By MARY OLSON | BRAND INTELLIGENCE

At a time when great world leadership is in short supply, Dmitry Buterin, the forefather of a new generation of technology leaders, is creating a better world.

As one of the most innovative and compassionate influencers in the world of modern technology, Buterin has been a key leader in the blockchain era. Blockchain technology—first popularized by the emergence of Bitcoin—aims to facilitate secure and transparent peer-to-peer transactions.

Speaking on this technological revolution, Buterin says, “Our world is undergoing a massive technological transformation. Blockchain is one of the major technological inventions of the last decade, free from absolute control by any one entity, and creates unprecedented opportunities to rethink the way the world operates and interacts.”

Buterin was born in the Soviet Union during a difficult period in history. While he was earning his Masters in Computer Science in Moscow, the Soviet Union was falling apart. Upon graduating, Buterin created his own software company and became a successful consultant in the financial technology space. He became an accidental entrepreneur at a time and place when the concept of entrepreneurism did not exist.

Determined to see more of the world, Buterin moved to Toronto, Canada—a place he unabashedly loves. It was in Toronto, in 1999, that Dmitry embarked on a deeper exploration of technology. Buterin made himself and his work known, and as his influence grew, Toronto evolved into a global community and a welcoming home for technology start-ups. Today, Toronto is a thriving technology hub and a world-class environment for entrepreneurs, with the University of Toronto boasting top-tier technology programs and an abundance of first-rate start-ups calling the city home.

From Moscow during the Cold War, to the dot-com era, to today, Buterin has established himself as an innovative and influential leader in the tech space.

Buterin is the founder and “Chief Apricot” of Wild Apricot, the top-ranked membership management software company serving a customer base of over 9,800 non-profit organizations and generously providing free software to another 10,000 smaller organizations.

Passionate about supporting non-profits that cannot afford enterprise systems, Wild Apricot is Buterin’s expression of “doing the right thing for others.” He is committed to helping organizations that share in his goal to make the world a better place.

As the co-founder of BlockGeeks and BlockGeeks Lab, Buterin is an angel investor and a mentor for various blockchain start-ups. Buterin and his partners aim to help innovators disrupt existing business paradigms with a new way of organizing and creating decentralized applications. They actively seek out new blockchain ventures from top-tier technologists, proven entrepreneurs, and young start-ups with bold ideas for blockchain disruption.

Buterin is also the proud father of Vitalik Buterin, the co-creator and wunderkind inventor of Ethereum, the most successful blockchain undertaking since Bitcoin, with a market cap of $4.5B. Ethereum is an open-source, decentralized mining network and software development platform that facilitates the creation of new cryptocurrencies and programs that share a single blockchain.

When asked about his son, Buterin describes Vitalik as having very accomplished thinking early on. When Vitalik was six, he was doing binary math and creating numeric patterns with Legos. Buterin said, “Every parent thinks their child is special. Every child has struggles. Vitalik was ahead and behind at the same time. He was so smart that we were concerned about how to help him communicate better in this world.”

My colleague, Richard Brownstein, an award-winning financial innovator from my MIT Fintech: Future Commerce course inquired about Buterin’s son. Brownstein asked, “When did Dmitry realize that his son had special talents? What things in his life did he sacrifice to help move his son’s development?”

Buterin said, “We did not shape or push him in any direction. We gave him acceptance and love and felt that he would find his way.”

That compassion and patience have paid off. Today, Buterin says, Vitalik is “speaking to large audiences everywhere at least twice a month. He articulates incredibly complex ideas very well.”

When asked about Ethereum’s success, Buterin says his son “is creating a new world order and economic viability with new decentralized financial instruments that have mass applications.”

He went on to say, “My son and I share a passion for technology and creating a better world.”

“I think Blockchain will evolve a fascinating new world. We are creating opportunities for organizations to grow their knowledge and engage in innovation. Very cool people are involved with Ethereum.”

This past weekend, Buterin’s start-up co-creation company, BlockGeeks Lab, hosted a $25,000 hackathon in Toronto.

“Toronto is becoming a hotbed for cryptocurrencies and blockchain innovation. We want to bring developer talent together with the goal of Toronto becoming a global leader in the blockchain industry,” said Buterin.

When his son Vitalik took center stage at MaRS Discovery District to discuss the power of blockchain and cryptoeconomics, Buterin introduced him.

“Blockchain is a major technological invention over the last decade that creates unprecedented opportunities to re-think the way the world operates and interacts. We thought that it’s time more Canadian’s know about blockchain and the story of Ethereum, which was created by my son Vitalik, right here in Toronto.”

While a groundbreaking entrepreneur in his own right, it’s fair to say Buterin has been personally responsible for ushering in a new generation of technology leaders—his own son included. He truly is a forefather of the blockchain revolution.

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DMITRY BUTERIN

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chiefapricot/

Email: db@wildapricot.com / dmitry@blookgeeks.com

Websites: https://www.wildapricot.com/about-us (Non-profit management software) http://blockgeekslab.com / https://blockgeeks.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/search?q=chief apricot&src=typd





MARY OLSON | BRAND INTELLIGENCE

MIT Fintech: Future Commerce Certified. High-Value Branding, Web Development + Marketing

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maryolsonbiz/

Twitter: @maryolsonbiz

Email: MARYOLSON@MARYOLSON.BIZ

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Acknowledgements:

Jiri Kram, MIT Fintech: Future Commerce Certified Cloud Architect

Richard Brownstein, MIT Top Fintech Capstone Project Award Winner



