After some reading yesterday, here are some thoughts I've been having. I'm not any kind of expert in crypto, but do have a finance and trading background and very familiar with markets in general. I find investing in anything often follows the same core principles. Think about these 3 points:
1. Investing in Bitcoin is not investing in blockchain. Bitcoin might bring the tech to the forefront, but probably won't end up on top. I'm seeing Bitcoin almost like the blockchain's version of Napster. Napster changed the game completely - Napster almost single handedly imploded the CD industry - but it didn't end up on top! We don't really want to be invested in Napster, we want to be invested in iTunes, Spotify or even Pirate Bay.
2. Next point: Although Napster "died", the people behind it didn't. One rule that served me well in investing is this: Good people never run out of good ideas. If we follow on from the Napster analogy, it's not actually Napster we want to invest in but Sean Parker himself. After Napster, Parker went on to be heavily involved in both Facebook and Spotify - two more huge companies that changed the game. Follow the brains and you can't go wrong.
3. When it comes to people in new tech, we want young people, not just smart people. Vitalik Buterin is an example. Buterin is 23! He grew up in the tech age, he has a healthier perspective on tech than us, he is not caught up in the "good old days". These are the ones that dominate these new technologies. Moreover, your twenties is when you have the brain power and energy to put in 18 hour days and build great things. Let's not forget that Warren Buffett, the king of the stock market, passed on Facebook, Amazon and Google, because he "didn't like internet companies". Those are now the biggest companies in the world. All three are worth more than Berkshire today. He missed the boat. It's going to be the same for investors who "don't like blockchain companies". Buffet spent 60+ years amassing a $70 billion fortune, Zuckerberg caught up to him in less than ten. The new blockchain billionaires will do it in less than 2. Follow the young brains and not the old ones.
My point is: When investing I find it better to follow the good people rather than the good ideas. Rather than study the whitepaper, study the people behind the whitepaper. Study the people who have already read it and like it. They're smarter than you and have already done the hard work.
My question is: Who should we be following?
1. Investing in Bitcoin is not investing in blockchain. Bitcoin might bring the tech to the forefront, but probably won't end up on top. I'm seeing Bitcoin almost like the blockchain's version of Napster. Napster changed the game completely - Napster almost single handedly imploded the CD industry - but it didn't end up on top! We don't really want to be invested in Napster, we want to be invested in iTunes, Spotify or even Pirate Bay.
2. Next point: Although Napster "died", the people behind it didn't. One rule that served me well in investing is this: Good people never run out of good ideas. If we follow on from the Napster analogy, it's not actually Napster we want to invest in but Sean Parker himself. After Napster, Parker went on to be heavily involved in both Facebook and Spotify - two more huge companies that changed the game. Follow the brains and you can't go wrong.
3. When it comes to people in new tech, we want young people, not just smart people. Vitalik Buterin is an example. Buterin is 23! He grew up in the tech age, he has a healthier perspective on tech than us, he is not caught up in the "good old days". These are the ones that dominate these new technologies. Moreover, your twenties is when you have the brain power and energy to put in 18 hour days and build great things. Let's not forget that Warren Buffett, the king of the stock market, passed on Facebook, Amazon and Google, because he "didn't like internet companies". Those are now the biggest companies in the world. All three are worth more than Berkshire today. He missed the boat. It's going to be the same for investors who "don't like blockchain companies". Buffet spent 60+ years amassing a $70 billion fortune, Zuckerberg caught up to him in less than ten. The new blockchain billionaires will do it in less than 2. Follow the young brains and not the old ones.
My point is: When investing I find it better to follow the good people rather than the good ideas. Rather than study the whitepaper, study the people behind the whitepaper. Study the people who have already read it and like it. They're smarter than you and have already done the hard work.
My question is: Who should we be following?