Blockchain is out the closet: Why you need recruiters to close the door

The level of growth we are seeing in the market is probably a little ahead of itself, it is exciting, but for long term success we need to turn this energy into productivity.

Watching the momentum grow in the blockchain and distributed ledger technology space has been an inevitability for many of those who have spent the last few years boring people at parties about potential impact of this emerging technology.

I have been that boring person for quite some, many people would argue even pre 2011, when I first read about Bitcoin, Blockchain, The Silk Road and Tor technology on what became a very late but mind-blowing night of.... research, ahem.

Considering myself late to the party in 2011, it would be an understatement to say 2017 has been eye opening with regard to how far reaching awareness on the subject has been. Overall this is a net positive outcome. Despite the chaos, uncertainty, and snake oil. 2017 has offered, that as a proof of concept, the world ‘gets’ the technology and is ready to turn ideas into action.

Total Market Cap surpasses US $500B as of Dec 15th 2017

Source: coinmarketcap.com

This gold rush is partly naive speculation, however, amongst the noise is a subtle trend of enthusiasm for change and a genuine belief that the technology can deliver on its promises. That trend is being driven by sensible investment from parties who are carrying out thorough due diligence on teams that are converting their ideas into working applications of the technology.

Many people are talking about a bubble, while there is likely a correction overdue, that doesn’t distract from there being genuine productive work being produced in pockets around the world. From the dApps of Status, ledgers of Ripple and Digital Asset to the R&D at IOHK, you can’t knock the technical prowess and productivity of these teams.

The key to long term adoption and delivering on promises is quite literally now a recruitment issue. Without the technical skills and leadership to turn whitepapers into products the industry will suffer a humiliating deflation. Therefore, as we enter 2018 we need to see a shift from enthusiasm to productivity. Companies you have invested in, work at or maybe even founded, need to prioritize getting the teams in place who can get products to market.

I do believe the market potential is large enough to put all this investment into productive use and that the technology does have far enough reaching implications. Unfortunately, the weakest link will be us, many projects will fail and we will see large amounts of investment lost due to poorly executed strategy. The projects left standing that go on to succeed will have a coherent growth roadmap and will instill working cultures that promote sustainable expansion and high productivity.

The good news is that the entire market infrastructure is prepared and ready to assist. If ideas are coming out of long established investment banks or the bedroom of a teenage coder, with the right teams around them people’s ideas can be expertly navigated through to delivery.

If you need to grow your team, do your research, partner with specialist recruiters who have the infrastructure in place to deliver. Ensure you are balancing strong technical functions with experienced business leadership, too much of either may lead to restricted productivity. If you are sitting on investment funds, however sourced, take responsibility and get a transparent roadmap in place.

I am very excited for 2018, if 2017 was Blockchain’s year of awareness then next year shall be the year of implementation.