What does it really take to become one of the most recognizable founders in crypto? In this episode of KNOWN, co-hosts Stella Friaisse and Anastasiia Kulibaba sit down with Azeem Khan, Co-founder of Miden, to unpack personal branding, founder visibility, fundraising, and the strategies that helped him stand out in one of the world's most competitive industries.

Azeem shares why most founders pitch VCs the wrong way, why he refuses to pay for PR, how he approaches LinkedIn and X, and the story behind having his content reposted by a16z. He also explains how consistency, storytelling, and intentional positioning create long-term trust and opportunities.

Chapters:

1:37 How do you become the founder everyone knows?

3:30 Can you create a public persona without pretending to be someone else?

8:01 Why standing out has nothing to do with wearing a suit.

12:34 The mistake almost every founder makes when pitching investors.

16:29 Why Azeem refuses to pay for PR, even after raising millions.

20:58 The habits that make consistency look effortless.

22:35 The fastest way to make people stop listening to you.

25:03 The truth about becoming an "overnight success."

26:34 What led to an a16z repost.

29:46 How Azeem spent years posting on LinkedIn before it paid off.

31:32 Does every successful startup need a public founder?

32:32 Rapid Fire round

Follow KNOWN podcast for more conversations with entrepreneurs and marketers on brand building and growth.

Find us:

KNOWN on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/known__podcast/

INPUT Global on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/input.global/

Azeem Khan on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/theazeemkhan/

Anastasiia Kulibaba on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anastasiia-kulibaba-aa2b91184/

Stella Friaisse on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stella-friaisse/

In episode 9 of KNOWN we are joined by Mo Salha, VP of Business Development at theMiracle.

We explore his journey from Mercedes and Vodafone to Web3 infrastructure, and how traditional marketing thinking translates into crypto-native environments. Mo breaks down the biggest gap in Web3 marketing today: broadcasting instead of understanding user behavior, despite having access to transparent on-chain data.

We also discuss why wallet-based activation is becoming a powerful alternative to social media ads, how brands can approach crypto users without losing trust, and why data quality matters more than data volume. Mo shares real campaign results, including significantly higher click-through and conversion rates compared to traditional Web3 marketing benchmarks.

Chapters:

0:50 The end of old marketing

5:08 The wallet is the new marketing warzone

7:30 How to win Web2 brands without saying “crypto”

8:50 Onchain data is underrated

11:22 Why most data strategies are wrong

13:12 The 50,000 download wallet activation campaign

14:45 The shocking conversion numbers

16:09 Mo's biggest career lesson

17:22 What makes a great BD in Web3

19:58 How deals are really won

22:00 Use details to your advantage

24:39 Rapid fire round

Follow KNOWN podcast for more conversations with entrepreneurs and marketers on brand building and growth.

Find us:

KNOWN on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/known__podcast/

INPUT Global on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/input.global/

Mo Salha on LinkedIn: https://https://www.linkedin.com/in/mohammed-salha/

Anastasiia Kulibaba on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anastasiia-kulibaba-aa2b91184/

Stella Friaisse on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stella-friaisse/

KNOWN Episode 8 features Paul Afshar. Paul is a growth-focused fintech and crypto CMO who combines operator depth, sharp storytelling, and commercial thinking to turn technical narratives into trust and traction.

After years spent building brands in some of the world’s most competitive and low-trust industries, Paul developed a sharp perspective on what actually makes people pay attention and believe in a company.

In this conversation, we unpack why great products still get ignored, how trust is built in fintech and crypto, why most companies fail at authentic marketing, and what AI is really changing for marketers today.

We also discuss the future role of the CMO, human psychology in branding, performance vs brand marketing, and why creativity, judgment, and taste will matter more than ever in the AI era.

Chapters:

00:53 The secret to marketing “boring” products

01:35 ICPs are blocking your marketing

03:33 Understanding how to build trust

06:58 How trust fails with the wrong strategy

09:42 Metrics CEOs care about

11:27 Brand vs performance marketing: what really wins?

13:35 Optimizing for LinkedIn: algorithms or people?

14:44 Has AI made marketing worse?

16:33 Where’s the AI revolution we were promised?

19:53 A problem AI still can’t solve

20:47 What the CMO of the future will do

22:42 Human relationships still win

23:31 People are craving offline experiences again

25:15 Brand or growth? Trust or attention? Rapid fire questions

Follow KNOWN podcast for more conversations with entrepreneurs and marketers on brand building and growth.

Find us:

KNOWN on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/known__podcast/

INPUT Global on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/input.global/

Paul Afshar on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paul-reza-afshar/

Anastasiia Kulibaba on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anastasiia-kulibaba-aa2b91184/

Stella Friaisse on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stella-friaisse/