Why did you decide to become a mentor?
After 8+ years in Web3, I kept seeing the same patterns: smart people losing money not because of bad ideas, but because of avoidable mistakes. They were missing a mental framework, something I'd spent years building through trial, error, and real positions. Mentoring felt like the most direct way to share that compressed experience. One conversation can save someone from a mistake that took me months to learn.
How did you get your career start?
I started in IT trading infrastructure at Deutsche Bank and VTB Capital, then shifted into product management. In 2017, I co-founded SimpleDex, a P2P non-custodial exchange on Ethereum. That was my real entry into Web3. I invested in 60+ ICOs, went through the 2018 crash, and kept building. Over the years I moved from product into DeFi strategy: consulting on yield optimization, building risk frameworks, managing MPC custody infrastructure for client wallets. Today I run DeFi strategy and risk for multiple protocols simultaneously, which means constant exposure to edge cases, new mechanisms, and real money on the line.
What do mentees usually come to you for?
Two main groups. First, crypto-curious professionals who understand TradFi but want to get serious about DeFi: how to evaluate protocols, how to think about risk, how to build a position without getting wrecked. Second, DeFi builders and protocol teams who need a systematic risk framework. Not just "is this safe?" but a repeatable process for evaluating strategies, setting limits, and monitoring positions. A lot of people have made money in DeFi and now want to protect it. That's usually where the real work starts.
What's been your favourite mentorship success story so far?
A client came to me with $500K in stablecoins and a simple question: "How do I get yield without blowing this up?" We spent two sessions mapping their risk tolerance, building an allocation framework, and identifying protocols that matched their profile. Six months later, they had consistent 8–12% yield with no major losses, through a period that included two significant market events. The transformation wasn't really about the returns. It was watching them go from "I don't know what I'm doing" to confidently evaluating new strategies on their own.
What are you getting out of being a mentor?
Every conversation sharpens my thinking. When you have to explain your framework to someone who hasn't spent 8 years in the trenches, you find the gaps, the assumptions you've been making unconsciously. It forces clarity. Plus, I genuinely enjoy watching people level up. DeFi still feels like early Bitcoin to me: chaotic, full of opportunity, and deeply underestimated by most. Helping more people navigate it well matters.
