Laura Shin — Blockchain Love Beyond Forbes
Laura Shin was the chief editor at Forbes — one of the world’s most famous business magazines, which has also been covering cryptocurrencies and blockchain related news. Shin played the role as the face of cryptocurrencies and blockchain for Forbes magazine. Most of us who are very active in this space and are learning new things about blockchain/cryptocurrencies would have surely come across her articles featured on Forbes’ website.
We will be discussing the role Shin played at Forbes in bringing cryptocurrencies and blockchain to the mainstream audience, and the reason for her to resign from the company last month.
Education and Career
Laura Shin graduated from Stanford University in 1997 with a B.A. degree in modern thought and literature. She also completed a Masters in Journalism program from Columbia University Graduate School. She then started her professional life at NPR news as Editor and later worked as a freelance writer for 10 years. After this, she joined LearnVest Inc. as a Senior Editor. She also continued writing and took on the role of Editor for CBS Interactive/SmartPlanet, in which she was authoring bi-weekly articles.
Shin then proceeded to join Forbes as chief editor, covering topics related to blockchain, cryptocurrencies, and ICOs. She has also written articles for major media giants like Newsweek, The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times. In addition to writing news articles, Shin has authored two books, namely “The Millennial Game Plan” and “Money Hacks: Forbes Stories Of Superstar Savers“. She played a major role in reporting the “Forbes Fintech 50“. Notably, Shin hosted the crypto and blockchain podcast called ‘Unchained‘ as well.
Leaving Forbes for Blockchain
Laura Shin resigned from Forbes a month ago, after working there for four years, and this was a surprise for everyone. She explained the reason for her exit, and it was due to Forbes forcing her to write about personal finance for them. She fell in love with cryptocurrencies and blockchain in 2015. Since then, she wanted to write only about them, but then she was asked to write about things that she is not passionate about. She feels that “Personal Finance” is super boring, and there is nothing new to learn compared to ever-evolving blockchain and cryptocurrencies.
Initially, in 2015, when blockchain technology was unknown to many, she insisted that Forbes magazine cover the new technology. However, it was not as popular at that time, so it was ignored by them. Last year, when awareness about Bitcoin and blockchain increased dramatically, due to the surge in the price of Bitcoin, there was also extreme FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out). Forbes then allowed her to cover the topics related to blockchain.
Laura Shin has no immediate plans after exit, but right now, she is focusing on her personal podcast “Unchained”. She feels that there is extreme competition in this field of writing about blockchain and cryptocurrencies, and new writers are more knowledgeable than her about the technology. She only likes writing about new technology in Fintech that has not been previously covered, which helps her to learn new things about blockchain/crypto.
Falling into Blockchain Rabbit hole
Laura explains how one of her topics was held back by Forbes, at the beginning, when she started writing about Bitcoin and blockchain. Due to the delay, the same topic was featured on the New York Times. Forbes then hurried up and asked her to publish an article that she was passionate about.
She fell into the rabbit hole of blockchain and cryptocurrencies in May 2015 , when she got bored of personal finance and wanted to switch to a different topic, but couldn’t. Then, Forbes proposed the idea of doing a “Forbes Tech Top 50 List” and she took the role of reporting the “Top 50” list for Forbes Richest in digital currencies. After that, she convinced Forbes to give her a full-time role in covering blockchain, ICOs and cryptocurrencies. She quickly became the face for the company on all topics related to this nascent technology.
This was the time when she decided not to write about anything else, other than blockchain/cryptocurrencies. Shin feels that blockchain has the ability to change the world. Moreover, she says that just like a child gets excited about different things at a carnival, she also feels the same kind of thrill when it comes to writing about blockhain’s numerous use cases.
Important Blockchain Journalist to look out for
Laura resigned from her job to become a full-time crypto/blockchain journalist, which very few would do. That too, leaving behind her role at a very well-known company like Forbes, which shows her extreme passion and commitment towards this space. She is currently involved in the ‘Unchained’ podcast, and we at Crypto Core Media wish her success in all her blockchain/crypto related endeavors, and in general.