Interview with Outside General Counsel Tom Osinski — Seed Funding Phase for a Project in Crypto Mining
As a retail investor myself it can be very challenging to do thorough research and actually talk to people who know the project team on the ground and in real life, particularly in this new emerging industry of Crypto Currency. I recently had the pleasure of interviewing Tom Osinski, a lawyer in his own right who has been taken on as Outside General Counsel for Grow Mine Operation (GMO). Tom has been practising law since 2003 and has a diverse set of experience that is well suited to his work with GMO. I hope you enjoy this article as much as I enjoyed talking with Tom as I continue my quest to understand, research and unpack as much as I can about this project.
Please find below the transcript from our interview:
Hi Tom, Anthony the CEO and Founder of GMO introduced us and I understand you are the Outside General Legal counsel for the GMO project. Can you tell the readers a little bit about your background?
I’m a first generation college student from the Seattle area. Went to the University of Washington undergrad then Law School at UC Hastings in San Francisco.
I moved home after I graduated and decided to open my own practice focusing on civil litigation and business law. Quickly adding entertainment due to my passion for music and desire to help our local scene. By being my own boss from the start I was able to pursue the clients and areas of law that interested me. That is how I took to entrepreneurs and startups as well as cutting edge areas of the law where the landscape was unsure like the cannabis market. So in some ways being involved with start up crypto projects was probably inevitable.
Thank you for that, sounds like you are an entrepreneur at heart as well. How did you get to know about GMO and what made you decide this was a project you would like to work with with respect to providing advice and legal services?
Yes I always say entrepreneurs are my people.
Anthony and I live in the same town, Tacoma (it’s like Oakland to San Francisco. Seattle’s somewhat grittier sister city) and we have a mutual friend we both respect a lot. He referred Anthony to me because of knowing my background in Trademarks and Branding. (I have handled both the merchandising contracts and litigation around brands for several well known properties in Federal Courts around the country). This mutual friend, also an attorney named Jim Oliver is someone both Anthony and I have the utmost respect for as a solid and honest person. So when he recommended Anthony I was happy to take the meeting.
Once I learned of GMO and all it entailed from a business model perspective as well as the transparency and ethics I told Anthony I was interested in serving a more involved role and eventually became Outside General Counsel to be the guru on all things legal.
Honestly it’s the best project I have seen since a celebrity fanclub type token project I worked on back in 2018. I mention that because that particular project let me work with some governmental affairs colleagues of mine (lobbyists) and take several meetings with congresspersons, their staff, and regulatory agencies in support of that project and get certain insights and assurances for a very new industry that is still making up the rules and regulations in real time.
Can you help us understand what sort of things a lawyer does with respect to an operation like GMO? Many of us that are new to crypto are still trying to understand how the whole industry works, however, I understand GMO is like a normal startup business so I would imagine much of the work is inline with a normal business operation?
I have some basic roles that I would have with any business. Reviewing/negotiating/drafting contracts. Formation of entities. Registration of trademarks. Advising on employment, vendors, leases etc. Just like any other business. Because GMO is very “real” with brick and mortar locations, it’s an incorporated entity with its own bank accounts and ability to enter contracts and hire people. And all other such things I do a lot for GMO I would do for any company from a pizza restaurant to a property developer.
But I also help with things unique to crypto generally and with mining more specifically. Because I have to help GMO work out an effective and legal framework to operate the mining operations and how the resulting mined tokens are properly allocated to token holders and stakers so as to be sure GMO delivers on all of its promises.
Wow, this project certainly sounds like it is challenging the status quo. Only have a few more quick questions, what advice would you have for retail investors when they are researching projects like GMO, for example, what sort of things should people research to make sure they have a good understanding of projects like GMO? For me, one area that I have really liked about the project is the fact that the team is prepared to share who they are and their backgrounds. From experience that is rare in these types of projects where most are shrouded with anonymity.
You have really hit the nail on the head. The first rule of this kind of project is know who you are doing business with. They should be disclosing legal names of the business and it’s officers, state of incorporation, conventional addresses and other contact. Not just ones that live in cyberspace.
For example GMO is a Washington state company. That means it is on record with the secretary of state where anyone can find out it’s mailing address, governing people, and a registered agent where legal process can be served. It means GMO has to adhere to state and federal law here in the United States and is subject to both regulatory action and private civil suit. In short GMO is governed by the rule of law. If you can’t physically find someone you can’t hold them accountable. So the best course is to only deal with projects backed by people/entities that disclose who they are and how to find them. And wherever that is needs to be someplace that has an actual functioning legal and regulatory system. Without that you are at their mercy.
Then the second thing is to look for a track record. Once you have that identity at hand. Have the companies or the officers been involved in other projects. Have they had other problems. You of course have to take into account that social media allows for lots of falsehoods to circulate but you should still look into anyone you want to work with.
Sometimes no news is good news…and bad news needs context. But it’s always smart to look.
Thank you, that is very helpful advice and certainly I am sure many readers will be glad to read. Last question for you, in the interest of full disclosure, if people want to research you and your background, what is the best way for them to find out a bit more about you and your legal service?
It’s simple. Google me. I’m out there. I always prefer that to directing anyone anywhere. But you will see things like my website and that it’s so old I must have been around for a while..lol. plus linked in social media.. all with history proving I have been around. Plus they can look at things like the state bar to see I am licensed and in good standing etc too
Thank you for your time Tom and I look forward to learning more about GMO over the coming months and tracking their progress.
Please note that this article is not intended to be financial advice or to suggest that you should invest your own money in this project, it is simply information at face value and like any investment the reader is strongly advised to do your own research (DYOR) into any opportunity.
For full disclosure I have personally invested a small amount of my own money in the seed sale and was recently made a moderator in their Telegram group due to my willingness to help share the vision, however, I act as a volunteer in this capacity.
Further information about GMO can be found below:
Website: https://www.growmineoperation.com/
Telegram: https://t.me/GrowMineOperation
The project white paper can be downloaded from the GMO website. The Seed sale details can be found via the project’s Telegram site.
Further information and contact details for Tom Osinksi can be found below:
Linked in: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomas-osinski-29a64413/
Website: http://osinskilaw.com/
Article authored by @chappiescrypto 25th March 2022.
To follow chappiescrypto visit https://www.youtube.com/c/ChappiesCryptoAU/ or follow me on Twitter — @chappiescrypto
