10 years ago on this day, I built up the courage to give my first presentation about Bitcoin.
It was quite the rollercoaster π
but more rewarding than almost anything I've done in my life.
Let me tell you π
Someone in my class asked if I'd be up for presenting at an innovation event for travel agency Thomas Cook.
I'd never given a public presentation before, but I reluctantly gave it a shot. My gut told me to just do it.
I spent days on my slides and rehearsing. The slides looked terrible, and presenting to ~25 people for an hour didn't go much better. They looked at me like I was an alien.
About 15 mins into my presentation, my laptop, which had been struggling for months, crashed. It took me another 10 mins to get it back up π¬
After the presentation, I got a bunch of questions and probably some sighs of relief that it was over.
But I felt exhilarated.
I had never felt the thrill of presenting before, and I loved it, despite being an introvert.
Even though I knew I did a poor job, I realized I could get way better.
Over the next years (2015-2018), I gave 100+ presentations about Bitcoin and the blockchain at all kinds of public events, in board rooms for private companies, etc. Zero nerves when I get on stage now, all excitement.
As a thank you from Thomas Cook I got a gift card for β¬200 to spend on their website.
I tried to trade the gift card for cash (student life), and the best I could get for it was β¬100.
Instead of putting it towards a new laptop, I put it into 0.13 BTC, worth $12669 today.
That's an amazing amount for a bad presentation, but it's nothing compared to how much Bitcoin and all of the people I've met in this space have enriched my life in so many ways.
