How to Supercharge Your Crypto Career
Messari Hub launched earlier this year to build the future of crypto research. As crypto adoption has accelerated, so has the demand for trusted research that helps drive informed decision making. However, crypto innovation moves at the speed of light, and an army of analysts is needed to cover every corner of the industry. Messari Hub is building that army.
As a community-driven marketplace for crypto, the Hub enables the production of high quality independent research at scale. The Hub matches contributing analysts with crypto organizations (including Messari) that wish to fund independent research. Hub analysts work on a contract-basis and author research requests in exchange for a bounty. The work is edited for objectivity and quality, and distributed by Messari.
So far, the Hub has onboarded and trained more than 100 independent analysts. More than half of these have already contributed, for a total of nearly 70 research reports and more than 80 asset profiles, and counting!
On the eve of Mainnet 2021 we would like to give you some insight into who our analysts are and how Hub has benefited them. For this purpose, we asked five of our talented Hub analysts to shed some light on their crypto story, what Hub has done for them, and any advice they have for aspiring analysts. As a bonus, they share what they are currently most excited about in crypto.
Are you ready to join us and supercharge your crypto career? Apply here or visit our booth at Mainnet.
Meet the Analysts
Rasheed Saleuddin is a veteran in asset management and academic circles. He first came across crypto during the ICO boom, researching how regulators were responding to this new form of fundraising. He was doing a postdoc in finance at the Cambridge Judge Business School at the time. Although he remained involved academically on the periphery, he didn’t go deep into the weeds personally until covid lockdowns provided him enough space to focus on DeFi summer.
“I learn best by lecturing or writing- Feynman-style techniques, so that’s what I was doing when I started contributing to Hub. At the time I wanted the flexibility to pursue other avenues in the crypto sphere while still “learning by writing”, so part time research seemed like the best option.”
Dustin first discovered bitcoin in college but didn’t get hooked until he came across the idea of smart contracts in 2017. He has been following the industry since but really tumbled down that rabbit hole last summer. And he “kinda likes it here” as there are always new things happening to learn from.
So he started researching and writing in his spare time. He responded to a Tweet from Ryan Selkis calling for independent analysts to apply to Hub. He pitched Ryan an interesting protocol that wasn’t covered by Messari yet. He has been a contributor ever since.
Kel Eleje discovered crypto in late 2018 while doing his Economics degree at Boston College. At that time in his life, he had never felt more like an outsider. “Many of my peers were dead set on a career path that just didn't sit well with me, actively going for firms that they thought were value-extractive to both society and themselves. I couldn't fit into that mindset.”
That winter, he stumbled upon the book "The Blockchain Revolution.” As he researched crypto more deeply, he felt more and more aligned with Satoshi's ideology, and took to Twitter to find out more. “There, I found the chaotic genius collectively known as "Crypto Twitter" which he describes as “an ideological melting pot of philosophers, traders, anons, shills, maxis, investors, apes, and every type of something in between.” He had to dive in.
Shortly after, Ryan Selkis, who also went to Boston College, came to speak at BC's very first class on blockchain. Kel has followed Messari ever since, and saw his own learning accelerated by the “rigorous research” coming out of the Messari analysts “especially in contrast to the ever-chaotic noise of crypto Twitter.” He applied to the Hub with the hope that he could one day do the same.
TJ Ragsdale is a former fixed income and derivatives trader, currently running a crypto fund. He read the Sovereign Individual “and woke up”, per his own saying. “The global monetary and fiscal experiments could only end poorly.”
He joined Hub because he wanted to collaborate with smart people and write about what he finds interesting in the cryptosphere.
Stephanie Dunbar first learned about blockchain technology in 2019 in her career as a technical writer. During that time, it was recommended to her to subscribe to a number of industry newsletters. Messari’s “Unqualified Opinions” was one of them. This is when she started to understand that the technology she was writing about “was so much more than just any old technology!” She quickly fell in love with the industry, Ethereum in particular.
When Messari wrote in the newsletter that they were looking for Hub analysts, she almost didn't apply because she was afraid that she wouldn't be good enough. “Thankfully I ignored my inner monster, applied, and got in! I am sooo happy that I did because it was that moment of ignoring my imposter syndrome that led me down the best possible career path of my life.”
How has Hub benefited our analysts?
Best to let them speak for themselves!
[Dustin] “For one you get the opportunity to chase things you are interested in, which is by far the best benefit. My research is reviewed and discussed with some of the best in the industry which pushes me to continually do better work. All of that is fantastic.”
[Rasheed] “Working with such knowledgeable senior analysts as Wilson, Mason, and Ryan Watkins increased my knowledge in all aspects of crypto, from Web3 to L1/L2s to NFTs to DeFi. It improved my writing at the same time!
Even though I’m very involved in other aspects of crypto, my Messari work is a natural public calling card. It’s helped me win the wide variety of consulting projects I’ve had the privilege of getting involved in: helping TradFi funds identify the best responses to crypto, writing for a crypto hedge fund, and angel investing in and advising crypto protocols. It’s also provided me with some very interesting academic opportunities.”
[TJ] “I've learned a ton working on commissioned reports. It forces an educational deep dive and hones writing in the same fell swoop. I also met some interesting cats on the full-time Messari and Hub teams. Great energy and an extremely constructive force for good.”
[Kel] “The Hub helped me take my research skills to a deeper level by having senior analysts review my work and by setting a high bar for good research. When I was going solo, there was both nobody to bounce my work off of and no standard for research other than that which I set for myself, which is susceptible to shortcuts.
Within the Hub, senior analysts like Mason and Wilson have taken a lot of their own time to dig into my work and help me put out the best information possible, and I've only been here for a month and change. The standard set combined with the research tools Messari has for us makes it such that my skills are naturally pushed towards improvement, an environment I'm lucky to find myself in.”
[Stephanie] “Immensely. The Hub helped me become more well-rounded by learning about all facets of the industry as opposed to just the technical side. This has been hugely beneficial both for my career and investment strategy. Through the Hub I met Messari Analyst Jack Anderson who was reviewing my work. He ever so kindly asked if I wanted to have a Zoom call just to talk crypto. I had never made a friend through the internet before and I am so glad he reached out to me. We chatted a few times and I learned so much from those conversations. To my absolute pleasure and surprise, Jack invited me to apply for a full time role with Messari when they started looking in late June 2021. Thanks to his recommendation, I am where I am today and I cannot be more appreciative!”
Advice for crypto analysts
Do the work
Do the work. Reach out to people. Share it. People respect good work so take the time and dig deep.
You can make a real impact as a crypto analyst
Crypto moves rapidly, and there is great value in being able to explain complicated concepts, protocols, and economics to specialists and newbies alike. Distilling the data that is readily available on-chain into actionable analysis is also a very useful skill.
Follow your passion
Specialize in the crypto niche that you are passionate about. By definition, you will be most insightful about this domain.
Write about what you think is cool
Find IRL or online friends to talk about what you think is cool in crypto. Then write about it. Expect people to disagree with you frequently. If something's cool to you, and most people in crypto don't know about it or think it's lame, then you really might be onto something.
Go deep
The key to success is to do absolutely everything you can to understand a project and document it in its entirety, no matter how many hours that takes you. “When I joined the Hub there was a lot I didn’t know. However, I was determined to succeed and I believe that this is what got me noticed.” Also, ask questions! Don't be afraid to reach out to anyone you think can help you. Most people are nice (especially in crypto!) and will make time to help you succeed.
What they are currently excited about
[Dustin] “Honestly, DAOs. Incentivized self-organization done effectively, I believe has huge benefits to everyone involved. It’s a novel way of organizing people that is hard to do without crypto. It has the potential to reshape how humans organize and collaborate which is a really big thing to even remotely reshape.”
[Rasheed] “I’m very interested to see how the crypto markets will respond to the immense wealth being generated. It’s possible it could change the world. At least I hope it does.”
[TJ] “The transition toward mainstream. Consumer and businesses-facing applications will welcome much of society onboard in the next decade.”
[Kel] “I think the idea of pvp (player vs player) games with real assets on the line will make for some high-stakes, extremely entertaining games in the coming years.
The first of these I've seen that interests me is Star Atlas, a game being built on Solana. It's kinda like if Star Wars was a game, some degenerate owns the Death Star, and you and your noble team can destroy it and take all of said degenerate's loot. Doing so is really the same thing as liquidating an ape on Binance, but with a video game UI. Probably toxic, but almost certainly fun.
Just to add some philosophical spice, I think Axie Infinity has proved in the Philippines that, as Nansen founder Alex Svanevik put it, "Crypto will ship UBI before the politicians". Play-to-earn gaming will not be a panacea to poverty, but it will allow anyone with internet access (trending towards everyone on Planet Earth) another accessible stream of income. The noteworthy caveat being that playing a P2E game early on could earn you assets that could appreciate 10x,100x, or even more. Seems like a good deal to me, all things considered.”
[Steph] “I am curious to learn about ALL new projects and facets of crypto, although this is very hard to do given how much is out there! I particularly enjoy the burgeoning L1 smart contract platforms, everything Web 3, and NFTs.”
YOU can work in crypto, too
As one analyst put it “It doesn't matter how new you are to the space or if you don't have a technical or financial background; if you love the ethos of crypto, you can forge a career path for yourself by putting in the effort and having a positive attitude.”
Our analysts come from all stages in their respective careers and have various degrees of crypto knowledge and writing experience. What they have in common is that they are obsessed with crypto and are determined to make their mark in the industry. Whether that is through a(n) (eventual) full-time career in crypto, by having a side-gig as an analyst, or through a portfolio career.
The cryptoeconomy is all about showing your skills through action that has value to others in the ecosystem. Messari Hub allows you to contribute in a way that is value accretive for yourself and others.
Many current Hub analysts and alumni have found their crypto dream job through Hub.
Are you ready to join us and realize your crypto dreams? You can apply here.
