Women in Blockchain: Sam Shrager of BCB Group
Sam recently left her position at NKB Group Financial Services, an investment banking firm for the digital world.
Q & A with Sam Shrager | Head of Marketing BCB Group
Q 1 Give us a summary of your background and how you got into Blockchain & Digital Currency / Cryptocurrency?
A 1 I’d been working with a start-up who had moved into the blockchain and crypto space as a result of re-working a global content app to a model supporting crypto payment options. One of the investors was also founding a blockchain investment bank and recruited me to run digital marketing and learn more about the space alongside the team. I started to work with the advisory team on ICO projects and advising them around PR, marketing and as the ICO market has dwindled, I’ve focused more on content creation, profile and community building for the main NKB brand.
Q 2 Tell us about your current position, responsibilities and some day to day activities that you look forward to?
A 2 I love checking in on the news flow every day and seeing what angle we can comment on, via the usual channels as well as on the great community (WhatsApp / Telegram) channels out there. It’s very exciting seeing the developments in the space and getting out there to wave the flag for the NKB team and our services.
Q 3 If you had to be critical about yourself, which part of your career would you like to improve on?
A 3 I wish I’d had the opportunity to use my German language more in roles and had worked abroad for longer.
Q 4 What advice do you have for children/youth (10–18 years) today especially young women regarding the Blockchain world? How do we nurture interest in this new Technology?
A 4 There are a few things that women should be aware of in the blockchain space to thrive. If you are not of a technical background, do not get discouraged thinking that in this space you can only become successful if you are a developer. There are a lot of roles evolving in the ecosystem that can suit a variety of backgrounds and skillsets well.
Broader advocacy initiatives around the sector will also help. University efforts are particularly important — There are some amazing efforts coming out of Oxford Blockchain Group and hope other universities can catch up. In addition, I think secondary schools in the UK are really addressing this area — for instance, I was recently approached by my daughter’s IT teacher to give a talk and information about blockchain to her A’Level students who were studying a module on this. Even for kids as young as 12 and 13, the schools are addressing blockchain and cryptocurrency in their IT lessons, which is extremely encouraging.
Q 5 What kind of skill set would you be looking at in job applicants?
A 5 Ability to learn fast, adapt and pivot to new opportunities and openings and an understanding of the importance of networking and digital.
Q 6 Blockchain to me is a forward-thinking force of snowballing Technology, but where I’m from a lot of people still see Bitcoin as a scam.
How do we bridge the gap between technology and people that are skeptical about it?
A 6 This space is still very immature, which means that there is a risk of participants who do not necessarily operate ethically. As the market matures, I think it will become more and more important that individuals from traditional capital market backgrounds, with the right governance experience, come and join the market to raise standards around investing in blockchain and crypto projects.
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Q 7 Can you please provide the details of an educational facility that is in your area or country if anyone reading this article decides to find out more about Blockchain.
http://www.oxfordblockchain.net
https://blockchain.univ.ox.ac.uk
Q 8 What is your current opinion on the Digital Assets (Cryptocurrency) market and share with us your opinion on where you think this technology will take us?
A 8 The wild fluctuations in 2018 — that was a classic bubble scenario. On the positive side, it brought a lot of interest and broader awareness into this space. On the negative side, the excesses of the bull market inevitably meant perhaps overly negative sentiment that we found ourselves in at the end of last year. This is nothing new though, and over history, this has played out many times with various assets.
The gradual building of the infrastructure continues, and so does the arrival of institutions into this space which is very encouraging.
I think there will be mass adoption of the technology but I do think, however, that most likely it will take much longer than we think. We are probably talking over three-five years, rather than one-two. But in ten years’ time, I’m sure that most of us will have various assets on the chain — from property to art and more.
Q 9 What new exciting projects are you currently working on or planning?
A 9 We’re running our inaugural Blockchain Investor Forum early next month, which will bring together investor and innovative blockchain companies, where a small number of hand-picked projects will present to a panel of investors, viewed by a larger audience from the industry. This is very exciting and we hope to roll this out to a series of such events across the year.
Q 10 What is your favorite Blockchain project and why?
A 10 Nebula Genomics, who are building a better world within healthcare by allowing individuals to take control of their health data by collecting and owning it, and being able to securely share it for a reward, which allows the acceleration of medical research and contribution to science, all while getting unique insights into our health.