Danny Scott is a co-founder coin cornerone of the only Bitcoins (BTC-USD) A UK-based exchange located on the Isle of Man. Currently, CoinCorner has approximately 400,000 customers providing brokerage and custody services.
I used to work as a lifeguard at a swimming pool near Blackpool and one of my responsibilities was cleaning the toilets and changing rooms. One of my first days, my boss, Steve, turned around and said he would never ask me to do anything he hadn't done before.
He's been doing it since he first started doing it, and it's still with me more than 20 years since then. Now, I never ask an employee to do something I wouldn't do or be willing to do myself.
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I learned a lot about responsibility and having to jump in and pull people out when they were in trouble. I once experienced a scary moment when the disability class attended a session and had to be aware of the dangers of swimming.
They had a supervisor and he told me to hurry to the locker room to get a towel and asked me to supervise one of the students who had epilepsy. Unfortunately, the person passed out by the pool so I had to make sure they were comfortable. There was nothing we could do until they recovered from their epileptic seizures.
It was a frightening moment for a 17-year-old and highlighted the responsibility we have, as much as in some ways people's lives are in our hands.
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I ended up working part-time as a lifeguard for 18 months before taking a job as a software developer. Steve said that if my new job didn't work out, he would welcome me back.
On the positive side, I was drawn into more influential meetings and my boss tried to show me the big picture of the company.
I also had a negative experience with a direct boss who effectively fired his entire team. It was a huge hit when I tried to figure out what I was doing wrong. In the end, you end up blaming yourself. I've learned over the years that it's just business and he doesn't have to do it that way.
When I joined CoinCorner, I said I would never do things this way, I would never let people get away with it, and I would be as transparent as possible.
So I learned to be respectful as a lifeguard no matter what assignment I was on, and to be as transparent as possible in my business. The third lesson I learned was that I had a new boss and was promised a bonus at the beginning of the year when I joined the company.
Naively, I didn't receive it in writing, so when I brought it up with my boss at the end of the year, he dismissed it. I left soon after, but at CoinCorner, I knew that whatever I told the team, they would do it and I could trust them.
When you're a small startup, everyone is working on everything, and it's important to find a balance of respect with the entire team to take your business to the next level.
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What we have discovered over the years is that our focus on Bitcoin was a success after a decade when many other companies had failed. We have a longevity mindset and don't force anything short-term.
As an example, Bitcoin wallet startup Bitnet raised more than $14 million in 2014 and plans to get 100 large companies to accept Bitcoin payments online, competing with us in some way. I tried. We talked to them in detail, but they couldn't get any customers and went out of business. It was too early.
We know that regulatory frameworks will not be implemented overnight, and the same is true for large companies accepting Bitcoin.
These are long-term things, so we're looking at what needs are there now and what gaps can be filled, rather than trying to force something in the short term.
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