--- title: "Tan Gera: Decentralized Finance Eradicates the Need for Traditional Banking Middlemen" url: "https://authoritymag.co/articles/tan-gera-decentralized-finance-eradicates-the-need-for-traditional-banking-middlemen" publisher: "Authority Magazine" author: "Authority Magazine Editorial Staff" authorUrl: "https://authoritymag.co/authors/authority-magazine-editorial-staff" interviewee: "Tan Gera" company: "Decentralized Masters" category: "Business" datePublished: "2025-02-03T10:51:36.117Z" dateModified: "2026-11-12T17:06:04.837Z" tags: "Business" --- # Tan Gera: Decentralized Finance Eradicates the Need for Traditional Banking Middlemen *The young crypto entrepreneur and co-founder reveals how scaling a 9-figure remote business requires stripping away ego and embracing polar opposite perspectives.* > My co-founder and joint CEO Salim Elhila is the person I am most grateful to in this journey. Meeting him and becoming like brothers was a turning point. --- As*a part of our series called “My Life as a TwentySomething Founder”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Tan Gera. Tan is one of the youngest ever people to complete the CFA III certificate at just 23, securing a place in the top 5% of graduates in the world, disillusioned with the ‘rigged’ world of traditional finance, Tan pivoted to pioneer new frontiers in decentralized finance. He is now at the helm of remote finance business, Decentralized Masters, employing more than 85 people across 27 countries with a vision to empower and improve the financial wellbeing of the world and a 25 year plan of growth.* --- **Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! What is your “back story”?** There are lots of highs and lows to my back story. People, especially those who work with me, are often so surprised to hear about the low points, but they’re important, they’ve helped make me who I am. I was born in the suburbs of Paris. My parents were Indian immigrants there and life at home was not always easy. I was the only kid who looked like me in my neighborhood too so that didn’t always help. I didn’t have the most stable home life and my relationship with my parents wasn’t always positive. Although I was always top of my class, academically, I rebelled at school, finding it hard to just stay under the radar. So, I was expelled from two different schools. I know that my teachers were so frustrated with me, they couldn’t understand how a kid like me with very good grades could be the kid they had to expel. In my late teens I partied and let’s say, didn’t always do the right things. But eventually, I found my way to business school. Things began to turn around for me and I was able to focus on bettering myself. At 23 years old, I became the one of the youngest people ever to take the CFA level III certification — and ranked in the top 5% in the world. Wall Street came calling and I made my way in the world of investment banking. I climbed the ladder very quickly and made a name for myself among the banking elite. Then, the risk-taker in me took over. I saw a few things within the corporate banking world that just didn’t sit easy with me. That, along with my growing interest in Bitcoin, nudged me to leave the corporate world behind and pursue my own direction. I knew that crypto and importantly decentralized finance (De-Fi) would be a big part of the future of finance. I began to find my own way in business, with some business success and plenty of failures along the way. But it was through the world of Bitcoin that I met my co-founder Salim and eventually we launched Decentralized Masters. Our company has scaled rapidly over two years to become a 9-figure business. **Can you share the funniest or most interesting story that happened to you since you started your company? What lessons or takeaways did you take out of that story?** One that jumps out is something that happened in one of our Monday morning meetings. These meetings are vital to the success of our business. It’s a chance for the whole company to come together and set the agenda for the week ahead. It’s a key part of how we’re building the culture we strive for within the business. Part of that culture is for our employees to be themselves and feel relaxed, so that means we don’t expect the team to wear formal clothes during their work hours. Myself and Salim model this — and we’re almost always in black gym tanks. We’ve become known for it, it’s kind of a running joke. So, this particular morning, as everyone is dialing in and joining the call, Salim and I notice that everyone is wearing one of these black tanks. The more people that join, the more of these tops there are. We’re looking at each other and thinking ‘this is so weird, why is everyone in the same top?’ Our employees all start laughing together and of course, we realise they organized the whole thing to make us smile. And it really did, it was so funny. It sounds like a small thing but it actually meant a lot. There were a few takeaways from it. It really confirmed to us that nobody is impressed by what you wear. Your impact comes from your actions and who you are. Being yourself and being relatable is key. I try to stick to that and want my employees to feel free to do the same. What I took from the team’s mass effort in that story was that they ‘dig’ that. They understand that our approach to being who we really are is important. Their actions on that day, served as their approval, which is cool. Because as CEO, I’m there to serve my employees so that they can, in turn, serve our customers. **What do you think makes your company stand out? Can you share a story?** We have just under 100 employees across the globe, working in around 27 different countries and yet we move at pace. There are a few companies maybe that operate that way, but our success at rapidly scaling, despite the breadth of our remote organisation, makes us stand out. It’s also the strength of company culture that we’re building. We’re proving, beyond any doubt, that fully remote businesses are no longer the future of how we work, but are already the present. **None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story?** My co-founder and joint CEO Salim Elhila is the person I am most grateful to in this journey. Meeting him and becoming like brothers was a turning point. It’s interesting because we have polar opposite views and ideas on everything. Some people might think this would make us crazy to go into business together. But it’s very complementary and it makes sense that we bring opposing thoughts and ideas. We come at everything from total opposite ends of the scale and then we know that the right answer lies somewhere in the middle. This actually means that we make fewer mistakes than we might if we were always on the same page, so it’s been vital for our business. We strip the ego and emotion out of making decisions and when it gets heated — because it does — we grab each other’s hands, look at each other in the eye and say ‘we’re on the same team.’ It’s really hard to do, but it works. **Are you working on any exciting projects now?** Yes! There’s a big project underway which is to create a platform aimed at helping people to be able to more easily recover crypto assets. This is something that our customers have asked us to create. They come to us and say ‘what happens if I die?’ How do I make sure my wealth goes to my beneficiaries?’ Currently, this is one of the ongoing issues with crypto in terms of asset recovery, especially when that’s related to estate planning. We’re working towards changing that. **How have you used your success to bring goodness to the world?** In simple terms, decentralized finance, as reported by the IMF, strips out the need for a ‘middle man’ in finance — and that ‘middle man’ is the bank. Growing the adoption of De-Fi is ultimately for the good of the world, ensuring that everyone has fair access to finance. In remote villages in Punjab, for example, where my family is from, there are thousands of suicides a year, by farmers who simply cannot afford to live if their crops don’t grow. They have no access to loans or financial help. No institution will give them insurance. De-Fi can solve this by offering crop insurance tied to rainfall metrics. We already have customers offering this insurance. We’re looking to help bring huge change to the world. But that can’t happen overnight. So, to help accelerate the adoption of De-Fi, those with assets must be taught about it first so that it can then be transmitted, shared and adopted as widely as possible, changing the way everyone accesses finance for the better. It’s true that the market isn’t mature enough for this to mushroom just yet. And so we give back directly, with plans to build schools in India and Morocco and help children in remote corners to learn coding. This is something that is at the heart of our plans. **Do you have a favorite book that made a deep impact on your life? Can you share a story?** I’ve read a lot, so I don’t know about a favorite, but the most recent one that impacted me was *Multipliers — How The Best Leaders Make Everyone Smart*, by Liz Wiseman. This is all about how a good leader helps everyone in their team to be so much better and that aligns with the way I want to be and how I want to run my company. It gives practical situations for the reader to think about, which have been game-changers for me. I’ve been able to see that even if I think I’m a great leader, I’m still making mistakes. I used some of the advice when one of our sales teams was having a hard month. Sales slumped and that wasn’t typical. We ended up having to let a couple of people go to help protect our culture but then I noticed that suddenly people seemed fearful to speak up, perhaps feeling that they could also lose their jobs. This was tricky, because we want feedback and connecting with our employees really matters to us. I read in Multipliers that helping people to feel safe, by revealing something about you can be transformational. So I took the time to share some details of my childhood with the team. It was very deep and very personal. But that bonded us. Everyone began sharing stories. After that, we were breaking sales records again. So, showing weakness or vulnerability is all part of great leadership. **Can you share 5 of the most difficult and most rewarding parts of being a “Twenty-Something founder”.** **1 .**The skepticism of friends and family when I left investment banking to launch a business based around crypto was difficult. Many of them even made fun of my choices. It has taken deep self-belief to stay true to my path. **2 .**There is a lot of sacrifice involved in building a 9-figure business. It takes very hard work and that means constantly saying no when friends are out partying. I’m still in my twenties — my friends are having beers and late nights and that’s not something that fits with running my company. So often I have to say no. **3 .**The fulfillment of my employees is incredibly rewarding. To get a message saying that the company has changed their lives and the lives of their families — that means a lot. It’s a feeling of gratitude that I can’t fully explain and to have that at this young age is not lost on me. **4 .**The lifestyle is undeniably rewarding. It is amazing to be able to enjoy an affluent lifestyle at this age, of course. Most people maybe make it in their 50s, so to be able to live this way in my twenties is rewarding, yes. For example, taking a big trip to South America for 10 days with a large group of friends is huge reward. **5 .**Taking risks — this is both difficult and rewarding. In this business, my net worth goes up and down and that’s scary. It’s not for the weak. But I’m not risk averse; I’m just used to it. **What are the main takeaways that you would advise a twenty year old who is looking to found a business?** The best advice is to make your first sale as soon as possible. Money loves speed not perfection and quick action can lead to abundance. Show that you can sell your product — it’s all about sales and not as much about the product. So make that first sale fast. Forget about launching the business and making everything pretty. Just show that you can sell. Also, fail as fast as possible. I failed at nine businesses before this one. **We are very blessed that some of the biggest names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might see this. :-)** Richard Branson. I think he’s the opposite of me. And I know first-hand how an opposite mindset can challenge and bring growth. I heard he doesn’t even really know how to send an email but he doesn’t worry about that because he gets someone else to do it. I like to know how to do everything and I like to be able to do things for myself. But I know there would be so much I could learn from him. If there’s another way to do something, then I always like to learn about it. **What is the best way our readers can follow you on social media?** [(12) Decentralized Masters: Overview | LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/company/decentralized-masters/) [Decentralized Masters (@decen_masters) • Instagram photos and videos](https://www.instagram.com/decen_masters/) **This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for joining us!** --- Source: https://authoritymag.co/articles/tan-gera-decentralized-finance-eradicates-the-need-for-traditional-banking-middlemen (Authority Magazine, Business). Interviewee answers are first-person statements of the guest. Index of all pages: https://authoritymag.co/llms.txt