Kurt’s personal blog: The road to BSV Global Blockchain Convention

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I’m writing from a train right now; heading to Miami to catch an airplane to Dubai, and I’m already really missing wife and kids. My first BSV conference was CoinGeek London 2020. At the time, I had a six-month-old baby boy, and had just agreed to write part time for CoinGeek while I was working on a pentesting team for a New York based cybersecurity firm called GoVanguard. I really loved that job and my colleagues, and it was nice to work 9-5 hours for a while. I had recently sold a company that I started when I was still a teenager, and had spent a little bit of time consulting a large construction company in Chicago which had grueling hours. It was a time of huge transitions for our family. 

Working for a firm where I punched a clock for the first time in over a decade was a really nice break from my typical schedule—especially with all the other changes. But of course, opportunity came knocking when the guy who became my boss at CoinGeek kept telling me, “We really need good people on the team, so just come meet everyone in London.” 

I resisted for a few months, but ultimately told my wife around Christmas 2019 I had to “see about an opportunity,” and I hopped on a plane in February amid whispers of new virus that broke out of a lab in China that we should probably all keep an eye on… 

That was over two years ago now. A few conferences, a global pandemic and a lot of long hours later, CoinGeek has grown immensely, I’m a key member of the team. At this conference, I’m rolling in as a CoinGeek veteran, and I still keep forgetting the full name of the show this time around. 

“GBC, Kurt. GBC” 

-inner Kurt 

My home is 1500 miles from where I had lived my whole life. I traded pines for palms, and work a lot of long hours again, but I’ve never had a warmer winter in my life, and the whole family is thriving! My son said “I love you” unprompted for the first time in his life because he knew I was leaving on another big trip, and my little girl gave me a big wave with Cheerios stuck to her sticky little hand. 

It’s going to be wild when they’re old enough to maybe tag along in these trips some day! 

So, I have 14 hours ahead of me on a 777, and I’ll be sharing some working time with a guy I met down here in Florida who has become a great ally in my personal life and across all things BSV. It’s possible that we solve all the world’s problems during the flight, so I’ll let you know our next big idea when I land in the UAE.

At some point, I need to finish my script for the Web3 panel I’m hosting, squeeze in a workout so I can sleep after I land, and I’m really excited to see the GorillaPool display that I designed with help from a few fine folks in the BSV ecosystem. I just hope the swimming pool full of bananas looks as cool in person as it does in my head! 

Stay tuned for more short, personal updates throughout the trip.