Summary
Overview
Work History
Education
Skills
Websites
Timezone
Languages
Travel
Mantra
Timeline
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Shafi Karim

USA - UAE - Switzerland - India - Singapore

Summary

First going down the rabbit hole in 2015, I have made a conscious effort to work alongside the pioneers of our ever-evolving industry. I recently left full-time as Head of DeFi & RWA for Obligate (now Sr. Advisor), to build upon my entrepreneurial acumen and startup knowledgebase. Now, I have full-time bandwidth to commit to a new opportunity, nimble to live and work in necessary time zones. Above all, I respect resources, time, and the importance of being accountable, working with urgency to produce results now.

Overview

10
10
years of professional experience

Work History

Senior Advisor; Prev: Head of DeFi

Obligate (Circle Portfolio)
Zurich, Switzerland
01.2023 - Current
  • Company Overview: Circle & Blockchange Portfolio company; Swiss-based, Regulated DLT tech platform specializing in on-chain debt securities and structured products.
  • Focused on sales growth & tech innovation within DeFi & RWA spaces.
  • Worked cross-functionally w/ CEO, CGO, CTO, Product, Legal & Compliance
  • 21 million USD investor volume secured across 11 global jurisdictions
  • Active relationships with (including but not limited to): linch, ABN Amro, Aave, Algorand, Ankr, Animoca Brands, Aptos, Arbitrum/Offchain, Atlendis, Avalanche, Balancer, BlockTower Capital, Blockdaemon, Bluejay Finance, Centrifuge, Chainlink, Circle, Clearpool, Coinchange, CoinSwitch, Coinbase, Copper, Credix, Cumberland DRW, DigiFT, FalconX, Fireblocks, Flowdesk, Goldfinch, GSR Markets, Hashkey Capital, Hashnote, Idle Finance, Lido Finance, MakerDAO, Mantle, Maple Finance, Matrixport, Monetalis, Morpho, OKX, Polygon, PV01, p2p, Qredo, Ripple, RWA.xyz, Security Token Advisors, Societe Generale, Solana, Sygnum, Tokeny, Uniswap, Wintermute, others

Core Contributor

Global
(USA, UAE, Switzerland, India, Singapore)
01.2019 - 01.2023
  • Web3 roles since entering crypto in 2015 include securing capital/liquidity, SaaS BD, strategic partnerships, cross-functional marketing, and business intelligence for a handful of Layer 1 blockchains, DeFi, DAOs, infrastructure, NFTs, and tokenization projects.
  • Although I have been contributing to projects that are primarily within the Ethereum, Polygon, Polkadot, and Solana ecosystems, I keep pace with the progress and innovations of networks such as Stellar, Hedera, BASE, Tezos, Klaytn, Tron, EOS, Binance Smart Chain, Cardano, Optimism, Cosmos, Algorand, Avalanche, Arbitrum, and others.
  • I remain glued to the rapid progress of AI, cybersecurity, mixed reality/metaverse worlds, NFT utilities, RWA diversification, robust DAO governance, X-to-Earn models, and AAA gaming projects.

GTM Small Business' SaaS BD

Avisare (Techstars Portfolio)
Los Angeles, CA
01.2017 - 01.2019
  • Company Overview: Procurement software platform connecting government entities, global tier 1 & tier 2 contractors, and small-to-mid sized businesses to contract bids
  • Also worked with tech team from MVP to launch
  • Closed multi-million client: LA World Airports (owner of LAX & Van Nuys)

Core Contributor

Unit Network
San Francisco, CA
01.2015 - 01.2017
  • Company Overview: Layer 1 ops system w/ an integrated suite of blockchain tokenization tools
  • Academy Contributor, Ecosystem & DevOps relations
  • Secured custom partnerships for a handful of token launches on parachain.

Education

Bachelor of Science - Biology, Computer Science

University of Arizona
USA
01.2013

Bachelor of Arts - Psychology, Business Administration

University of Arizona
USA
01.2013

Skills

  • Hospitality-driven Communication
  • Cross-functional Team Player
  • Savvy w/ tech/non-tech audiences
  • Self-Autonomous, Deadline-Driven
  • Analytical & Metrics-based
  • Leveraging Al Tools Daily Agents
  • Win-Win Negotiation Skills
  • Bespoke Commercial Agreements
  • GTM Strategies/Execution
  • Full Cycle Sales & Partnerships

Timezone

Flexible and effective across multiple timezones, currently in PST (Los Angeles)

Languages

English, Native

Travel

Active international traveler, Industry Conferences, Elite Networker

Mantra

The life given to us by nature is short, but the memory of a well-spent life is eternal. 

-Cicero

Timeline

Senior Advisor; Prev: Head of DeFi

Obligate (Circle Portfolio)
01.2023 - Current

Core Contributor

Global
01.2019 - 01.2023

GTM Small Business' SaaS BD

Avisare (Techstars Portfolio)
01.2017 - 01.2019

Core Contributor

Unit Network
01.2015 - 01.2017

Bachelor of Science - Biology, Computer Science

University of Arizona

Bachelor of Arts - Psychology, Business Administration

University of Arizona

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Shafi Karim