Behind the Handshake: Josh Fried

Today’s post is the first in a new series of short-form interviews called Behind the Handshake featuring different perspectives on building partnerships and negotiating deals. With less than 10 questions and bite-size answers, this format will offer you snackable insights and advice from a wide range of hustlers, builders and negotiators.

Today’s interview is with Josh Fried, a friend of TfT and a seasoned deal-maker whose experience spans commerce, mobility and crypto. I routinely learn new things from Josh and I think you will too.

I’m excited about the gems of wisdom these conversations can bring to TfT readers but I will need your help. If there is someone you’d like to see featured in an upcoming edition of Behind the Handshake, let me know who and why.

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Hi Josh, tell us about yourself.

I'm a native Southern Californian who has lived most of my life in Northern California. I’m 50% Italian and 100% Jewish, which means I feel guilty 150% of the time. I’m an adult fan of Legos. I have more shoes than my wife. I’m famous for an authentic Chewbacca yell. I love watching sports, and I’ve somehow raised two teen girls in San Francisco to be proud Dodgers fans.

If you and I were sitting next to each other on a flight, how would you describe your company and your role?

I'm a business person who works in crypto and blockchain technology. I work for the Solana Foundation, which supports the Solana blockchain. My job is to grow the impact and prevalence of this blockchain technology stack among real-world users, such as merchants running online or brick-and-mortar storefronts, or sports teams figuring out the intersection of loyalty and ticketing. I'm trying to use blockchain tech to improve the real world. Fundamentally, my job role could be called BD, Partnerships or Growth.

What is an unpopular or contrarian view you hold?

I continue to view blockchain technology as really valuable, with use cases like ownership of digital goods, or programmatic smart contracts that can enforce laws. For example, I worked with a startup that embeds blockchain addresses into invisible molecules that helps to prove the authenticity of collectible, luxury liquor bottles. Working with Solana Labs’ loyalty platform, Bond, allowed this startup to offer real transparency and trust in the rare spirits market - a solution than can apply to a wide variety of industries and use cases.

Tell me about a partnership that you're proud of and a lesson you carry with you today from that deal.

A big deal I’m proud of from early on at Solana was with ASICS, the shoe company. Together we sold a custom, Solana-inspired line of ASICS shoes using stablecoins, which are crypto digital dollars. ASICS is a global, 75-year-old company in a traditional business (apparel) that was willing to take a leap with us to show what's possible with blockchain and crypto. It made a big splash when Solana wasn't a household name, and we became known for that innovation.

My business partner at ASICS filled out our general "contact us" form, which nobody was really monitoring. So, the lesson is that you have to be open to looking for leads everywhere. Great partnerships can come from unexpected places, including the public-facing website lead gen form.

What is one insight that is core to how you approach relationships and build partnerships?

We're not doing deals with AI agents yet - every partnership takes place between people. So you actually have to get to know these people as human beings. While you can be transactional in partnerships, I don't think that serves you well long-term. Bringing it back to the ASICS example (above), I'm still in touch with my contact there. I know about his family and life outside of work. We invite each other to events when we are in the same area; it's become a true friendship. This has led us to brainstorm new partnership ideas every few months, even though our biggest collaboration happened years ago, because we nurture that human relationship.

What is one thing you have found to be true about negotiations but is often overlooked?

Even though I know negotiations aren't really zero-sum games, I sometimes get caught up in the winning aspect. But if I remove the emotional component of “winning,” I find I drive toward better outcomes. That is why I do my best written negotiation work when I compose a response and come back to it later. This removes the emotions.

What advice would you offer to someone earlier in their career that you wish someone had given you?

Early in your career, focus on surrounding yourself with good people and try to work directly for great people. This will pay off for the rest of your career; you'll reap the dividends from those early relationships. This is much more important than your role, your title, or how much money you're making in your 20s. I once heard someone say that your 20s are for networking, your 30s are for learning, and your 40s are for earning. There is a lot of truth in that.

What is something you read or listen to that makes you smarter?

Tangle - there are very few news sources nowadays where you get a truly unbiased perspective and this newsletter does its best to unravel one topic a day from the left and the right. And then the author adds his perspective. I find it fascinating.

Ezra Klein's podcast makes me smarter.

What is a book that has changed your perspective?

The Anthropocene Reviewed by John Green - this book does a great job of taking the long view, showing that we're specks of dust in the universe and we need to do our part to maintain this fragile and fleeting world.

This Is How It Always Is. It's a novel, loosely based on a true story, about a family discovering their child is trans. This book puts you in the perspective of the family, watching, understanding, and realizing their child is in the wrong body. Until you read something like that, it is hard to grasp.