After weeks of hard work, the U.S. team of TOP Network ventured out of the office in Silicon Valley for team building. As visitors flocked back to work after Labor Day holiday, leaving the national parks back to their untampered beauty, the TOP team found the answers of how to build a successful startup while exploring the nature on the way.
Heading south to Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks, home to giant trees, rugged foothills, deep canyons and magnificent landscapes, we involuntarily breathed out a “whoa” when seeing the giant sequoias in the park. Sequoia is one of the oldest and biggest trees on Earth. It has survived challenges for thousands of years due to its extensive roots and distinctive adaptability. Nestled in the center of the park, The General Sherman Tree, a sequoia named after the American Civil War general William Tecumseh Sherman, is known as the world's largest tree by volume, with 275 feet (83 m) tall and over 36 feet (11 m) in diameter at the base.
We were even more surprised to learn sequoia seeds are one of the world’s smallest. You can get pages of results by searching “sequoia seeds” on Amazon, meaning that you can easily bury a small seed in your garden and it will grow to one of the biggest trees on Earth.
What TOP is doing is somewhat similar. Just coming out of stealth mode for a month, we’ve been growing rapidly by putting more efforts on technical development, community operations, product innovation and marketing. We’ve also closed an $8 million Series A fund from top-notch venture capitals in the blockchain industry. Starting from small, we are ambitioning to grow fast and grow big.
"Barring accidents they seem to be immortal, being exempt from all diseases that afflict and kill other trees," John Muir, naturalist and environmental philosophe known as “Father of the National Parks,” wrote about The General Sherman Tree in a journal, featuring the strong resilience and sustainability of this forest hero.
There’s no way to disturb those with the strong desire to live.
With strong technical foundations as “the extensive roots”, TOP is more confident to adapt to this turbulent world. It is an opportunity for us to resolve technical bottlenecks and enhance our communities while the market stays bearish. We’ve also managed to sign deals with new investors and expand our team even the crypto world is sluggish at the moment.
Despite the hype in the blockchain industry, only 15 percent of companies tackling the distributed-ledger technology have a live project, according to a survey of 600 global executives conducted by PwC. Planning a migration of over 50 million users to the public chain, TOP Network has one step forward to build an ecosystem for real-world businesses.
The emerging blockchain industry is like the forests -- filling up with vitality but struggling from natural disasters from time to time. With the strength and resilience demonstrated by the successful startup experience of our founding team, TOP is growing up as sequoias to not only survive, but thrive.