DAO Snippets: Unleashing the Potential — an interview with Ugur Mersinlioglu
In today’s article, which marks the fourth installment of the DAO Snippet series, I will interview Ugur Mersinlioglu, leader of the dAPI team proposal. Leveraging his diverse experience within the API3 DAO, Ugur will provide valuable insights into his professional journey, offer recommendations for individuals new to the Web3 landscape, and outline his short-term vision for API3.
Marcus:
Hello Ugur. Thank you for joining me for the interview today. Could you tell us a little bit about your professional background prior to your Web3 journey?
Ugur:
Yes, of course. I pursued a Bachelor’s degree in business informatics through a concurrent work-study program, wherein I simultaneously worked full-time and studied. At my work, I was responsible for setting up the IT-infrastructure for small and medium-sized enterprises. This included tasks such as configuring servers, establishing networks, and deploying computer systems. After I got my Bachelor’s degree, I left Germany and moved to Sweden, where I was initially taking on employment. However, this did not really satisfy me, so I decided to further my education and enrolled in a Master’s program in strategy and management while concurrently working full-time as a system administrator at the university. Within my role as a system administrator, a significant aspect of my responsibilities involved script writing and developing solutions for automation.
M:
That is quite impressive, considering that solely studying already requires significant time commitment. Simultaneously working full-time must be quite demanding.
U:
Yes, but it was practical for me after I moved to Sweden. I was working at the university where I did my Master’s degree, which allowed me to walk to the lectures and return back to work after they ended. I eventually reduced my work hours from 40 to 32 hours per week, though.
M:
It indeed turned out well for you. When did you first come across blockchain in your career?
U:
As I was nearing the end of my studies, a friend introduced me to crypto. I decided to read the whitepapers of Bitcoin and Ethereum, which immediately got the ball rolling for me. I became eager to learn more about blockchain and the various projects in this space, and ended up spending a lot of time reading and absorbing as much information as I could. During that time, I did my first investments and engaged in online communities, where I met a few like-minded individuals that I am still in contact with today, most of whom I have not met in real life yet.
M:
Given the immense size of the blockchain space, which can be challenging to navigate for newcomers, I am curious how you eventually discovered API3.
U:
One of the people I met, who works in Web3 himself, told me about the imminent launch of API3. I got curious, so I joined the API3 community channels and engaged in discussions to learn more about it. As I gained new insights into API3 and smart contracts in general, I eventually passed on my knowledge and helped other community members when they had questions or concerns. After I completed my work for a business case study at the university following my Master’s degree, I noticed that API3 was actively recruiting. At that time, I had no other plans, and I took the initiative to send in an application. Due to my active engagement on the API3 channels and my visible commitment to contribute, my application was approved and I was hired as a business developer.
M:
You are bringing up an important point. As I discussed in the interview with Erich, being a proactive community member proves to be advantageous when seeking a role in a project. I have seen it frequently that individuals who actively engage in the community ultimately secure positions in Web3 projects by showcasing their expertise and dedication to make valuable contributions.
U:
That is true. I was very active in the API3 community before I considered to apply for a role in the DAO. Similar to your observation, I have also noticed instances in Web3 projects where community members gradually earned increased responsibilities by actively engaging and helping others. They initially started as community ambassadors and eventually became integral core members. Of course, it is also important to understand what the project is actually building if you want to contribute.
M:
Absolutely. When you initially entered the Web3 space, what were the most significant challenges you faced?
U:
Working within the API3 DAO is quite different to traditional employment. There is a certain level of autonomy akin to being your own boss, while still requiring coordination and collaboration with other contributors. What I really had to get used to was the way in which payments were facilitated. Instead of receiving a straightforward salary deposit on a bank account, it involves a more complex process. It is required to set up a wallet to receive the funds, and then forward these funds to an exchange in order to transfer them to your bank account. In addition to that, every monetary transfer has to be documented to fulfill tax obligations. Consequently, working in Web3 demands a high level of personal responsibility and accountability due to all the liabilities that naturally come with self-employment.
M:
I agree. Laws and regulations are different across the world, so everyone involved in Web3 has to navigate these intricacies and take ownership of their financial and regulatory commitments. You took on several roles in the API3 DAO, and you are currently leading the dAPI proposal. Can you elaborate briefly on your previous roles and how you eventually transitioned into your current position?
U:
After my contributions to the business development team, I took on a short-term role in community management and marketing as advised by the former marketing lead due to my strong presence on social media, primarily Twitter. However, I do not have a marketing background, and have not really felt comfortable in that position. As I further deepened my understanding of API3’s technology and demonstrated my knowledge through internal and public discussions, I was eventually recommended to take on a technical management role by the core tech team lead. There was a need for someone with a profound technical understanding of the project and smart contracts to take some load of the tech team by shouldering additional responsibilities that fasciliate the progress of development.
M:
What do these responsibilities entail?
U:
As the leader of the dAPI proposal, my role is quite similar to a typical manager role of a conventional business. I coordinate with members within and outside my team, provide regular updates to other teams that rely on our work, actively participate in meetings and ensure effective communication across the board. Ultimately, my main responsibility is to ensure that my team reaches specific milestones within a certain timeframe. Additionally, I prepare reports and articles, and ensure that our proposal is well-crafted to effectively communicate our objectives. This allows the members of my team to primarily concentrate on their core tasks, while I handle the surrounding responsibilities and ensure that everyone involved receives fair compensation for their contributions.
M:
You have consistently improved your technical knowledge during your tenure at API3, which enabled you to take on your current role. Are you considering to potentially pursue a path in development?
U:
Yes, possibly. I would like to delve deeper into coding and build projects to gain an even better understanding of how things work in practise on a deep technical level. For instance, I created the API3 Stats bot as a weekend project of mine to assess the practical stability of serverless functions, because Airnode is based on it. The API3 Stats bot utilizes etherscan to verify whether staking or unstaking occurred within the last minute, and whether new tokens have been minted, and publishes the information on Twitter. Additionally, the staking status with the latest price is tweeted daily. Basically, it is a code snippet that repeats itself infinitely. With the exception of fixing a minor bug shortly after its release, I have not made any changes to the API3 Stats bot for nearly a year, yet it continues to run smoothly. Perhaps in the next 1–2 years, I will allocate time to further enhance my coding skills and develop additional projects. Building projects like that helps gaining a practical understanding of the underlying technology, surpassing mere theoretical knowledge.
M:
I am looking forward to see your future endeavors and contributions in the field of development. Do you have any recommendations for people that would like to get started in the Web3 space?
U:
As we discussed earlier, it is important to be proactive as a community member. By being active and especially useful, you eventually gain the trust of a project, which might open up new opportunities for you. In addition, self-initiative and a strong dedication are crucial traits. It is essential to understand the project’s objectives and developments and stay updated on its progress. Not everyone has the drive to consistently remain up to date by actively participating in discussions, attending meetings, and reading relevant reports and articles. Obviously, specific roles within a project require certain skills. Depending on the project, the expectations can be very high. Within the API3 DAO, it is typically expected that you possess a solid understanding of the field and do not require extensive training to perform the responsibilities associated with the role. In my team, for instance, new members are given a one-month trial period to demonstrate their abilities. If they fail to deliver during this period, they are removed from the team. Hence, anyone interested in applying for a specific role in Web3 must ensure they possess the required skills, and if they don’t, they should learn them first before considering to submit their application.
M:
That is a good point. Beginning to work in a Web3 project presents a significant contrast to an apprenticeship in a conventional company since it lacks the advantage of a two to three-year timeframe for acquiring job skills under supervision. It is a fast moving industry after all, and expectations are high as a consequence. Given your extensive experience and the knowledge you’ve accumulated so far, what are your expectations for the future of API3?
U:
In the short-term, API3 will mainly focus on data feeds. To provide further clarity on my vision, I would like to start by explaining the difference between push and pull oracles. Projects that provide push oracles are responsible to push data onto the blockchain when specific conditions are met, such as a 1% variance between on-chain and off-chain values. The push oracle model is the industry standard that is also utilized by Chainlink, and has gained widespread adoption, making it a proven and effective approach. Lately, some projects explore pull oracles, where the project provides the data, but users are responsible for writing the data on chain as they require. This deviates from the established norm in the blockchain industry, and as a result, pull oracles are expected to have lower adoption due to people’s inclination to stick with proven and reliable models. In addition to that, projects currently using push oracles cannot simply transition to pull oracles due to technical implications. However, there are situations where manually updating a data feed can be advantageous, rather than waiting for a push oracle to update it once a specific threshold is reached. For this reason, we created a solution to leverage both models. Our primary focus remains on push oracles, providing data feeds similar to Chainlink but with the added benefits of API3’s technology, including improved transparency, increased efficiency, and reduced costs. Additionally, we will give our users the chance to manually update data feeds, similar to pull oracles, through OEV. For that, users will need to pay a fee, and most of these fees will flow back into respective projects. Without going too much into technicalities, this means that projects can benefit not only from the widely adopted push oracle architecture with API3’s added advantages but also from generating revenue through OEV-based data feed updates. In the end, projects must decide whether they prefer to adopt our technology, which is cheaper, more secure, efficient, and transparent, or continue utilizing a technology that, despite being more expensive and having drawbacks, has already proven itself due to its longer existence.
M:
The upcoming months will be very exciting. I appreciate that you shared your valuable insights with our community today, and I wish you the best of luck for your future endeavors.
U:
Thank you, it was my pleasure.
In the upcoming installment of the DAO Snippets series, I will be interviewing Mark Fitzgibbon, who has accumulated extensive professional experience spanning various locations worldwide.
Begin your own Web3 adventure and join the API3 Community.
