The world of blockchain and crypto undergoes significant acceleration. The regulatory environment globally converges, and it converges on an operating model that allows a wider range of products and services. Companies sitting on the sidelines are jumping in and those already in are working through how to bring a number of new products to the market.

In most technology markets, the early winners are determined long before the adoption of the mass market. As we now enter the mass recording time of blockchain (my opinion), the opportunities that some companies are now facing are either acting quickly or spending the next few decades playing gathering. If your CEO says, “There’s no haste, it’s early days,” your business has already given up the match.

For those who are staying in the fight, the speed is killing. It is true on the road and it is true in business. People always forget that “Move firmly” came with “Break Things.” Therefore, risk management for those who rush in this market has never been a more critical skill. Performed correctly, there are several ways for companies that want to sprint in this market to minimize the risk of catastrophic failure. There are three I have in mind.

The first step is to establish controls and operations that close the door on previous problems that other companies have experienced. This may beat you as a bolting of the barn door after the horse is already abandoned, but it is necessary because if you do not, you risk repeating the story and it is far more humiliating than making entirely new mistakes. The basics are also not very difficult: external auditors, business control and standard best practice. We are also lucky to live in an era where we have a good supply of experienced blockchain and crypto people for the first time.

Secondly, I think it is critical for companies to think strategically and explicitly about the kind and number of risks they will take. There is technology ico (very relevant with smart contracts and defi). There is market risk. And there is counterparty.

You can learn critical lessons from all three, but it often makes sense to have controlled learning environments. One of my frustrations has been to see people jump to wildly wrong conclusions when things go wrong, sometimes because they took too many risks at the same time and cannot separate what the causes were.

In the end, it makes a lot of sense to be strategic about what you do internally and what is being done externally. In technology companies, especially when the engineers are responsible, the temptation is always to build. I know. I have an engineering team. It’s more fun than managing a supplier. “I built it” is a million times more satisfactory than telling someone “I bought it.” I never thought I would quote Mr. Beast in business, but as he said, “Consultants are a cheat code.” It’s so simple: someone else has done it before. Take advantage of it to reduce your risk and complexity.

There is no way to growth without risk and the risk increases with growth speed. For companies seeking accelerated growth, especially in ecosystems driven by new technologies, good risk management policies are a must. Please tighten up your own safety and keep your eyes on the road.

Disclaimer: This is the author’s personal views and does not represent the views of EY.