Episode #30: Building Cryptocurrency Companies, Racing a Moto-Taxi Down the World’s Most Dangerous Road, and Becoming Thailand’s Fittest Man with Ben Lakoff

Episode Summary

Ben Lakoff takes us on his journey of becoming a Division 1 Golfer, getting into corporate finance, and then becoming an entrepreneur and helping build one of Thailand’s most popular Cryptocurrency exchanges. He shares his experience helping to raise $2 million dollars through an ICO (Initial Coin Offering), and becoming the CEO of Intelligent Trading Foundation which develops sophisticated tools for cryptocurrency investors. He then shares insights on making the entrepreneurial leap, the work ethic required to build a start-up, cash-flow management strategies, scaling and hiring, and tips for communicating with and managing a distributed team. He also talks about being an angel investor, how he evaluates investment opportunities and the most important thing for him to invest in a company. He then explains his overall personal investment portfolio strategy, including alternative investments like Indie-films, and what he sees for the future of cryptocurrency. He also talks about becoming an Under Armor sponsored athlete and being named “Thailand’s Fittest Man”. Ben then shares his experiences traveling to over 60 countries and living outside the U.S. for 8 of the last 10 years. He tells stories about hiking the Himalayas to Mt. Everest base camp, scuba diving around Komodo Island (Home of the Komodo Dragons) in Indonesia, Racing a Moto-Taxi down the World’s Most Dangerous Road in Bolivia, and participating in the “Running of the Bulls” in Pamplona, Spain. He also gives his tips for staying fit while traveling the world, reducing stress and optimizing productivity. Full Show Notes Available at www.TheMaverickShow.com

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About the Guest

Ben Lakoff

Ben Lakoff is a serial entrepreneur, Chartered financial analyst, angel investor and world traveler. He built a crypto-currency exchange in Thailand in 2017 that he scaled and grew into one of the most popular crypto-currency exchanges in Thailand. He then helped raise 2 million dollars through an ICO (Initial Coin Offering) for his next venture. Today he is the CEO of Intelligent Trading Foundation (ITF) which develops sophisticated tools for cryptocurrency investors. He is also an investor in B-Hub Prague, a business incubator in the Czech Republic. Originally from the United States, Ben speaks fluent Portuguese, Spanish and English and has lived for extended periods in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Bankok, Thailand, and Kabul, Afghanistan. Ben was also an Under Armor sponsored athlete and was named Thailand’s fittest man. He now runs his business and manages his team completely remotely while traveling the world, having epic travel adventures. He has lived primarily outside of the US for 8 of the last 10 years and has been to over 60 countries.

What You'll Learn

The #1 key to building a successful start-up
What cryptocurrency is, why it matters, and where Ben thinks it is heading
How to manage a distributed team, empower staff and communicate clearly

Links From the Episode

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BOOKS BEN RECOMMENDS

Tools of Titans

APP BEN RECOMMENDS

Pomodoro Timer

OTHER RESOURCES RECOMMENDED

LOCATION WHERE THE INTERVIEW TOOK PLACE

Canary Island, Spain

PLACE WHERE BEN IS FROM

Indiana, United States

OTHER PLACES MENTIONED

BEN’S COMPANIES

Intelligent Trading Foundation (ITF)

CONTACT AND FOLLOW BEN

Time Stamped Show Notes

[03:40] BEN’S INTEREST IN INVESTING, TRAVEL AND GOLF GROWING UP

Ben’s interest in finance and investing growing up
Ben’s passion for long term travel
Ben’s love of golf and experience being a Division 1 College golfer

[08:00] BEN’S EXPERIENCE WORKING ABROAD AS AN EX-PAT vs. BACKPACKING

Ben’s desire to be an ex-pat and live abroad while working in corporate finance
Backpacking through South America on a shoestring budget
Personal growth and lessons from his backpacking experience
Living in Sao Paulo, Brazil for a year.
Working in Kabul, Afghanistan as a deputy CFO for 8 months
Living in Bangkok, Thailand

[21:43] BECOMING AN UNDER-ARMOUR SPONSORED ATHLETE

Getting into Cross-Fit in Thailand
Winning the “Fittest Man in Thailand” contest
Landing an Under Armour sponsorship

[23:31] BEN’S ENTREPRENEURIAL JOURNEY AND TRANSITION

The entrepreneurial environment in Thailand
Conducting ‘personal annual reviews’
Starting a “Young Venture Capital Club”
Starting 10 different businesses in one year and testing them all
Working late nights after his corporate job to build his businesses
Ben’s process for assessing the results from his different businesses
His key lessons and takeaways from his business experiments

[31:25] BUILDING ONE OF THAILAND’S MOST POPULAR CRYPTO-CURRENCY EXCHANGES

Explaining what cryptocurrency is
How Ben got interested in cryptocurrency
Explaining what a cryptocurrency exchange is
How Ben helped build one of the most popular cryptocurrency exchange in Thailand

[34:57] BUILDING AND RUNNING “INTELLIGENT TRADING FOUNDATION” (ITF)

Raising $2 Million in an ICO (Initial Coin Offering)
Building sophisticated tools for cryptocurrency investors
Ben’s role as the CEO of ITF
Ben’s assessment of the future of cryptocurrency

[38:27] BEN’S ALTERNATIVE INVESTMENT STRATEGY

The types of “alternative investments” in which Ben invests
How Ben selects the start-up companies he invests in
How Ben finds the start-up investment opportunities
Investing in Independent films

[41:43] BEN’S BUSINESS ADVICE AND LESSONS

Ben’s advice on cash-flow improvement
What makes a start-up successful
The most important Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for start-ups
Ben’s tips on scaling and staffing and hiring a good “cultural fit”
How to manage a distributed team, empower staff and communicate clearly
How business owners should think about bootstrapping vs. raising investment capital
How to most effectively pitch potential investors
Ben’s biggest decision making factor when choosing to invest in a business

[52:00] BEN’S WORLD TRAVEL ADVENTURES