## #627 — Brian Armstrong, CEO of Coinbase — The Art of Relentless Focus, Preparing for Full-Contact Entrepreneurship, Critical Forks in the Path, Handling Haters, the Wisdom of Paul Graham, Epigenetic Reprogramming, and Much More ### #627 — Brian Armstrong, CEO of Coinbase — The Art of Relentless Focus, Preparing for Full-Contact Entrepreneurship, Critical Forks in the Path, Handling Haters, the Wisdom of Paul Graham, Epigenetic Reprogramming, and Much More  #### Metadata * Author: [[The Tim Ferriss Show]] * Full Title: #627 — Brian Armstrong, CEO of Coinbase — The Art of Relentless Focus, Preparing for Full-Contact Entrepreneurship, Critical Forks in the Path, Handling Haters, the Wisdom of Paul Graham, Epigenetic Reprogramming, and Much More * Category: #podcasts * URL: <https://share.snipd.com/episode/dec43a62-1b33-461c-9959-9c5375d647be> #### Highlights * Y Combinator or Polygram? Transcript: Speaker 1 But I found it actually quite interesting just to get his view on sort of the global macro environment in different countries and how they work. And that was something I've also gone back to look at once in a while. I think it did influence my thinking and hindsight. I want to come back to something you said, which was talk to the customer, iterate, talk to the customer, iterate, and just to maybe state the obvious, which is very often entrepreneurs try to iterate without talking to the customer. And one of the things I appreciate about many of the founders who've ([Time 0:23:03](https://share.snipd.com/snip/f780b4ae-8cd0-47d9-bcc2-af2e355e21ff)) * Action Produces Information Transcript: Speaker 1 But I guess some of the lessons just generally from that ecosystem, because it all came from Y Combinator and Airbnb and all that stuff. I mean, another one of my favorite kind of Polygramisms is action produces information. So there's many times where you're sitting around and you're like, all right, well, what if this happens? ([Time 0:24:12](https://share.snipd.com/snip/994c9f99-7a18-4e0a-b198-674c65b4cad8)) * Cryptocurrency and the Company's Mission Transcript: Speaker 1 First of all, I subsequently learned that BLM supported other things like around defunding the police and all these things, which I was like, all right, we shouldn't be getting involved in those issues. I don't know what our point of view is on that. And I basically realized there was not a clear agreement amongst all the people in the company that some people felt the company should actually be engaging in broader societal issues to try to go help out. And other people felt that we should be focused on our mission, which was a very big and important thing already, increasing economic freedom in the world with crypto. And I was in that latter camp. And I felt like that's already a big enough thing to focus on. ([Time 0:32:54](https://share.snipd.com/snip/dc8b2011-511f-43d2-86e4-2d9893ea4546)) * The CEO Job Is Not That Fun Transcript: Speaker 1 It was a very vocal, tiny percentage of the company. And so I basically made this exit package available. I said, look, this is the direction we're going in. If you're not, if you're not okay with that, I totally get it. I didn't make it clear up front. That's my fault. So we're going to give this great severance package, whatever, 5% of the company left. It created a bunch of drama for a few months. A couple journalists wrote hit pieces on us and things like that. But afterwards, it was, it was better. It was like one of the best things I've ever done for the company, to be honest, because now we're fully aligned. We're making faster progress. Everybody who joins the company knows what they're signing up for. ([Time 0:35:41](https://share.snipd.com/snip/1454317b-5028-4649-b8a9-e4eb38c76a3a)) * You've Just Made It to the Next Level Transcript: Speaker 1 And you level up, you kind of earn your stripes and you become a more powerful CEO because you're like, okay, I'm not going to make a decision in the company based on how I'm afraid of how other people react. I'm going to do what I think is best for the long term of the company. And so, that's actually a superpower. I think it's great when people go through it. And even when it feels like shit, I'm like, congratulations. You've just made it to the next level. I like to reframe. It makes me all the more I want to read this haters piece by Paul Graham also. ([Time 0:44:28](https://share.snipd.com/snip/efd63b00-8ac5-4573-bac8-a4a1838ae87f)) * How Do You Think About Competition? Transcript: Speaker 1 It gets me fired up. It gets the team fired up. Honestly, if you don't have a competitor, people are naturally tribalistic. You'll sometimes get tribes will start to form inside the company and people start fighting each other. And so, it's actually better to have something outside the company that you're struggling against. On the other hand, you're too much focus on competitors. You should almost ignore it. Another Paul Grahamism is startups die by suicide, not homicide. And that's a gory thing to say. But what he means, of course, is that companies blow up because they're bureaucratic or the founders have some big fight or the board has some drama and they run out of money or whatever. ([Time 0:45:30](https://share.snipd.com/snip/97191dcd-6212-427a-935b-8ce33b3b3dc0)) * Decentralized Identity? Transcript: Speaker 1 Yeah, like thanks for translating my very convoluted question to simplicity. I was trying to think what our comms team would think if I was like, you know, I'd really love to work at this other crypto company. Like what the hell? No, but they teach they teach you in the PR training. Pivot the question to the one you wish was asked. That's a good question. Let me tell you the story that's unrelated. Yeah, exactly. Decentralized identity is really cool. ([Time 0:55:46](https://share.snipd.com/snip/9a4df293-8ead-4bab-ba73-e01750f4dddc)) * Decentralized Identity Is a Big Piece of the Crypto Economy Transcript: Speaker 1 They're kind of these long random strings of characters. They look like a giant password or something. It's impossible for humans to really remember them or even know if you're sending it to the right spot. So we're getting closer and closer to having like kind of human readable names everywhere. And ENS is a really big piece of that. So actually like with Coinbase wallet, we recently set this up where anybody can go in there and claim a free ENS name, you can get like Tim.cb.ide at the end and try to make that super simple. If people can buy their own as well and get like, you know, Tim. ETH, but we'll give you a free one with the cb.ide on the end if you want. ([Time 0:57:01](https://share.snipd.com/snip/464c34ae-4912-496b-9779-59269092d72e)) * Is There a Stripe Atlas for Crypto? Transcript: Speaker 1 I think that could be a nice like community that comes together. There should probably be kind of like a stripe atlas for crypto in the sense that a lot of people are, and some people are doing this, they're trying to make make it easier for people to create a company with a Dow would sort of be like the new Delaware C corp, if you will, but just make that whole thing of like issuing a token and managing a coin table payroll, you know, fundraising, like all that stuff could probably be powered in sort of a new kind of app. ([Time 0:58:56](https://share.snipd.com/snip/b865b513-84d4-411c-b9aa-2ca0bbe15a10)) # #627 — Brian Armstrong, CEO of Coinbase — The Art of Relentless Focus, Preparing for Full-Contact Entrepreneurship, Critical Forks in the Path, Handling Haters, the Wisdom of Paul Graham, Epigenetic Reprogramming, and Much More  ## Metadata - Author: [[The Tim Ferriss Show]] - Full Title: #627 — Brian Armstrong, CEO of Coinbase — The Art of Relentless Focus, Preparing for Full-Contact Entrepreneurship, Critical Forks in the Path, Handling Haters, the Wisdom of Paul Graham, Epigenetic Reprogramming, and Much More - Category: #podcasts - URL: https://share.snipd.com/episode/dec43a62-1b33-461c-9959-9c5375d647be ## Highlights - Y Combinator or Polygram? Summary: I found it actually quite interesting just to get his view on sort of the global macro environment in different countries and how they work. And that was something I've also gone back to look at once in a while. I think it did influence my thinking and hindsight. It's very often entrepreneurs try to iterate without talking to the customer, which is one of the things I appreciate about many of the founders who've worked with me. Transcript: Speaker 1 But I found it actually quite interesting just to get his view on sort of the global macro environment in different countries and how they work. And that was something I've also gone back to look at once in a while. I think it did influence my thinking and hindsight. I want to come back to something you said, which was talk to the customer, iterate, talk to the customer, iterate, and just to maybe state the obvious, which is very often entrepreneurs try to iterate without talking to the customer. And one of the things I appreciate about many of the founders who've ([Time 0:23:03](https://share.snipd.com/snip/f780b4ae-8cd0-47d9-bcc2-af2e355e21ff)) - Action Produces Information Summary: But I guess some of the lessons just generally from that ecosystem, because it all came from Y Combinator and Airbnb and all that stuff. I mean, another one of my favorite kind of Polygramisms is action produces information. So there's many times where you're sitting around and you're like, all right, well, what if this happens? Transcript: Speaker 1 But I guess some of the lessons just generally from that ecosystem, because it all came from Y Combinator and Airbnb and all that stuff. I mean, another one of my favorite kind of Polygramisms is action produces information. So there's many times where you're sitting around and you're like, all right, well, what if this happens? ([Time 0:24:12](https://share.snipd.com/snip/994c9f99-7a18-4e0a-b198-674c65b4cad8)) - Cryptocurrency and the Company's Mission Summary: I realized there was not a clear agreement amongst all the people in the company that some people felt the company should actually be engaging in broader societal issues to try to go help out. Other people felt that we should be focused on our mission, which was a very big and important thing already. And I felt like that's already a big enough thing to focus on. Transcript: Speaker 1 First of all, I subsequently learned that BLM supported other things like around defunding the police and all these things, which I was like, all right, we shouldn't be getting involved in those issues. I don't know what our point of view is on that. And I basically realized there was not a clear agreement amongst all the people in the company that some people felt the company should actually be engaging in broader societal issues to try to go help out. And other people felt that we should be focused on our mission, which was a very big and important thing already, increasing economic freedom in the world with crypto. And I was in that latter camp. And I felt like that's already a big enough thing to focus on. ([Time 0:32:54](https://share.snipd.com/snip/dc8b2011-511f-43d2-86e4-2d9893ea4546)) - The CEO Job Is Not That Fun Summary: "It was a very vocal, tiny percentage of the company. And so I basically made this exit package available," he says. "Now we're fully aligned. We're making faster progress" Transcript: Speaker 1 It was a very vocal, tiny percentage of the company. And so I basically made this exit package available. I said, look, this is the direction we're going in. If you're not, if you're not okay with that, I totally get it. I didn't make it clear up front. That's my fault. So we're going to give this great severance package, whatever, 5% of the company left. It created a bunch of drama for a few months. A couple journalists wrote hit pieces on us and things like that. But afterwards, it was, it was better. It was like one of the best things I've ever done for the company, to be honest, because now we're fully aligned. We're making faster progress. Everybody who joins the company knows what they're signing up for. ([Time 0:35:41](https://share.snipd.com/snip/1454317b-5028-4649-b8a9-e4eb38c76a3a)) - You've Just Made It to the Next Level Summary: And you level up, you kind of earn your stripes and you become a more powerful CEO because you're like, okay, I'm not going to make a decision in the company based on how I'm afraid of how other people react. I'm going to do what I think is best for the long term of the company. And so, that's actually a superpower. I think it's great when people go through it. And even when it feels like shit, I'm like, congratulations. You've just made it to the next level. I like to reframe. It makes me all the more I want to read this haters piece by Paul Graham also. Transcript: Speaker 1 And you level up, you kind of earn your stripes and you become a more powerful CEO because you're like, okay, I'm not going to make a decision in the company based on how I'm afraid of how other people react. I'm going to do what I think is best for the long term of the company. And so, that's actually a superpower. I think it's great when people go through it. And even when it feels like shit, I'm like, congratulations. You've just made it to the next level. I like to reframe. It makes me all the more I want to read this haters piece by Paul Graham also. ([Time 0:44:28](https://share.snipd.com/snip/efd63b00-8ac5-4573-bac8-a4a1838ae87f)) - How Do You Think About Competition? Summary: If you don't have a competitor, people are naturally tribalistic. You'll sometimes get tribes will start to form inside the company and people start fighting each other. It's actually better to have something outside the company that you're struggling against. Another Paul Grahamism is startups die by suicide, not homicide. Transcript: Speaker 1 It gets me fired up. It gets the team fired up. Honestly, if you don't have a competitor, people are naturally tribalistic. You'll sometimes get tribes will start to form inside the company and people start fighting each other. And so, it's actually better to have something outside the company that you're struggling against. On the other hand, you're too much focus on competitors. You should almost ignore it. Another Paul Grahamism is startups die by suicide, not homicide. And that's a gory thing to say. But what he means, of course, is that companies blow up because they're bureaucratic or the founders have some big fight or the board has some drama and they run out of money or whatever. ([Time 0:45:30](https://share.snipd.com/snip/97191dcd-6212-427a-935b-8ce33b3b3dc0)) - Decentralized Identity? Summary: "I was trying to think what our comms team would think if I was like, you know, I'd really love to work at this other crypto company. Like what the hell? No, but they teach they teach you in the PR training," he says. "Decentralized identity is really cool." Transcript: Speaker 1 Yeah, like thanks for translating my very convoluted question to simplicity. I was trying to think what our comms team would think if I was like, you know, I'd really love to work at this other crypto company. Like what the hell? No, but they teach they teach you in the PR training. Pivot the question to the one you wish was asked. That's a good question. Let me tell you the story that's unrelated. Yeah, exactly. Decentralized identity is really cool. ([Time 0:55:46](https://share.snipd.com/snip/9a4df293-8ead-4bab-ba73-e01750f4dddc)) - Decentralized Identity Is a Big Piece of the Crypto Economy Summary: We're getting closer and closer to having like kind of human readable names everywhere. And ENS is a really big piece of that. So actually like with Coinbase wallet, we recently set this up where anybody can go in there and claim a free ENS name. If people can buy their own as well and get like, you know, Tim. ETH, but we'll give you a free one with the cb.ide on the end if you want. Transcript: Speaker 1 They're kind of these long random strings of characters. They look like a giant password or something. It's impossible for humans to really remember them or even know if you're sending it to the right spot. So we're getting closer and closer to having like kind of human readable names everywhere. And ENS is a really big piece of that. So actually like with Coinbase wallet, we recently set this up where anybody can go in there and claim a free ENS name, you can get like Tim.cb.ide at the end and try to make that super simple. If people can buy their own as well and get like, you know, Tim. ETH, but we'll give you a free one with the cb.ide on the end if you want. ([Time 0:57:01](https://share.snipd.com/snip/464c34ae-4912-496b-9779-59269092d72e)) - Is There a Stripe Atlas for Crypto? Summary: I think that could be a nice like community that comes together. There should probably be kind of like a stripe atlas for crypto in the sense that a lot of people are, and some people are doing this, they're trying to make make it easier for people to create a company with a Dow would sort of be like the new Delaware C corp, if you will, but just make that whole thing of like issuing a token and managing a coin table payroll, you know, fundraising, like all that stuff could probably be powered in sort of a new kind of app. Transcript: Speaker 1 I think that could be a nice like community that comes together. There should probably be kind of like a stripe atlas for crypto in the sense that a lot of people are, and some people are doing this, they're trying to make make it easier for people to create a company with a Dow would sort of be like the new Delaware C corp, if you will, but just make that whole thing of like issuing a token and managing a coin table payroll, you know, fundraising, like all that stuff could probably be powered in sort of a new kind of app. ([Time 0:58:56](https://share.snipd.com/snip/b865b513-84d4-411c-b9aa-2ca0bbe15a10))