#009 Kathleen Breitman, Co-founder of Coase and Tezos - Dealing with Drama - a podcast by Ann Hiatt

In this episode of the Bet On Yourself podcast I’m talking with Kathleen Breitman who is a co-founder of Coase, a software company that aspires to lower transaction costs. She previously co-founded Tezos, a smart contract platform and cryptocurrency with an on-chain governance mechanism to coordinate and push upgrades to its network. She has also worked at Accenture, Bridgewater Associates, and The Wall Street Journal.’'

This episode is crazy. It’s totally different from all the rest of the episodes we’ve had so far and I think you’re really going to enjoy it. In this chat Kathleen gives us a completely different perspective on all the disasters you would hope to avoid, and how she has handled them, when starting a company.

Kathleen studied philosophy and got into the internet by chance. She met her now husband, Arthur, in her sophomore year who had a crypto currency project on the side that he was playing around with at the time. Kathleen describes this becoming an ‘’if you can’t beat them join them’’ moment, which is where her Crypto career started.

In this interview Kathleen talks about levelling up and becoming an expert in a field you know nothing about - which is something I definitely relate to from my own career.

She also touches on:

-How working with her spouse as a co-founder accelerated their learning and growth by years.

-The problems that arose after their funding rounds

-Dealing with difficult board members

-Trusting your instincts

As well as going to your mentors for advice when you need them and knowing which voices to listen to and which to ignore. I really loved her honesty. I think she offers an interesting perspective and gives insight into the crypto world which I personally still find pretty confusing!

Also, just a quick FYI that we’ve chosen not to beep a few instances of colorful language in this episode to keep the original tone with which Kathleen shared her journey. Buckle up! This one is fun!

---

Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/ann-hiatt/support

Further episodes of Bet On Yourself by Ann Hiatt

Further podcasts by Ann Hiatt

Website of Ann Hiatt