7 GTM Lessons from Building the First Federally Chartered Crypto Bank

7 GTM Lessons from Building the First Federally Chartered Crypto Bank

In a recent episode of Category Visionaries, Rob Leslie, Founder & CEO of Sedicii, shared the story of how his team built a crypto custody platform for institutions and navigated the complex path to becoming the first federally chartered crypto bank in the United States. His experience offers a masterclass in enterprise GTM strategy for founders building in emerging, regulated markets.

Lesson 1: Pick Your Customer Segment and Commit Completely

The most consequential decision Anchorage made was choosing to focus exclusively on institutions from day one. “We had this thesis early on that institutions were going to be the ones that were going to drive this industry forward,” Rob explains. “And so we focused exclusively on institutions from day one.”

This wasn’t a hedge or a temporary strategy—it was a fundamental commitment that shaped everything else. While competitors chased retail customers with simpler products and faster time-to-market, Anchorage invested in the security infrastructure, compliance systems, and enterprise features that institutions demanded. The decision meant slower initial growth but created a defensible moat that would prove invaluable as the market matured.

The lesson here isn’t just about choosing enterprise over SMB or retail. It’s about understanding that in emerging markets, trying to serve everyone often means serving no one well. Make a clear choice about who you’re building for, then align your entire organization around that decision.

Lesson 2: Education Is Your Most Powerful Sales Tool

When you’re selling in an emerging category, your prospects often don’t understand the problem you’re solving. Rob and his team recognized this early. “We spent a lot of time educating the market on what custody is, why it matters, what the risks are,” he says.

This educational approach served multiple purposes. It helped prospects understand why they needed Anchorage’s solution. It positioned the company as a thought leader and trusted advisor rather than just a vendor. And it created a foundation of knowledge that made the actual sales process more efficient.

For founders in emerging markets, this means your content strategy isn’t just marketing—it’s fundamental to your sales motion. Invest in helping your market understand the problem before you try to sell them the solution.

Lesson 3: Let Early Customers Drive Product Development

Anchorage took a deliberately customer-obsessed approach to building their product. “We were very customer-obsessed from the beginning,” Rob notes. “We would basically build whatever our customers needed.”

This created a powerful dynamic where each new customer made the product better for everyone who came after. “Every time we added a new feature, it made the product better for everyone,” Rob explains. But he’s also clear about the limits of this approach: “You can’t just build custom stuff for every single customer. You have to figure out what the common problems are and build products that solve those common problems.”

The key is finding the balance between customization and scalability. Early on, you can afford to be more flexible, building specifically for customer needs. As you scale, you need to identify patterns and build products that solve common problems rather than unique ones.

Lesson 4: Turn Regulation into Competitive Advantage

While many crypto companies viewed regulation as a threat to be avoided or minimized, Anchorage embraced it as a strategic opportunity. “We always believed that regulation was coming and that the companies that were prepared for it were going to be the winners,” Rob says.

This philosophy led them to pursue a federal banking charter—a decision that required enormous investment and took years to complete. “We spent probably two years working on getting our charter,” Rob reveals. “It was a massive undertaking.”

The payoff extended beyond just regulatory compliance. “Having that charter opened up a lot of doors for us,” Rob explains. “It gave us credibility with institutions that otherwise would have been very skeptical.”

For founders in regulated industries, this lesson is critical: don’t just comply with regulation, use it strategically. The companies willing to do the hard work of meeting the highest regulatory standards often find themselves with a competitive moat that’s nearly impossible for others to cross.

Lesson 5: Build Your Sales Process Before You Scale It

As Anchorage grew from founder-led sales to a scaled sales organization, they had to develop repeatable processes. “In the beginning, it was just us,” Rob says. “We were the salespeople, we were the product people, we were the customer support people.”

The transition required methodical thinking. “You have to have a methodology,” Rob explains. “You have to have a way of qualifying leads, a way of moving them through the funnel, a way of closing deals.”

They also had to hire people who could navigate the unique complexity of their market—people who understood both traditional finance and emerging crypto infrastructure. “You need people who can talk to a CFO or a treasurer at a large institution and understand their problems,” Rob notes.

The lesson: don’t try to scale your sales team before you’ve figured out your sales process. Spend time understanding what works, document it, then hire people who can execute that playbook.

Lesson 6: Deliver Exceptional Service to Create a Referral Engine

In enterprise sales, your reputation compounds. “Once you get a few customers, they start referring you to other customers,” Rob says. But he immediately adds the caveat: “You have to make sure you’re delivering a really good product and really good service.”

This is especially true in emerging markets where trust is scarce and buyers are taking risks on unproven categories. Your early customers become your most valuable sales assets—if you serve them well. “In enterprise, your reputation is everything,” Rob emphasizes. “If you do a good job for your first customers, they’ll help you get your next customers. If you do a bad job, word travels fast.”

Lesson 7: Think Beyond Today’s Product Category

Rob’s vision for Anchorage extends beyond custody services. He sees the company evolving into “a system of record” for the energy sector—a central platform that integrates with the growing ecosystem of digital asset infrastructure.

This forward-thinking perspective shaped their strategic decisions, including the pursuit of the banking charter. “Being a bank allows you to do things that non-banks can’t do,” Rob explains. “It gives you access to different types of customers, different types of products.”

The lesson: build for where the market is going, not just where it is today. Make strategic investments that might not pay off immediately but position you to win as the category matures.

Rob’s experience building Sedicii demonstrates that success in emerging markets requires patience, conviction, and a willingness to make difficult trade-offs. The companies that win aren’t always the first to market or the fastest growing. Often, they’re the ones that choose their customers carefully, embrace complexity rather than avoiding it, and build trust through exceptional service and strategic positioning.