Earlier this year in July, Nandan Nilekani, founding architect of Aadhaar, announced the launch of a new credit infrastructure called the ‘Open Credit Enablement Network (OCEN) protocol (pronounced ‘O-Ken’). The running analogy is that OCEN would be to lending what UPI was for payments. Ever since then, the entire industry has been abuzz with OCEN.

I know it’s been a while since we wrote but trust me this one should be worth your time. We double click on how OCEN works and dive into what a consumer-facing product based on it might look like.

“When we hit PMF, we started feeling pull for the first time”

“Like getting pressed into the back of your seat by a fast car or a plane taking off”

“Word of mouth was uncontrollable”

“Why won't you take my money???”

“Yeah, you really can't miss it”

This is what you hear from successful founders when you ask them what product-market fit felt like. But is this always what it feels like? I wanted to find out.

An early hint of what Social Dilemma is really about involves the project’s protagonist, Tristan Harris, correcting his handler on how to pronounce his name. “It’s Trist-AHN,” he says, affecting a studied collegiality born of many well-paid keynotes.

Wait, WTF is this?

Is this like the freshman French major pretentiously saying ‘Pa-REEE’ (itself an Anglicized mispronunciation of a French original) instead of English accepted usage?

Who knows.

There have been a lot of difficult events in the world this year: a global pandemic, shelter in place, social unrest, widespread protests and riots, and west coast wildfires. On top of that we have a contentious U.S. election on the horizon.
Everyone is asking the question about how companies should engage in broader societal issues during these difficult times, while keeping their teams united and focused on the mission. Coinbase has had its own challenges here, including employee walkouts. I decided to share publicly how I’m addressing this in case it helps others navigate a path through these challenging times.
In short, I want Coinbase to be laser focused on achieving its mission, because I believe that this is the way that we can have the biggest impact on the world. We will do this by playing as a championship team, focus on building, and being transparent about what our mission is and isn’t.