“So many of us work in the tech space, work with tech every day… but we don’t invest in it,” explains Rams Barathy – GBS alumnus, blockchain expert and, recently, author of a book. “We don’t know how to evaluate good vs. bad assets in this field – we grew up digital, so we grew up with the assumption that digital equals free.”

Rams studied at Goethe Business School in its early days. He was part of the second cohort of the Duke Goethe Executive MBA, graduating in 2008. Back then, he recalls, the class was mostly bankers. Rams worked for Nokia, on Cloud solutions, a technology that was just emerging. With his MBA completed, he took on a management role in Asia running business ventures for Nokia Siemens Networks. But it was in financial services that he really saw innovative opportunities, so he took his chances and moved into the start-up space.

His first start-up built robo-advisory for emerging stock markets. Later he found that the world was not fully ready for machine-driven recommendations for stocks. “Too bad,” he reflects, “but it’s the big thing now!” Rams returned from Asia after 5 years to Europe and started consulting for Deutsche Bank. However, his fascination with accessible technologies never died. Building on his years of experience in the field combined with his expertise in finance, he wrote his first book, Savvy Blockchain Investor. “My honest wish is for people to understand the investment possibilities in this space and what I’ve learned through the years,” Rams says. “Tech has already opened up asset and investment management, made it accessible to everyone. How do you evaluate a digital asset compared to stocks or bonds? I want to help people evaluate assets and support investments in tech because it’s worth it! And blockchain has made it possible.” His excitement for the topic and genuine belief in what these technologies make possible today is palpable in the conversation. “So many things are changing. How do we operate effectively without creating waste? How does one keep track of identity across borders? How to decentralize finance to bring a billion people to the banking world? How can we change the internet so that it is not just showing information, but facilitating transactions? We need to rebuild the internet with a layer of trust. Blockchain, the trust technology is taking us to the next level of connected internet.

Rams’ personal experiences have led to an insightful 243-page guide for identifying digital assets, even for the non-experts. Strongly recommended for anyone interested in exploring this emerging field and its real potential, it is available on Amazon as an e-book or paperback. As for Rams, he is now living in Zurich and through his company, Future Wealth & Technologies GmbH, he focuses on fintech innovations within blockchain and security. He still works as a consultant to Deutsche Bank among other large companies – and he still meets with his old Duke Goethe classmates. (The class meets regularly once a year, in a new city each time.)