TalkTank Encrypted Episode 1: Clarity Beats Speed

Guest: Elias Simos, Former Founder & CEO of Rated Labs

Host: TalkTank (LSE Official Podcast)

Series: Encrypted - Exploring the most prominent founders and problems in the crypto space.

SUMMARY

In this inaugural episode of the Encrypted series, we sit down with Elias Simos, the visionary behind Rated Labs. Elias shares his journey from being a protocol specialist at Bison Trails to founding a company that has become the "steward of transparency" for blockchain infrastructure. Following Rated Labs' recent acquisition by Figment in October 2025, Elias reflects on the emotional toll of the exit process, the critical importance of data in decentralised networks, and why he believes the global financial system is on the brink of a massive on-chain migration.

Key Takeaways

The "Counterintuitive" Feeling of an Exit. Elias describes the acquisition process as a high-adrenaline, high-cortisol state. For him, the final moment wasn't just about celebration, but a profound sense of **relief** after navigating the countless "turns that could have killed the deal."

Clarity Beats Speed. One of Elias's core philosophies is that "slow is smooth, and smooth is fast." He argues that momentum doesn't always equal progress; being intentional about the what and why early on pays higher dividends than rushing into action without direction.

The Mission for Transparency. Rated Labs was born from a glaring gap in the market: the lack of a common language for validator performance. Elias believes that if the world is to trust blockchains for finance, we need standardized, high-precision metrics at the consensus layer.

The "Genius Act" and the 2025 Inflection Point. Elias views 2025 as the year the "genie left the bottle." With the passing of the Genius Act and the legitimization of stablecoins, the infrastructure is now set for institutions like BlackRock to "tokenize everything."

Founder as Storyteller. A founder's primary job is to articulate a "mean story" that can persuade top talent to leave traditional tech giants like Google for the esoteric world of crypto. The best stories, he notes, are those where you don't have to lie because the work speaks for itself.

CHAPTERS

• [01:17] The Emotional Reality of an Acquisition: Relief vs. Satisfaction
• [02:27] Finding the Best Home: Why Figment was the right fit for Rated Labs
• [03:56] The Compulsion to Create: Why Elias chose the venture-backed path
• [05:17] From Hedge Funds to Bison Trails: The making of a Protocol Specialist
• [07:09] Identifying the Gap: The rush for infrastructure vs. the need for data
• [10:00] The Hackathon Kernel: How a silver prize led to a core product
• [13:50] Iterating with "Me as the Customer": Finding direction in high-density environments
• [19:05] Building the Team: The challenge of creating context for non-crypto talent
• [24:35] The Art of Persuasion: How to tell a story that attracts top talent
• [28:12] Crowd Narratives vs. Founder Narratives: Navigating the "quasi-random" noise
• [31:11] The Greek Financial Crisis: A personal catalyst for decentralized finance
• [34:53] Real-World Impact: Stablecoins as a 10x improvement for global payment
• [38:34] The 2025 Inflection Point: The Genius Act and the Tokenization of Everything
• [42:58] Recommended Reading: *Siddhartha* and *The Anarchist Banker*
• [44:52] Advice to Younger Self: Clarity beats speed

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

Rated Labs: the infrastructure data engine for Proof-of-Stake networks.

Figment: The leading institutional staking provider that acquired Rated Labs.

Bison Trails: (Acquired by Coinbase) Where Elias served as an early employee and protocol specialist.

The Genius Act: The 2025 legislation that provided regulatory clarity for stablecoins in the US.

Books:

• Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse
• The Anarchist Banker by Fernando Pessoa