4 big lessons I learnt from Web3.0 Conferences in 2022
I spent most of April attending 3 conferences in the US:
A lot of focus was on the Web3 and especially the crypto space. There was an incredible number of people, companies, and learnings across the 2 weeks. As a result, I thought it’d be best to summarise all the goodness.
I also did an IG Live while I was at the conferences 👇🏼
Bitcoin 2022 Live
Startup Grind 2022 Live
I’d love to hear your thoughts on these, especially if you’ve seen similar or contrasting trends. Let’s go!
The space is still so new and is so early
I could talk at length about this but there were a couple of great data points from Jason Hunt, VP of Ecosystems at QuickNode that summarise it in a more punchy manner.
Only 0.5% of all software engineers are currently developing in Web3
That is an absolutely insane statistic, especially as it feels like there are projects and discords being created left right and center, and Bitcoin hit its first high back in 2017.
The Gaming industry is apparently the biggest user of the blockchain by wallet usage. But gaming is far more common amongst youth rather than adults, and this could be why Web3 is weirdly enough under the radar in terms of professional numbers (not in terms of media attention).
In terms of adoption, Crypto in 2022 is where the Internet was in 1998
This reminds me of the early days of Web Design. When people used to use Microsoft Access for databases and FrontPage to build websites. I’ve seen countless web designers that started in the early 2000s and built their careers around getting in early into the space. Some would become incredibly experienced techies and others would start their own agencies/consultancies.
The early-mover advantage is real, and when you combine the practical improvements blockchain projects have against the current pool of talent, it’s a smart play to get into the industry. Product Designers in this space, start playing around with some concept work, and then head over to job boards like these:
https://www.useweb3.xyz/jobs
https://remote3.co/
https://web3.career/
Decentralization might (will) change everything
Decentralized Finance, Decentralised Exchanges, Decentralised Autonomous Organisations. The age of ownership is upon us, and this could have tectonic shifts in the way not only manage finances and data but also how we work.
Bill Warren, Executive Steward of Product at Opolis talked about the impact of DAOs in his presentation. He gave an example for moms’ that are in a social club. The way I’d describe the thought experiment was this:
Why have Karen from the ‘burbs decide where to have the Annual Community Tennis Fair when we could have a DAO to vote on things like this?
Gone might be the days of communities filled with disorganization, disagreements, and disparaging remarks. Lots of dis’s, replaced by one single dec’s -> decentralization.
As the 2010s progressed, the big tech company crusade grew, and after the 2016 Cambridge Analytica scandal, data became a huge focus in the space. Web3’s capability for data ownership and decentralized progress is another evolution.
Humans thrived and survived by finding efficient solutions to their problems. DAOs are an efficiency improvement for organizations vs a traditional Executive Committee model, as you look for consensus rather than consolidation when it comes to decision making.
Begging the question, is this a natural move towards greater efficiency?
VCs changing their approach to Web3 companies
Casey Caruso, Investment Partner at Paradigm, a web3 investor:
How can we expect to value products that have a top-down chain of command in Web2 in the same way as ones that are built through DAOs in Web3?
Organizations and products are being built differently now. Decentralized Autonomous Organisations (DAOs) mean that instead of a CEO and ExCo team, decisions can be made through a community. Thinking of how sometimes investors can be bought in through the CEO or Founder (#Theranos) highlights the impact this shift could have.
The organizational setup is one way to compare Web2 and Web3 companies. Another might be mass-market exposure. With the virality of platforms like TikTok, products can now become hits overnight. Not just in the country, they were created, but potentially across the world.
The infamous hockey-stick chart that startups use on their pitch decks could be more realistic in today’s age of virality, internet adoption, and smartphone usage. All of this changes the variables that VCs might be looking for when choosing to invest in companies.
It might also change the challenge and goals that Product Designers have. Could we see virality becoming a goal when building product experiences? Look at Wordle and what they managed to do with such a simple concept. Gamification might come more into focus, as it should.
Side note: here’s a bible on gamification from Yu-kai Chou, the Octalysis Framework:
Policy, Policy, Policy
Kevin O’Leary, Michael Saylor, and Cathy Wood from ARK all sang from the same hymn sheet. Public Policy was a huge theme at BTC22, and there was a push from everyone to encourage the community to put pressure on their legislators.
O’Leary even brought out a new piece of legislation that had recently been announced regarding crypto adoption. You can see it in his keynote here:
A few even mentioned regulations, which will always conflict with die-hard crypto fans. Those that believe in the mission behind Satoshi’s work back in the late 2000s hold a strong opinion on allowing cryptocurrencies to function without regulation.
The difficulty is that when you get mass, then eventually global adoption of a good or product, it becomes incredibly difficult to allow it to function with absolutely no oversight. That might be the reality the die-harders have to face.
Web3 and Crypto are such exciting spaces, as things are changing and improving all the time. We’re in 2022, almost 14 years after the Bitcoin whitepaper was published, and the space is still emerging. I firmly believe the next 14 years will see advancements the previous 14 could only dream of, as more and more people (like myself) jump into the space.
If you’re already in Web3 and want to partner up to talk about the intersection of Design & Development — shoot me a DM on LinkedIn.
If you’re interested in getting into Web3, send me a message on Twitter and ask for any advice you have.
Wishing you abundance ⚡️
Sakky B
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