Alex Reinhardt was interviewed by GQ Magazine! Alex shared the difficulties he had encountered in business, how he lost his first project and learned to handle criticism. He explained why you should forget about vacations when working on a startup. Alex talked about his journey in the crypto market: why he was interested in cryptocurrencies even before the hype, what is the main objective for his projects, and how he managed to create a product that has changed the lives of hundreds of thousands of people around the world. 

GQ Magazine has been in print since 1957, and it has been named the most influential magazine in the world many times since it was first released. GQ is a quarterly men’s magazine covering topics in business, sports, success stories, fashion, health, travel, tech innovations, and more.

We have translated the article into all the official languages at PLATINCOIN for our community. Read Alex’s interview and share it with your partners!

What was it like, working on your first startup? 

I first started working with startups in my youth. My studies at the Humboldt University of Berlin gave me a solid knowledge of economics, and I couldn’t wait to start applying it in practice. I grasped at every opportunity, trying to understand every process and help the teams behind new companies with absolutely everything – from developing a business plan to seeking out startup capital. In 10 years, I got a chance to work with a large number of startups, raising a total of €0,5 billion in investments. After gaining a detailed understanding of all the processes involved, I decided to launch my own project. 

That’s when I realized that a startup is something that takes you over completely. Every day of working on a project is essentially a fight for survival. It’s a brutal fight with a high level of stress and an absolute lack of free time. For months, you have to forget about your family, lose your friends, because there’s no time to maintain your relationships. It’s impossible to imagine spending a weekend with someone at a bar, or taking a walk in a park. That’s because there’s no such thing as a weekend when you’re fighting for your project every day, fighting for its survival, proving its importance and investing, investing, investing into it, without ever thinking of when you might get the results that will pay off all your efforts. You’re suddenly surrounded by a large number of people, who might worship you today, but tomorrow they might despise you. And somehow, you’re living in this environment, you’re immersed in it. And even if you’re doing everything possible to ensure success, it might never come. There are no guarantees!

Is that what happened with your first project? 

Yes, I lost my first project – because I was betrayed by own friends and partners. Today, I’d tell them that these things happen, I’d shake their hands, but it was a serious blow back then. 

How did it happen?

We were a new startup, with ambitions. We entered a market where we had to compete with business titans and play in the big leagues. We made some mistakes due to a lack of experience, we fell short of our goals. We all suffered because of this, but at some point my partners started acting exclusively in their personal interests. We lost the business and parted ways. Thankfully, our clients weren’t affected, which allowed me to maintain my reputation and start moving forward. 

Today, you’re working in the cryptocurrency industry. Were you inspired by the crypto boom, or did it happen earlier? 

I’m one of those people who were passionate about the idea of cryptocurrencies and blockchain long before the crypto boom. By the way, thanks to cryptocurrencies, I was able to solve my problems with my first business. When I purchased my first Bitcoins, I tried to increase the amount I owned by any means possible. I was attracted to the idea of the decentralization of cryptocurrencies from the payment system provided by banks, by the fantastic opportunities and technologies of the future, as well as the opportunity for equitable distribution of resources.

Still, launching a startup in this industry is a risky move. How did you arrive at this decision? 

I dreamed of giving the opportunity to earn money to a large number of people, while providing access to financial instruments to residents of third-world countries. That’s why I initially wanted to create products that would be convenient for users around the globe. I wanted to give people from India, Africa, and Latin America access to these innovative technologies.

When you dedicate your life to working with startups, you begin to think in a certain way: if you’ve got a dream, you’ll turn it into a project. That’s why I decided to create my own cryptosystem for widespread use, so that anyone could make money with this product, planning their income and building their successful future without any specialized knowledge.

Together with my team, we launched into a lengthy and expensive period of development, understanding that we’re creating a strong and necessary product with a brilliant concept. However, we were forced to deal with intense criticism, misunderstandings, and scrutiny from the general public. Even today, many people continue to believe that cryptocurrencies are controversial, and few people truly understand how they work. Together with an international team of experienced specialists, we created a powerful product and an excellent blockchain – but people either thought we were crazy or that we were scammers. We were disheartened and worried that people from our team might start quitting, since they were also hearing and reading these negative comments online.

How did you react to this criticism?

Our product turned out to be really strong and powerful. But launching PLATINCOIN was a difficult process. Competitors who were disappointed with a strong challenger appearing in the market started sponsoring provocative fake news articles. There were even some YouTube videos featuring fake stories about 5000 tonnes of gold, claiming that I was a member of the mafia. I was disappointed with these attempts to slander me and my project, but I was saved by my sincere belief in my project, so my intentions remained pure and my willpower was strong as ever.

Both my experience and stories shared by other entrepreneurs, whom I’d met at international conferences, confirms that these problems are no exception. If you’re launching a startup, especially if it’s innovative and built on a technology that will change the world, be prepared to put more than your reputation on the line. Your future, the future of your family, your children. Essentially, creating such an innovative product is a kind of heroic deed, because your idea might be misunderstood if public opinion isn’t ready to accept it yet. That means you’re ahead of your time, and you can see further into the future than anyone else. That’s why you have to fight for this idea.

Today, people are talking about you and your company in a positive light. How did you manage to reach this point?

Several years of intense pressure, infinite inspections from financial regulators around the world, including the United States, Canada, and China – and finally, people are talking about us in a positive light. We survived everything. The inspections did not reveal any violations, confirming that we did not need to license our activities. People understood the real profitability and uniqueness of our product. The technologies we had developed were truly revolutionary. PLATINCOIN is a comprehensive crypto system with marketplaces, a crowdfunding platform, payment systems, currency exchanges, and an exchange. I sincerely believe in this project, as it represents the next generation of technologies, and I can see how it’s already changing people’s lives. For example, our Secure Box with its minting technology, our unprecedented Power Minter product or our Double Pack – the top-selling product in the history of PLATINCOIN. These products and technologies will bring value to their owners for many decades!

Our company is already over four years old, and people aren’t leaving us, while we keep attracting more members from across the globe – today, that number is almost at 700 thousand. During the crisis that followed the pandemic, almost 30% of all companies went bankrupt. PLATINCOIN, on the other hand, experienced explosive growth, because it gave people the opportunity to earn money without leaving their homes. WE’re growing, and hundreds of thousands of people have already managed to get rich with us. People are getting tattoos with the PLATINCOIN logo. And the people in my team who risked so much in the beginning – today, they’re multi-millionaires, leaders in the company who still believe in our product and the idea behind it. As a result, with PLATINCOIN, I’ve managed to give hundreds of thousands of people around the world the opportunity to make money and change their lives. We’ve expanded the horizons of their capabilities. But the cost of this achievement was astronomical.

The business is growing and actively developing precisely because hundreds of thousands of people around the globe are experiencing the same difficulties that I had once encountered, when I found myself in a difficult financial situation. The Bitcoin case study shows us that we’re entering an absolutely new future, or even experiencing a different present. Many funds and businesspeople started making enormous investments in cryptocurrencies. And I believe in all cryptocurrencies and in the system as a whole, more than anyone else.

How do you feel about your formative period today? Was it a difficult journey?

After finishing a difficult journey, it becomes obvious that it never could’ve been easy. And those who follow should prepare for the same difficult conditions. If you want to work on a complex and controversial product, prepare for hardcore difficulties. Grit your teeth and clench your fists, because people will hate you, criticize you, and try to chase you away – anything to stop you from reaching the top. Many times, you will want to fall down and never get up again. You will take on enormous financial and reputational responsibilities. So if you’re launching a big business with the hope of earning serious dividends, international demand, and astronomical profits, get ready to put everything on the line – essentially, sacrifice your entire life on the altar of your startup. But the dedication you’ll get from the people who believe in you will be enormous (and if you truly have a powerful product, you’ll find hundreds of thousands of people to support you). And the understanding that your product is helping hundreds of thousands of people really gives you wings and forces you to work even harder.

I’m still splitting my life between planes and hotels, traveling around the world at an insane speed, switching time zones and hardly remembering the cities I pass. But I don’t regret a single thing. It’s thrilling. It’s incredible to realize you’re living for a business that you created yourself. But this only works if you’re truly living for this project alone. There’s no time left for anything else. Family, friends, personal interests – the project leaves no room for anything else. You fall asleep and wake up with it. You live with it. You love it. And you can count on it to love you back once you’ve given it everything you’ve got.

And yes, it’s the kind of happiness that can only be experienced by someone who’s prepared to keep going until the end, against all odds. ‘Reinhardt’ means ‘pure and strong’. My grandfather always told me: ‘If you want to carry the Reinhardt name with honor and be a worthy man, you must have pure intentions and a strong character.’ I wish every success to future startup founders. If you want to change this world for the better, you should also be pure and strong – there’s no way around it. And believe that it’s worth the effort. Then you will survive. You’ll get hundreds of thousands of grateful customers. A large, powerful team will have your back. People will love you for bringing an amazing idea into the world and offering them a valuable product, but also for refusing to give up.