Startup Interview with Nicole Upchurch, CENNZnet CEO

HackerNoon Reporter: Please tell us briefly about your background.

I’m CEO of a blockchain startup called CENNZnet, a venture of the Centrality ecosystem, which I joined 4 years ago after a lengthy career in marketing for large corporations. If I looked at my corporate career vs startup I would say that all of my biggest achievements and proudest moments have happened since I joined CENNZnet. Not only that, but I’m deeply passionate about what we’re building, and I don’t think that I’ve truly said that about any other role I’ve had.

What's your startup called? And in a sentence or two, what does it do?

CENNZnet is a public, proof of stake blockchain that puts user experience first. We supply startups with the tools and resources that they will need to build a blockchain DApp - so they don’t have to spend 18 months and a million dollars creating the basic functions that every DApp needs - wallet, identity, exchange, messaging.

What is the origin story?

The founder of Centrality, Aaron McDonald, was trying to create a new startup in 2016 and he found it really tough. There were so many hurdles to overcome that he abandoned his original idea and started trying to find a way to make it easier for startups to scale and succeed.

The biggest problem was that bigger platforms have a huge lead in user data, attention, capital, and resource, which enables them to either predict what’s coming or copy very fast. In the current environment on average, good plans, people, and businesses succeed only 1 in 10 times.

We wanted to create a place where we could give entrepreneurs with great ideas a leg up so that they could compete against the technology titans that were dominating industries. Blockchain and decentralization seemed like the perfect tools to build a fairer system.

CENNZnet is the blockchain component. We are all about giving these guys the tools that every DApp would need so that they had a better chance of competing, plus an ecosystem of other DApps that they can connect to, to help each other scale.

What do you love about your team, and why are you the ones to solve this problem?

The tech startup ecosystem is not for the faint of heart. It’s a roller coaster of highs and lows and it needs a passionate, innovative, and strong-willed team of crusaders that are motivated by more than just a paycheck.

Our people are constantly bringing something new to the table; ideas, delivery methods, understanding of our audience. They work on their CENNZnet projects, their personal blockchain projects and they help each other on projects - because using our tech for themselves is a way for them to ensure that we’re providing startups with great tools and knowledge for when they build their DApps. It’s more than just a job.

It’s a competitive market for talented devs and tech marketers. I’m always conscious that one of the big companies will swoop in with unlimited budgets and try to steal them away. But I truly believe that the team is here because (like me) they love what they do and they believe that we’re doing something that benefits the people that use our tech.

If you weren’t building your startup, what would you be doing?

I’d be at another startup. I spent 20 years in a corporate environment and got sick of the politics and how it would take 18 months to get a business case approved. At the time it was a big risk moving to the startup world with zero track record. It was the best decision I’ve ever made - I’m highly involved in every aspect of the business (I create the overall strategy, manage the leadership team, but sometimes I also fold t-shirts) and I’m the kind of person who loves when challenges arise because I go into problem-solving mode.

At the moment, how do you measure success? What are your core metrics?

Our plan is simple:

• Build world-class tech to attract great developers.
• The more quality DApps we have the more transactions there are on the network.
• The more transactions on CENNZnet the more block rewards are produced.
• When stakers are getting lots of block rewards then the demand for CENNZ will increase.

With that in mind, our main indicators of success currently are the exciting tech innovations we have delivered and the number of DApps building on our network. Dual token economy, Doughnut protocol, plug n’ play runtime modules, CENNZX spot exchange, point and click NFT capabilities, and a token bridge are just some of the exciting innovations we have brought to life. As for DApps we have nearly 10 quality applications already fully functioning on our network, with plenty more in the pipeline.

What’s most exciting about your traction to date?

We’re all excited about how the jigsaw pieces are coming together. Validation of this is the pipeline of exciting DApps that we now have a building with our tech. We’re not a massive team, so every person is able to pinpoint the contribution that they have made to the success that we’re achieving now.

What technologies are you currently most excited about, and most worried about? And why?

What is there other than blockchain? We’re only just scratching the surface with what this technology can do. Our team is particularly fizzing about the potential for NFTs. Digital art is only the first use case, but they have real use cases that will resonate with mainstream consumers. Ticketing, finance, and gaming are just a few examples of areas already using NFTs.

What drew you to get published on HackerNoon? What do you like most about our platform?

Hackernoon is a hub of genuine tech insights and a community of talented developers. We want to support this community and provide advice and information for those interested in building DApps and getting started with blockchain.

What advice would you give to the 21-year-old version of yourself?

That cool idea that you have swirling around in your head - do it. I love seeing how bold younger people are, and how fearless they are in recognizing when they have a great idea and bringing it to fruition. I wish that I had been that confident and taken a few more risks when I was 21.

What is something surprising you've learned this year that your contemporaries would benefit from knowing?

Culture can make or break a team. I worked with some of the smartest people in blockchain, but if the culture within the team is low it can all fall apart quickly. The recruitment market is really fierce right now, but be very selective about who you bring into your team. For me, cultural fit was equally as important as talent and experience.