TFGxclusive - CryptEarn to the moon!

We have the exciting opportunity to speak with Stefan from CryptEarn and here’s the full conversation exclusively for you, the Hidden Intel community.

Read on!

To kick off the journey, what was the ‘a-ha‘ moment that drew you into entrepreneurship?

When I had a YouTube channel, I started streaming a web3 game called Lost Relics - a crypto game. And on the second day of playing it, I got an NFT worth 265 dollars. And then I felt like - this is the thing I’m going to do for the rest of my life - goodbye work.

That’s also the time when one of my friends called me and said - hey, there’s this cool popular crypto game called Axie Infinity – let’s put some money in and play it. I already knew it, so gathered together a bit more friends, made a plan on a piece of paper, and put in a bunch of money to buy NFTs. We started playing the game and became one of the best players in the world. We were making money from gaming, and we reinvested everything, and struck a deal with more of our friends. We would allow them to play a paid crypto game for free - but we’d ask for 50% of their profits in return. And that’s how the business started to spread.

Eventually, we spread out our team to the Philippines, and we shared our business idea at a TechStars event in Ohrid. A lot of the people there told us that we had a great idea, and we won a best business idea award. After that we went to the Longest Pitch Marathon - the first one, and we won first place.

The rest is history. 

What are some key takeaways from your CryptEarn’s participation in the Founder Games?

Building a startup is like jumping off a cliff and trying to build a plane before you land. There’s no right way to make one, and it takes a startup founder to show you the way. Teddy was our mentor, and he’s a guy who has experience. He’s walked the walk and he was able to pinpoint our problems, tell us where we’re going wrong, and how to improve. 

Teddy was like the navigator of the CryptEarn ship. For example, when we would think we were doing a great job, he would say that one important thing wasn’t finished. When we would think we were doing a bad job, he would say that we completed another important task on the way. It was like having a guide to reset you back to factory settings so you keep working towards a goal that needs to be finished. 

In terms of pitching, Teddy also helped us create a story about our product – and we all know how important that is, right? Almost all of our success can be attributed to the people who helped us along the way because we’re standing on the shoulders of giants. 

How does building in web3 differ from launching a startup in web2? What are some common misconceptions about Web3 and the crypto industry that you'd like to address to fellow entrepreneurs thinking about web3? How do you see the adoption of blockchain technology evolving over the next five years?

Most people think that if you’re in crypto, you’re making a hell of a lot of money. Fact check - you’re not. You’re actually making way less money because you’re dealing with price volatility and gas fees.

But it’s waaaay more fun than traditional businesses. The community is amazing, and even though the technology is still in its infancy, it’s world-changing. There’s still a lot of time before it goes mainstream, but when it does and people wake up to it, they’ll curse themselves for not getting in sooner. 

Crypto is all about reputation, and if you stain it once, you’re done. It’s also about your network. If you don’t know the right people, you’re not going to move an inch with your product.

Next comes content. You cannot be in crypto (founder, project, anything) without a personal brand. You just can’t. You’ve got to be out there in the open and build in public. 

What is CryptEarn doing now?

It’s summer right? Even the startups need a short break. We pushed super hard during the period of The Founder Games, and we’re taking a few weeks off so all of the team members can go on a much-needed vacation and unwind before we push hard again. 

But in the meantime, we’re in the process of negotiating an investment deal of 125k from Soonami (a Web3 accelerator). We went on a few meetings, and hopefully, the final one is this week when we get to secure the deal. One of the people we talked to was the co-CEO of ESL (everyone who watched Dota2 or CS:GO knows), and we’ll try to get it over the line. 

Back to the journey, what does a day in the life of CryptEarn look like, from sunrise to sunset?

Here’s a great depiction of the life of a startup founder: 

7 AM: wake up, get dressed, eat breakfast, etc.

8 AM: get to the office, the first meeting of the day, check-up, and set tasks

9 AM: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

8 PM: leave the office, it’s time to go workout, see your family or friends.

11 PM: go to bed.

What has been your biggest win as a startup so far?

Pitching at The Founder Games. I mean, we got to the finals, that’s good on its own. But standing on the podium after you’ve prepared a speech, a presentation, and have tangible results to show - that’s the one thing that stands out.

On the contrary, what has been your biggest mistake as a startup founder so far?

Our start was super hard. As soon as we got our investment, the market completely crashed. And the earning mechanic from the games we played changed completely. So we were faced with a problem. Should we keep on doing what we’re doing, or learn the game from scratch, see how to earn, and then build back up step by step.

We poured a lot of time into learning everything again, and then our gamers started quitting because the rewards weren’t super big - so we had to find new ones, teach them, jump on calls, and lead them through a crypto journey.

Practically, you’re waking up every day second-guessing your decision - because the market was crashing. But in reality - it needs to be super simple when you absolutely believe in your idea: 

• Set dates for goals

• Try to achieve those goals

• If you succeed, set new goals, repeat

If you don’t succeed, find what stopped you, set new goals, and repeat.

What are the top 3 lessons or tips you would give to aspiring entrepreneurs thinking about starting a startup?

Start a startup if you want to solve a problem, not if you want to make money (because there’s a high chance you’re not going to make money for a while).

Don’t be stressed if you don’t know what you’re doing. Nobody knows what they’re doing. 

Don’t cling to your idea. Pivot if you need to, don’t get too emotionally attached to the startup just because it’s yours. Be objective. 

What's one piece of content every entrepreneur should read or watch?

The E Myth Revisited - a super cool book.

The 12-week year - for setting goals and cool calendars.

The Adweek copywriting handbook - so you know how to write. 

Where do you see yourself and CryptEarn in 10 years?

Ten years is a long time, and there are two possible scenarios: 

1: Owning the market with other international unicorns

2: In some other owner’s hands because we plan to exit once it reaches a certain valuation.

end of interview

⏭️ BONUS

Check out CryptEarn’s dossier through the lens of The Founder Games: