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Bitcoin price hits all-time high of almost $20,000. Will Bitcoin continue to rise? Aren't you glad you kept your Bitcoin? These are the typical headlines about Bitcoin these days.
If you don’t own any yet, well, you’re in luck.
In today’s episode, we interview a rare specimen. Dave Pouliot, Founder and CEO of Coinmiles, a Montreal-based startup that gives you free Bitcoins when you shop online.
Dave has not taken the usual founder path. He didn’t drop out of school to launch a tech startup in his parents’ garage. No.
Before founding Coinmiles, Dave was Detective Sergeant for the Montreal Police. He also worked as Associate Lawyer for Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg LLP.
Only then, did he decide to jump off the entrepreneurial cliff and build his wings (How poetic!) He started by founding Uto, a Montreal-based fintech startup. Today we talk to him about his second baby: Coinmiles.
The story of how he got started with Coinmiles is so interesting. His first encounter with Bitcoin was when he worked as a lawyer. His mandate? Figure out how to tax Bitcoins! Yes. You read right.
With an amazing distributed team across three Canadian cities, Coinmiles is a mission-driven tech startup. Dave is extremely passionate about cryptocurrency and believes that it can positively contribute to society. And for him, Coinmiles is more than just a reward app. It essentially removes the hurdle for people to get started with cryptocurrency.
In this podcast episode, Dave shares his experience and practical advice on how to raise money, build a tech startup with a non-tech background, hire engineers, and how to survive an app launch in the middle of a pandemic.
“Working on scalability of the app, listening to our users, and making some traction-based features are going to be our priority. We want to scale as efficiently as possible. There is no way around it.”
Enjoy the show!
You can subscribe to Growth Leap Podcast on Spotify or Apple.
What’s Coinmiles’s offering – [01:26]
Coimiles’s business model – [02:00]
How Coinmiles complied with regulation on Bitcoins – [02:55]
Coinmiles’s go-to-market strategy – [03:49]
Dave’s journey from being a detective cop to founding Bitcoin Startup- [04:57]
Dave’s advice on fundraising – [09:21]
What investors looked into while investing in Coinmiles – [11:30]
How Dave managed to get his first prototype without a tech background – [13:58]
His team building strategy – [16:00]
Dave’s approach to managing a distributed team – [21:00]
Dave’s experience on launching app in pandemic times – [22:01]
Coinmiles’s incredibly effective customer acquisition strategy – [25:20]
What does Bitcoin mean for the average consumer according to Dave – [28:53]
Dave’s view on Bitcoin’s future – [31:17]
How does Dave measure success at Coinmiles – [34:05]
Dave’s advice on being an entrepreneur – [35:08]
Coinmiles’s growth plans – [36:13]
Dave’s key takeaways from his journey and advice to young entrepreneurs – [37:37]
If you're feeling generous why not spread the words on Twitter.
🚀@getcoinmiles a Montreal-based startup that gives you free Bitcoins when you shop online or in-store. At this new #growthleap podcast episode with @PouliotDave , Founder & CEO of #coinmiles we talk about his remarkable journey from being a detective cop to founding a tech startup.
THREAD— stunandawe (@stunandawe) December 16, 2020
Have a good one!
