Through his mastery of connecting different departments, JP serves as a pivotal leader crucial to Klever's evolution.
Bringing people together is not an easy task. You need to focus on the needs of everyone and find a balance to get the best results.
You should be constantly reviewing, considering, and amending projects for the betterment of the company and the staff's wellbeing.
Leadership could be defined in this way.
Furthermore, it can be extremely rewarding to see the different departments working together, as well as to see how those projects develop as you watch them from conception to completion.
Almost like parenting, right?
That’s the role of João Pedro Alves Cruz Lima, our dear Business Development & Strategy Director, also known as JP.
Even more specifically, JP directs our Communications and Marketing Department.
I can tell you with total honesty that every word he said in this interview was genuine and full of passion.
That’s his Klever way of being a great leader. Take a look:
1- Maluh: JP, I don’t know if many people know this, but you have a pivotal role in Klever. Can you talk more about your attributions in our company?
JP: I see my role in the company as a bridge-builder - connecting people and businesses in favor of our community. This job title is BizDev & Strategy Director.
The three pillars of those bridges are Marketing, BizDev, and Data Science.
As a result, I have three dynamic teams who work hard each day to deliver the best content to our community, attract big partners, and make smart decisions based on the continuous improvement of our products and services.
2- Maluh: Could you tell us more about your career path? How did the blockchain and crypto world come into your life?
JP: I started to work when I was 18 years old in a clothing store in Rio de Janeiro to pay for my Economy University fees. I saved for two years and went to the United States as an exchange student with the help of my father and grandmother.
My first business venture was setting up an ice cream shop when I was 20 years old. During the day, I served ice creams, crepes, and drinks while studying economics every other moment. My books accompanied me on every working occasion.
Once I graduated, I returned to Rio de Janeiro and started my career in the corporate world where I worked for nearly 15 years in the Banking, Telecom, and Beauty Industries.
In 2016, I decided to undertake again, which is how I met Felipe Rieger and Dio. The services Dio provided Felipe at GoVivant came from Getty.
I remember this interview like it was yesterday. As a result, we started to work together.
I help both GoVivant and Getty as a Business Developer.
Now, how blockchain and crypto got into my life was through Dio.
We always discussed the latest technologies and what was trending in the marketplace. Dio explained to me about blockchain and we discussed several possibilities.
Then, I remember some memorable moments like the conversation about the wallet development for Tron's event in the US, later on, Dio’s moving to Canada, the first XRPs that I bought in Dio’s credit card, and the lunches and dinners we had.
At the end of 2019, I discussed with Dio the next steps I would like to take in my career and he invited me to become fully involved in the project.
The end of 2019 was a very important time to what we now know as Klever. It was a time of uncertainty and doubt. However, we were sure that Dio's group would be able to attract the project with a lot of quality, resilience, and a winning mindset.
And, the rest is history.
3- Maluh: As someone who is in touch with many fronts inside Klever, what is the biggest challenge when it comes to defining priorities and connecting all the dots between departments to make a cohesive strategy?
JP: Everything starts when we know what moves us and where we want to go.
This vision is built throughout time and it solidifies itself with the choices that we make during our journey.
This strategy of thinking of how Klever will be in 10 or 15 years guides us to make decisions on a daily basis.
It's important to reinforce that the purpose that united us in the first place does not change: Financial Freedom.
We believe that the best way to do this is using blockchain and its various applications in favor of a great community that shares the same value: Financial Freedom.
The connection between points of different areas becomes easier when we understand that there is an interdependence between them and for that we are all connected. Even being a pure tech company, developing its own solutions, the product by itself is not omnipresent, omnipotent. The work of different areas and different people is necessary to potentialize the quality of the product.
That’s when MKT, BizDev, and Data Science came into the picture. By engaging the community in different communication means valuable and easy-to-understand content, bringing new partnerships to make our product even more complete and any of that would be possible without an efficient data analysis to identify opportunities and patterns that will allow us to evolve continuously.
Two pillars hold all of this: Communication and Team Spirit.
The Communications to express ourselves freely, without prejudice, where each one can bring their opinions, ideas, and questions to the table, without judgment of right or wrong, in a collaborative way.
That helps build a stronger, cohesive, and productive team, where individuals help each other because they understand and acknowledge their importance in what we are building.
The Team Spirit comes from the freedom that people have to create, manage themselves, find ways out, solutions and alternatives together. Together, we are capable of accomplishing extraordinary things. This behavior creates an ultra-resistant and yet flexible web, capable of holding any pressure and delivering amazing results because it’s forged by three unique elements: empathy, trust, and admiration.
So simple, right? Lol.
4- Maluh: We talked to Márcio in the last interview and he told us about the growth of 2774% in revenue from 2020 to 2021. Those are actually astonishing numbers. What would you attribute those results to?
JP: I credit that to a number of factors:
a) Simon Sinek’s Golden Circle. We have our Why, How and What very clear;
b) An amazing team;
c) Being eternally unsatisfied, everything could be improved, always. It’s the “Beta” state permanently.
This unsettlement makes us go and find new ways, have new ideas, expand our consciousness about what it is and how can we help people to achieve their Financial Freedom!
5- Maluh: Also in our previous conversation with the CFO, the increase of hired staff is something that Klever wanted to put focus on in this particular phase of growth. For you, what changed with a bigger crew working for Klever, and do you guys intend to hire more in 2022?
JP: Yes. We still have so much to do. Klever has only been around for one year. We plan to continue hiring to bring new experiences and results to our community.
We’d like to reach 500 collaborators next year. Good and competent people, working together to change the world. Sim.
6- Maluh: Klever also grew a lot when it comes to Marketing and Communications - even though we still have a long way to go. What can our community expect from this department for the next year?
JP: 2021 was a great year for Marketing and Communications. We grew the team by more than 300%. We did it without losing content quality and still growing the numbers of published articles in different social media platforms and communications vehicles exponentially.
We grew our followers’ bases and also social media engagement in a consistent way and we even launched new channels and interaction formats with videos, interviews, and podcasts.
What to expect for 2022? More Klever exposure in different communications platforms and more information and interaction with our community.
7- Maluh: Klever’s partnerships with other DeFi and crypto companies are in an ascendant journey. How is that coming along for Klever and can we expect more?
This experience has been extremely productive.
All of our relationship processes are very cool and constructive. From their first meetings where we get to know the projects, until the way we advance in the integration of Klever's environment.
It’s a constant learning process that makes us improve ourselves each day and gives us the certainty that we’ll only get to reach our goals if we bring with us the best projects and solutions in blockchain and digital assets.
In 2022, we want to continue to bring new partnerships to Klever’s solutions, not only with their projects but also with their communities. Klever is the house of all good blockchain and digital assets projects.
8- Maluh: Klever had its one-year anniversary in August. What didn’t you see in the beginning that you see now in our company?
JP: In 2020, Klever was a project, a dream. In 2021, Klever became reality, a real company, pungent, full of energy and life. This is, without a doubt, the biggest change.
That being said, we are more mature, secure, and ready today to face the challenges that we’ll have ahead of us.
9- Maluh: For you, what are the next steps for Klever regarding all the plans that we have forward (our Hardware Wallet, the blockchain, and so on)?
JP: I see the future with optimism because of what we are building, our products, our partnerships, and the consistent growth of our community.
In 2022, we’ll have the launch of our Blockchain and Hardware Wallet. The Hardware Wallet will be a very innovative product and with the possibility of continuous evolution.
Our goal with the Hardware Wallet is that every crypto enthusiasts have their own and can use digital assets’ world with the greatest safety in the market.
As for Klever Blockchain, this is a big ‘game changer’ for us. We are going to the next level, indeed.
Launching and developing a blockchain is a meticulous process in which we apply everything we have learned and experienced about the blockchain universe until today and what we believe is the best for the market in the future.
Being the foundation for different projects, companies, and governments to develop their own solutions is what we expect from Klever Blockchain. This launch will be a milestone for Klever as one of the most innovative companies in the world and the benefits for our community will be significant.
We won't stop there! We’ll continue to develop other projects, invest in other companies, and launch new versions of our products to keep in the forefront when it comes to Blockchain and digital assets.
Besides the launch of our own NFT platform, we also have other novelties in Klever Exchange and Klever 5, our new version of Klever Wallet.
2022 will bring it on!
10- Maluh: I asked this question to some of our previous interviewees and got some really interesting answers. So, I’ll ask you too: what do you want to be your mark in Klever?
JP: I never thought about that. But, I think there are two things which I wish to be remembered for:
a) Helping Klever to become the number one company in the blockchain and digital assets market.
b) Being able to do this with softness and empathy.
As a society, we are living in a time of extremes, conflicts, and urgencies, where themes get exaggerated, and we lose sight of the simple, the embrace, and the affection and empathy.
I believe it's possible to build the Klever we dream of by taking advantage of this journey, working every day very hard to be better than we were yesterday, but with a smile on our faces and a lighthearted soul - in the Klever way.
Maluh Bastos
Klever Writer