gm

Anyone who’s been on Twitter long enough has come across those influencer-type people shilling a protocol. They’re hosting Twitter spaces, leading workshops, and attending hackathons all over the world. Indeed, an extrovert's dream job. It was mine.

My name is Vanes. It’s pronounced ‘vuh-ness’ but if you prefer to call me veins, that’s cool too. Like most millennials, I have an unused undergraduate degree. I worked in corporate finance before attending a coding bootcamp which was how I got started in tech.

June 2021- I was about 9 months into my first dev job when I came across a JD for a developer advocate. The summary included things like, lead marketing campaigns, attend technical events, speak at events, and interact with developers. It seemed like the perfect job for someone with my skillset and interests.

May 2022 - I’m fully crypto-pilled and I’m starting to flirt with the idea of actually getting a job in web3. I thought about working as a front-end dev but didn’t think I had the technical skills to land a job. I figured I could try DevRel, after all, it seemed like it would be less technical than being a dev. Spoiler alert - it’s really not that much less technical.

ETH Global New York - June 2022 - I go to my first IRL web3 hackathon. It was crazy to observe how easily approachable and accessible everyone was. You had founders of these protocols sitting at their teams' booth handing out stickers and t-shirts. You really had no idea who you could be rubbing shoulders with. It also struck me just how international this industry was. Yeah, we were in New York, but hackers had come from all around the world to this event.

As the event was coming to its final days, I had absolutely made up my mind I no longer could stay at my web2 job. It’s impossible to go back to your web2 job after you experience an IRL web3 hackathon.

Some of my favorite people I met while in New York were either DevRels or aspiring DevRels. One of them being Steph. If you don’t know who she is, you should. She basically told me what I needed to do if I wanted to get a DevRel job in the space. TLDR: write a tutorial on the hackathon project you just built,  dm them, remind them about how you met at the hackathon, and let them know you’re interested in becoming their DevRel and share your blog. I loved the directness of this approach.

The recipe was well received. With that tutorial, and a few other pieces of content I had created, I dm’d the protocol I wanted to work at and after a few back and forths, I had an interview. Long story short, I didn’t pass the tech assessment. Lolz. I interviewed at a few more places but, truthfully I wasn’t excited about them. My web2 job had also become much more manageable because I was now working out of the Venice Beach office living in my van. I wasn’t in a rush to give up that setup unless a really cool opportunity came up.

ETH Mexico City - August 2022 - You could say going to hackathons can become a bit addictive. I spent my 20’s going to music festivals and taking drugs to stay up all night to dance with friends, and now, in my 30’s I was taking drugs to stay up all night and code with friends. One of my tasks in our hackathon team was to use WalletConenct for the wallet/dapp integration. I probably spent half an afternoon at their booth with questions because I just couldn’t seem to get their API to work. I felt so dumb that I couldn’t figure it out.

It’s finally Sunday and the hacking is over. We submit our projects and go on to demoing. Sleep-deprived and hungry, I’m kinda just nodding and smiling when I get asked if I was looking for a job. I thought he was just messing so, fucking around back, I nonchalantly say I’m looking for a DevRel job. We exchanged telegrams and I let jesus take the wheel.

Two weeks later, I accepted a position as a Senior Developer Advocate at WalletConnect. Lol - I know, I’m not a senior and they knew that too. It felt weird to have that be my official title, but they didn’t seem to care. It was just a title.

Today is March 24, 2023, and I’ve been working as a Developer Advocate for 6 months. Tbh, I thought by now I’d be killing it, but I’m not. Far from it actually.

Let me share my mental model with you. You’re either drowning, surviving, or thriving. I’ve mostly been drowning, but since ETH Denver, the mood has been shifting to surviving. I mean, it’s a good sign that I’ve finally made time to write this blog, am I right?

I’m also turning 31 today. Like most birthdays, the questions you receive are generally reflective ones like, What’s a goal you hope to accomplish this year? Normally I would answer with something like, “I want to actually be a morning person” or “I want to read 20 minutes every day” but it hit me. I need to iterate on these goals because every year I set them, but fail to actually do them.

I have a tendency to like to do hard things. Things that I may not even finish because I just like to see where “it” can take me. “It” can be anything, a course, a book, a workout plan, or a job. I’ve grown to enjoy the feeling of feeling uncomfortable (can you tell I listen to David Goggins), but even though these growing pains are familiar, it’s left me feeling like a huge impostor. I credit good timing and luck to a lot of my life’s accomplishments. Even getting this job, I was lucky to have won a scholarship to be at ETH Mexico City.

Working as a DevRel has provided me with some of the most remarkable experiences in my life. However, as with any aspect of life, there are also moments of balance, and while this career has given me some of the best experiences, it has also had its share of challenges, leaving me with some of my lowest moments. Negative self-talk can sometimes be the soundtrack to my day.

So for this year, I’m letting go of my self-doubt. How am I going to do this? I’m not totally sure, but for starters, I’m going to use this blog to share the wins and struggles of working as a web3 Developer Advocate.

I do have one ask of you. If you hear me shit-talking my tech skills, pls just tell me to stfu.

gn

gm

Anyone who’s been on Twitter long enough has come across those influencer-type people shilling a protocol. They’re hosting Twitter spaces, leading workshops, and attending hackathons all over the world. Indeed, an extrovert's dream job. It was mine.

My name is Vanes. It’s pronounced ‘vuh-ness’ but if you prefer to call me veins, that’s cool too. Like most millennials, I have an unused undergraduate degree. I worked in corporate finance before attending a coding bootcamp which was how I got started in tech.

June 2021- I was about 9 months into my first dev job when I came across a JD for a developer advocate. The summary included things like, lead marketing campaigns, attend technical events, speak at events, and interact with developers. It seemed like the perfect job for someone with my skillset and interests.

May 2022 - I’m fully crypto-pilled and I’m starting to flirt with the idea of actually getting a job in web3. I thought about working as a front-end dev but didn’t think I had the technical skills to land a job. I figured I could try DevRel, after all, it seemed like it would be less technical than being a dev. Spoiler alert - it’s really not that much less technical.

ETH Global New York - June 2022 - I go to my first IRL web3 hackathon. It was crazy to observe how easily approachable and accessible everyone was. You had founders of these protocols sitting at their teams' booth handing out stickers and t-shirts. You really had no idea who you could be rubbing shoulders with. It also struck me just how international this industry was. Yeah, we were in New York, but hackers had come from all around the world to this event.

As the event was coming to its final days, I had absolutely made up my mind I no longer could stay at my web2 job. It’s impossible to go back to your web2 job after you experience an IRL web3 hackathon.

Some of my favorite people I met while in New York were either DevRels or aspiring DevRels. One of them being Steph. If you don’t know who she is, you should. She basically told me what I needed to do if I wanted to get a DevRel job in the space. TLDR: write a tutorial on the hackathon project you just built,  dm them, remind them about how you met at the hackathon, and let them know you’re interested in becoming their DevRel and share your blog. I loved the directness of this approach.

The recipe was well received. With that tutorial, and a few other pieces of content I had created, I dm’d the protocol I wanted to work at and after a few back and forths, I had an interview. Long story short, I didn’t pass the tech assessment. Lolz. I interviewed at a few more places but, truthfully I wasn’t excited about them. My web2 job had also become much more manageable because I was now working out of the Venice Beach office living in my van. I wasn’t in a rush to give up that setup unless a really cool opportunity came up.

ETH Mexico City - August 2022 - You could say going to hackathons can become a bit addictive. I spent my 20’s going to music festivals and taking drugs to stay up all night to dance with friends, and now, in my 30’s I was taking drugs to stay up all night and code with friends. One of my tasks in our hackathon team was to use WalletConenct for the wallet/dapp integration. I probably spent half an afternoon at their booth with questions because I just couldn’t seem to get their API to work. I felt so dumb that I couldn’t figure it out.

It’s finally Sunday and the hacking is over. We submit our projects and go on to demoing. Sleep-deprived and hungry, I’m kinda just nodding and smiling when I get asked if I was looking for a job. I thought he was just messing so, fucking around back, I nonchalantly say I’m looking for a DevRel job. We exchanged telegrams and I let jesus take the wheel.

Two weeks later, I accepted a position as a Senior Developer Advocate at WalletConnect. Lol - I know, I’m not a senior and they knew that too. It felt weird to have that be my official title, but they didn’t seem to care. It was just a title.

Today is March 24, 2023, and I’ve been working as a Developer Advocate for 6 months. Tbh, I thought by now I’d be killing it, but I’m not. Far from it actually.

Let me share my mental model with you. You’re either drowning, surviving, or thriving. I’ve mostly been drowning, but since ETH Denver, the mood has been shifting to surviving. I mean, it’s a good sign that I’ve finally made time to write this blog, am I right?

I’m also turning 31 today. Like most birthdays, the questions you receive are generally reflective ones like, What’s a goal you hope to accomplish this year? Normally I would answer with something like, “I want to actually be a morning person” or “I want to read 20 minutes every day” but it hit me. I need to iterate on these goals because every year I set them, but fail to actually do them.

I have a tendency to like to do hard things. Things that I may not even finish because I just like to see where “it” can take me. “It” can be anything, a course, a book, a workout plan, or a job. I’ve grown to enjoy the feeling of feeling uncomfortable (can you tell I listen to David Goggins), but even though these growing pains are familiar, it’s left me feeling like a huge impostor. I credit good timing and luck to a lot of my life’s accomplishments. Even getting this job, I was lucky to have won a scholarship to be at ETH Mexico City.

Working as a DevRel has provided me with some of the most remarkable experiences in my life. However, as with any aspect of life, there are also moments of balance, and while this career has given me some of the best experiences, it has also had its share of challenges, leaving me with some of my lowest moments. Negative self-talk can sometimes be the soundtrack to my day.

So for this year, I’m letting go of my self-doubt. How am I going to do this? I’m not totally sure, but for starters, I’m going to use this blog to share the wins and struggles of working as a web3 Developer Advocate.

I do have one ask of you. If you hear me shit-talking my tech skills, pls just tell me to stfu.

gn