Focus On What's Important: Interview with Rob Viglione, Co-Founder and CEO of Horizen Labs

I recently went one on one with Rob Viglione, Co-Founder and CEO of Horizen Labs.

Adam: Thanks again for taking the time to share your advice. First things first, though, I am sure readers would love to learn more about you. How did you get here? What experiences, failures, setbacks, or challenges have been most instrumental to your growth? 

Rob: I began my career as a scientist in the Air Force. I was fortunate to learn technical project management and to manage complex software development projects.

I then transitioned to an intelligence role deployed in Afghanistan, which gave me the perspective of what life can be like living in a conflict zone. This is when I first started getting involved with bitcoin and learned how the technology can be a lifeline for people and businesses. 

The intense, volatile cycles in the crypto industry have been a tremendous learning experience. It's rare for an entrepreneur to go through (and survive) multiple business cycles in the startup stage.

Adam: How did you come up with your business idea? What advice do you have for others on how to come up with great ideas? 

Rob: I first stumbled into this business while working on my Ph.D, eventually becoming heavily involved in the cryptocurrency community. However, I noticed there were gaps in how the community was developing – leaving so much untapped potential for how the technology can evolve. Someone had to step up to take action. 

The advice I can give here is cliche but it pays to follow your passions.

Adam: How did you know your business idea was worth pursuing? What advice do you have on how to best test a business idea?

Rob: We had community-market fit way before we had product-market fit. In general, you want to treat every idea as a hypothesis to be tested. The faster you can test it, the better. You want to know quickly if something is worth pursuing – or if you should pivot to something else.

Adam: What are the key steps you have taken to grow your business? What advice do you have for others on how to take their businesses to the next level?

Rob: First, make sure you have the right people in the right roles. Also, develop a basic understanding of what you're building. 

Next, secure enough capital to reach your goals. After that, you should raise two times what you thought you would need because things always change and, well, life happens.

Adam: What are your best sales and marketing tips?

Rob: It's obvious when people are passionate about what they're selling versus just going through the motions. Make sure you are working on something that you're excited to talk about over and over again. 

Get used to rejection and learn something from every pitch so you can make the next ones better.

Adam: In your experience, what are the defining qualities of an effective leader? How can leaders and aspiring leaders take their leadership skills to the next level?

Rob: Effective leaders coordinate their teams around shared goals. This means identifying compelling goals that matter and communicating them across your organization (while getting buy-in). When done correctly, everyone’s efforts will be aligned toward these goals. 

Adam: What is your best advice on building, leading, and managing teams?

Rob: Take care of your people. This was ingrained in us in the military. 

Care can mean different things to different people but when you're working in a technology group with smart creatives, it means empowering them, giving them the tools they need to do their jobs and helping them cultivate their own careers. 

Smart creatives want to know that what they're working on matters – and that it will directly contribute to the company's success.

Adam: What are your three best tips applicable to entrepreneurs, executives, and civic leaders?

Rob: The first tip is to focus on what's important and, second to that, is to think about how you can make a meaningful difference. Finally, embrace continuous improvement and challenge everything. Why are things being done as they are? What can we do to improve?

Adam: What is the single best piece of advice you have ever received?

Rob: The 80/20 rule is one of the best pieces of advice I’ve received. The premise is that 20% of your effort will bring 80% of your results. It’s a matter of how important a result is and how much effort you're willing to put in to reach the necessary 20%.

Adam Mendler is an entrepreneur, writer, speaker, educator, and nationally-recognized authority on leadership. Adam is the creator and host of the business and leadership podcast Thirty Minute Mentors, where he goes one on one with America's most successful people - Fortune 500 CEOs, founders of household name companies, Hall of Fame and Olympic gold medal-winning athletes, political and military leaders - for intimate half-hour conversations each week. A top leadership speaker, Adam draws upon his insights building and leading businesses and interviewing hundreds of America's top leaders as a top keynote speaker to businesses, universities, and non-profit organizations. Adam has written extensively on leadership and related topics, having authored over 70 articles published in major media outlets including Forbes, Inc. and HuffPost, and has conducted more than 500 one on one interviews with America’s top leaders through his collective media projects. Adam teaches graduate-level courses on leadership at UCLA and is an advisor to numerous companies and leaders. A Los Angeles native, Adam is a lifelong Angels fan and an avid backgammon player.

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