April 13, 2023

From Entrepreneur to Cardano: Why Fintech Community Lead Tyler Chose EMURGO

Albert Kim

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We speak with EMURGO Fintech Community Lead Tyler Wales in this latest blog from the “Life at EMURGO” series which highlights talented individuals working at our different business units.

EMURGO Fintech’s vision is to enable economic growth, innovation, and financial freedom on a global scale by leveraging the potential of crypto and creating seamless connectivity between digital assets, fiat currency, and traditional financial institutions through crypto wallets, stablecoins, and other Web3 products built on the Cardano blockchain.

At the bottom, you can also learn how to apply for Cardano blockchain jobs at EMURGO and bring your talents to the Cardano ecosystem.

Q&A with EMURGO Fintech Community Lead Tyler

Hello Tyler. Could you give a simple introduction?

Tyler: Hello. I’m the Fintech Community Lead at EMURGO Fintech, which includes Yoroi Wallet (the first Cardano ADA light wallet), Anzens (Web3 fintech platform), and the Cardano stablecoin USDA.  I work remotely based out of the US.

Tell us about your career until now.

Tyler: Before EMURGO, I was an entrepreneur and had co-founded a drone-as-a-service company called Hovrtek, which is sort of like Uber, but for booking drone pilots that come to your property to take aerial photos and video. My general background is as an entrepreneur at the intersection of media and technology, where I helped to build and launch multiple companies for around 15 years.

How did you start your career in blockchain and what made you want to work at EMURGO?

Tyler: I started working at EMURGO in January 2022. My first role was as a business development manager for all things Cardano NFT-related. I then pivoted to become EMURGO Fintech Community Lead, where I now work closely with our product, technical, and marketing teams in improving Yoroi Wallet and launching the Cardano stablecoin USDA on our Anzens platform. I have been actively following the blockchain space since 2016, and first discovered Cardano in 2017, and eventually became an active contributor to Cardano’s decentralized funding platform Project Catalyst.

Through that, I started working with and contributing to a handful of projects in the Project Catalyst ecosystem and had even been co-proposer of a couple of funded projects. In late 2021 I received an invitation to apply for the business development manager position mentioned earlier, which I eagerly accepted.  I couldn’t pass up the opportunity of potentially working for one of the founding entities of Cardano.  It turns out that it was a good fit and the rest is history.  Happy to be here!

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What makes EMURGO stand out compared to other companies?

Tyler: The vast majority of my career before EMURGO was in building companies from zero to one. I was often part of the founding team of a company that was just starting and trying to find product-market fit. This was a lot of fun, but also very stressful sometimes as there was little support.

Working at EMURGO has been extremely refreshing, as the various business units, such as EMURGO Fintech that make up the organization as a whole, have autonomy and act almost as their startups, but with the support that EMURGO as a Cardano founding entity can offer. I find this to be the best of both worlds; exciting and supportive.

How has working in blockchain and Web3 benefited your career?

Tyler: I believe that Web3 will revolutionize the nature of how we create and transact digital value. I believe that every large-scale digital platform whose revenue model is based on either the sharing or creating economy will either integrate Web3 features or be disrupted and displaced by Web3 alternatives.

Working in the Cardano ecosystem at EMURGO has been extremely beneficial; every day I am making new connections with community members, builders in the ecosystem, and technology companies interested in exploring the space. In my mind, I see working here as a similar opportunity to working at Google, Facebook, or YouTube would have been in the early 2000s.

What’s been your best work moment at EMURGO so far?

Tyler: Too many great moments to pick just one. I love to travel, so I always enjoy any opportunities to go to conferences, meet people, and visit new places with the mindset of driving Cardano awareness and adoption. Most of all, I simply enjoy working with all of my brilliant colleagues at EMURGO.

What’s your favorite EMURGO employee benefit and why?

Tyler: I have been a strong advocate of Cardano before joining EMURGO. So I suppose the biggest perk of working at EMURGO is having the support and the opportunity to collaborate with all types of folks from the community who are all part of building Cardano.

As far as more tangible perks are concerned, the option of working remotely is a huge perk for those that like to travel and/or are looking for the right type of work-life balance. In 2022, I was fortunate enough to visit and work from our Barcelona office as part of the “Visit-to-Learn” program.

Any advice for those who want to work at EMURGO?

Tyler: Much of the company works remotely from all over the world. There is a lot of asynchronous work and communication, as well as a lot of freedom and flexibility in how you achieve your objectives. As long as you are self-driven, passionate about Cardano, and able to work in both a collaborative and autonomous way, you will be a great fit!

Tell us three fun facts about yourself!

    1. I’m an avid snowboarder and at one time was a USASA snowboard coach.

    1. I grew up in an off-grid log cabin powered by solar panels in Vermont.  Oddly enough Vermont is one of the cloudiest states and has one of the highest numbers of solar panels per capita.

    1. I love music and try to play guitar once a day.

Apply for Cardano blockchain jobs at EMURGO

Interested in a remote blockchain job to help build Cardano and jumpstart your Web3 career?

Then, search for open positions at global blockchain company EMURGO and apply now at EMURGO’s Careers page. There are roles for applicants with technical and non-technical backgrounds.

EMURGO is the commercial arm and a founding entity of the Cardano blockchain, one of the largest blockchain networks in the industry. Cardano is an open-source, decentralized blockchain driven by a research-first approach and designed to be environmentally friendly.

Based in Singapore with office locations in the US, Europe, Indonesia, India, Dubai, and Africa, EMURGO offers several employee benefits including remote working opportunities, career advancement, and a chance to learn about an exciting new industrial field.

About EMURGO

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