1 — Tell us a bit about yourself. How did you start your career as a designer? What projects have you been involved in before Zenfuse?
My background is in environmental design and academic drawing. I worked developing 3D visualization of interiors and visualization of objects for Amazon, while simultaneously doing printing designs as a side job.
A couple of years later, I decided to optimize working hours and prioritize remote work. I decided to shift directions and went into graphic design. This was the driving force that led me to study motion and web design.
I started out mainly working within the financial sector helping other junior designers. I used my knowledge to help and train my colleagues in the best way I could. The peculiarity of my work drove me to become a multidisciplinary designer, as I had to create entire visual designs from scratch and master several different fields such as branding, UX/UI, SMM, video, and illustrations.
After working for large banks in Russia and becoming increasingly knowledgeable about the financial sector, I felt the need to shift careers and learn something new.
A huge breakthrough occurred when I started working for Figma. I was able to satisfy my eagerness to optimize work while also learning extensively about mobile apps, specifically upgrading my skills on how to develop a better user experience and interface for mobile apps.
2 — How did you join the Zenfuse team? Was it always your dream to work in a crypto project?
I joined the Zenfuse team quite unexpectedly 🤠. While working in mobile app development in 2020, I received a call from my friend Yuriy. He stated that he had finally found investors for Zenfuse and invited me as one of the co-founders. I barely knew Yuriy at the time, as I had only been with him a couple of times after we met on a road trip through Finland.
Yuriy confessed he saw potential in me, and that was why he decided to invite me to the team. After joining Zenfuse, my life completely changed in a few weeks as I began my journey into the crypto world.
3 — Are you a trader? When did you get started in crypto and what has been your experience within the space so far?
Though I had extensive experience working in the financial sector, and had already started investing in stocks and bonds, I knew nothing about the crypto industry when I joined Zenfuse. I never imagined I would be working in this space.
Me joining the Zenfuse team happened rather unexpectedly. There were already some developments being worked on and I had to quickly study the project, brainstorm new ideas, and continue building it under my own vision.
I also needed to study the crypto market, learn about our competitors and what work our team had already accomplished. I started creating accounts on several centralized (CEX) and decentralized (DEX) exchanges and putting some money into the market.
After waking up the next day with my portfolio in red, and learning how exorbitant gas fees were on Uniswap 😐, I started understanding how crypto actually works. I dedicated some time to market research and learned the best strategy would be to hold.
A few days later my portfolio was in the green, and I decided to take some profits and bought furniture for my new apartment. From that moment on I realized cryptocurrencies were all very real.
Now that one year has passed, I am delighted to be part of such a new and popular industry. The space is still developing, and there are immense opportunities as new ideas and rethinking old concepts brings forth innovation.
4 — Give us a brief overview of your functions as the lead designer for Zenfuse. What does your typical workday look like?
I perform several roles within the company. My primary function is to manage the team of designers, and I’m responsible for the logic behind product and brand design. I also work on other tasks simultaneously.
Because we are a startup with a team of more than 18 individuals, there is a need for all of us to multitask. Assignments change frequently, and our team members are flexible enough to switch tasks as the need arises ✌.
Every Monday, I meet with my team to discuss the work plan for the week. We established what tasks need to be done, who is assigned to them, and what the deadline is. By the end of the week, we summarize the results, categorizing which tasks need to be delegated to the development team for implementation and what designs need fixing.
5 — How would you describe the Zenfuse team and the culture of the company?
Our team is unique. In all my work experience, I never had the pleasure of working with such a cool team as Zenfuse. Each individual has its pros and cons, but together we complement each other almost perfectly. As a team, we can mitigate our personal disadvantages and highlight only our strongest qualities.
Our main philosophy is that the office is our home 🏡. We want our employees to feel like the office is their second house, that they can spend as much time as they wish eating delicious food and working whenever they feel comfortable.
Our CEO Yuriy does everything in his power to provide employees with comfort and everything they need to perform their work. We allow each team member to work at his own pace and care only for the final result. Such a work structure increases and teaches independence and responsibility to the whole team.
6 — Do you believe Zenfuse has the potential to revolutionize the game of crypto trading? Give us your vision of Zenfuse and where will it stand 5 years from now?
I believe that with the proper support and management, we have enormous potential. We have ambitious plans for the long-term development and expansion of the company. I guess that, within 5 years, we will have a completely finished product and that we only need maintenance from thereon.
However, that does not mean we will stop working on new features. We have accumulated original ideas for the next 10 years. I also believe we can go beyond our current framework, switching to mobile applications, our own merchandise, and building a solid and interactive fan audience. Integration with other products, some beyond the crypto sphere, is also being debated.
7 — What or who inspires you? Is there any figure, inside or outside of crypto, that has had a major positive influence on you?
I never tended to follow or be inspired by idols. I don’t follow celebrities, influencers, or personalities. I am, however, particularly interested in people and what products they can create.
I actually consume a large amount of content over the internet. Sometimes that content, which may even be a simple meme, deeply inspires and motivates me.
Although I don’t have any favorite creative agencies or artists, I collect and monitor individual projects. I believe there is nothing better than independent work, and that experience comes from the number of work done and not from the number of articles read.
8 — Is there any specific trait or skill that you’ve developed working on Zenfuse?
Yes, definitely. I improved my management skills and multitasking capacity during this last year of working with the Zenfuse team. As I previously stated, Zenfuse gave me the competence to develop products in the crypto segment. That is incredibly useful, as there aren’t many developers in that space and even fewer designers 🐶.
About Zenfuse
Zenfuse is a powerful all-in-one platform for cryptocurrency traders and investors.
It aggregates multiple cryptocurrency exchanges, allowing control of funds via API, and powers up the trading process, making trading more profitable, simple, and stress-free.
Our cross-platform app provides rich analytics of both your portfolio and order history, giving you the ability to control your funds on a mobile device.
