Reimagined Finance: Investor Persona Interviews

Interview : #5 in a 10 part series

Introduction:

Hi there! I’m @Abraxas_Seven and welcome to the fifth in a series of Investor Persona Interviews.

As CMO of Reimagined Finance, I explore and share insights on the major barriers for investors across the #DeFi markets and the learnings we can yield from that in our investment portfolios. This week I interview @HongkongPhooey, a previous regional #TradFi Director for a global investment bank who now runs his own successful business across multiple markets. He has been involved in Crypto for the last 2+ years but has only focused seriously in the last 12 months. His journey is interesting based on the perspective of a #TradFi environment lens and the consideration from that experience. The constant still remains though with each $ReFi investor of the long term and buying into a more mature approach to investing.

This interview covers that journey and the insights he has along with, key learnings that investors can consider for their own approach. $ReFi is committed to not just managing and farming your funds across the #DeFi space but helping to educate our communities so they can make more informed decisions across the #FaaS space and create more secure, long-term portfolios with consistent ROI’s.

So let’s dive in! And if you would like to be interviewed for the Persona Series please DM me @Abraxas_Seven on Twitter.

1. Please introduce yourself as you see fit and then provide your crypto experience and involvement to date.

Within the last year I have been doing intensive investing whereas before this I just dabbled. Interestingly being involved more as an investor has meant I have brought in crypto payment solutions for my none crypto business. So I am finding real benefits across crypto utility areas outside of investing.

2. Could you please give us a 1-minute history of your general business experience and what you do?

My background was in the #TradFi sector covering snr roles in Europe, Japan and Across Asia. Since then I own and run my own business which operates across multiple markets.

3. How did you get involved with ReFi?

In my initial investment research, a friend and myself were made aware of $ReFi early. We had been on a number of other projects and the first #AMA we listened to was a stark contrast to other management teams and this peaked our interest. $ReFi then became a core part of my investment portfolio strategy from there on.

4. Do you have a crypto strategy and has that evolved since discovering $ReFi and if so how?

In some respects $ReFi provides both diversification and centralization. It is open and transparent with lots of investor influence and drive but is not a #DAO and as such is more nimble (the benefit of some centralization and control). I came to the conclusion that I don’t have the time, skill or inclination to get involved to that level and constant monitoring. $ReFi coming along provided the perfect solution to this. Something that provides a real position not just ‘vaporware’.

5. What problems were you facing in crypto investing generally and how has $ReFi helped?

November & December 2021, I was spending a lot of time (too much of the day) on research & opportunity analysis to identify options and then the corresponding due diligence. While I have extensive due diligence experience in multi jurisdictions and sizeable deals, I found crypto very challenging to apply the same approach. It is very difficult to do any form of comprehensive due diligence: what is the project, what are the processes in play, who are the team and what is the track record? All are hard to get a full picture on at times.

While I was getting my knowledge up to speed and it was a useful process and accelerated my education; this wasn’t sustainable. But $ReFi now gives me the ability to track what’s happening, but I don’t have to sweat it or I can leave it and forget about it.

I got in early to $ReFi and since I have made a practice of purchasing the dips and for me the vision, as is $ReFi’s; is for the long term.

Getting access early by being dialed in is hard if you are a solo investor and not in the space 24/7 and $ReFi gives me that ability.

6. What are the biggest mistakes you see when people engage crypto investing?

The biggest issue is not with investors but the industry creating the barriers for investors as experienced people have money and want to invest but are sitting on the side-lines due to crypto being too niche and unapproachable. These new investors walking away before they have even invested funds next step to the ladder of crypto and #DeFi getting real scale. Lots of people look and want to invest and then fall away : a number of reasons for this is IMHO:

• Marginalization of the masses; The jargon used in crypto and it’s intimidation to people if they are learning & educating themselves all at the same time when all you want to do is to invest and get money onboard and it’s over complicated.
• One early mistake can out people off for ever. So it’s important to explain everyone has these moments and that isn’t shared enough to reassure people there is some trail error for gains.
• When people look at a #TradFi investment questions like; who are you?
  Can I ‘shake the hand’ of the people managing my money can I put a face to the name are standard. Combined with #DeFi in a lot of cases not having an formal entity and jurisdiction is a real barrier. This limits the scale of their investment to anyone discovering crypto. And a lot of money is being missed and is sitting on the side-lines.

7. What was your main concern that would have prevented you from investing And what put your fears to rest in crypto and then ReFi.

As stated above; transparency. But the attraction to $ReFi was the team and the knowledge of the team; the knowledge they had, that I didn’t. Example; after each #AMA call I would check the strategies and understand them and see if I could do this… simple answer NO! But through the #AlphaChat I am constantly learning and it’s helping me understand my own wider investment portfolio; what ratios to invest and how to diversify risk. So I am benefitting from $ReFi as a model as well as constantly refining my own strategy by being part of the project. That’s why I believe you need to buy into $ReFi to have access to IP like the #AlphaChat.

8. What are three benefits you’ve experienced as a result of joining ReFi versus other crypto platforms?

• Knowledge and education (see above)
• Diversification of my portfolio
• Peace of mind; that when I go to bed at night that my money is working for me. Along with knowing this is a positive project where people are trying to something for the common good long term.

9. What made you choose ReFi over anything else you could have done? And how important was the management team in this decision?

This wasn’t the only #FaaS project I invested in. The other two I invested in I closed and reinvested into $ReFi. This was a simple proof of concept and market performance decision. But it was also good to know my initial thoughts on the management were correct.

So the management team and vision drew me in but the performance made me stay.

10. How has crypto changed since you invested and what new barriers / challenges or opportunities do you see today versus when you started?

There has been significantly more rug pulls in last 6 months BUT there are also a much larger amount of projects. Combine this with a market downturn and I think investment money becomes more urgent for a return and less discerning and unscrupulous players take advantage of that. So Do Your Own Research and have a plan. It still amazes me how much scrutiny $ReFi is given but the same investors will throw money at a ‘Shitcoin’ and not asking anything.

11. How has your personal life changed since joining ReFi and using this system? For example — are you less stressed about investing has it helped you feel more optimistic or secure?

I used to have lots and lots of projects — but now I have less projects and gone deeper into the ones I do have. So it’s been about focus which is allowing me to get on with my life in other areas. I previously mentioned about bringing crypto payment services into my more traditional business and I think this will happen more and more as people research the utility and adoption of crypto; which can only be a good thing for everyone.

12. What surprised you the most or made you the happiest about being involved with ReFi?

Compared to other projects I like working with people who say what they are doing and then do it. $ReFi has always delivered on what they said even in extremely choppy market conditions be that communicate upside or making smart long term calls in the tough times. This for me is where I want my money to be. As I accept it won’t be upside all the time. $ReFi has always been decisive decision makers.

13. In a % how much has your investment grown with ReFi versus your initial crypto investment?

It’s been one of my strongest performers in my portfolio. I started with 1 ETH but now it’s one of my largest single positions.

14. If you were to recommend ReFi to your best friend, what would you say?

I had my father in law buy it!….. So $ReFi can’t fail — end of story!

15. If someone was unsure about joining ReFi, what would you tell them?

1. Speak to the team and listen to the #AMA’ to see what was promised against what was delivered.
2. Do your own research and Compare the performance of other #FaaS.
3. Understand where this sits in your investment strategy and if you are missing a long term sustainable element $ReFi is worth your consideration.

16. Is there anything you’d like to add either about your crypto investing experience as a whole or regarding your ReFi journey to date?

One of the things I find annoying is how short sighted investors are on timelines. For crypto while fast paced, it’s almost turned into an excuse against best practice. To grow you need to look at it like a business and create sustainability and utility. Long term sustainable projects in the world just doesn’t work on the short term get rich quick mentality. Pace yes, but things evolve and the best projects have to evolve and need time to evolve. Investors feed this cycle short or long term. The $ReFi community is much, much better than the majority of investor groups. But we all still expect content, updates and wins every day. You are never going to have something great to say every day. Tell me something once a week on a Friday; we don’t need new news every day. We should demand value of information and updates not placation through constant noise. The transparency and clarity of the marketing and the comms with $ReFi are at a different level now compared to most and we need to keep supporting that momentum.

Conclusion:

A big thank you to @hongkongphooey for his sharing and very considered view! His journey overlaid with a classic senior manager business experience provides some real context to the #DeFi space for us. Less is more and the less needing more focus was key to his experience. The increase in ‘rugs’ and the need now more than ever to Do Your Own Research (DYOR) comes through loud and clear. The element of patience is a big factor in all of these interviews and understanding what is needed for long term success and not feeding the habitual meme coin psyche of 30 second updates for a daily return is understood. But as we know market sentiment rules a lot. If you have #DYOR as $ReFi investors do; then you will know the long term smart and savvy play.

I am looking forward to next week already. With yet another very different investor to the previous ones. What I am seeing is a mindset with all $ReFI investors no matter the shapes and size of their investment. Myself and $ReFi are very grateful for all the interviews from our community that have been provided. We are committed to continue to learn about the crypto market and ensure insights help $ReFi become a better project day-by-day! And hopefully you’re investment strategy.

Have a great investment week!

-@Abraxas_seven