Today we’re introducing Jan Isakovic, ICONOMI mentoring programme lead, whose goal it is to help ICO projects reach their full potential. He and the mentoring team will assist them with clarification of their business proposition and business plan and help with marketing, communication and other services.

Jan, can you introduce yourself in a few sentences?

I love working on the intersection of business and technology. I’ve realised that when I had to pick a university — I couldn’t decide, so I got degrees in both economics and computer science. I love to argue passionately, but also pride myself on allowing good arguments to change my opinion. I’m a voracious reader with a home library of over a thousand books, and thousands more in digital format. And my most often used tools are a Macbook Pro and a whiteboard.

What drives you and why did you join ICONOMI?

I’m passionate about building new companies and for a long time, I believed that the VC ecosystem is the best way to do it. But after years as a startup founder I became disillusioned — while there is still some value in the VC world, there is a large part of the startup ecosystem that exists only to “feed” on the startups, either their energy or their money — what little there is. I wrote about this in my recent blog post.

I’ve discovered that this vision of something more, of a unique blending of startups and cryptocurrency crowdfunding, is something I share with ICONOMI cofounders. That’s why I was excited to take on the role of mentoring programme lead where I’ll be able to share the experience and skills I gained with the best blockchain projects in the world!

Tell us a bit about your past work experience.

I’ve worked in IT since 1992, focusing on product management and leadership roles in the last decade. I’ve always been interested in new technologies — I first went online in 1991, joined the Internet in 1993 and used my first VR headset in 1995. I have worked for companies ranging from IBM and Microsoft to 5 person start-ups. I’ve most recently led a startup that received investment from a London-based VC, so that’s where I spent most of the last two years.

I’m an active member of the local start-up community, have given dozens of lectures and have worked as a mentor for several startup and accelerator programmes including Seedcamp.

How do you spend your free time?

I love running, riding my motorcycle or relaxing on the couch with a good book in hand.

What is the last book you read and the last movie you watched?

I’ve just read “Hatching Twitter” by Nick Bilton about the founding of Twitter. “Thinking, fast and slow” by Daniel Kahneman is next on my list. The last movie I saw and which made me laugh my ass off was Sausage Party, and before you ask, the last game I played was Inside.