Rain Leadership & Management: How Rain’s CTO and Co-Founder Charles Yoo-Naut Builds Product at Scale
Meet Rain’s Co-Founder and CTO, Charles Yoo-Naut
Since co-founding stablecoin-native infrastructure provider Rain in 2021, Charles Yoo-Naut spends his workdays juggling a variety of responsibilities, all of which circle back to an overarching objective.
“A big part of my role is creating the foundation that allows Rain to scale thoughtfully and sustainably,” he said.
As both co-founder and chief technology officer, Yoo-Naut owns the company’s product strategy and roadmap, working closely with its product and engineering teams to set priorities, remove blockers and ensure everyone is executing against the most impactful problems. He juggles other tasks as well, such as speaking with key prospects to explain the company’s platform and gather feedback directly from customers.
Yoo-Naut said that every business function, from sales to compliance, plays a key role in making the company’s platform a success. That’s why he aims to ensure everyone has access to information about important technical decisions, enabling them to move quickly without sacrificing quality or reliability.
As Rain’s teams continue to refine the company’s platform, they’re leaning on each other’s expertise and Yoo-Naut’s everyday guidance to turn their hard work and raw talent into new product features and improvements.
“It’s so satisfying to see them directly improve the lives of our customers,” he said.
Read on to learn more about Yoo-Naut’s role at Rain, his approach to defining success and how he empowers teams across the company to shape the future of global finance.
About Rain
Rain’s platform is designed to make it easier for organizations to integrate stablecoins into their products, platforms and payment flows.
What Charles Yoo-Naut Does as CTO at Rain
I co-founded Rain in 2021 and serve as the company’s CTO. I lead teams across engineering, technical support, and product management and design, with a strong focus on building out both the talent and the systems that support Rain’s long-term vision. A big part of my role is creating the foundation that allows Rain to scale thoughtfully and sustainably. I own the product strategy and roadmap as we build an end-to-end stablecoin platform. I work closely with product and engineering to set priorities, unblock teams, and ensure we are executing against the most impactful problems. Aside from internal responsibilities, I regularly speak with key prospects to explain Rain’s platform and gather feedback directly from our customers. I also support fundraising efforts, acquisitions and strategic expansion while representing Rain at industry conferences and events.
What a Typical Day Looks Like for Rain’s CTO
Yoo-Naut’s Day-to-Day Work
- Meetings: “I spend a significant portion of my time in meetings, including sales conversations, discussions with potential infrastructure partners and vendors, and problem-solving sessions for existing customers.”
- Engineering: “I make sure to carve out dedicated engineering hours so I can stay hands-on with the codebase and work directly with engineers.”
- One-on-ones: “I prioritize regular check-ins with my team and other key cross-functional partners. I’m a big fan of walking meetings. Research shows they are more effective, and I’ve found they lead to open conversation.”
- Recruiting: “I like to be involved from the initial conversation with a candidate to extending an offer. Finding the best people to join Rain is one of my top priorities.”
- Staying on top of industry news: “Often by checking social media platform X for the latest developments in crypto, payments, startups and tech.”
How Rain’s CTO Enables Cross-Functional Collaboration
As CTO, I collaborate with the entire company. Product and engineering sit at the center of everything we do at Rain. Nearly every business function touches our systems in some way, whether it is sales, operations, compliance or customer success. Because of this, it’s important that technical decisions not live in a vacuum, so I work closely across teams to align priorities, translate customer needs into product decisions, and ensure our product supports Rain’s broader goals. A big part of my job is making sure information flows smoothly between teams so we can move quickly without sacrificing quality or reliability.
“A big part of my job is making sure information flows smoothly between teams so we can move quickly without sacrificing quality or reliability.”
How Success Is Measured on Rain’s Engineering Team
There is no single KPI that defines success for me. Instead, I look at a set of metrics that reflect reliability, performance, customer experience, and team output. One example is an internal initiative we are working on called Cloud 9, which is pushing us toward new levels of service and operational excellence by setting ambitious goals across our stack. Part of this effort is aiming to achieve a 98 percent transaction approval rate and to process 99 percent of blockchain events in under one minute. These targets reflect what matters most to our customers and help guide how we prioritize engineering and product decisions.
The Tools That Power Rain’s Engineering and Hiring Workflows
- “VR glasses and a desk treadmill help me stay focused and energized throughout the day, especially during long working sessions.”
- “Cursor is core to my development workflow and helps me work more efficiently.”
- “Slack is where most real-time collaboration happens across the company. We use it for everything, from quick questions to deeper discussions.”
- “I use Linear to stay up to date on all our workstreams and projects.”
- “Ashby is also critical for recruiting and hiring, which has and will continue to be a major focus for Rain.”
What Makes Building at Rain Personally Rewarding
The most rewarding moments for me come when new features and improvements ship. It’s so satisfying to see them directly improve the lives of our customers. Internally, there’s nothing better than watching something go from an idea, to a design, to production and, finally, launch. These moments reinforce why we do the work and help remind the team that the long hours and difficult technical problems translate into real-world impact.
What does Rain do?
Rain builds stablecoin-native infrastructure that makes it easier for organizations to integrate stablecoins into their products, platforms and payment flows.
What does the CTO do at Rain?
Rain’s CTO owns product strategy and the roadmap for building an end-to-end stablecoin platform, leads engineering and technical teams, and supports company growth through recruiting, strategic expansion, fundraising, acquisitions and customer conversations.
What is Rain’s company culture like?
Rain’s culture emphasizes empowerment, cross-functional collaboration and transparency, with a strong focus on making sure technical decisions don’t happen in a vacuum. Teams are encouraged to move quickly while maintaining quality and reliability, and Yoo-Naut prioritizes information-sharing so every function — from engineering to compliance — can execute effectively.
How does Rain collaborate across teams?
Product and engineering sit at the center of Rain’s work, and nearly every function — including sales, operations, compliance and customer success — touches its systems, so leadership prioritizes transparent technical communication and smooth information flow to align priorities and execute quickly.
How is success measured on Rain’s engineering team?
Success is evaluated through a set of metrics tied to reliability, performance, customer experience and team output — including targets from an internal initiative called Cloud 9, such as a 98% transaction approval rate and processing 99% of blockchain events in under one minute.
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