Co-founder of Horizon State exits start-up for “a period without stress” and to focus on family
In October 2017, Horizon State made headlines for concluding Australia’s largest software crowdfunding campaign in history, raising $1.4 million from investors all over the world in just two weeks. Around $700,000 of that total came through within the final 24 hours of the ICO (Initial Coin Offering, a form of crowdfunding). Now less than a year later, co-founder Jamie Skella announced his exit from the start-up.
The CEO of Horizon State, Oren Alazraki, said that without Skella, the company’s brand will never be the same.
“It has been an incredibly intense few years since my foray into democracy began, reaching fever-pitch over the past year, which had taken a toll on me,” said Skella, who will speak at the Indian Executive Club awards on 17 November at Langham Hotel
“Pairing that reality with the fact the company’s commercial opportunities having diverged from my own vision for the business, and with the imminent birth of my first child, I decided to depart, re-centre, and put my focus on my new family. I’ve been riding the startup rodeo for a relentless 5 years; I feel I owe a period without stress and 14 hour work days to them, and to myself,” he said.
Last year, Skella had described Horizon State as “the future of voting and collaborative decision making”, built on a vision of creating a more transparent, trustworthy and democratic future.
Using a token-based blockchain system, Horizon State is a secure, anonymous, convenient and affordable voting platform, a digital ballot box of sorts.
Shockwaves went through the Australian cryptocurrency community after Skella announced his departure, resulting in the price of Horizon State’s “Decision Token” falling by more than 10% on the back of the news.
In a post on news websites, Skella went on to assure Horizon State followers that the platform has a strong future. “Make no mistake, the waves we’ve created will quite literally change the world. Not overnight, but they will inevitably meet the shoreline, with glorious effect—thanks to all of us,” said Skella in an inteview.
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