Exactly 1 month ago, I stuffed everything I could into 3 suitcases and moved to LA to build Gogh, a payments company that allows businesses to accept crypto. I started building Gogh in March. It's the evolution of an e-commerce project I was building on Farcaster where brands and individuals could sell physical products in frames. I transitioned to payments because it's a foundation that many other products and offerings can be built on top of, including e-commerce.
So far, the timeline has looked like this:
Early March: Writes first line of code and builds during nights and weekends.
Early May: Flys to LA to get a sense of the small business and crypto scene.
Mid May: Decides to move to LA full-time to build Gogh
July 1: Arrives in LA
August 1: 5 small businesses accept crypto with Gogh
After 1 month of talking with small businesses, here are a few things I've learned...
Coinbase is everywhere
A surprisingly high number of people have a Coinbase account. They might have signed up years ago and never touched it since, but they have heard of crypto because of Coinbase. It's not an entirely foreign concept.
Crypto = Bitcoin?
When I mention crypto, most business owners immediately think I'm talking about bitcoin. This is a deterrent because they think it's a serious investment that is highly volatile. Very few people have heard of USDC or stablecoins.
Everyone hates credit card fees
When I ask business owners about the fees they have to pay for every transaction, you can see the frustration in their eyes. They hate paying it but they do it anyway because there isn't another option. Plus companies like Square and Shopify are deeply integrated into their operational stack. They can't fully abandon them. But they welcome an alternative.
"But no one has asked to pay in crypto."
This is the response I get the most from business owners. And it makes sense. Most crypto purchases are still make on the internet. But this will change quickly. Especially if I do my job well.
Most are genuinely curious
Very few people cut me off, and many have questions. This is a great sign. It tells me they are at least curious about the idea of accepting crypto. I'd say the level of enthusiasm follows a bell curve pretty closely.
At the edges, there are those who are either very excited about the idea of accepting crypto and being at the forefront of technology, or already accept crypto.
Then there are those on the opposite edge that want nothing to do it. One response I received was, "I don't believe in crypto", like it didn't actually exist.
Most people are the middle. Open to hearing about it, maybe considered it, don't know too much about it.
The main takeaway
There is definitely a strong opportunity and it hinges on clearing up preconceived notions. Educating people about stablecoins, not all crypto is an investment, and how its the answer to high credit card fees. Most of this month has been learning from business owners. Getting customers to obtain crypto to make purchases is another story, but I'll share a post on that soon.
