POW with Sean Go

Sean Go, or SeanGo2011 on Twitter, is a distinguished entrepreneur with a strong track record of success across multiple ventures.

He is the founder of HGR Digital Asset Group, an actively managed cryptoasset hedge fund with institutional-quality infrastructure. Besides that he is also the founder of GoFurther Careers and Education Group, a company specializing in higher education application and job recruitment strategies and solutions for international students.

Additionally, he is the founder of Berkeley Club of the Philippines, a community of UC Berkeley alumni in the Philippines, and co-chair of the Emory University Admissions Interview Program, where he helps identify and attract top talent to the university.

  What were you doing before Web3?

Before Web3, I worked at Ernst and Young in San Francisco as a business modeling and valuation analyst. I worked with clients including Alphabet (Google), GAP, Shiseido, Microsoft, and Hellman and Friedman.

I also started an educational services company called GoFurther Careers (which was incubated as a winning company in both Wharton and Emory Goizueta).

How did you get into Web3?

My brother Jorge Go, who is a computer scientist by training turned investment banker and private equity investor, introduced me to crypto and suggested that we do something in the crypto space as it was quite nascent at the time, with minimal institutional buy-in.

What was your first crypto or NFT project?

One of our first crypto projects was Falcon-X. We had a handsome exit when the company was valued at $8 Billion dollars, and we were able to reward our investors after 4 years.

How would you explain what you do to someone outside of Web3?

Our fund invests money in promising opportunities (both private and public) on behalf of our clients to generate a return that theoretically should be better than a passive market index.

On a day to day, it is mostly networking and checking ideas for potential. This is something I have experience in as well working for Techstars (a top accelerator) after my MBA. I also update our clients on fund performance and answer their questions and concerns.

Which creator or thought leader do you enjoy learning from?

I am biased but I actually like listening to my brother Jorge Go, the CEO of our fund HGR Digital Asset Group, because he both has computer science and business training.

And every time we go out I learn something new from him. He used to also speak at events hosted by Blockchain Space, LA Token, and at Stanford Business School.

Other than my brother, I think Ari Paul speaks intelligently with solid frameworks and references.

What is the biggest highlight of your career so far?

The biggest highlight of my career is to be able to make generous returns for the investors who put faith in us. We understand that crypto markets are quite volatile and there are times we will have losses, but in the long-term, we outperform any credible metric including Bitcoin.

What tech or crypto trend are you watching this year?

DeFi, diversified crypto gaming, and scaling solutions.

What advice would you give someone starting out in Web3?

There are a lot of people who are scammers, make false promises, and it’s easy to let greed get the better of you. So as much as you want to have faith in people, you have to always watch your back.

If you could do a TEDtalk on any topic, what would it be?

This is really cliché, but I would probably give a talk about grit and perseverance. Because I have 7 degrees (Fashion Institute of Technology, Columbia, Emory and UC Berkeley) and a track record of “success” and leadership, people think that I have natural talent but it’s quite the opposite in reality.

What is the one thing you would bring if you were stuck on a deserted Island?

A cheating answer would be to bring a Super Yacht with excellent navigation and fuel. But a fair answer would be a portable water cleaner. Generally, something that is multifunctional and can help me with different things.

POW stands for “Proof of Work.” It is a new feature article series in The Mega Maxi to highlight the savviest builders in the Web3 space.