For Episode 25 of Crypto Market Wizards, I am joined by Stani Kulechov, founder of Avara. He discusses how his childhood shaped his interest in crypto and why he decided to build ETHLend (now AAVE) in 2017. He discusses the truth about building in crypto and what he learned from having to have surgery earlier this year.

Guest's Twitter: https://x.com/StaniKulechov
Stani's post on health: https://hey.xyz/posts/0x05-0x2694-DA-1cd727a6

Crypto Market Wizards: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL6bwqqJO_txgGQySGK5-HSuTPp0LjeGqA
Steady Lads: https://www.youtube.com/@0xSteadyLads

Taiki is the founder of Humble Farmer Army, a community-driven research company founded in 2021 with a mission to create high-quality, digestible content that helps separate signal from noise for DeFi enthusiasts.

Timestamps:
0:00 Stani's Childhood
3:49 Foray into Entrepreneurship
11:08 Discovering Ethereum & Building AAVE
15:16 Raising $16M in an ICO
18:24 Surviving the 2018-19 Bear Market
21:16 Memories of DeFi Summer
24:54 Neglecting Health & Requiring Surgery
30:33 Working with your Wife in Crypto
35:53 Avara's Endgame (AAVE, Lens, Family, GHO)
41:16 Advice to Younger Self
45:19 Does Vitalik Hate DeFi?