Raj Gokal, Co-Founder of Solana, on the Journey to a Web3 Powerhouse at SXSW

When Raj Gokal first arrived in San Francisco, he wasn’t carrying millions in venture capital funding or a roadmap for blockchain dominance. He had a $20,000 grant, a vision, and a hunger to create something groundbreaking. Now, as co-founder and president of Solana, one of the most innovative blockchain networks in the world, Gokal reflects on the path that led him here, the challenges along the way, and why betting on scalability was the right move.

At SXSW, during a session titled "The Story of Solana: Why It’s the Ecosystem Fueling the Future of Web3," Gokal sat down with Rodolfo Gonzalez, general partner at Foundation Capital and an early investor in Solana, to discuss the company’s rise. The conversation, which spanned from his upbringing in Georgia to the latest advancements in blockchain technology, highlighted not just the technical aspects of building Solana, but the philosophy behind its growth.

“We started with a $2 million seed round, but it wasn’t easy,” Gokal said. “We had to find investors who were serious enough about crypto but also first-principle thinkers.”

For Gokal, finding the right investors meant looking beyond those who simply wanted exposure to blockchain. Instead, he sought out partners who were as invested in proving themselves as he and his team were.

“Find investors who have to prove themselves with their investment,” he explained. “It’s never going to depend quite as much on them as it does on you, but you want people who are taking a risk and betting big on their own future with you.”

A Different Approach to Growth

From the start, Gokal and the Solana team resisted conventional wisdom when it came to scaling a blockchain network. Instead of rushing to maximize the network’s size, they focused on building something truly functional.

“Don’t try to maximize the network first,” Gokal said. “Just focus on the concept being successful.”

Solana’s ability to handle high transaction volumes with low fees set it apart in an industry struggling with congestion and high costs. Unlike Ethereum, which relied on layer-two solutions to manage scalability, Solana was built from the ground up to handle massive amounts of transactions on a single chain.

“Solana was built from day one to scale as one single state, one network,” Gokal said. “That means any developer, any user, is always interacting within the same system. That’s critical.”

The commitment to building out the ecosystem also extended to their hiring philosophy. While many tech companies scaled their teams aggressively, Gokal and his co-founder, Anatoly Yakovenko, took a different approach.

“We wanted to help enable the creation of $1 trillion in value with less than 100 people,” he said. “At our peak, we had to grow beyond that, but the idea was always to keep things lean and focused.”

Challenges Along the Way

The road to establishing Solana was not without its struggles. Perhaps the biggest test came in March 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic sent financial markets into a freefall. Solana had been planning to launch, but the sudden downturn left them scrambling.

“Every investor was calling us, saying, ‘Cancel anything that costs money, lay people off, just focus on survival,’” Gokal recalled. “But we knew we had to launch.”

With only nine months of financial runway left, the team decided to move forward despite the uncertainty. It was a high-stakes decision, but one that ultimately paid off.

“If crypto was going to prove its value, this was the moment,” Gokal said. “If it didn’t, then maybe it never really had value in the first place.”

Another defining moment came with the explosion of NFTs in 2021. While the team had anticipated decentralized finance (DeFi) taking the lead in blockchain adoption, they were surprised when digital collectibles took center stage.

“We never thought that people would literally try to get the same single asset at the same time,” Gokal said, recalling an NFT launch that saw 200,000 people simultaneously attempt to buy a single digital asset. “That was a stress test we didn’t expect, but it taught us a lot.”

A Different Philosophy on Fundraising

Unlike many blockchain projects that favored insider lock-ups, Solana took a more open approach. When it came time to distribute tokens, they chose to do it all at once.

“We knew people were going to sell anyway,” Gokal said. “So might as well do it all at once and let the market decide.”

This approach paid off in the long run, as it created a more engaged and committed community. Instead of early investors cashing out and moving on, many stayed to build within the ecosystem. “The way we structured it, people weren’t just looking to flip their investment,” he said. “They wanted to contribute.”

Looking Ahead

Despite market fluctuations and competition, Solana continues to push forward. Major companies like Visa have chosen Solana for blockchain-based transaction testing, a move that further validates the network’s speed and efficiency.

“Visa could have worked with any blockchain,” Gokal said. “But they chose Solana because it works. It’s fast, it’s efficient, and it can handle real-world demand.”

The long-term vision remains unchanged: continue building for users, focus on real adoption, and let the technology prove itself.

“We didn’t come here to just be part of the hype cycle,” Gokal said “We’re here to build something that actually works, and we’re going to keep doing that.”

The conversation at SXSW underscored Solana’s commitment to fueling the next wave of Web3 innovation. As blockchain adoption continues to grow, Gokal sees Solana playing an even bigger role in shaping the future of decentralized technology.

“We’re just getting started,” he said. “The future is still being written.”