Today is sadly my last day at Messari. While I won’t be sharing what I’m doing next at [redacted] yet, I am reflecting on some of the lessons I’ve learned working as an analyst at Messari over the past two years. Welcome to my Messari therapy session catharsis.
As a member of Messari’s inaugural community analyst program (back in 2018), I’ve had the unique experience of watching Messari from the jump. Messari’s culture has always been one of grit, radical accountability, and written excellence (whether on Twitter or long form prose). It’s this cultural trifecta that has made working at Messari so special.
I joined Messari in 2020 as the fourth research analyst and Messari’s first “Web3 analyst” back when that just meant, “cover everything but DeFi and layer-1s”. Messari was pre-product market fit. Most of our Enterprise product suite didn’t exist and the parts that did were in their Google Sheets versions. My first day at the company was helping with Messari’s three day long conference, Mainnet, which was entirely virtual and packed with over 12-hours of event programming to cater to multiple time zones.
At the time, the research team consisted of Jack, Wilson, and Ryan Watkins. We were severely understaffed and writing for what is still (in my unhumbly, biased opinion) the industry’s best free, daily newsletter.
Today, nearly 100 reports later, I reflect on the progress Messari has made. I’m incredibly proud of the research product that the Messari team has collectively built over the years.
Reflections of a Research Analyst
As Ryan Watkins stated, there is perhaps no better non-technical job for someone early in their career than being an analyst. And, I’d like to share some of the simple lessons I’ve learned over the past two years.
Be Curious
If I could discern one quality of an excellent research analyst, it would be curiosity. Curious analysts dig deep into the abyss of uncertainty, aggregate data to obtain a holistic view, and ask questions that lead to new answers.
Specialize
Specializing in crypto is becoming necessary. You can’t know everything. Find your niche and own it.
Write
If I could only give someone one piece of advice in their career, and I knew that they’d follow through, I’d tell them to start writing. Writing is perhaps the highest leverage skill for any non-technical person who loves crypto. I started writing when I first worked at a cryptocurrency exchange in Hong Kong. Those early blog posts helped get me my next job at ConsenSys, which then parlayed into my role as a Messari analyst. I’ve never met a prolific writer (regardless of their occupation) who does not, in part, own some medium-to-large part of their success to writing. I have plenty of advice on writing (for another day) but suffice it to say the most important aspect of writing is consistency.
Grains of Salt
Crypto is inherently financial and everyone has a bias. Most people are genuinely good actors, but we all see the world through our own tinted lens. Keep that in mind.
The Best Stories Win
Data is just a story waiting to be told. Data can tell stories of the past, the present, and opens the mind to potential stories of the future. While data drives narratives, people want to have a connection to the information. Great research is simply a story that weaves data, arguments, and hypotheses together.
It’s All About The People
Life is about the people we share it with.
Be Kind
Kindness is underrated.
Advice for Life
Work hard, stay humble, and live happily.
Thank You Messari
I’ve put a lot of blood, sweat, and tweets into this company, and I’m confident saying that it’s poised for even greater success. I’ve watched Messari go from 0-1, from 1-100, and I’m excited to watch Messari go from 100-1000.
Lastly, I’d like to thank Eric Turner and Ryan Selkis for giving me the best job in the world. I’d like to thank the former and current Messari analysts who have created one of the premier research products in crypto, as well as the rest of the Messari team who have made me eager to show up everyday (remotely) for work.
Mason Nystrom
