Episode 23: Dror Poleg on Web3: The Substance Beneath the Noise

“I’m in constant search of problems that are big enough and interesting enough that I can dive in and never reach a bottom.” – Dror Poleg

This week’s guest is an economic historian and author, but his multi-hyphenate career includes titles such as real estate private equity exec, startup founder, front-end developer, parliamentary advisor, and soldier. It’s a wide-ranging, international career with a resilient, independent, and entrepreneurial thread tying it all together.

In this episode, Dror Poleg talks about the failure of his startup and how he used it as an opportunity to reassess his priorities and values. He went back to the roots of what had brought him success in the past-taking an academic approach, doing the homework, and becoming an expert before trying to build something. What he found was a deep interest in the research itself and a knack for explaining current tech trends and their implications for the business world.

This talent for breaking down complex topics, combined with an aversion to the purely opportunistic, or straight fraudulent, actors rampant in the space, led Dror to start Hype-Free Crypto-an online course providing an impartial introduction to the technologies and business models that will define the next decade.

Listen to Dror talk about the potential dark side to financial success and the importance of intentionally investing your time and talent. Be sure to stick around to the end for a crash course in Web3 and NFTs, or check out Hype-Free Crypto for the full curriculum.

• (02:04) Who is Dror Poleg?
• (03:53) My wife has no idea what I do
• (04:23) You need to have stability in life
• (08:16) It’s not always up and to the right
• (13:58) Rebuilding a career after failure
• (17:33) The importance of personal support networks
• (21:29) A foundation to settle down
• (23:06) When money leads to a life you don’t actually want
• (26:38) An economic historian and a live events promoter
• (28:54) The substance under the noise
• (36:31) What is Web3?
• (42:13) Conservation of centralization
• (45:31) Power and radical change
• (47:38) More than a monkey photo