Why Marketing & Women Matter For Blockchain Mass Adoption
This podcast features Forestlyn Founder, Lucy Lin being interviewed by tech podcast host Michael Waitze for the Asia Tech Podcast to talk about the importance of marketing and inclusion in the blockchain industry.
Getting Started in Blockchain
The first time Lucy heard about Bitcoin was in 2014 when she was considering if the buzz was worth buying into. Having lived in Toronto and integrated with the tech and startup scene, Lucy found herself being drawn to innovation entrepreneurship. After 15 years working in corporate marketing around the world, she took the plunge into entrepreneurship by formulating Forestlyn, an innovation marketing consultancy.
“I fell down the rabbit hole and never looked back,” says Lucy.
The brand of a company is crucial for building credibility, trust and a client base. This is something that Lucy has paid close attention to in the creation of Forestlyn, revealing that her surname, Lin, actually means ‘forest’ in Mandarin. In the company name, she changed the ‘i’ to a ‘y’ for a unique touch and to heighten search engine optimisation.
“Forestlyn is actually a play on my own name,” she chuckles.
Global Networking For Start-Ups
In building a global network, Lucy has attended numerous blockchain and innovation conferences worldwide. She likes to draw on word-of-mouth recommendations for client acquisition, something that she learned from her previous experience in the corporate world.
“It’s always who you know,” she says.
Bolstering her reputation in the tech industry can also be attributed to the success of her projects in the innovation marketing space. One such project was with Australia’s largest Initial Coin Offering, Havven (now Synthetix). Lucy was integral in raising USD$30 million and built one of crypto’s largest Telegram communities of over 127 000 members.
While today we can use the Internet to interact with each other without having to leave the home or office, Lucy accredits her network to the connections she has made through attending global events and conferences. She believes that face-to-face interactions is a great way to quickly build initial relationships with human interactions and formulating trust. However, after meeting initially, ongoing communications via digital channels is a crucial element in building deep relationships.
Michael knows how tiring it can be to speak at numerous conferences around the world, citing he experiences ‘event fatigue’ when trying to keep up. He would like to see event frequency reduced to 30% of current capacity in the hope of increasing product innovation and creating faster modes of transportation and travelling.
The Global Relevance of Cryptocurrency
One place where the cryptocurrency industry is taking off is Malta. Lucy talks about attending the Delta Summit and learning about the pro-crypto and pro-blockchain government, especially with numerous exchanges relocating to the island.
The current population of Malta is less than 500 000 people, which could grow exponentially with the eruption of blockchain and crypto into the market.
Cryptocurrency is already very mainstream in places like Tokyo and Bangkok where billboards for bitcoin can be seen from the streets. This is an indication that blockchain technology has reached the mass market and is being widely adopted in these regions.
The benefit of the crypto-market is that it is global from day one. The globalised world is Lucy’s area of expertise with her experience living and working in numerous countries across the globe. Projects in the emerging tech space need to position themselves strategically to ensure they are connecting with the international audience. Communicating the right message to each target group is what allows products to transform from early adoption to the mass market. This is Lucy’s area of expertise and the reason why she founded Forestlyn.
Blockchain Needs More Women
Being one of the few female-founded start-ups in the blockchain space, Lucy would love to see more women in blockchain. She describes her experience at New York Blockchain Week where there were a minimum percentage of women attendees among the 8500 participants.
“You could tell there weren’t many women there because every time I went to the bathroom there was no line, but for the men’s it was out the door and down the hallway which I’ve never seen before,” Lucy laughs.
Right now the industry is in its very infant stages, but as it expands and reaches the wider market, more people from all industries and backgrounds will become involved. As Lucy points out, blockchain will become an industry like any other that will require involvement from investment bankers, media personalities, marketers, lawyers, human resource officers and more. Lucy and Michael are both looking forward to witnessing how the industry matures in the future and being part of the innovation journey.
Speakers details
Lucy Lin - Forestlyn https://www.forestlyn.com/
Michael Waitze - Podcast host http://michaelwaitzepresents.com/
How Forestlyn Can Help You
We are technology marketing experts with a passion for innovation. With a deep understanding of the emerging technologies space, we create your marketing strategies and de-jargon your communications to help you bridge the gap between the early adopters and the mainstream audience. Whether you are a corporate organisation, small-medium size business or startup, we formulate high growth tactics for outsourced marketing, strategic direction, marketing implementation and educational workshops.
Talk to us today to find out more about how we can help you. Book a consultation here.