An Interview with Natalie Smolenski
Texas Blockchain Council Vice President of Development Natalie Smolenski sits down with us to discuss life, blockchain, and the state legislative session. Our second conversation in an ongoing series showcasing TBC leaders and members.
Tell us a little about yourself.
Natalie: I'm a Dallas native. Born and raised here. I studied anthropology and history because I'm interested in people—especially how groups of people create meaning and make decisions. But I also like to go out there and build things. I’m a founding business development executive for technology firms that make things for markets that are just being born. I help grow those markets and generate the early-stage revenue that validates the value of the technology.
Could you tell us a bit about your role at Hyland?
Natalie: I lead business development for blockchain initiatives at Hyland. I do everything from making a market for our solutions—via public speaking, report development, short-form writing, policy work, and demand generation—to building partnerships and nurturing the opportunities I generate through pilot implementations to contract close. So, it's a very broad role. But I love the challenge of making a new path that isn’t there already.
How did you learn about the TBC? How did you get involved, and what is your current role at the TBC?
Natalie: Last year, one of my colleagues at Hyland let me know about a monthly meeting of the Texas Blockchain Committee, which is a PAC that supports blockchain-friendly candidates for state legislature. Since it was aligned with my goals for blockchain-related public policy development, I presented Hyland’s blockchain solution at one of their monthly meetings, and this generated interest in our work. From there, I joined the Texas Blockchain Council, a trade association that that grew out of the Committee. I knew right away that I wanted to be a Strategic Partner. I take organizations from zero to one, so I gravitate to being there right at the beginning of something impactful.
How does your day start, and how does it progress?
Natalie: Business development is a relational and multidisciplinary role, so every day is different, but it has one thing in common: people. Before COVID-19, I was on the road probably 75% of the time. After COVID hit, of course, work became virtual. My days consists of meetings with current and potential customers, partners, and external stakeholders; internal meetings to track the development of Hyland’s products, marketing initiatives, and sales plays; and strategic planning. I also make sure that Product, Sales, and Marketing are aligned and that we’re all executing against the same playbook to build the business. Finally, I make time for research and writing to stay on top of my field.
What book are you currently reading, and how is it shaping your outlook on business and life?
Natalie: I'm currently reading "Why Information Grows" by César Hidalgo, a former MIT professor who founded a company called Datawheel that specializes in data analytics and visualization. The book simplifies the scientific field of information theory into a language accessible for non-specialists. Reading books like this helps inform business development because, if people are going to enter into a partnership with you, or if they're going to buy something from you, or join your company, they need to trust you. And one of the quickest ways to build trust is to know what you're talking about. More broadly, the book is helping me understand the structural conditions for social dynamism, especially economic growth, which has always been a goal for the State of Texas.
How do you balance your work and personal life?
Natalie: Schedules give me a mental framework and help me manage my energy. For example, one of the things I've found over the past few years is it's really important for me to find time to exercise regularly. And until I started writing it down, it just wasn't happening. So, now I carve out a few hours every day just to be present with myself and exercise, meditate, and prepare for my day. Then when I'm working, I'm in that focus zone, uninterrupted, in a room by myself. When my day is over, it's over. I turn off my email; I unplug. I generally like to do something that's not work—like cooking, or having a drink with my husband, or taking a walk—to get my mind off of it. My weekends are a sacred time. I don't let work interrupt being present with my family or friends, or projects that I'm working on for myself.
Are industries open to up-and-coming technologies? Why or why not?
Natalie: Back in 1997, Clayton Christensen wrote "The Innovator’s Dilemma" about how innovators create a new technology, disrupt old ways of doing things, and capture a market. But their success incentivizes them to stop innovating, because they want to protect their status as winners. The problem is that markets—just like human knowledge, science, and technology—are constantly evolving. That means everything will be disrupted eventually. If your company is in a predominant market position, it's in your interest to keep disrupting yourself so you can stay ahead. But often people within leading companies don’t see that, or they imagine the disruption is so far away that there’s nothing they need to do now. So what happens is factions develop within the company: some are mostly playing defense and see innovation as either irrelevant or a threat, while others are more innovative and see change as a strength. They create this internal tug of war and tension. This tension can be fruitful if the company has leadership that knows how to harness the energy to innovate without disrupting what is working well and is needed to keep the lights on in the near term. But it’s really hard to keep these energies engaged in a generative relationship over time.
Are you currently working on any new legislation for the TBC to support?
Natalie: The TBC is endorsing a few bills for the 87th state legislative session. One is a bill to form a Blockchain Working Group. This was proposed in the last legislative session, but it didn't make a lot of headway at the time. We're more confident this time around because there's more support. I think legislators understand that blockchain is a technology that will give Texas a competitive edge, and we need to have a plan for how we're going to lead in this space. In addition, we’re supporting a Digital Identity Working Group bill, because there is growing momentum for both the US federal government and state governments to have a plan when it comes to citizen digital identity. Identity has implications for blockchain, but it’s also a much broader topic that requires input from a variety of stakeholders. Finally, we're supporting legislation that confirms that digital signatures anchored to a blockchain are considered legally valid in the State of Texas. This is just strengthening the language around electronic signatures already present in the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act, which has been law in Texas since 2002.
What are you most excited about in the blockchain space?
Natalie: I'm most excited about how blockchain returns control of money and personal data back to individual people. This solves a number of problems we're facing today. On the economic side, there's a lot of uncertainty about the long-term value of government-issued currencies. So people are looking for a stable store of value that they can own directly and use to build wealth over time. That's what Bitcoin is. On the digital identity side, blockchains also enable individuals to control their own digital identities. So, rather than relying on an internet platform like Facebook, Google, or Apple, or on a government, to create and manage your digital identity, you can be the source of your own identity, manage it yourself, and lend it out to platforms at your own discretion. You can also revoke that access when you need to. That is called “self-sovereign identity.” These are two major ways in which blockchains put more control back in the hands of individuals.
What nugget of wisdom would you like to leave readers?
Natalie: The world is changing rapidly. That is both a challenge and an opportunity. New technologies, new institutions of government and society—they're being born right now. That means you have the opportunity to help build the world anew. We hope you'll join us at the Texas Blockchain Council.