# Interview - Cardano SPO #090: SHARE Pool \[SHARE\] **URL:** \ **Category:** Pool Introductions\ **Tags:** cardano, staking, interview, spo, mission-driven\ **Created:** [17 February 2023 17:20 UTC](https://forum.cardano.org/t/interview-cardano-spo-090-share-pool-share/114576 "2023-02-17T17:20:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 1\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Patryk\_Karter](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex023/user_avatar/forum.cardano.org/patryk_karter/32/74994_2.png) [@Patryk\_Karter](https://forum.cardano.org/u/Patryk_Karter)\ **Post date:** [17 February 2023 17:20 UTC](https://forum.cardano.org/t/interview-cardano-spo-090-share-pool-share/114576/1 "2023-02-17T17:20:50Z")
**Written interviews with Stake Pool Operators (SPOs) on the Cardano blockchain.** _[Link to post on my Medium](https://link.medium.com/otVgexiTuxb)_ ![](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex023/uploads/cardano/original/3X/8/3/83d37084be52dd969ff271eedf0d22f877ba7d14.jpeg) _Cardano SPO #090 [SHARE]_ This week’s **Cardano SPO** is **Bastian, who’s a Berlin-based finance and economics professional with a passion for blockchain technology, cryptocurrencies and decentralisation** : [SHARE Pool [SHARE]](https://twitter.com/share_pool). [The previous guest](https://patrykkarter.medium.com/cardano-spo-column-089-karat-pool-karat-8a87a13fe9c9) was a stake pool **operated by Toshi from Japan who lives in Bangkok, Thailand and aims to donate 25% of the stake pool’s revenue to an orphanage in Thailand.** This initiative is a point of reference for everything Cardano and every week or two we will invite a **Stake Pool Operator** (SPO) to answer some questions and give us an **update directly from within the Cardano community.** ![](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex023/uploads/cardano/original/3X/6/5/6535f0636fcfe812f914c5ad939373c7ff5d30d4.png) _Cardano SPO [SHARE] donates to charities all over the world_ > **Hi, thanks for your time. Tell us something about yourself, where are you based and what is your background?** Hi, **Bastian** here, I’m a **Berlin-based finance and economics professional** with a passion for blockchain technology, cryptocurrencies and decentralisation. I’m also into **philosophy, history, politics and culture** (mostly music in particular) and I especially enjoy what Berlin has to offer in this area. **I came to blockchain technology, because of my inquisitiveness for big ideas**. I liked the paradigm shift in economics and finance, as well as in our social systems as a whole, that is possible through this technological revolution. **I’m thriving to change our economy and social systems towards more inclusion and sustainability** , and I believe that blockchain technology will play a big role in solving related issues. Therefore, I got involved directly as the stake pool operator of SHARE, a **mission-driven Cardano stake pool**. > **What’s the path that led you to Cardano and to become a Stake Pool Operator (SPO)?** **I came into crypto in the fall of 2017, close to the height of the bull market** at the time and one of the first related videos I saw was the famous [whiteboard video](https://youtu.be/Ja9D0kpksxw) by **Charles Hoskinson**. I got hooked immediately into the Cardano project and have followed it ever since. In my first two years in crypto, I had to orient myself and get familiar with the technology, so **I read into quite a few projects and soaked up all the information I could get**. When I realised that **Charles’ vision for Cardano started to really come to fruition during the ITN era** , I became solely focused on Cardano, because I thought that **the project’s approach (science-based, PoS, functional programming, etc.) is the best the industry has to offer**. At the time, I was in the final straws of my Master’s degree and **my goal after graduating was to go into the blockchain industry**. During the ITN and when PoS approached mainnet, **I thought it would be really cool to start my own stake pool** as well. But, having no background in computer science or coding, made it a little harder for me to get started as an SPO. I approached friends with a CS background and even people over the internet, **asking if someone would be interested in starting a stake pool together**. However, I could not find anyone — so I had to do it myself. **Luckily, the Cardano Foundation offered the Stake Pool School course** , in which you learn how to run a stake pool. With this course, and the help of other experienced SPOs, **I was able to learn how to become an SPO myself.** And now, here we are, **my stake pool has been running for over two years** , with hopefully many years to come. It’s been a beautiful experience so far. > **You were one of the organizers of the community-led Cardano Summit 2022 event in Berlin. How was the event? What were your takeaways?** The event was in my opinion and from the resonance I’ve got from the participants **— a great success**. With [**NMKR**](https://medium.com/cardano-journal/cardano-nft-column-012-nmkr-io-95023e8111ba) **, Blueshift, Smart-Places** and **GeniusYield/GeniusX** , we had four super cool projects presenting themselves, and we even had more **Cardano projects, SPOs, CF Ambassadors, IOG employees** and many more as guests at the event. The speakers were met with a really keen audience and they gave great presentations to introduce what they do in Cardano. After the talks were over, **the networking session was great** as well. I’ve met countless interesting people from the Cardano community as well as newcomers to Cardano, and I believe that through the event, **many new connections have been formed.** **Organising the Cardano Summit 2022 community event in Berlin was one of my personal highlights of the year**. I’m super enthusiastic about Cardano and the blockchain revolution, so it was a huge honour to do so. **I’ve also learned a lot and could grow from hosting the event** , so I totally recommend this to anyone… but it was a lot of work too, so be ready for that if you want to commit to it 😉 > **What does it mean to be a mission-driven stake pool? What is the mission of your pool? Why is it important to you?** In line with the name of the stake pool, **our mission is sharing** , as we thrive to **provide optimal ADA staking-rewards to our delegators** , we are giving away to charity and we **share knowledge around the Cardano blockchain ecosystem**. **Being mission driven means to me that your stake pool provides additional value, other than just staking rewards**. This could be either to the Cardano community directly or outside the community. SHARE does both, as we **share knowledge about the Cardano ecosystem to a german-speaking audience through our YouTube Channel** “[Alles zu Cardano](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgJuiQQS-wNg3WLr-zHJkCQ)” and we are **donating parts of our profits to charitable causes all around the world**. So far, SHARE donated over 6000 Euros ([donations overview](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/u/0/d/1d9SdWhYXom6-MiOx6PzJcdMTrR5uMT3H1-8ZTyS2RJ4/edit)). Being mission-driven is important to me, because I want to contribute to creating a better Cardano ecosystem and ultimately **making the world a better place** , just like Cardano’s vision. Contrary to common opinion, **I personally see other SPOs that — for example — contribute open source code to the Cardano ecosystem or run their own Cardano project, also as mission-driven** , although they might not even consider themselves so, because usually mission-driven means donating to charitable causes. I see this a little differently. Therefore, I encourage every SPO to become mission-driven in my sense of the word, meaning to **contribute in one form or another either to the Cardano ecosystem and/or beyond, to make our ecosystem and the world just a little bit better**. Together, we will have a big impact. > **Great contribution. Any final thoughts? Where can people stay in touch?** Thank you, Patryk, for the opportunity of this interview! Really appreciate the work you do for the Cardano ecosystem. **I welcome everyone to get in touch with me and my stake pool SHARE** , and I’d also be very happy if you decide to delegate to SHARE as you want to support our mission. You can find us on our [Website](http://share-pool.com/) and Twitter Handles: [@Bastian\_SHARE](https://twitter.com/Bastian_SHARE) and [@share\_pool](https://twitter.com/share_pool). > Disclaimer: The opinions and views of the SPOs are their own and do not necessarily reflect those of the Cardano Foundation or IOG.