[PODCAST] From REN Protocol to Garden Finance: Susruth on Fixing Fragmentation in DeFi

Block by Block: A Show on Web3 Growth Marketing

Summary
Susruth, CEO of Garden Finance, shares how his background in cybersecurity and early work in DeFi led him to launch a cross-chain liquidity protocol focused on user custody and seamless UX. He explains how Garden leverages atomic swaps and HTLCs to enable trustless trading across blockchains, with a special focus on Bitcoin. Susruth emphasizes the need to simplify user workflows, listen to community feedback, and target specific user profiles to drive product-market fit and sustainable growth. The conversation also dives into the competitive DeFi landscape, Garden’s philosophy of building fundamental rails, and plans to expand across chains.

Takeaways
– Susruth’s crypto journey started with a cybersecurity interest and early exposure to Ethereum and DeFi

– He worked on foundational DeFi projects like Republic Protocol and REN before founding Garden

– Garden Finance focuses on solving cross-chain liquidity fragmentation while preserving user custody

– Atomic swaps and HTLCs are key primitives for enabling trustless trades, especially with Bitcoin

– The Garden philosophy draws from global financial systems, emphasizing interoperability

– A great user experience and safe, simple workflows are core to the product vision

– Differentiation in the crowded DeFi space comes from targeting niche users and building defensible rails

– Community feedback is crucial to iterating the product and identifying the “one ideal user”

– Sustained volume growth depends on strong customer engagement and retention

– Garden aims to expand to multiple chains and become a core infrastructure layer in DeFi

Timeline
(00:00) Intro to Susruth and Garden Finance

(03:09) How cybersecurity led him into crypto

(06:10) Early work in DeFi with REN and Republic Protocol

(09:02) Founding Garden to address cross-chain fragmentation

(12:07) Global finance as inspiration for Garden’s design

(15:00) Designing a better DeFi user experience

(18:01) Bridging Bitcoin and other assets trustlessly

(22:40) Improving HTLCs for UX and security

(24:02) Competing in a crowded DeFi ecosystem

(25:40) Building safe and simple infrastructure

(27:32) Finding product-market fit through niche audiences

(31:04) Engaging users to grow volume

(33:53) Defining the ideal user to guide development

(37:05) Using community input to shape the roadmap

(39:58) Long-term vision: expansion and ecosystem growth

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See other Episodes Here. And thank you to all our crypto and blockchain guests.

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1. Intro to Susruth and Garden Finance (00:00:00)

2. How cybersecurity led him into crypto (00:03:09)

3. Early work in DeFi with REN and Republic Protocol (00:06:10)

4. Founding Garden to address cross-chain fragmentation (00:09:02)

5. Global finance as inspiration for Garden’s design (00:12:07)

6. Designing a better DeFi user experience (00:15:00)

7. Bridging Bitcoin and other assets trustlessly (00:18:01)

8. Improving HTLCs for UX and security (00:22:40)

9. Competing in a crowded DeFi ecosystem (00:24:02)

10. Building safe and simple infrastructure (00:25:40)

11. Finding product-market fit through niche audiences (00:27:32)

12. Engaging users to grow volume (00:31:04)

13. Defining the ideal user to guide development (00:33:53)

14. Using community input to shape the roadmap (00:37:05)

15. Long-term vision: expansion and ecosystem growth (00:39:58)