foreign
[Music]
major head of marketing at ether wallet
at myether wallet and today he'll be
speaking on the importance of soft
skills soft skills in crypto Vince the
floor is yours
so I need the names of some projects
projects you love projects you work for
just yell a few out for me
bacon splat
okay uh give me some more projects
garlic coin okay what else
stable node okay perfect thank you thank
you for those I appreciate that so some
of these I know some of these I don't
but all of these projects have something
in common and that is
my mother hates them
for and that's not a bad thing because
she is my project too for those of you
that don't know me my name is Vince
major and I am the head of marketing at
my ether wallet
now to be clear
this talk is not going to be about the
mom test okay my mother is fairly techno
savvy and really only calls me about
once a quarter to have a refresher on
how to attach a PDF to an email
and that's a lie it's actually once a
month
but you see it's not
the technology that puts her off from
crypto and it's also not even the
concept of the tech that really makes
her confused about the company I work
for
instead it's the way that our industry
communicates and story tells That Make
Her roll her eyes at dinner
and you know
I'm sure that this is not something
that's unique to me I'm sure you all
have had to explain to your friends and
your loved ones this industry and
there's a good chance that they gave you
a face not dissimilar to this
and that's a bummer right because if you
were anything like me you were amped to
be in this industry and just want to
tell everyone
so today I want to speak to the heart of
that and how I believe that we can
overcome these challenges and finally
win over this Broad
because I believe that our industry
focuses on and values the hard skills
over the soft skills to our detriment
so for the duration of this talk I want
you to think of soft skills as those
sort of non-technical skills that people
have think creativity The Gift of Gab
mentorship morale building basically
anything that your project managers
cannot assign a unit of time to right
and I want you to also think broadly not
just the skills that people have but
also people that devote themselves
entirely to the soft skills I am one
such soft Skiller I have my masters in
Fine Arts and the only programming I
know how to do is slash BR which I think
is a return in HTML I'm still not sure
now there are three key areas in crypto
that I believe can be improved by the
soft skills and those are communication
creativity and connection
if you take away one thing from this
talk today
I want it to be that words have immense
power
they have the ability to paint pictures
to inspire and create movements that
move mountains
so now let's look at some of our crypto
words shall we GM coin and on lfg
huddle
no I'm old enough to have all of these
remind me of a word I used a lot as a
kid and that word
was pone
so now for those of you that are not
older Gamers pone means Next Level
Ownage or to completely dominate someone
in gaming at least that's how it was
explained to me when I was playing
EverQuest
it's a word that in that bubble in that
time we all used all of the time
however fast forward to now gaming has
gone completely mainstream and yet this
word has fallen to the Wayside the word
itself failed to bring new users into
gaming and so faded from the mainstream
lens
now on the crypto side I think we are
using far too much of our Insider lingo
to try and bring those on the outside in
now I see this so often in marketing
and the problem arises that new users
don't know what our crypto words mean so
we're imposing a barrier to entry right
out of the gate of our own doing
you know as an industry we find
ourselves using huddle so much that it
literally became a major segment on the
John Oliver show
and yet that mainstream ribbing did very
little to bring new users into the space
nor did it cement itself in the minds of
others
okay so to be clear I don't want to get
rid of our slang right I mean
it's part of the fun of being an Insider
right we want to use these words and
tell these jokes it's fun
but what I do want to point to is that
by improving the language that we use to
communicate with those outside of crypto
we can only help bring more people into
the folds
because right now as new users come into
crypto they are being overwhelmed by so
many new words and languages and I can
only guess it's like being dropped into
Colombia and not speaking a word of
Spanish
bonjour
and this is not just related to
copywriting and marketing let's take a
look at the word ethereum itself
so when it first came into being the
word ethereum was weird to a lot of
people and you know it's still weird to
some
it's also super hard to spell which is
why this always makes me giggle like a
child
however after years of constant work by
so many incredible people the word
ethereum has gone mainstream which is
fantastic I mean that's probably why
most of us are here today
and then they came out with ethereum 2.0
which is
a hard Skiller naming convention but not
horrible I mean at this point most
people understand software versions and
gits that the software is evolving or
leveling up like a Pokemon right
and then there was consensus layer
and I can't help but think that had
there been more soft skillers in the
room to be like I don't I don't
understand what consensus means in this
context could we explain that a bit
easier that we could have had a better
name and better communication and I
don't want you to think that I'm picking
on the amazing people that asked me to
speak here today I tease because I love
and I I want to see things get better
and believe me it's not just ethereum
that does this at my ether wallet we
recently released our new browser
extension wallets called encrypt which
is spelled with a K now encrypt Services
ethereum polka dots and is built for the
multi-chain future it's out on all
stores including Safari which is pretty
cool
now with encrypt
I was Stone Cold new to the polka dot
ecosystems so I had to do a lot of
reading and as I was doing all this
research there was a word that stuck out
to me like a sore thumb in so much of
the public-facing information
and that word
was as existential now when I hear this
word or see this word I think of the
fact that I am going to die my loved
ones are going to die
and eventually the last person to
remember my name will also die
you know an existential crisis at night
when the tears come I mean we've all
been there
now what's bananas to me is that in
polka dot they are constantly referring
to an existential deposit which means
the amount that a wallet must have to
exist now this to me clearly shows a
hard Skiller naming convention at work
now it might be clear to that hard
Skiller on the back end it might be
clear to other hard skillers but to the
rest of us existential deposit makes
little to no sense so if we apply the
power of soft skills to this something
like minimum balance comes to mind right
because it's something that we
immediately understand it uses language
that is familiar and of course doesn't
conjure up feelings of existential dread
all of this is to say that by developing
more soft skills around communication
and more employees around Caucasian will
only help bring more people into the
folds because the clearer we are with
our messaging and communication the
easier it is for everyone else to get on
our same page which brings me to
creativity
in crypto we are creating
things out of thin air through code like
it is an absolute magic trick for me to
watch a developers work
however while some might think naming
something 2.0 is creative it's not it's
iteration
now to iterate is to make products great
iteration is a hard Skiller in their
finest form they continue to improve
upon that prior base getting better each
time again and again and again until we
reach the
immortality I I guess I I can only think
immortality is the goal and is why we
pay developers so much more
but the problem is is when iteration uh
replaces creativity in our space
see because
when you iterate you were only refining
the boundaries rather than pushing them
and then when iteration starts to cross
pollinates you get a lot of noise
now I feel like I saw all of this noise
in the most recent nft run
if you search the word board on any nft
Marketplace you are going to get a
Million results right and of course
you're going to get the board Apes Yacht
Club but then you're going to get the
board kitty cats club and the board Bad
Boys Club and then eventually you'll
start to get things like the indifferent
hamsters Subaru Society
now this is where iteration becomes
knockoff becomes scam and rug pull
all of these lines begin to blur in the
minds of not only crypto natives but
those outside of the space as well
and this creates confusion for users and
even worse can create connections or
implied connections where they do not
exist
in that case we can experience one bad
actor or project bringing down several
because a a loose connection in the mind
of the other
for instance it's very easy for the
media or for people outside of crypto to
see that one dog themed crypto project
is a scam therefore all dog-themed
crypto projects are a scam or be unable
to tell the difference at all and think
they are all one big project rolled in
together much like your parents probably
called all video game consoles a
Nintendo growing up at least that's how
it was for me
and of course my ether wallet is
intensely familiar with this iteration
problem from others to this day we
continue to see products called my blank
wallet and this does make our Branch
management difficult
the
oop did I lose my mic nope there I am
the wallet space in general has also
iterated itself into a whereas so many
developers are being forced to create
their products with a specific wallet in
mind and the reason is because the
current model is winner take all
now we're hoping to correct this
unintended Monopoly through creativity
ree 5749 will give users the choice of
the wallet they have installed rather
than defaulting to the first injected
this restores creativity to the wallet
space and will also give diverse more
freedom when designing a user experience
you don't have to D to one specific
am I coming back in and out
uh
you know and so I I encourage you to
just looking for feedback and do I
should I swap all right we'll swap
perfect can you hear me now hey there we
go
I'm back
so I hope you check that out because I
think creativity like this EIP can solve
any problem that we have
because a creative idea or Vision can
help set your Project's North Star they
can put you on a path that you never
thought possible
brand confusion that goes out the window
the moment you are creative and wildly
different from the rest of the noise it
can give new users a fresh and
interesting way to understand web3 and
help bring them in
the pitfalls of iteration can also be
applied to hiring which is why I
encourage you to not iterate but create
Foster and build a team of
unconventional skill sets bring in those
creative thinkers who will help Drive
the storytelling of your brand or who
can think of a new user Journey or even
a new product feature out of left field
because when you were able to spark
creativity
and effectively communicate what makes
you special to others that is when we
see true Innovation and adoption in the
space
which brings me to my favorite of the
soft skills we need more of in crypto
connection
now humans by our very nature are
looking to connect with things we want
to connect with other humans from person
to person but we also want to connect to
ideas
so frequently in crypto we talk about
use cases and road maps
but what we don't do is craft the story
behind our projects
we are letting others
like the media tell our story for us
frequently to our detriment or we have
to lean on hard skillers to do the
storytelling for us this results in
Project descriptions like this an intent
driven privacy-centric protocol designed
to enhance Discovery and settlements
now
I wrote this down
I memorized it and I just had to read it
off this just now
because it just feels like a string of
words mushed together and I work in this
industry I can only imagine what someone
outside of the space takes away from a
description like that
okay yeah that that tracks
and this is certainly a place where we
can use soft skills to storytell when
explaining it to our mothers because as
it stands right now that description is
simply telling you what that product
does they don't show you the superpowers
that it gives you think how much easier
that description could be to understand
if we hypothetically say okay we're
going to start with a privacy problem
right because everyone understands the
big Tech is invading us and from there
we'll probably highlight it connects to
people quickly and then exchanges assets
without having to wait a long time like
with a bank
so in essence we could go from story uh
from jargon to something like our
project without invading your privacy
through something like a credit check or
verifying your identity find someone
that has the asset or ask that you want
it then connects you exchanges that and
you don't have to wait for five days for
it to settle like with a bank now
obviously this is a bit wordier and a
bit rough because I am not the
Storyteller for that brand
but you can see how this story gives you
something to latch onto and starts to
paint a picture in your mind
and it's not just related to projects
where we need storytelling I think it's
in moments like this where we put
ourselves in the public eye
it's why everything I am saying here has
been scripted it's been refined edited
and rehearsed nothing here is off the
cuff all of this is a crafted story
except for the bike change that was on
the Fly
foreign
because ultimately I want you all to
connect with me Vince not only as a
brand but as a human and also to the
ideas that I have
storytelling also applies off the stage
on a peer-to-peer basis
I tend to go to a lot of crypto
conferences and at them I will go to
booths and I will stand there and I will
look at the collateral I will look at
the screen I will look at the banner I
will look at the swag and I will look
the person in the eye
and nothing happens they don't engage
with me and I ultimately leave
and that's alarming right I mean it
happened to me here multiple times
because if we can't connect with each
other inside our crypto bubble
how can we be expected to connect with
those outside of it
this is why when we staff our booths I
always try and pair up a soft Skiller
with a heart Skiller
I try to actively deploy my staff in a
way that makes tactical sense this way I
have that soft Skiller there to start
the conversation and communicate and
then they have that hard Skiller there
to turn to when needed the reverse holds
true as well if that hard Skiller is
hitting a wall trying to communicate
they can always tap in that soft Skiller
for an assist because their skill sets
complement each other
I also tell everyone that I don't know
is a valid answer
because I want to empower everyone to
not be afraid of hitting a wall of not
knowing the answer
look I mean you all know this this Tech
is hard
and we are on the bleeding edge here
and I would rather someone leave with a
positive personal connection than leave
not having engaged with anyone at all
because this Tech Will Change day over
day hour over hour like if I'm honest
but that memory of that someone that you
chatted with at the MU Booth will
hopefully live with you for years
now the idea of Storytelling weaves
through all of my points that I'm making
today the story of increasing the amount
of soft skills you employ around
communication creating instead of
iterating and of course connecting with
others
now there's a chance you might be
sitting there being like
Vince what what what is all this are you
just saying we should hire you
absolutely here is my Twitter my DMs are
open best offers only
I'm kidding kosa left Brian please don't
fire me
what I am saying is that I want you to
look to the soft skills for the
challenges your product faces
question if those challenges have a
solve from communication creativity or
connection
I hope that you'll also look to those
team members you have that have a spark
of a soft skill and help them to grow
and Foster that at the same time with
subsequent hires look to their soft
skills instead of just the number of PRS
they can submit in a given week
in crypto we are taking risks all the
time on moonshots
and I want you to think of the soft
skills as an investment in you and your
project because sure you might not see
an immediate return on that investment I
mean hell you might get that investment
wrong
however
on the flip side if that soft skill
turns into a force multiplier that
ultimately onboards the next zillion
users and my mother into crypto
that it only benefits us all
at the start of this I said that words
have power
and I truly believe that
they just have to be the right words at
the right time to make a difference and
they don't have to be a lot
my favorite example of this is when King
Philip II of macadon was conquering
Greek city-states in 300 BC he was just
left right and said are conquering
he sent a message to Sparta
and this message read
if I invade Laconia you will be
destroyed never to rise again
and the Spartan response was simple
if
it's like
so many ideas and thoughts and
inspiration and words packed into a
single
two-letter word
in crypto
we always say oh you know we're going to
bring more crypto users more users more
moms into crypto and we we put it out of
ways right we we're like oh it's in the
future this is the internet and that now
is 1996 right and mass adoption is a
ways away
I disagree
I think the time to develop the teams
that are creative and inventive who will
ultimately onboard the next billion
users into crypto quickly
is now
but only if we invest in the intangibles
of the soft skills thank you so much
everyone
[Applause]