, Helghardt joins us to share the idea behind Rehive and discuss the startup’s many iterations as well as its ideal customer. He offers insight around emerging markets like South Africa, explaining the country’s current crypto economy and what is necessary to inspire widespread adoption. Listen in as Helghardt describes the draw of Silicon Valley for aspiring engineers in the cryptocurrency space and learn how Rehive is streamlining communication among its distributed team! Topics Covered The idea behind Rehive WordPress for fintech applications Use available building blocks Helghardt’s introduction to the crypto space South Africa had limited online payment options First experience moving money online = Bitcoin Fascinated by promise of ‘better money’ Helghardt’s insight around emerging markets Immediate needs don’t require advanced tech Hard to generate interest without clear idea of value-add South Africa’s crypto economy Run by mining or traditional retail, banking Success stories = EC2 and Naspers Helghardt’s take on the draw of Silicon Valley Access to opportunity, deal flow Requires mental shift (cultural differences) What South Africa needs to promote widespread adoption Educate potential crypto distributors on volatility Begin in areas where end-consumer comfortable How to get people away from traditional currency Enterprise tools for banks, governments and retailers Issue digital denominations (bring into operational flow) The ideal customer for Rehive Brands with established user base Retailers who want to play in financial space Helghardt’s advice for aspiring crypto startup founders Get to Silicon Valley for immediate support network Find token sale, blockchain foundation looking for talent The many iterations of Rehive Stable wallet (hedging mechanism) Bitcoin, Coinbase for South Africa Helghardt’s tips for distributed teams Establish guidelines for communicating on Slack Work in sprints (3 months together for alignment) Helghardt’s definition of success Freedom to cross borders easily Tap into other’s time and energy Achieve things can’t do yourself Connect with Helghardt Rehive https://rehive.com/ Rehive on Twitter https://twitter.com/rehivehq?lang=en Rehive on GitHub https://github.com/rehive Helghardt on Medium https://medium.com/rehive-blog/fintech-platforms-b8b0238427ee Helghardt on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/helghardt/ Resources Amazon EC2 https://aws.amazon.com/ec2/ Naspers https://www.naspers.com/ Tencent https://www.tencent.com/en-us/ Titan: The Life of John D. Rockefeller, Sr. by Ron Chernow https://www.amazon.com/Titan-Life-John-Rockefeller-Sr/dp/1400077303 Slack https://slack.com/ The Settlers of Catan https://www.catan.com/game/catan Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts https://www.amazon.com/Shantaram-Novel-Gregory-David-Roberts/dp/0312330537 Connect with Boost VC Boost VC Website https://www.boost.vc/ Boost VC on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/boostvc/ Boost VC on Twitter https://twitter.com/BoostVC