Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Christopher Cutter. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Hi Christopher, thank you so much for opening up with us about some important, but sometimes personal topics. One that really matters to us is overcoming Imposter Syndrome because we’ve seen how so many people are held back in life because of this and so we’d really appreciate hearing about how you overcame Imposter Syndrome.
Overcoming imposter syndrome wasn’t an easy task for me. After my first exit, I was having a tough time with my identity because I was a little aimless and didn’t believe I was worthy of my success. Through coaching, I found that the root of this was tied to my relationship with money.
I grew up in a very poor and modest living situation. I was blessed to have parents that did whatever they had to do to make me not feel that was the case. But while the situation was good, the underlying mental associations with money and habits were of a poor mindset.
In order to combat this mindset, I had to internalize my views on growth, wealth and self-worth. It wasn’t enough to just believe those things were possible, I had to make them my values.
It was through this shift, and surrounding myself with the right people, that I was able to find confidence. I was able to look back at my journey and see myself as ever evolving with a 10x mindset.
Now, that confidence and radical self awareness allows to feel worthy of all that I have done and will do.
Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?
I’ve always challenged societal norms about success. Eschewing a traditional college education, I dove into diverse projects, driven by a deep desire for success and a yearning to do something greater.
After college, I landed a corporate sales job at a natural gas company. This experience was eye-opening; I realized my need for freedom, growth, and ownership – elements scarce in traditional employment.
In 2012, a turning point arrived when a friend introduced me to StartupBus, an intense 3-day entrepreneurial boot camp. Participants, categorized as Hackers, Hustlers, and Hipsters, competed to develop tech startups. Initially unsure of my fit, I embraced the challenge.
This experience was transformative, offering a glimpse into the potential of high-growth tech startups. It led me to a career shift to a web development agency, where I honed my design and development skills. During this period, I embarked on various startup ventures. Though none took off, each taught me invaluable lessons about resilience and innovation.
A key connection from StartupBus, Zachary Linquist, shared a vision to foster startup-friendly communities in Ohio. Inspired by our journey, we collaborated with local leaders to pass a bill in 2016, creating Innovation District Ecosystems to support tech entrepreneurs.
Subsequently, I co-founded a successful SaaS platform for the Insurance Restoration industry. This venture not only taught me about leadership and business intricacies but also led to my first successful exit following an investment partnership.
All these experiences culminated in the launch of Block Bridge Capital with Zach in 2019. Our first fund, Block Bridge Fund, is a hedge fund focusing on the cryptocurrency sector. It’s a testament to our combined tech-savvy and investment acumen.
Today, my focus is on mastering fund management, exploring innovative deal structures, and leveraging our extensive network. My journey continues to defy conventional paths, driven by a relentless desire to achieve greatness and create meaningful ventures with those I value.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
The most important skill to me is Leadership, and I think it’s the hardest to master. First and foremost, good leaders need to have a clear vision of what they are trying to achieve. They need to define clear metrics at each stage of the journey from which to base success, and they need to know the roles of each of their people.
What turns a leader from good to great in my eyes, is the leader’s ability to not only know the role of the person, but know the work they must achieve. It is the foundational knowledge of that work they are delegating that will help a leader to relate information properly, set clear expectations and understand the people and the challenges they encounter along the way. Knowledge clears the way here for clear empathetic communication that benefits team dynamics.
As for a quality that I have found to be transformational in my life, its self-awareness. You have to detach yourself from your emotions, wants, and your ego’s need to be right to properly see avenues for growth. And that goes for growth in you, your company, your employees, and your investments. While faith and belief are values that I hold dear, attachment can be myopic, and blind you from the truth that is right in front of you.
Though self-awareness, I can now identify areas where I need to grow and see them as an opportunity rather than judge myself or ignore my shortcomings. I think of this as a superpower.
The most important area of knowledge, is that which I don’t know, yet. I like to be voracious in data consumption. I like to try to understand the systems of things as a whole behind the surface data or headline. As a futurist, if there is anything that I view as potentially transformative, I dive in hard. Case in point, I spend lots of time utilizing AI tools at the moment, all with the goal of 10x-ing my life.
What has been your biggest area of growth or improvement in the past 12 months?
In the last 12 months, after overcoming my imposter syndrome, my biggest growth has been in confidence and magnetism. In order to master hedge fund management, I need to be in the right room with the right potential investors. Through coaching, self-awareness, and an insatiable drive, I’m now finding myself in these crucial settings. It has been a complete shift, stemming from confidence, that I now find each conversation in these rooms to be magnetic. It is as if I have finally found the place and people with whom I truly resonate.
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