VEYLEX SPOTLIGHT: Nathan Chandra
Meet Nathan Chandra – a driven entrepreneur that has been making moves in the music and tech industries for years. His entrepreneurial spirit started at an early age and while still in high school Chandra found himself deep in the music industry working with Sony recording artist Jon B on his studio releases which sold over 2M copies. He has been featured on albums along side 2Pac, Will.i.AM, Babyface and others. Chandra went on to earn a MBA from Pepperdine University, and moved up to Silicon Valley to start building technology companies. He excels at starting businesses, product development, building relationships, and public speaking.
We had a chance to chat with Chandra about how his upbringing helped shape his entrepreneurial foundation and his exciting new blockchain marketplace venture - Buttrfly.
What was Your experience like growing up biracial?
Growing up biracial was a great experience as it provided me the opportunity to learn about multiple cultural groups, become more open-minded, and to build a diverse group of friends. My mother is German & Swedish and exposed us to an “American” style upbringing in Pasadena, CA. My father was born in Delhi and he came to America in his early twenties. Although we were living in California, my father spent time teaching me about the beautiful “Indian" culture. Together my parents raised me to love all cultures and appreciate people for who they are. Today, I believe we are all leaves of the same tree and citizens of one earth. I credit my biracial family as the foundation that allows me to support finding my truth and living that to its fullest.
Tell us about your company– Buttrfly.
Buttrfly is a blockchain marketplace that matches brands and influencers. Buttrfly helps brands scale their influencer marketing while providing a solution for individuals to monetize their social audience. It has been described as Tinder for Influence. We are solving some serious problems in the current influencer marketing industry and we are excited about what we are releasing into the world. We are currently in private beta and if you are interested in utilizing Buttrfly you can join our waiting list at www.buttrfly.net.
What inspired the creation of Buttrfly?
My co-founder, Jim Sellers, and I were observing how blockchain was transforming industries and we realized this technology can solve the laborious workflow, surrounding contracting and payment settlement, that plagues influencer marketing. In addition, we are creating an intelligent layer that can strategically activate thousands of influencers with the push of a few buttons. We both have experience working with social data, influencers, and building technology companies. We decided to come together and build the future of influencer marketing with Buttrfly. You can learn more about how Buttrfly is utilizing blockchain to transform influencer marketing via an article here.
What can we look forward to next?
My current focus is the launch of Buttrfly. Over the last year we have been building out an amazing company. All facets of the organization are top notch; our team has some of the smartest people we have ever worked with from technologists to senior level management; our investors are providing “smart money”, as they are very involved with navigating the success of Buttrfly; and our clients consist of some fortune 500 organizations. All of these pieces are coming together and we are pushing towards a closed beta rollout that will start in Q4 2018 and we will open up Buttrfly to the public in the beginning of 2019.
What advice would you give to aspiring entrepreneurs?
The entrepreneurial journey is not for the faint of heart. Although there is no exact formula to success, there are some pillars that I believe will increase your chance of achieving it.
Stay true to yourself
You must be authentic in what you pursue. It is important to follow your heart and do not compromise your morals and values. When your truth is aligned with your hustle than you are on the right path.
Work hard and stay focused
If you want to be an entrepreneur and build something amazing, you will have to focus on your work. This means everything you do is geared toward the success of your vision. Time for simply “hanging out” will become obsolete. I believe family comes first, but other distractions that do not push your vision forward are just obstacles to your success.
Build a strong team
This is extremely important. Building a well rounded team of employees, advisors, investors, mentors, and friends that support and believe in the vision is critical to your success.
Never give up
If you truly want to be an entrepreneur and want to build your success than you can never give up. While what you are working on may change, your entrepreneurial journey must continue on. Believe in yourself, stay focused, and never stop!
If you would like to find out more about Nathan and Buttrfly you can catch him speaking this month at the upcoming conferences www.coinagenda.com and worldcryptocon.com.
Check out Nathan's Socials below!
Instagram: @nateshines
Twitter: @NateShines
Website: NathanChandra.com
