Max Krupyshev

Set the direction and check every day that the company sticks to the chosen course.

 

Max Krupyshev is the CEO of Cryptoprocessing.com, a crypto expert and opinion leader.

Max has been involved with Bitcoin since 2013, just after receiving his MA in Business Administration. He became very enthusiastic about crypto and co-founded a software development studio in Kiev.

Later, Max Krupyshev founded the Bitcoin Foundation in Ukraine and Satoshi Square in Kiev. At that time, he worked for some of the largest BTC mining operations, including Cex.io and Ghash.io.

Now Max holds his position at Cryptoprocessing.com, a fast-growing Cryptocurrency Processing Provider, and driving the adoption of crypto in the online payments industry.

Where did the idea for Cryptoprocessing.com come from?

We were looking for a name that would have an air of authority and be easy to remember at the same time. I wanted it to be able to pass the ‘phone test’ – like when you say the name to someone on the phone and they can write it down at once. Cryptoprocessing.com is just perfect this way – you just can’t mistype it. Luckily, the domain was available and reasonably priced. For me, it was an obvious choice.

What does your typical day look like and how do you make it productive?

I start my day with a gym session or an hour at the swimming pool. Between 9 am and noon, I deal with operational matters and discuss business with my key team members. After lunch, between 1 pm and 4 pm, I work on strategy, brainstorm new ideas, and respond to emails. From 4 pm to 6 pm, I hold discussions with the team to make sure they don’t lose focus and keep moving in the right direction. We have a perfect understanding in the team, and just seeing how excited they are about what we do gives me a productivity boost, as well.

How do you bring ideas to life?

First of all, I listen to people to learn about their problems with payments, scaling, and business in general. This gives me a clearer idea of the issues to be solved. After 7 years in the industry, I’m good at seeing opportunity gaps. Once I have an idea, we run a simple crush test with our partners. If it works, the rest is technicalities – building a business case, working out the specs, gathering resources, testing, and implementation.

What’s one trend that excites you?

I’m happy to see that cryptocurrency is becoming an accepted way to pay for goods and services – especially in some industries, like iGaming. People are starting to see that crypto has its advantages – not always, but often. Last year we’ve processed almost $300 million worth of crypto – that says something. It’s not just geeks trying out new tech – it’s actual adoption.

What is one habit of yours that makes you more productive as an entrepreneur?

Let me turn my answer into a piece of advice. Always make sure that your project’s goals are aligned with your personal goals. Then you won’t need to worry about being productive – because you’ll be doing what you enjoy.

What advice would you give your younger self?

Choose the people you work with very carefully. Five or ten years ago, I thought that the quality of the project and the idea was the key thing. Now I realize it’s the quality of the people working on the project that really matters.

Tell us something that’s true that almost nobody agrees with you on.

I’m in the industry of crypto payments, so my unpopular opinion has to do with crypto, too. I don’t think that crypto will replace fiat money – and that’s something crypto enthusiasts keep saying, that everyone will switch to Bitcoin and ditch dollars and other cash. I believe that fiat money will still be with us – in 10, 20, or 30 years it won’t go anywhere. Others will tell you that we should educate people to use crypto instead of cash. But I would say that the key task for the crypto payments industry is to bring crypto and fiat closer, to make it easier to exchange one for another.

As an entrepreneur, what is the one thing you do over and over and recommend everyone else do?

I change and pivot. You can’t just stick to the same idea or technology – you have to be ready to change it. For instance, when you start working on a product, you have to be ready that the result will be very different from what you imagined. Or if you are used to a certain app, you should be prepared to switch to another if you find a better one. That’s how we grew into the no.1 crypto processing company in the world by transaction number in just a few years – we constantly changed things. Now that we’ve rebranded our processing services as Cryptoprocessing.com, making it a separate product – that was a big change, too. Get used to make small changes every day – then big changes will come easier.

What is one strategy that has helped you grow your business?

For me, growth consists of two elements: correct direction and correct speed. First, you need to make sure you are moving in the right direction – and you have to double-check daily that you stay on course. Then all you have to work on is the speed – and that’s more like a managerial puzzle, so you just have to get it right. Direction and focusing on the milestones is key, the rest are variables you can play with.

What is one failure you had as an entrepreneur, and how did you overcome it?

Surrounding myself with people who had different goals. You can never get where you want to be if your team members are pulling in different directions. But once you see that clearly, you’ll also see a solution – a way to keep moving in your desired direction. Overcoming this failure for me was about focus and vision. I always strive to implement my vision, and that helps me overcome many things, including failures.

What is one business idea that you’re willing to give away to our readers?

I like to share ideas – just not the ones I plan to implement myself. Here are a couple of old ideas that are still valid, I think:
– A job portal for crypto/blockchain-related gigs, with monetized listings;
– A databased for trusted service providers in crypto: wallets, traders, exchanges etc. The industry is full of scams, so if you can build a database of trustworthy partners, you can monetize it through advertising and donations.

What is the best $100 you recently spent? What and why?

I decided to surprise my parents on New Year’s Eve and flew to see them. We’ve had a fantastic time with my parents and my sister’s family.

What is one piece of software or a web service that helps you be productive?

We use Jira and Confluence a lot. I don’t want to micromanage my team, so it’s great to have a tool that lets me monitor how things are going without wasting time. It’s not as intuitive as Trello, for example, so it takes our new team members a bit longer to learn, but it’s better for managing large projects. I like the dependencies and the calendar/timeline views. Zapier integration is also great.

What is the one book that you recommend our community should read and why?

I think everyone who’s interested in new tech should read at least one book on blockchain and Bitcoin. There’s a lot of confusion surrounding this topic, and many people make opinions on Bitcoin based on the media hype. You need a more systematic introduction to get behind this hype. As a first approach, I recommend Blockchain Basics by Daniel Dresher. It’s a great book for non-techies, because it shows you how blockchain works in general, not just Bitcoin.

What is your favorite quote?

I like this quote by James Cash Penney, who founded the J.C. Penney store chain: ‘The best teamwork comes from men who are working independently towards one goal in unison.’ To me it means that everyone on the team must agree on the goals from the get-go. Then they can all do their part of the work on their own. As a leader, you can’t micromanage what every team member is doing – you have to let them do their job while you do yours.

Key Learnings:

• Make sure that your project’s goals are aligned with your own – this way you’ll be naturally productive;
• The quality of the people you surround yourself with is more important than anything else in your business;
• Set the direction and check every day that the company sticks to the chosen course.