Hey! I'm Brianna HD :)
I'm currently Chief of Staff at NOAH, where we're building an all-in-one money app powered by Bitcoin. I'm also running TABConf for the second time with my three amazing co-organizers (Tidwell, Brandon, and Stephen!)
Ask me anything! I'm an open book.
Some inspo for your questions if you're shy:
  • Bitcoin
  • Lightning Network
  • Life things?
  • Startups
  • Scaling Companies
  • Building Processes
  • Running TABConf
  • Bitcoin community
  • Marketing in Bitcoin
  • NOAH!
  • The future of money
  • my dog milou!
I will be answering questions at 11 AM ET.
No questions are stupid questions XD
What are some of the main challenges designing the onboarding user flows for new users, accounts timed to traditional banking/money, but unclear (or scared) about Bitcoin? Any interesting observations?
reply
There are so many challenges in designing an app that introduces completely new concepts to people.
I'd say the biggest challenge is getting folks to understand that banking with bitcoin is just fundamentally different than traditional banking - while still trying to make the app as familiar as possible.
For folks used to using traditional banks, they're used to concepts like waiting 3-5 business days to see your deposit in the bank, having to WIRE money if they want to make international payments, waiting a long time for anything to be done, paying a lot to move their money around. The challenge is that we're trying to explain to people that they no longer have to deal with any of that anymore... while also demonstrating that the app is safe to use and that they WON'T lose their money.
reply
What are some of your best marketing tips for the bitcoin space? I feel like marketing in bitcoin has some interesting peculiarities and it's not always like the way it is with marketing conventional products..
reply
This is a good one!
So I've learned a lot by just trying a million different things out at NOAH over the past year.
With NOAH, we're not trying to market to an already-bitcoin-literate audience. We're trying to market to folks who have maybe heard of "crypto" (most people fall into this category). With that being said, it's so important to take a step back and remember what it felt like to be a newb in the space. To be totally clueless about all the memes, the differences between different coins, the susceptibility to falling for scams, the shinyness of all the fun "crypto" projects... and to remember not to alienate folks that aren't maxis. So if you can relate to your audience, you're already a step ahead of the game.
Then it's about making sure all of your copy and visuals aren't alienating either. Make bitcoin feel safe and familiar to people. Try to make analogies to concepts and ideas they are familiar with rather than overcomplicate.
reply
I am one of those and I am grateful to have met NOAH. I frequently read his blog and I highly recommend it.
This is really helpful. Thank you so much! ๐Ÿงก
reply
What is the planning process like for big events like TABConf?
reply
Ok well I don't wanna write a novel. But i'll try to break it down in bullet points.
  • All four core organizers are super talented and competent
  • We all know what our responsibilities are (this is decided amongst the four of us, very democratic)
  • We stay organized with tools like Notion
  • We get together at least once a month to make big decisions
  • smaller teams get together more frequently
  • We're not about making the conference huge - but rather, focusing on the quality of the events and talks happening. So luckily we don't want to or have to advertise a ton (iykyk kinda situation)
  • Because the conference is so awesome, really smart people in the space WANT to come and WANT to speak - so that makes my job a lot easier hehe
  • the month of the conference, things start to get a bit spicier
  • the week of the conference is absolute madness - it involves picking up whiteboards at apartments and all four of us trying to carefully place them in the backs of trucks, lots and lots of heavy items, running around buying supplies last minute, and laughing a lot
reply
This is awesome! I started hosting my own bitcoin meetups so I was really curious about what it's like to plan a conference. Thank you so much for sharing.
reply
that's awesome! I think if you just have fun organizing, don't take everything tooooo seriously, and focus on delivering interesting content - you'll definitely see more folks come through :)
reply
This is great advice! Thank you so much! You're the best ๐Ÿงก
reply
wow ๐Ÿ‘๐Ÿ‘๐Ÿ‘ mucho respect on doing this
reply
Having built the Ops departments of Bitcoin startups before/now, what is one advice you'd give to newcomers into the space, interested not only in the technology, but from a company/ops perspective?
reply
brush up on your crypto/bitcoin compliance knowledge in whatever region(s) you want to operate in
reply
I thought Noah's goal is to provide non-custodial services โ€“ did I misunderstand?
reply
What is NOAH's goal? I mean, how big do you think the project could be? Or the primary goal may be so big that they don't know it yet?
reply
Great question.
We're just trying to make basic financial services available to everyone in the world. That means - easy + quick + cheap access to transferring value globally, the ability to grow savings over time, and access to financial education so folks can make smart financial decisions.
We're using bitcoin because it's the best money around.
reply
this has been said by more than 100+ startups.. What is different with your company and why will it succeed?
reply
Favorite SciFi novel?
reply
I recently listened to Daemon by Daniel Suarez and it blew my mind. Highly recommend.
reply
Daemon series is outstanding, one of the rare books i actually reread
reply
it's soooo good. Kinda wanna reread too? But there are too many books I need to read first.
reply
Is it your favorite though?
reply
I recently started getting into sci-fi. I'm more into magical realism... so if you ask me what my favorite magical realism book is...
the complete cosmicomics by italo calvino
it's very sci-fiesque, but wouldn't classify as sci-fi
reply
Thank you for the suggestion. I'll put it on the list.
reply
If you could share one piece of marketing advice for Bitcoin companies, what would it be?
reply
If you want to reach more than just a bitcoiner audience, try to be more relatable to normal people.
reply
What is most exciting to you about running the most signal-to-noise Bitcoin conference out there? Any specific highlights?
reply
Oof!! I just love that we can facilitate so many incredible conversations over the course of a week. There are hundreds of brilliant brains in one space - the possibilities are endless.
I hope that new dope projects come out of TABConf every year - just because people get a chance to ideate and create together.
reply
F, Marry, Kill
Vodka, Gin, Mezcal?
reply
lol marry - mezcal f - vodka kill - gin
reply
Most exciting Lightning development in your view right now?
reply
lightning address
it's just made it so much easier to onboard normies onto bitcoin
like, sooooo much easier
reply
Hi Brianna! How do you balance the time commitments of organizing a world-class conference and growing a startup?
reply
Excellent first question.
I guess I don't really think about it much - I spend my time doing the things I love and I prioritize really only a few things right now:
  • Working on NOAH
  • Working on TABConf
  • Spending quality time with my boyfriend and my dog
But I also feel so lucky to be working with amazing teams. Both the NOAH and TABConf teams are really on top of everything, so it doesn't feel overwhelming to be doing both. If anything, I'm just having a lot of fun!
reply
Would you rather fight 100 chicken sized T-Rexs or 1 T-Rex sized chicken?
reply
wtf
obviously 100 chicken-sized T-rexs
reply
What is Milou's favorite treat?
reply
he loooooves bacon and it's not my fault
reply
What is the most difficult part of running a conference?
reply
Dealing with disasters during the actual conference/speakers not showing up/speakers running late/staying up super late and waking up super early for a week straight lol
reply
Brianna, we need proper text book for Bitcoin. Will NOAH make one someday? Something that I can hold and keep and write on it. So much better when you have physical books instead of through smartphones or tablets.
reply
This is a really cool idea... never say never ;)
reply
What's something you believe about bitcoin that few bitcoiners agree with you on?
reply
spiccyyyyy
tbh I love talking to NFT and ETH heads and bitcoin-haters to try to understand their points of view. I wanna make bitcoin accessible to everyone - and the best way to do that is to listen to as many points of view as possible.
I think a lot of bitcoiners definitely disagree and that's totally fine
reply
Why do you think that the big exchages having the possibility to do it quickly have not yet adopted lighting network on their platforms?
reply
The bigger you are the slower you move generally
reply
Also generally, the bigger you are, the more hesitant you are to adopt disruptive technology.
reply
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
reply
Which talks are you most excited about this year at TABConf?
reply
ok without revealing toooo much
I'm super excited about this one talk on how to run the biggest lightning node on the network ;)
reply
Do you think cavemen had nightmares about cavewomen?
reply
All I know is I had a nightmare last night and it was terrible
reply
Did Brianna honkaway for Canadian truckers?
reply
nice one
reply
please keep it simple and stupid, would you?
reply
What is up with this milou thing I heard about?
reply
you'll find out at TABConf ;)
reply
Saylor have this educational platform where you can get certificates and grades for education. i asked earlier about having proper text books by NOAH, maybe creating an institution that can cater to those who are new to Bitcoin and wanting to learn it easily where the use case is already exist, the NOAH wallet - is ready for those who wants to use/experiment Bitcoin even closer to what they are learning. Would that be great? steps to bitcoinization before hyperbitcoinization.
It's about NOAH again. Birthday gifts - Birth-Sats-day gift. How bout dat? Instead of points. I know people had to reveal dem birth dates, that's gonna be KYC-ish... dont you think? Gotta celebrate some birthdays in the ark while sailing in the sea of inflation.
Oh oh Brianna, I want some keychains or fridge magnets by NOAH... will make some?