SXSW Pitch Finalist: Quantstamp
The Forrest Four-Cast: February 20, 2020
Quantstamp is a Y Combinator-backed company building the standard in blockchain cybersecurity. With offices in San Francisco, Toronto, Taipei, and Tokyo, and a team of security experts dedicated to securing decentralized systems, the company is enabling a future of safer and more reliable blockchain applications and has helped a broad range of enterprises to innovate securely.
Companies including Siemens, Maker, and Kakao have trusted Quantstamp to secure over $1.5 billion of digital asset value while Fortune 100 companies rely on Quantstamp to implement their own blockchain platforms.
One of 50 finalists for SXSW Pitch 2020, see the Quantstamp pitch in the category of Blockchain Technology (12:30 pm to 1:30 pm Sunday, March 15) before a live audience and a panel of expert judges.
Winners in each of the 10 categories will be announced at the Pitch Awards Ceremony, at 6:30 pm Sunday, March 15. SXSW attendees are also invited to Meet the Finalists from 10:30 am to 12:30 pm Monday, March 16. All SXSW Pitch events take place at the Hilton Austin Downtown.
Richard Ma, CEO and Co-Founder at Quantstamp, who works to manage product strategy, engineering and strategic partnerships, talked about co-founding the Smart Contract Security Alliance, advances in how blockchain is being used to solve complex problems, and his ethos of “give, give, get.”
What is your top goal for Quantstamp for 2020?
The company’s mission is to enable a future of safer and more reliable mainstream blockchain applications. But to achieve this, we need the entire ecosystem to work together. This is one of the reasons we co-founded the Smart Contract Security Alliance, to bring together blockchain security companies, research institutions, and other organizations dedicated to securing blockchain technology and driving the industry forward.
With any new technology, adoption can be slow. There’s always a learning curve, along with both technical and regulatory challenges to overcome. With this in mind, there’s been incredible growth over the past few years. We’re seeing more governments, organizations, and corporate enterprises start to realize the impact this technology could have on how they operate.
ETHDenver, which took place Feb. 14 to 16 was the biggest crypto hackathon in the world. The Governor of Colorado was there promoting Colorado as a hub for blockchain and distributed ledger technology. There’s an increasing desire to solve real-world problems, and the demand is only going to grow as we see more use cases, funding and innovation within the industry.
My biggest goal for 2020 is just to continue doing good work, building our name as an authority in the space, helping our clients innovate with blockchain, and ultimately move us closer to mainstream adoption.
With the exception of Quantstamp, what tech trend is your team most excited about?
I wouldn’t call it a trend, but we’re excited to see blockchain being used to solve really important problems. Last year, we were involved in a joint effort among multiple agencies, including the World Economic Forum, to explore the potential of blockchain to reduce corruption in corporate procurement.
It’s estimated that 20 to 25 percent of funds are lost to corruption globally at the government level, so this is a really important issue. We’re also seeing a lot of innovation in supply chain, mobility, customer retention, where blockchain is helping to solve issues we used to think were unsolvable.
Another movement we’re seeing right now is DeFi, or Decentralized Finance. While regular software handles data, DeFi handles money (digital money). The DeFi projects we’re securing are creating new ways of using and thinking about money. There are a lot of new solutions coming out that are tackling long-standing problems within a really traditional sector. By ensuring blockchain technology is safe enough to handle financial applications, we’re helping this sector grow.
What has the startup experience taught you about life?
How to break through tough challenges and to be resourceful. At a startup, you often have to find a way to move mountains under pressure, to get past any fears you have and try the unexpected. Especially working within an industry like this, our company has to go to new territories before anyone else, push the boundaries and come up with solutions to problems we’ve never seen before. Having the same approach in life can be scary sometimes, but also rewarding.
What motto or quote do you live by?
A personal motto of mine, and a value we have at Quantstamp, is “give, give, get.” A lot of us think about what we can get out of our interactions with other people, but whether it’s in personal or business relationships, I find that helping other people out often leads to more fruitful relationships over time. It’s an ethos I’ve tried to instill in our team, and I think that if more people thought this way, the world would be a better place.
Tell us about something you love.
I love to travel. I have lived in the U.K., Canada, and Germany, speak three languages, and visit Japan and Korea often because of our business in Asia. Traveling has been a long-standing passion of mine to learn from people with different perspectives, broaden horizons and experience different ways of life.
Look for more interviews with other finalists in this space between now and the start of SXSW Pitch on Saturday, March 14. Visit this page to see all previous interviews in this series as well as a list of all finalists.
If you are an entrepreneur, check out the SXSW 2020 Startups Track, which runs March 13–17. This track brings together founders and funders and showcases exciting new companies, products, services, and business models across different verticals and industries.
Hugh Forrest serves as Chief Programming Officer at SXSW, the world’s most unique gathering of creative professionals. He also tries to write at least four paragraphs per day on Medium. These posts often cover tech-related trends; other times they focus on books, pop culture, sports and other current events.
