Do you think it's worth spending the time to try to make a career out of crypto?
About me: I'm 40 years old, background in finance and then an ecommerce business that is failing, so I need to figure out the next thing. Very minimal experience in crypto apart from the last 4-5 months consuming articles from you and BowTied Bull and investing a bit into ETH. I guess the question would be am I too old and lack any real experience? Thanks!
In my opinion: if you know you need to pivot, then you should pivot. There's nothing you can do about your age, and unlike other paths (e.g. professional sports) it's not an absolute barrier. Obviously you will not have the stamina of a competitor half your age, but you'll have other advantages such as the wisdom and experience not to persist too long in a failing venture (as you mentioned), and some capital behind you. It may also be easier for you to raise funds and hire people due to your age and professional background.
So much depends on the career path within crypto which you want to follow. Perhaps your skill set from finance transfers over well, or perhaps you want to do something new entirely. I know an electrical engineer who transitioned to software engineering in his 30s (self taught, outside of crypto) and who now does well with a small dev shop (couple of junior developers).
[For anyone who wants to become a smart contract developer, frontend developer, or backend/infrastructure dev, DeFi Academy features a module by BowTiedPickle who successfully moved from chemical engineering to smart contract development last cycle - and we have some high level content on other career paths in crypto]
If you can find 15-20 hours a week to get some hands on experience you can cover a lot of ground in a few months. Suggestion would be to read DeFi protocol governance forums, see where grants have been awarded and what the teams are working on. Then find the overlap between your talents/skillset, what you can learn in a reasonable time, and what the market is willing to pay for.
Please do check in here with your updates, and if you're looking for something specific we might be able to connect you to the right people.
Thanks for the article!
Do you think it's worth spending the time to try to make a career out of crypto?
About me: I'm 40 years old, background in finance and then an ecommerce business that is failing, so I need to figure out the next thing. Very minimal experience in crypto apart from the last 4-5 months consuming articles from you and BowTied Bull and investing a bit into ETH. I guess the question would be am I too old and lack any real experience? Thanks!
In my opinion: if you know you need to pivot, then you should pivot. There's nothing you can do about your age, and unlike other paths (e.g. professional sports) it's not an absolute barrier. Obviously you will not have the stamina of a competitor half your age, but you'll have other advantages such as the wisdom and experience not to persist too long in a failing venture (as you mentioned), and some capital behind you. It may also be easier for you to raise funds and hire people due to your age and professional background.
So much depends on the career path within crypto which you want to follow. Perhaps your skill set from finance transfers over well, or perhaps you want to do something new entirely. I know an electrical engineer who transitioned to software engineering in his 30s (self taught, outside of crypto) and who now does well with a small dev shop (couple of junior developers).
[For anyone who wants to become a smart contract developer, frontend developer, or backend/infrastructure dev, DeFi Academy features a module by BowTiedPickle who successfully moved from chemical engineering to smart contract development last cycle - and we have some high level content on other career paths in crypto]
If you can find 15-20 hours a week to get some hands on experience you can cover a lot of ground in a few months. Suggestion would be to read DeFi protocol governance forums, see where grants have been awarded and what the teams are working on. Then find the overlap between your talents/skillset, what you can learn in a reasonable time, and what the market is willing to pay for.
Please do check in here with your updates, and if you're looking for something specific we might be able to connect you to the right people.
Thanks for the thoughtful response!