Built on the back of blockchain technology, token-based economics is creating a new kind of environment. This internet evolution–Web3–is being spearheaded by new technologies, NFTs and cryptocurrencies for example, and the people that design these new applications. Gabe Avins, Head of Finance at Alchemy, is helping to enable this shift by empowering developers to build power blockchain applications. In this episode of The Modern CFO, Gabe dives into the future of blockchain development, how startup CFOs can thrive, and how to build a winning team. Show Links Check out Alchemy Connect with Gabe Avins on LinkedIn or Twitter Check out Nth Round Connect with Andrew Seski on LinkedIn Key Takeaways 2:56 – Determine long-term value Understanding risk and reward is an intangible skill. You have to be able to make decisions based on what provides long-term value to the company. “Coming out of undergrad, Bain was a great place to develop some of the most core, underlying business frameworks and ways to think about business growth. I went from there to a private equity fund called TSG Consumer Partners, [which was a] really valuable learning experience where I think one of the skills that I picked up there was the ability to understand value. What drives value for companies, why companies are valued the way they are. That lens is how I approach many decisions on a to-the-minute and daily basis where I'm always trying to think big picture. Is what I'm doing today impactful to the business’s long-term value? And if it's not, and that’s somewhere where I find that I'm spending a lot of time working on something, it’s probably a good candidate to be on the chopping block and to spend less time there.” 6:18 –The best teams are flexible You have to be flexible when you’re working in a small team because there are a lot of gaps. Everyone has to be willing to roll up their sleeves to get the job done. “As I was interviewing with Alchemy, it was kind of funny, reflecting on it recently that I would show up to an interview and someone would say, ‘Hey, what we really need help with is X.’ And I'd show up to the next interview and someone would say, ‘Oh, what we really need help with is Y.’ And then Z, and then A and B and C. Startup life, when you're that few people, it really requires a mindset of, ‘I'm going to roll up my sleeves and do whatever I can to help the team.’ Because teams that are that small can be fragile. If there's infighting, if not everyone's carrying their weight, that can slow the team down a lot. Two people not being on the same page, when that's almost 10 percent of the company not being on the same page, that has some real efficiency loss there.” 7:07 – Learn to work collaboratively As a finance leader, you have to learn how to appreciate different job functions in order to help people do their jobs better. “When I was at Homebound, I spent my second year as general manager of a new line of business that we were launching. I think that mindset of building something from scratch, or at least getting something off the ground and having to work collaboratively with pretty much every other function within the company, is really instrumental. To me, seeing from the financial operator's seat how decisions and policies can be set can really enhance or take away from others’ abilities to do their job. And so I think that appreciation of what lots of different job functions look like has been really helpful to me as I've tried to help folks at Alchemy use their time best and move as fast as possible.”10:03 – Making Alchemy the best place in the world to work When companies have different departments, that doesn’t mean they are siloed. The strongest leaders bridge the gap and have them working in unison. “I think for a lot of companies, there are teams that are creating products to solve timely issues–that's largely going to be your engineers and your product managers. There