Lecture Notes on the Interview with Sergey, Co-Founder of 1inch

Personal Record and Experience

• Sergey shares his record of staying awake for 56 hours.
• Difficulties included a loss of orientation but managed to recover after fresh air and water.
• Gained positive feedback on a project presented after the sleep deprivation experience.

Background of Sergey

• Born in Russia, specifically Siberia, with German roots.
• Migrated to Germany in 1999 and raised in the Black Forest.
• Speaks three languages: Russian, German, and a little bit of English.
• Studied software engineering briefly but did not complete a formal degree.

Career Journey

• Started working for Porsche at age 33, left in 2020.
• Faced personal challenges in 2018, including divorce and financial strains.
• Developed a passion for software engineering and entrepreneurship.
• Co-founded 1inch after participating in multiple hackathons and developing skills.

Development of 1inch

• Initially focused on DeFi and smart contracts, with a goal to address fragmented liquidity.
• Built the platform during hackathons, winning sponsorships that funded further development.
• Current team consists of around 150 core contributors globally.
• 1inch evolved from a DEX aggregator to a more comprehensive platform including cross-chain swaps.

Features of 1inch

• Offers a unique market-making protocol that helps users get the best price for token swaps.
• Non-custodial solutions with a focus on user experience.
• Limit orders are highlighted as a key feature that many users are unaware of.
• Cross-chain swaps introduced recently to facilitate trades across different blockchains.

Business Model

• No fees charged to users as the platform makes money through integrations with business partners.
• Focus on providing a decentralized and user-friendly trading experience.

Future Aspirations and Projects

• Plans to introduce a non-custodial Visa and MasterCard solution.
• Ongoing work towards tokenizing real-world assets and expanding the ecosystem.
• Emphasis on continuous adaptation and development in the fast-paced DeFi space.

Personal Insights

• Discussed the challenges of finding a personal partner post-divorce and the impact of life experiences on personal growth.
• Encourages adapting to challenges as a key to resilience in both personal and professional life.

Conclusion

• Sergey shares his vision for the future of 1inch, emphasizing the importance of decentralized finance and continued innovation in the space.