Have you met the guy that puts the coin in Bitcoin, meet Asher Tan from CoinJar.
Posted on 17 Sep 2015 |
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- How would you best describe CoinJar in your own words?
CoinJar is a one-stop shop for all your Bitcoin needs, we have a Bitcoin wallet where you can hold and spend your Bitcoin, and a Bitcoin exchange to help you buy and sell your Bitcoin easily.
- Since your establishment, what unforeseen obstacles and surprises have you faced? What are your key takeaways from it?
As a small business, it’s always a rocky road especially if it’s your first business; you never know what obstacles are in front of you. There is a phrase I like to use by Paul Graham from YCombinator that encourages entrepreneurs to be ‘relentlessly resourceful’. Especially as a small company you don’t have as many avenues or resources, it’s really up to an entrepreneur to find ways to make things work.
- What would be in your Startup toolkit that you couldn’t live without? Any startup should be using some sort of project management tool as it helps for focus, direction and accountability. For us, we use quite a few including Basecamp, Hipchat and a few others. Project management tools are not a one-size-fits all solution, but they can help immensely for specific purposes.
- Given you are growing your CoinJar family, what do you look for in people wanting to join your team?
At the heart of it, CoinJar is a software company. We look for engineering-heavy skill sets. As a startup, there are plenty of ups and downs, quiet and busy periods, it is important we look for people who are aware of this and want to work for a fast-changing environment.
- What would be your best advice for people wanting to work for a Startup? Any clear deal breakers they should be aware of?
The best way to work for a startup is to start your own side project. It doesn’t have to be very ambitious but you can learn a lot from the process, that’s the best way to understand what a startup does. No clear deal breakers, except it’s going to be very challenging.
- Would you hire from a large corporation to join your team?
Yes, we have hired both from startup and corporate backgrounds, the most important thing is the willingness to learn and to be adaptable because startups lack the structure of some of your larger organisations.
- Given the nature of Startups, how do you attract the right employees for CoinJar? What are your hiring hacks that have worked for you?
The best way to attract employees is through referrals from other employees presently working for the company. If you have a great place to work and a good culture and atmosphere, people will organically find out about what you do, and even though you might not hire someone directly, having a good reputation of being a good place to work will eventually filter down to the candidates you hire.
- Have you done anything out of the blue when closing your top candidate you could share with us?
It’s hard for startups to compete purely on salary and wages; I think the most important thing is having a common mission that resonates with potential candidates. We always outline what we are trying to do at CoinJar and ensure a candidate fits in. As long as the candidate believes in the mission, that’s half the work done, as people want to work in an environment that is meaningful and feel they are contributing to something they can identify with.
- What is the mission?
To innovate payment systems, to make payment tools that we want to use ourselves, and explore opportunities in digital currency which aren’t available through traditional ways of money transfer and finance.
- What’s been the most interesting or unique interview you have ever had?
In our recruitment process, we conduct a second interview with our candidates in a casual, social setting. This is a crucial, and the most interesting step for us as it gives us an indication if the candidate can work well with our small, tight-knit team. Apart from being technically competent, anyone we hire has to gel well with our team, as we all work together in all our projects in some way or form. An interview process is only the beginning; you have to be bold to make decisions through the probationary period. Only by working with people day in day out, you can tell if they are a good fit.
- How would your colleagues best describe you?
Asher is always after a good deal.
- What would be your tagline to best describe CoinJar?
For the everyday and the extraordinary. That’s what we want to look for payments locally and abroad. We want easy and simple accessibility of money, whether it’s for an everyday purchase, or paying a contractor in a far away region. The complexity of moving money around can be hard so that’s where CoinJar meets most of your needs.
