Learning about Ideas & how to Execute them. Engineering | Storytelling | Business

"You are the world you have created."

That line from Cormac McCarthy hit me at month 7 of unemployment. 68.8% rejection rate. 1 month of finances left.

I wasn't getting rejected because I lacked skills. I was getting rejected because 10 years earlier, I'd made a choice I didn't know I was making. I picked legitimacy over authority. Proof over interpretation.

Engineering credentials over storytelling instinct.

Every project after that: one more vote for a future I didn't consciously want.
By the time I noticed, the shape was drawn. I was at the crossroads thinking there was a choice, but the choosing was done a long time ago.

I stopped applying to jobs.

For 4 weeks, I wrote. Not to explain what happened. To see what I'd been building without realizing.
The answer showed up in 15 minutes.

Short story writing wasn't a hobby. It was the access mechanism.

Stories surface assumptions before they harden. They let you test futures without betting your life on them first. They show you the world you're building while you still have time to choose differently.

I built a workshop around it. Ran 6 sessions in 2 weeks bfeore I even had a job offer.

A 30-year scenario planning veteran at Morgan Stanley told me: "I've been trying to do this for three decades. You just solved it."

Here's the method:
- Write for 15 minutes. First-person future. One day. 
- Don't think. Let details emerge.
- Signals guide the writing. Your unconscious does the rest.

What surfaces:
- Assumptions you didn't know you were making
- Prereqs you hadn't considered
- The gap between what you think you want and what you're actually building

A computer programmer: "Blank canvas that made me rethink what was possible."
A marketer: "More engaging than mood boards or strategy docs."
A startup chief of staff: "Discovered new angles to a problem I'd been stuck on."

I spent 7 months learning what McCarthy meant.
Now I help people see the shape before acceptance becomes the only option.
DM me if you're building something and want to surface what's driving it.

Mohammad Khan

She followed startup advice perfectly & created a disaster. 

Elizabeth Holmes followed advice you’d find “Zero to One” by Peter Thiel
• Built a monopoly (proprietary blood testing technology)
• Eliminated competition (aggressive NDAs, patents) 
• Created switching costs (Walgreens and Safeway locked in multi-year contracts) 
• Owned her category (redefined blood testing)

Succeeding at everything Peter Thiel teaches. Except the technology didn't work. She was a fraud.

By the time anyone discovered this:
• $700M trapped in investments
• Partners locked in multi-year contracts
• Patients receiving false medical results
• Employees silenced by NDAs

“Zero to One” can't distinguish between a successful startup and frauds like Theranos.

Both can claim they have products 10x better than competitors, capture markets, and make money.

Thiel's framework has no test for "does the technology actually work?"

Because the framework assumes you'll exit in 5-7 years. Well before the technology has to prove itself long-term.

You can't "move fast and break things" in cancer therapeutics. You can't "exit" before your technology proves it works.
But that's what startup advice assumes you'll do.

So what can deep tech founders do? 

Instead of focusing on growth & exiting, focus on proof points & partnerships. 

• Instead of Gatekeeping > Educating the market 
• Instead of eliminating competition > Transparent tech demos 
• Instead of optimizing for growth rate > Optimize for customer success rate. 

Same goal of building a successful company but on different timescales. Different worlds built, a sustainable one instead of extractive.

Elizabeth Holmes followed the playbook & built an extractive monopoly.

But the playbook doesn't care if the technology works. It only cares if you can build power before anyone finds out.

Deep tech founders can't afford that gamble. 
You're building for 20 years, not 5.

Teaching professionals to navigate uncertainty through short stories | Engineer building future-prototyping workshops in public

I read "Zero to One" in 2019. It changed how I thought about building a business. 
I read it again in 2024. It's an indoctrination manifesto.

Then I read Octavia Butler. She predicted what Thiel was building, 21 years before he published his playbook.
---

In 2019, I was devouring business books.

"Zero to One" was high on people's lists. And it made sense. A concise book on growing your business and what to aim for.

Took some notes & moved on.

2022: ChatGPT launches

A question stuck in my head 
"What problem does this actually solve?"

I couldn't answer it.

2024: I reread "Zero to One" 

ChatGPT broke every rule Thiel teaches.

Thiel's thesis: build monopolies by making something so uniquely and often 10x better that they escape competition

OpenAI didn't build 10x better technology. They published first with better marketing & lower costs.

And Thiel funded them anyway.

That's when I realized Zero to One isn't methodology. It's business ideology.

An indoctrination manifesto from survivorship bias that built the world we live in today. 

2025: I read “Parable of the Sower” by Octavia Butler 

She wrote it in 1993 & set the story in 2024. And she showed me what happens when Thiel's ideology runs for 20 years.

Most startup advice assume you'll exit. But what if you can’t exit? 

What if these companies built themselves a monopoly they now have to manage and can’t exit? Something so entangled in the market where leaving risks collapse? 

What happens when you plan on exiting but can’t? 

In Butler's story:
• Corporations own entire towns
• Employees become debt slaves
• Technology serves monopolists only
• Workers can't leave (leaving means death)
• Corporations call this "providing value"

If “Zero to One” gives the extractive monopoly ideology, then “Parable of the Sower” shows you what happens when that ideology runs unchecked.

If you’re building technology that will take 20 years to mature, you should understand the world your advice is quietly trying to create.

A fiction book made me ask: What world am I building?
Then I rewrote my entire business model.

In 2025, I read “Parable of the Sower” by Octavia Butler

She predicted what "build a monopoly" creates after 20 years:
• Company towns for employees
• Employees indebted to the company
• Technology serving monopolists only
• Workers can't leave (leaving means death)

Then I looked at my own positioning company.

I was helping science and engineering companies:
• Lock in customers (switching costs)
• Dominate categories (eliminate alternatives)
• Become the "only" choice (build monopolies)

Butler forced me to ask: What world is MY company creating?

If everyone wins by becoming a gatekeeper, everyone loses.
Customers lose freedom. Innovation slows. Switching becomes punishment.

I didn't want to make money building a world I wouldn't want to live in.

So, I pivoted.

Just published a newsletter on What world are you building?

Deep tech founders don't exit in 5 years. You live with what you build for 20 years.

Make sure it's a world you want to live in. 

Read more here: https://lnkd.in/ggN9us6v

In 2025, I trusted my future plan because it was clear. Turns out clarity can be the problem.

I had just gotten back from a long trip. It was Christmas. While others were decorating, I was sitting with my laptop open, staring at a plan that still made sense.

8 months & no job and the plan was coherent and useless.

The plan said, 'network to find work', but it didn't say what happens when your contact gets laid off the week before your coffee meeting.

Every milestone assumed nothing would go wrong. Not one backup. Not one 'what if this fails.'

So instead of refining the plan again, I changed the test.

I wrote two stories from first-person perspective.

Two story lines:

I wrote Tuesday morning, best case. New job, coffee with the team, solving problems.
 
Then I wrote Tuesday morning, month 9 unemployed. Checking the bank account. 

My original plan never asked, "what if no one picks you?"

Plans optimize for clarity.
Stories expose consequences.

It's not about making a better plan for the future, but what you do when your plan gets punched in the face

Waku

Waku Protocol ( https://waku.org/ ) scales the Status application securely while maintaining the decentralized nature of the network. It's a decentralized communication protocol that aims to support tens of millions of simultaneous users, truly serving as the communications standard across web3.

Waku is also a powering the communication layer of the Logos Network State. Logos is a grassroots movement to provide trust-minimized, corruption-resistant governing services and social institutions to peaceful people worldwide. 

As Growth / Eco Dev Team Lead, my responsibilities are: 

- Define the marketing and growth strategy for Waku Protocol 
- Plan, execute, and manage the marketing and growth strategy 
- Drive market research to support Waku BD activities and initiatives
- Collect and evaluate analytical data related to the growth of Waku and marketing campaign performance, including community growth metrics
- Oversee issued content to ensure alignment with the current strategy 
- Ensure the availability of appropriate resources for executing the Waku marketing and growth strategy
- Lead the activities focused on the Ecosystem Growth

Eco Dev Team Lead

Institute of Free Technology

Growth Lead

Status

Status is a fully decentralized gateway to Ethereum and Web3 ( crypto wallet, privacy-first group chat, dApp browser, and more), which provides metadata privacy and e2e encryption.

Growth Lead 

Crypto Marina Marketing

Founder

San Marino Setup

San Marino Setup (SmSetup) is the first and only dedicated corporate service and licensure provider working with key local legislative institutions, San Marino Innovation, Regulators, and key local legal and financial professionals tasked with attracting new and established innovative companies into the region and bolstering the region’s crypto and blockchain initiatives.

Reach out to me to set up your Fintech, Cryptoasset, or High-Tech enterprise in the Republic of San Marino- the world's oldest independent republic with SMSetup, the only dedicated corporate service provider in the region!

Marketing Advisor

Nym Technologies SA

- Drive the development and execution of marketing strategies to increase user acquisition, engagement, and retention
- Build and manage a high-performing marketing team to support growth objectives
- Consolidate brand strategy and flesh out the company voice and target user personas
- Implement delivery of brand strategy across various social media and other channels
- Drive growth strategies (paid and organic) and build marketing funnels across various channels
- Consolidate marketing analytics strategies and push data-driven strategies
- Coordinate with the Chief Operating Officer and various product and development teams
- Ensure regulatory compliance across all marketing content
- Work with the CFO to determine appropriate marketing budgets, and to measure the performance of various marketing strategies and teams
- Create and maintain marketing materials such as website content, social media posts, and email newsletters
- Collaborate with the product and engineering teams to identify marketing and growth opportunities and optimize the user experience
- Identify and implement new channels for user acquisition and engagement
- Analyze and report on marketing performance and use data to inform future strategies
- Events organization and management

Head of Growth and Marketing

Flow Blockchain

- Conducted market research and analysis to identify marketing and growth opportunities
- Built brand awareness and a strong community of potential investors through marketing activities ( organic and paid )
- Developed and executed marketing strategies to increase user acquisition and engagement
- Conducted research and collaborated with key opinion leaders (KOLs) and media around the globe ( all continents, all languages )
- Managed paid marketing activities (media placements, display ads, PR)
- Analyzed and reported on marketing performance and used data to inform future strategies
- Managed partnerships with agencies and universities
- Organized online events

Marketing Lead

Dapper Labs

Dapper Labs uses the power of play to deliver blockchain-based experiences that are made for you and ready for the real world.

PRODUCTS

- CryptoKitties ( https://www.cryptokitties.co )
- NBA Top Shot ( https://www.nbatopshot.com )
- Flow Blockchain ( https://www.onflow.org/ )
- Dapper ( https://www.meetdapper.com )
- Cheeze Wizards ( https://www.cheezewizards.com )

Marketing and Growth Consultant

OSOM

- Conducted market research and analysis 
- Develop and execute marketing and growth strategies to increase user acquisition and engagement, A/B testing
- Social media marketing planning and management 
- Research and collaboration with KOLs, media, and influencers - managing paid marketing activities 
Create and maintain marketing materials such as website content, social media posts, and email newsletters + investors reports
- Assisting Research and Development department with monthly market intelligence reports
- Collaborate with the product, design, and engineering teams to optimize the user experience and drive product adoption
- Assisting with testing focus groups for User Experience improvement
- Guiding designer in order to build high-quality branding
- Community building and management
- Analyze and report on marketing performance and use data to inform future strategies
- Marketing budget management

Salamantex

- Develop and implement business development strategies to increase revenue and expand the company's customer base
- Close collaboration with the marketing team in order to drive company's growth
- Identify and pursue new business opportunities and partnerships
- Build and maintain relationships with strategic partners and stakeholders
- Create and deliver compelling sales pitches and presentations
- Collaborate with the marketing team to develop and execute marketing strategies to support sales efforts
- Events organization and management. Representing company at events.

Business Development and Growth Manager 

Hi there, I am Marina - a growth specialist passionate about innovative tech, privacy and decentralization. 

During the last 10 years I was leading marketing/BD/growth activities at dozens Web3 companies, including Dapper Labs, Flow Blockchain, Nym Technologies, and others. 

Last 4 years I have been focusing on scaling privacy preserving projects and have become a privacy advocate. 

Currently I am Growth Lead at Institute of Free Technology (  Waku Ecosystem Development Team Lead ). 

In the crypto space, I am known as Crypto Marina - a Web3 pioneer, a public speaker, and an educator.
I consult businesses and individuals regarding all things marketing/growth, privacy and Web3.

taplio

The Battle

Mohammad Khan

Marina Petrichenko (Crypto Marina)

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance ScoreMohammad Khan's LinkedIn Performance

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

taplio

The Battle

Mohammad Khan

Marina Petrichenko (Crypto Marina)

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Mohammad Khan's LinkedIn Performance

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

Performance ScoreMohammad Khan's LinkedIn Performance