On this unique BrandTalk interview with Roc Zacharias—CEO and co‑founding father of the Layer 2 DEX QuickSwap—he shares the pivotal classes from his Web3 journey, from strolling away from a profession in drugs to shaping trade requirements in decentralized finance.
Having left a doctoral path behind after discovering the Bitcoin whitepaper, Roc immersed himself on this planet of crypto. His dedication paid off when Sandeep Nailwal, co-founder of Polygon, approached him with a daring proposal: to construct a DEX on the then-fledgling Polygon community. That dialog finally led to the creation of QuickSwap—now one of the distinguished DEXs within the house.
“I didn’t know the first thing about building a DEX,” Roc admits. “But I said we’d try. We focused on what we were great at—business development, community, marketing—and left the tech to the best devs Sandeep could find.”
The consequence? QuickSwap grew to become the primary Layer 2 DEX to hit $1B in every day quantity, and the primary utility on Polygon to surpass $1M in whole worth locked. However Roc’s success wasn’t fueled by VC backing.
He famously turned down multimillion-dollar funding provides from Lightspeed, Coinbase Ventures, and Mark Cuban.
“We were offered between $30M to $50M, but we said no,” Roc reveals. “At the time, I was worried about regulatory pressure. But more importantly, I believed in building something truly decentralized. If we took VC money, we’d risk becoming just another project where VCs dump on the community.”
As an alternative, the QuickSwap staff allotted 97% of the token provide to the neighborhood. Roc himself took no allocation at launch.
“No VCs to dump on, and truly permissionless access for users,” he says. “That’s how we became the top DEX in Web3.”
Whereas the method was unconventional, Roc believes it created a “social capital advantage” that cash can’t purchase. Over time, that belief has helped QuickSwap set DeFi benchmarks—from pioneering dynamic charges with Algebra to scaling up ALM adoption by means of its partnership with Gamma.
“We call it the QuickSwap Effect,” he provides. “Every time we partner with or support a tech provider, their usage explodes—and eventually becomes an industry standard.”
By means of his enterprise studio Lunar Digital Assets, Roc and his staff have incubated different main tasks, together with Dogechain and Chromia. He additionally serves on the grant board for Polygon’s $1B ecosystem fund and mentors early-stage groups at Tim Draper’s BitcoinFi Accelerator.
Regardless of the accolades, Roc stays grounded—and fast to remind founders that Web3 just isn’t a straight highway.
“The biggest challenge in this space is market uncertainty,” he says. “Crypto cycles are brutal. You have to be lean and build like the bear market could last two more years—because sometimes, it does.”
He provides that many founders underestimate how mentally demanding this surroundings could be. “In Web2, you have structure. In Web3, you’re building in chaos. That’s why most projects pivot, rebrand, or die.”
Trying again, Roc says he does have minor regrets about turning down early funding. “It would’ve given us runway to hire more devs, ship faster. But then again, staying independent gave us flexibility and credibility that no amount of capital could replicate.”
It’s not nearly decentralization—it’s about ideas.
“I’ve never taken a dollar from the QuickSwap Foundation. I’ve never sold a Quick token. People notice that. It’s why communities trust me, and why I get the right kind of opportunities.”
Even Uniswap has referenced QuickSwap in governance discussions as a mannequin for a way competitors can enhance product design. “They A/B test things on Polygon because we’re actually competitive,” Roc notes with delight.
Immediately, Roc sees main development potential in real-world belongings (RWAs) and stablecoin-based funds. He factors to tasks like Courtyard—buying and selling tokenized Pokémon playing cards on-chain—and notes that Polygon is turning into a hub for tokenizing every little thing from collectibles to bonds.
“RWAs are blowing up because they’re solving real problems—liquidity, transparency, access,” he says. “The next big phase of DeFi will merge with traditional finance in a meaningful way.”
He’s additionally backing Stratex, a brand new mission incubated by Lunar Digital Belongings that builds a DeFi technique market. It lately acquired treasury funding from the QuickSwap neighborhood. “Think of it as an app store for DeFi strategies—curated, tokenized, and tradable.”
Roc’s recommendation to new founders is easy however non-negotiable:
→ Work more durable than anybody else.
→ Study obsessively.
→ Earn belief earlier than attempting to boost capital.
“My biggest hack is I listen to podcasts and audiobooks all day—when I sleep, when I eat, when I work out. You don’t need an MBA. You need curiosity.”
And most of all, he says, founders should select between being missionaries or mercenaries.
“Missionaries want to change the world. Mercenaries want a quick flip. Funny enough, the missionaries usually make more money in the end.”
Because the interview wraps, Roc provides one ultimate reminder:
“You’re writing the book of your life every day. Make it a good one.”
Watch the total interview with BrandTalk host Lilly Douse to find how at this time’s founders can construct decentralized, neighborhood‑pushed Web3 tasks—with out over‑counting on VC {dollars}.Discover extra:
🔗 QuickSwap DEX
🔗 Lunar Digital Assets
Submit Views: 4
