In Episode #108, we explore building a global blockchain that’s high-speed, climate neutral, and low-fee. We’re joined by Illia Polosukhin, NEAR Protocol’s Co-Founder. We cover why proof of stake beats proof of work, how NEAR approached scaling, and how Illia raised more than $10M to help fund aid in war-torn Ukraine. “For me, web3 is not about decentralization. I think decentralization is just a tool. What it is about is low switching costs.” – Illia Polosukhin EPISODE GUIDE (LINKS, QUOTES, NOTES, AND BOOKS MENTIONED) https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/near-protocol-illia-polosukhin-spotlight FULL TEXT TRANSCRIPT https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/near-protocol-illia-polosukhin-spotlight-transcript CHAPTERS This episode is our definitive guide to building a layer-one blockchain that’s incredibly fast, has very low transaction fees, and is climate neutral. In it we cover: (00:00:00) – Introduction (00:02:35) – How NEAR Protocol is imagining your world (00:04:46) – Why decentralization is just a tool (00:09:14) – Dethroning monopolies and leveling the playing field (00:14:02) – NEAR Protocol’s origin with scaling crowdsourcing (00:20:18) – Lack of intellectual honesty in crypto (00:24:19) – NEAR’s approach to sharding (00:31:03) – The importance of bringing the community into decision making (00:37:47) – How the co-founder’s role can evolve from centralized to decentralized (00:43:17) – Illia’s Web3 mindmap and staying decentralized while preserving privacy (00:46:36) – NEAR’s approach to sustainability in blockchain (00:49:46) – Founders: Build credibility and ship fast (00:54:19) – Handling fear and anxiety when building in crypto: Keep calm and build on (00:58:52) – The Unchained Fund and helping Ukraine ABOUT NEAR PROTOCOL Illia Polosukhin is Co-Founder of NEAR Protocol. NEAR is a layer-one blockchain that’s incredibly fast, has very low transaction fees, and is climate neutral—in part because of its Proof of Stake model. It’s traded on crypto exchanges under the ticker symbol NEAR and has a market cap of just under $5B today. From 2020 through 2021, the developers working in NEAR’s ecosystem—building applications on top of their blockchain—quadrupled, making NEAR the second-fastest growing chain behind Solana. Illia is an incredibly impressive founder, but more importantly, he’s an incredibly thoughtful engineer, leader, and community builder who has built something incredible slowly and methodically, one step at a time. 💌 FREE NEWSLETTER https://www.outlieracademy.com/newsletter 🎙 LISTEN ON iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/outlier-academy/id1523851182 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/58edVNgqaPNaCSGSxM6pef?si=88f37a5d20434775 Overcast: https://overcast.fm/itunes1523851182 ABOUT OUTLIER ACADEMY Learn timeless lessons on work and life from iconic founders, world-renown investors, and bestselling authors. Outlier Academy is the forever school for those chasing greatness. Past guests include Gokul Rajaram of DoorDash, Scott Belsky of Benchmark and Adobe, Joey Krug of Pantera Capital, Mark Sisson of Primal Kitchen, Luke Gromen of The Forest for the Trees, and Brian Scudamore of 1-800-GOT-JUNK. Website: https://www.outlieracademy.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/outlieracademy ABOUT DANIEL SCRIVNER Outlier Academy is hosted by Daniel Scrivner. Over the last 15 years, Daniel has led design teams at Square and Apple, turned around a $3M+ ARR SaaS business, and invested in more than 100 companies. He launched Outlier Academy in 2020 to learn from the world’s best founders, investors, authors, and peak performance experts. Website: https://www.danielscrivner.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/danielscrivner Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices