Breaking into web3. A list.
Breaking into web3. A list.
Love that more friends from traditional backgrounds are messaging me to ask about web3 and getting started. It's come up enough that I think this is worth a share.
If you’ve gone deep down the rabbit hole after hearing about crypto and NFTs, I bet you’re itching to be more involved.
Opportunities abound in web3. There’s a ton of both funding and jobs. But if you want to set yourself apart, do the following:
Try it for yourself (buy crypto, NFTs)
The user experience in web3 is terrible. I can’t complain about it enough. When get your hands on some crypto and NFTs, the best thing about it is getting empathy as a holder. The market moves so fast and it’s so volatile that you can’t help but hold your breath as you watch your holdings.
You’ll have more insights to share with a team or recruiter if you’ve experienced the UX friction and market volatility first hand.
A16z’s canon compilations is a good place to start:
Highlight your eagerness and velocity to learn
The industry shifts weekly. If you thought tech was fast, you’re in for a crypto whirlwind. We can barely re-use industry content for our weekly employee onboarding because of how quickly things change. Web3 companies need team members that thrive throughout fast change because that’s the only way to survive.
If you have an experience that highlights this, flaunt it. For example, management consulting, learning new tech, or side projects.
Get on crypto Twitter
Part of learning quick is knowing the best sources of insight and keeping yourself up to date. The best place for that is crypto Twitter. Spend 30 minutes to an hour regularly to get a pulse of the sentiment and trending topics.
Here’s a list to get you started:
Join a community
Web3 is synonymous with community. If you think community is a support channel, then you haven’t spent enough time here. Find the things of most interest and join their Discord and Twitter channels. Here’s a few to get you started:
IndexCOOP is great for crypto finance
Bankless DAO is a media community centered on crypto education
Immutable X has an Academy for NFTs and the protocol (shameless plug)
Don’t wait for a job; Start contributing
Take it to the next level by contributing to communities you’ve joined. If you can become a community leader, then even better. Start simple like creating content, building reports, or sharing ideas.
There’s no stronger signal of someone who ‘gets it’ as is a key contributor of a DAO, protocol, or project. For example, a 14-year-old got hired as an intern for Solana.
Build an audience or community
What better person to join a team than someone who can bring a whole community with them already? It’ll be hard to resist you if you come with 5,000+ followers already. It shows you know how to identify and deliver value to a group.
Start tweeting, writing, or creating. Consistency is key.
One more tip…
The simplest thing you can do is, obviously, subscribe 😎. (Have I mentioned I’m shameless?)
M2W3 is about Mental Models for Web3 — helping you understand the space with the occasional deep dive on interesting web3 topics and concepts.