Coinbase Founder: The Crazy Journey Of Building A $100 Billion Company: Brian Armstrong
- Jul 17, 2022
- 1:45:11
- Full Episode
Brian is the co-founder and CEO of Coinbase, a company thats reached highs of a valuation of $100 billion.
Topics: 00:00 Intro 01:32 What made you the person you are today 08:43 Lessons learnt from my first business 15:34 How traveling shaped me 21:12 Working for AirB&B and what made it successful 25:40 The mistake a lot of entrepreneurs make 32:57 How to build a sustainable company 38:30 How to incentive your team to take risks 43:18 My journey starting Coinbase 59:00 Mistakes & key learnings when starting up 01:06:49 Leadership lessons 01:13:00 Fake news and dealing with it 01:27:16 No politics in the workplace 01:31:40 Hiring the best people & layoffs 01:38:10 What are the ingredients for your happiness recipe? 01:39:56 Our last guest’s question
Brian Armstrong: https://twitter.com/brian_armstrong
Thirdweb: https://thirdweb.com/
Listen on: Apple podcast - https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-diary-of-a-ceo-by-steven-bartlett/id1291423644 Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/7iQXmUT7XGuZSzAMjoNWlX
FOLLOW ► Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/steven/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/SteveBartlettSC Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/steven-bartlett-56986834/
Sponsor: BlueJeans - https://www.bluejeans.com/ Huel - https://my.huel.com/Steven Crafted - https://bit.ly/3JKOPFx
Brief Summary
Brian Armstrong discusses his journey with Coinbase, leadership lessons, and the challenges of rapid growth in the cryptocurrency industry.
Key points
- The Pressure of Layoffs. Coinbase announces its first-ever layoffs, creating a tense atmosphere among employees.
- Lessons from Early Ventures. Brian reflects on his early tutoring business and the valuable lessons learned about entrepreneurship.
- The Dip in Entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurs often face a challenging middle phase where success feels distant. 'If you're not willing to go through the dip, then quit now.'
- Transitioning Motivations. Successful founders must shift from fear-driven motivations to joy-driven ones. 'You have to transition away from fear and anger as your motivator to joy and love.'
- Risk Tolerance in Founding. Founders must balance risk tolerance to foster innovation and avoid complacency.
- Building Coinbase on the Side. The founder shares how he developed Coinbase while working at Airbnb.
Episode highlights
- The Pressure of LayoffsCoinbase announces its first-ever layoffs, creating a tense atmosphere among employees.“I remember my voice cracked; it was awful.”0:43Jul 17, 2022
- Lessons from Early VenturesBrian reflects on his early tutoring business and the valuable lessons learned about entrepreneurship.“Stop trying to extract value and start trying to create more value.”13:02Jul 17, 2022
- The Dip in EntrepreneurshipEntrepreneurs often face a challenging middle phase where success feels distant. 'If you're not willing to go through the dip, then quit now.'“If you're not willing to go through the dip, then quit now.”20:24Jul 17, 2022
- Transitioning MotivationsSuccessful founders must shift from fear-driven motivations to joy-driven ones. 'You have to transition away from fear and anger as your motivator to joy and love.'“You have to transition away from fear and anger as your motivator to joy and love.”30:30Jul 17, 2022
- Risk Tolerance in FoundingFounders must balance risk tolerance to foster innovation and avoid complacency.“The scarcest thing inside big companies is actually risk tolerance.”40:48Jul 17, 2022
- Building Coinbase on the SideThe founder shares how he developed Coinbase while working at Airbnb.“I was probably doing like 20 hours a week on something that would become Coinbase.”44:28Jul 17, 2022
- The Buy Button BreakthroughA pivotal moment for Coinbase when they added a buy button, leading to growth.“The minute we launched that buy button, it started to grow every day organically.”57:35Jul 17, 2022
- Emotional DepartureThe co-founder’s exit was a deeply emotional moment for the CEO, leading to tears.“I mean it was awful, um I cried.”1:00:20Jul 17, 2022
