Prashanth Balasubramanian

Enigma
DISC Type : Dci

Founder, CEO & CTO at Striga

Estonia

Overview

Prashanth is the Founder of Striga, a crypto and banking infrastructure platform (YC W21) that was acquired by Lightspark, where he is now the General Manager for Europe. He left his Masters in Computer Science at ETH Zürich to build the company, successfully obtaining the first VASP license under Estonias new regulatory regime.

His motivation for Striga stemmed from his personal frustrations with cross-border payments as an immigrant student from India living in Switzerland. Outside of fintech, he is a passionate musician who started coding at a young age and has a strong interest in building real-world products with his own hands.

While studying at ETH Zürich, Prashanth toured Europe as a semi-professional drummer for a German metal band.

Personality Overview

Persuasive & Assertive

Challenger

Fast Follower

They are generally strong communicators and are not easy to convince.  They can sound friendly and charming but can quickly change gears to become inquisitive and probing  They are likely to ask many questions and look heavily for supporting proof as well as information.

Topics They Care About

Crypto & Fiat Payments
Founded Striga to build an infrastructure layer that bridges the gap between traditional banking and crypto, enabling compliant cross-border payments through a single set of APIs.
Fintech Regulation
Heavily focused on compliance, leading Striga to become the first company to obtain a VASP license under Estonia's new, stricter regulatory framework.
Bitcoin & Lightning Network
An early Bitcoin advocate who believes it is the protocol for internet money. His company was acquired by Lightspark to advance payments on the Lightning Network.

Media Appearances

Prashanth has no verified media appearances

Work History

3-2018
Founder, CEO & CTO at Striga
1-2021 - 4-2021
CEO @ Striga at Y Combinator
7-2019 - 2-2020
CEO @ Striga at Berkeley SkyDeck
2-2017 - 9-2017
Research Assistant at ETH Zurich
4-2016 - 6-2017
Head of IT at SONECT

Education

2016 - 2017
Master of Science (MSc) from ETH Zürich
2016 - 2016
Big Data Summer Camp from Tsinghua University

More Information

Social Presence :

Prographics :

Exp : 3 Location : Estonia Job Level : Leadership Designation : Founder, CEO & CTO at Striga
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Insights For Selling To Prashanth

During A Call Or A Meeting

DO's

  • Use phrases like ‘clear evidence’, ‘data-based results’ etc.
  • Use a combination of data as well as stories for your pitch, a ppt might not be necessary
  • Be prepared for a mix of questions and inquisitiveness, answer them in the tone in which they have been asked

DONT's

  • Don’t rely excessively on your relationship with them to win the deal even if you come to form one
  • Avoid making offhand commitments, understand the root of their concerns first
  • Don’t try to rush them into a decision, provide all necessary information first

When Cold Calling

When Writing An Email

While Negotiating & Closing

    The secret to closing fast with Prashanth is

  • Proven value, strong objective evidence are important for them, rapport can impact decisions a little.
  • Will you ever get a clear answer from Prashanth

  • They are practical and friendly, but can give a clear response with a little prodding

Insights For Deal Planning

    How fast (or slow) will Prashanth move?

  • They like to be detailed, so unless they develop strong conviction, they can take their time to arrive at decisions
  • Can Prashanth take some risk or not?

  • They evaluate their decisions systematically and do not take risks that often, unless you can get them to develop strong conviction

You And Prashanth

Personality Compatibility


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