Meet the IF - Christian Saur
[ Interview by Mart]
Tangleverse Times: So let’s start with an introductory question, how did you find out about IOTA and how did you find your way to the IOTA Foundation?
Christian Saur: I first came into contact with IOTA in 2016 interning at Bosch Venture Capital. A colleague and I were tasked with finding out what this crypto thing was, and if Bosch should take a deeper look into it. Somewhere along the way we came across IOTA and were immediately intrigued.
Fast forward to 2021: I had just graduated and was talking to a colleague at the company I had been working at during my last year in university about interesting companies when he asked me why not join IOTA because I had talked about it a couple of times. I looked at the website and a job opening had gone online that same day that fit well with what I wanted to do, so I applied and things worked out quite nicely.
TvT: What do you love to do in your leisure time? Any specific sports or other hobbies that you engage in regularly?
CS: I just recently picked up Tennis again after playing quite a lot during school and university. Other than that I enjoy reading - books, but also loooooots of articles on all kinds of topics - and playing the piano. And spending long hours in the kitchen cooking simple but very time-consuming dishes (like this ragu here which is fantastic; just blend mushrooms if you want to make it vegetarian). The way that time alone can transform very simple ingredients into something delicious is always fascinating to me.
TvT: Do you have any objects or habits you couldn't live without?
CS: This is a difficult one…off the cuff nothing specific comes to mind, but if anything it’s probably that I really value some alone time prior to going to bed at night. Most of the time I won’t even do anything specific during that time, just sit by myself :D
TvT: Are you more of a coffee or tea drinker, or neither of both?
CS: Definitely coffee! I find that tea is always a bit disappointing. It smells delicious, but then if you drink it, it doesn’t taste like much.
TvT: Let’s say IOTA / Shimmer / Assembly will give you complete financial freedom in the future, would you still be working for the IF? Do you have other passions that you’d love to follow more?
CS: I can’t imagine myself stopping to work completely. But I’m not sure it’d still be at the IF. Maybe I would spend my time working on some more experimental projects. Other than that I would definitely make more room for cooking more insanely time-consuming recipes.
TvT: What's an intriguing pet you would love to have?
CS: I’d love to have a non-smelling dog that can walk itself.
TvT: Do you watch a lot of Netflix or TV shows in general? What are the best ones you’ve seen in the last year?
CS: I recently watched the latest season of Billions and can only recommend it (as any previous season).
TvT: Pineapple on Pizza, Antonio might be fuming right now, but what’s your stance on it?
CS: Absolute no-go
TvT: We also asked Dom about his favorite travel destinations, but this might be a nice permanent addition for this format. Giving our community members some inspiration on where they could travel. What are your favorite places to travel? Where do you really want to go?
CS: Number one on my list of places to visit is Patagonia, but I want to take my time for that one, so I might do it once I have that financial freedom you asked about earlier :) When it comes to favorite destinations it comes down to Italy and Brazil. You can never go wrong when traveling to either of those countries.
TvT: Lastly, many community members love to collect NFTs they like. Do you also own some? Is there anything you collect in real life?
CS: I do own some NFTs. I was lucky enough to get my hands on an IOTABOT, and I also bought some on other networks. But I’m generally not that into collecting things, neither in real-life nor digitally (you can imagine a cringey “I don’t collect things, I collect memories” inspirational post here).