It was reported that the crypto exchange FTX raised $900 million dollars last month. The founding round valued the company at $18 billion. This is a massive amount of capital and a huge valuation for a two-year-old company. I decided to learn more about the company, because I’d like to understand why investors are bullish on it. I began by learning more about the CEO, Sam Bankman-Fried.

I found a podcast where Sam describes how the crypto market works. He clearly explains things like leverage and risk in the crypto market. One of the traits of a great founder—and Sam has it—is the ability to explain complex things in simple terms, which requires a deep understanding of the topic. Sam is sharp, and I can see why people want to back him.

I’m still learning more about FTX and its business model, but I get the impression it has a strong, visionary founder and strong founder–market fit. I’m looking forward to learning more about FTX’s business and how it earned such a large valuation is such a short time.