July 15, 2024
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This article was originally published July 15, 2024 on Rocket Bites.
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It’s kind of funny to me, looking back. When we started HashPack, we didn't set out to become the leading wallet on Hedera - we simply wanted to create a tool that would make the ecosystem more accessible and user-friendly. Yet here we are, at the forefront of Hedera's growth, shouldering a responsibility we never anticipated but wholeheartedly embrace.
Our path to this point wasn't paved with grand visions of market dominance or flashy marketing campaigns. Instead, it was built on a foundation of strong communication, relentless focus, and an unwavering commitment to our users' needs. As we've grown from a small, passionate team to a key player in the Hedera ecosystem, we've learned valuable lessons about what it takes to build not just a product, but a trusted platform in the complex world of Web3.
In the early days when asked I would describe the formation of the HashPack team as ‘Lightning in a Bottle’. Who would’ve thought that the four random strangers in a discord server coming together to build something ‘cool’, would actually all be professionals, and leaders at that. The four co-founders of HashPack were: a full-stack developer with banking and enterprise experience, a designer for the largest co-op in the UK, an op-sec specialist, and a project manager with an engineering background designing data centers and skyscrapers (yours truly). All of us had ten years of experience in our various fields, and we brought with us a unique blend of skills and perspectives. This diversity has been our strength, allowing us to approach challenges from multiple angles and develop innovative solutions.
Since we started in the community, one of our core principles has always been to listen intently to our community. It's easy for tech companies to fall into the trap of building what they think users want, rather than what users actually need. I’ve seen many projects in Web3 and Hedera that were a solution in search of a problem. But from the outset HashPack was made to solve problems.
The original HashPack MVP (Minimum Viable Product) had a very basic set of features: Send and Receive HBAR, display balances, support multiple wallets, wallet creation, and a simple address book. Once we launched though, we set about solving the glaring holes in the ecosystem that were needed to get things running.
When we started, Hedera had no defi ecosystem, only one NFT marketplace, no tokens, no EVM - it didn’t even have a signing solution. Picture this, after we launched HashPack we had to build our own wallet connector (Which we called HashConnect), because at that time people were inputting their seed phrases into dApps to do things on the network. It was the single largest friction point that was keeping anything from happening.
So we started building, and solving the community’s pain points. And while we had ideas about what these things were, we constantly went back to our community to see how our users liked the updates, to find out what was good about them and what was still needed. This approach helped us build features that genuinely and decisively improved the user experience. It stopped us from going down expensive, wasteful rabbit holes building features that nobody really wanted. Much of the credit for this approach has to go to our CTO (Chief Technical Officer) Tyler, and the team has fully embraced this method of development.
I’ve talked at length on twitter and in various interviews about the importance of clear communication, and this is a poignant example of why it’s so critical. But I want to emphasize that this isn’t just about external communications. The other piece that I would attribute to our success is our approach to internal communications.
Internally, we've cultivated an environment where open dialogue is not just encouraged, but expected. Each team member, regardless of their role, is empowered to voice their opinions and concerns. This practice has led to some heated discussions and disagreements, but has let us tap into the unique viewpoint of everyone on the team, keep them engaged, and identify and address potential issues before they become problems. Team members are never belittled, dismissed or outranked. To me, this kind of culture is so, so important to foster and keep strong.
On this point in particular I'd like to highlight the role of our CPO (Chief Product Officer) Jacob in leading our strategy meetings. His approach ensures that every voice is heard and every perspective is considered. He gives us room to brainstorm and bounce off ideas– something that isn’t trivial when our team is spread across three continents. And one of the results of his approach is we have turned out to be quite a focused team. We don’t try to do everything, but rather we have a “North Star” that we aim towards as a team. Our north star that we decided on shortly at the start of the company was to “reduce friction and spark adoption of Hedera”, and the strategy to achieve that was to build a platform that served as the portal for dApps on Hedera and Web3. Everything we do goes toward our north star. By staying focused, we've been able to deliver a product that truly serves a purpose, rather than trying to be all things to all people.
Another key focus that sort of runs in parallel to this is the acknowledgement that in the world of digital assets, security is paramount. Our CISO (Chief Information Security Officer) Nick has been instrumental in ensuring that HashPack follows rigorous security protocols. His meticulous approach to internal code audits and his implementation of robust security processes have been crucial in building trust with our users. We've also undergone a full audit with Quantstamp, and have plans to conduct more external audits in the future at critical junctions.
As we've grown, we've been acutely aware of the responsibility we bear. Our users trust us with their digital assets, and we take that trust seriously. This sense of responsibility permeates every aspect of our work, from how we design our user interface to how we handle customer support inquiries.
Like I said earlier, in the first two years of HashPack’s life I described our team as ‘Lightning in a Bottle’. It just seemed serendipitous that we somehow stumbled across such a strong and experienced team. However over time my thoughts on this have changed. Yes, certainly, we had a great co-founder team. However what made it work was really a combination of factors: our professionalism, our commitment to clear communication, sticking to a focused strategy, our dedication to doing things right and to putting the user’s needs first.
I’ve seen many teams in the Hedera ecosystem come and go. Some teams consisted of a single developer, some were full of amateurs who had zero technical experience. Some were formed from friends, others from strangers, others yet followed very corporate structures. Some teams were led by industry hotshots who had multiple successful startups under their belt. Some had been in the crypto industry for years and had all the connections.
Many teams didn’t stick around, and it had nothing to do with their team composition. I think that in the end the teams that were successful, the teams and people that are still around, had many or all of those key qualities about them that I think makes HashPack special. Professionalism. Communication skills. Strategic focus. Commitment to doing things right. Putting the user’s needs first.
And I think, if I had to summarize in one word why HashPack is the leading wallet on Hedera and is one of the pillars of the community, I would boil it down to how we’ve managed to develop “trust”. Trust with our users, our partners, and within our own team. Trust comes out of all of the points above and more, and it’s something that we painstakingly and relentlessly pursue every day.
As I look to the future, I’m excited about the possibilities that lie ahead. The Hedera ecosystem is growing and evolving, and we're committed to growing and evolving with it. I hope that we can help builders and creators succeed on the platform with us, I hope we can all work together to create incredible things. I hope these words might help teams find their focus and build healthy and passionate company cultures.
The journey from garage startup to ecosystem leader has been exhilarating, but we know it's just the beginning. As we continue to grow, we're committed to maintaining the culture and principles that have defined HashPack from the start. We're excited to tackle new challenges, explore new opportunities, and continue building tools that empower users in the world of Web3.
Here's to the next chapter in the HashPack story. We're just getting started, and the best is yet to come.
May Chan
CEO and Co-founder, HashPack
