An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis
Don’t shy away from the spotlight. I know you might feel that you are being humble, but when it is your opportunity to shine, grab it and shine.
As a part of our series about Wisdom From The Women Leading The Blockchain Revolution, had the pleasure of interviewing Vivi Lin.
Vivi Lin, Partner at Octopus Network, is an award-winning TV personality, crypto influencer and media advisor. She works as a spokesperson for Octopus Network, a Web 3.0 infrastructure; a columnist for Financial Times China and media advisor for various blockchain projects. Prior to that, she was a bilingual TV presenter and producer for Reuters Financial TV.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Can you share with us the story of how you decided to pursue this career path? What lessons can others learn from your story?
Nice to be here. 🙂
It was a natural transition for me. I stumbled into crypto around 2017 and 2018 when I was in Silicon Valley as a TV producer and presenter, sharing the stories on innovation and entrepreneurship. If you remember, that was the previous bull market for crypto. I noticed a lot of my engineer friends who worked in Facebook and Google all quit their jobs to start their own crypto ventures. I started to do my homework and research on Bitcoin and crypto, which led me down the rabbit hole.
Fortunately for me, I was quite familiar with the business and entrepreneurship scene and very active in the cross-border startup communities between China and the US. I received an offer to work as the global partner for one of the biggest crypto media and investment groups in China, and that officially started my crypto career about 4 years ago.
The lessons — I’d say don’t be afraid of learning new things and don’t get intimidated by the lingo and jargon. I did not study computer sciences or coding and the technical description around crypto did seem overwhelming at the get-go, but once you understand what it really means, you understand that the industry needs talents from all walks of life, not only tech, but storytellers and marketers in my case. I am sure you will find your role in this fast-growing space.
Can you tell me about the most interesting projects you are working on now?
I recently joined Octopus Network, which is a brand new multichain network to bootstrap that runs appchains. It’s a very exciting and interesting project. I share the same values and visions with Octopus’ co-founder Louis Liu and the team, as we all believe that Web3 needs more applications and increased adoption, and we are here to help solve the bottleneck problem.
Octopus is an important infrastructure of Web3, because it helps web 3 applications to start more easily and run more smoothly with appchains. The Octopus Network, deeply rooted in the Near Blockchain, is offering a set of support, from technical support, to funding and community, to help Web3 applications to build appchains in the Octopus ecosystem.
Together, we help Web3 to happen faster, and this is a mission close to my heart.
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?
You are right!
I feel so grateful for all the support and love I’ve received along the way, just so many people have helped me and guided me, from family to friends to colleagues. It’s hard to pick just one person.
If I have to pick one, I would say my father. He always encouraged me to go as far as I can and to pursue my dreams. I remember when I was a teenage girl, growing up in south China where still many people believed that girls were not as “worthy” or “smart” as boys. I overheard conversations between some grown-ups, probably friends of my parents, discussing educational tips. One “uncle” (we call them uncle and auntie) suggested to my parents to send me to some vocational school near home. I still remember some sentences, such as “What’s the point of girls studying so much?” and “What if she never comes home if she goes too far to study”. I was horrified, as I had so many dreams and wanted to see the world while learning as much as I could.
I later asked my father, and to my delight, my father said “You are just as good as any boy, or even better; and you can go as far as you want. The world is for you to explore”.
I took that to heart as my family’s support has given me so much strength and love that whenever I face challenges or difficulties, I know I can overcome them.
What are the 3 things that most excite you about blockchain and crypto? Why?
Innovation, freedom and growth.
Crypto and blockchain were born out of innovation and there is still so much innovation happening in this space, from technology to business models to products. I am learning happily everyday.
The next is freedom as crypto offers people an opportunity to have the freedom independent of any established system or regime. Look at the situation in Ukraine and Russia, and some places where inflation is wiping out people’s hard-earned fiat savings; bitcoin and other crypto assets provide an alternative, which is precious.
Growth — when the world economy stagnates, only innovation can help revive the growth, that’s why we see the boom of Web3 projects. Of course, it takes time to transit from Web 2.0 to Web 3.0, but it is happening, and that will contribute to the growth of the whole world too.
What are the 3 things that worry you about blockchain and crypto? Why?
Scams, speculation and short-sightedness.
There are scams in any industry, that’s just a sad fact of human weakness, but because crypto is still new and at an early-stage, people seem to hear stories of scammers a lot from crypto. The truth is there are scams in the crypto space, but there is also real growth and development, so people need to see both sides. Also we also hope industry players can work together to wipe out scammers.
Speculations are normal in all financial markets, I just hope that people also see the true value of the projects in the space, not only just the buying and selling of coins.
Short-sightedness refers to people who forget about the big picture or don’t have long-term views. Be it investors or builders, if you hold a long-term perspective, you’ll see the real value which is good for the real growth of the industry.
How have you used your success to bring goodness to the world? Can you share a story?
I am not there yet in terms of “success”, but am grateful to lead the life I have today.
One of the missions that’s closest to my heart is women’s rights. Like the story I shared earlier, in many parts of the world, there are still places where people value boys over girls, and women are treated unfavorably in workplaces. I have used my influence to unite communities by sharing stories and empowering more women to pursue their dreams and stand up for their rights, and also to our men counterparts to enlighten them about the importance of gender equality, which is good for all of society.
As you know there are not that many women in your industry. Can you share 3 things that you would advise to other women in the blockchain space to thrive?
Lesson 1: don’t get intimidated by the tech lingo of crypto, because it is not as difficult as it seems. Believe in yourself, you can do it.
Lesson 2: Don’t shy away from the spotlight. I know you might feel that you are being humble, but when it is your opportunity to shine, grab it and shine.
Lesson 3: Use your feminine power wisely. Crypto is a male-dominated space, we need to learn how to work with men better. Men and women think differently in many ways, it is a challenge, but also an advantage for us. Learn to use the differences and you’ll be surprised once you figure out the trigger.
Can you advise what is needed to engage more women into the blockchain industry?
Just like the blockchain industry needs more people to educate the wider audience to join the space, we also need to share our insights as women already inside the industry to other female friends.
Some women might feel intimidated by the blockchain space, or believe the stereotype that it is full of scams, making them hesitant to join. We just need to show them it is not the case, and it is an area full of innovation and could use more talent.
What is your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share a story of how that had relevance to your own life?
I actually don’t have only one favorite quote, as I get inspired by various quotes all the time haha, and they change as I grow up.
One of the current ones is “Everything is figure-outable”, by Marie Foleo, an entrepreneur and TV presenter whom I deeply admire. I was traveling back to China for the lunar new year from Silicon Valley in early 2020, and did not expect I would be struck by blackswans — the pandemic and the increased tension between US and China, which took a toll on my business and travel schedule. But truly “everything is figure-outbale”, you just need to stay calm and seek solutions, instead of thinking, “Why is this happening to me?!”. I took a deep breath, and sorted my life out accordingly, and life continues. I managed to continue my media advisory business as well as producing crypto video content from wherever I am based, a “Web3” lifestyle.
You are a person of great influence. If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂
I’d like to start a movement to make people aware of women’s rights, in the sense of empowering women about their worth, as well as helping men and women understand each other better. The world is not a zero-sum game, it is not like we women have to take from men, but when we understand and value each other, together we create a better world.
How can our readers further follow your work online?
You can follow me on Twitter by @vivilinsv, or check out my Youtube channels “Vivi in the Valley”, as well Octopus Network’s Youtube and Twitter.
This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for joining us!
Wisdom From The Women Leading The Blockchain Revolution With Vivi Lin Of Octopus Network was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.
