Anatoly Yakovenko, co-founder of Solana, shared insights from his eight-year journey in the crypto industry. Before founding Solana, Yakovenko spent much of his career as an engineer at Qualcomm. His interest in blockchain technology was piqued through discussions about mining, Proof of Work, and Satoshi Nakamoto's consensus algorithms. Solana was established in early 2018 during a bear market when Ethereum was experiencing weekly declines of 10%. This challenging environment led the team to adopt a cautious approach, avoiding over-hiring and ensuring sufficient internal funding to develop and enhance their products. Yakovenko emphasized the importance of understanding the value a product brings to users and continuously improving it, which can lead to significant growth during bullish market periods.