Trevor Traina, Ambassador, Founder, and Art collector
Entrepreneurship at scale
Last week, we had the privilege of meeting Trevor Traina, a notable entrepreneur with five successful exits, a former ambassador to Austria, and an art collector. Here are the takeaways from our conversation:
Traina has a history of selling businesses for substantial amounts, including his first company for $100 million and his most recent company to Mastercard (specifics undisclosed). He advises approaching opportunities with a pragmatic mindset, recognizing that such chances may not come around again. When a great price presents itself, it's important to seize the moment and sell, allowing for the opportunity to start anew. Traina highlights the importance of observing the failures of apps like BeReal as cautionary tales.
Even during his tenure as an ambassador, Traina found ways to nurture an entrepreneurial spirit. He established key performance indicators (KPIs) for his team, providing incentives for everyone to strive towards achieving their goals.
Following the conclusion of his ambassadorship, Traina returned to what he feels most authentic in creating a crypto company that simplifies the user experience by eliminating complexities such as memorizing mnemonics, trading, and managing complicated addresses. His crypto super app, Kresus, focuses on security while offering a seamless crypto experience.
Empowerment through entrepreneurship is a recurring theme in Traina's philosophy. He firmly believes that entrepreneurship provides individuals with the means to make a significant impact. He encourages aspiring entrepreneurs to embrace risk-taking, follow their passions, and develop ventures that can create positive change.
Traina places great emphasis on nurturing talent and cultivating strong founding teams. He suggests prioritizing and spending considerable time for the superstar team in the beginning vs. starting fast and hiring on the way.