Serial Entrepreneur Andrew Katz Takes Seaquake to the Top of the Crypto Game

Andrew Katz is a challenging person to get a sit down with. If he’s not actively filling voids in the cryptocurrency market via his Digital Asset Infrastructure company, Seaquake Crypto, he’s working out, spending time with his dogs, and traveling the world. But if you are lucky enough to get a spot in his schedule, he’s got a treasure trove of advice for new entrepreneurs and seasoned managers.

With +15 years of experience in traditional markets, Andrew Katz was excited to bring his expertise to the fragmented crypto market. Key elements were missing for cryptocurrency to be fully adopted, such as but not limited to liquidity issues and reporting, which is what inspired him to found Seaquake in 2016 with his co-founder, Dylan Knight.

Six years into his second entrepreneurial venture, Andrew Katz stresses the importance of company culture, hiring people you like, and trusting your team to do what you hired them to do. He credits all of his success to building a team around him that has prior experience and personal motivation to be the best at what they do.

This success (Seaquake was profitable and self-sustaining after only ten months) has attracted top talent and allowed Andrew Katz to focus on scaling the company as new lines of business come online.

“As we get all of our systems online, we expect to be able to provide a crypto ecosystem from soup-to-nuts. Platforms such as ours should help push forward institutional and overall market growth”.

What’s Next for Andrew Katz and Seaquake Crypto?

Seaquake’s next hurdle is Banking, which will complement its current offerings of internal trading, market-making, prime services, and consultancy such as ecosystem creation and developing analytic platforms, data sales, and mining as a service.

Keeping his staff extremely lean but heavy on tech-savvy staffers has allowed Katz and Seaquake to adapt to change quickly and effectively. Andrew stresses that plenty of qualified candidates for every position, so hire personalities you want to work with and be around many hours. Katz seeks talent motivated by the challenge to build, to be the best, not driven by monetary things.

Regarding motivating his team, Andrew is adamant that if he hires you, he values what you have to say: “let their voices be heard, and be certain they know their opinion matters.” Andrew is working hard to create the company culture he wishes he had as a junior. Everyone is very hands-on, meaning there is no seagull management (management style wherein a manager only interacts with employees when they deem a problem has arisen).

As for managing workflow, Andrew Katz does so by delegating and staying very well organized. He is comfortable knowing that there will always be hurdles that he needs to navigate around. Even though his company demands much of his time, self-care is a priority for Andrew Katz to be able to keep performing at a high level.

Although Andrew Katz never doubted that Seaquake crypto would be successful, they had their share of challenges early on. He recommends that all start-ups retain a legal team from the jump and don’t allow themselves to be taken advantage of by early investors. He reminds aspiring entrepreneurs to do their due diligence on everyone they bring onto the team and ensure they have a clear concept and work direction.

His other top tips? “Don’t count your chickens before they hatch, and prepare for a rainy day – because there will be plenty in a start-up!” he says.

While Seaquake was able to fill a void early on as cryptocurrencies gained popularity, not all start-ups have had such a unique vantage point in their markets. Andrew stresses the importance of providing a necessary product or service: “Do your homework and ensure you know what you’re getting into and that you have a value add. Otherwise, you’re taking unnecessary risks.”

As we part ways and Andrew heads off to one of his home bases in Miami, New York City, or London, he leaves off with his favorite quote from Mark Twain: “Find a job you enjoy doing, and you will never have to work a day in your life.”

Learn more about Andrew Katz, CEO of Seaquake Crypto in this recent news article.