An intriguing conversation with David Namdar, Co-Founder of NFT.com and General Partner at Coral DeFi
I’ve always been intrigued by blockchain since it has been a hot topic for the past few years, and it seemed mystifying to me as someone who struggles to keep up with the latest technological advancements. As a result, I was able to gain so much from the interview with David Namdar, a CEO, entrepreneur, and crypto investor. Not only did I learn about blockchain and cryptocurrency but also about his career path. My key takeaways from his interview include keeping an expansive mindset, the power of transformative technologies and the importance of relationship building.
Firstly, David emphasized the need to have an expansive mindset. He encouraged everyone not to be confined to a certain identity or limit themselves to what others may expect them to be. David’s personal example of keeping an expansive mindset was when he started to explore cryptocurrency when he was working full-time at a hedge fund. He did not limit himself or his interests to the scope of finance, rather he ventured out to explore an area of technology he found fascinating. Similarly, a goal for myself is to never stop learning and be open to continuous personal and professional growth. David’s experience motivates me to not put restrictions on myself. I find that to be essential as I start my career in accounting, which I was previously tunnel-visioned to stay in as a career path. I’ve been exposed to the potential of steering my career in whatever direction I choose, as long as I am willing to put in the effort and work required to create those opportunities.
Secondly, I learned about the disruptive power of blockchain technologies from the interview. Cryptocurrency can revolutionize how society interacts with money, whereas non-fungible tokens (NFTs) can disrupt almost everything else because almost anything can be represented by an NFT. Blockchain presents an open opportunity for anyone interested to learn more and be involved with it. Knowing this, I want to take advantage of the unbiased nature of blockchain technology to educate myself about it. It seems like blockchain’s role in society will only become more expansive, so I want to be able to keep up and understand it. Also, I’m motivated to learn about cryptocurrencies and NFTs, for personal investment purposes, as well as to understand which areas of blockchain may impact the work I do in my career.
Thirdly, David highlighted the importance of fostering relationships and building a solid network. David was able to maintain the relationships he built from all his various professional experiences, even those from his early finance days, in order to mold his career path to where it is currently. He mentioned that he only gets involved with projects he is passionate about and with people he is close with. This shows how important it is to be someone who is pleasant to work with. Also, he noted that Discord and Clubhouse are top places to build and connect with communities. With these free and accessible platforms to connect with others, there should be no reason to not be able to meet people with similar topic interests. Although I’m naturally old-fashioned and not technologically inclined, I feel that I should learn and leverage tools such as Discord and Clubhouse to connect with people. Embracing the new age of how relationships are built will help me to continue building my network.
Overall, the main takeaways I have from meeting David are the importance of having an open and inquisitive mind, the potential of blockchain to revolutionize society and the need to focus on relationships to be successful.