When I was younger, I had no clue about what I wanted to do with my life. Now, looking back, it seems hasty to have been expected to decide at such an early age what I was going to do for the next decade or two. Fortunately, my confusion about my direction led me to try a multitude of jobs: waiter, coffeemaker, English teacher, fitness instructor, customer service representative, background actor, translator, conference interpreter, PR executive, and many more.
After experiencing these various roles, I realized that I was still unable to make a choice. I needed to broaden my horizons and enhance my cognitive abilities, so I decided to study abroad.
During my Master's degree, I visited over 30 countries. Despite completing my studies successfully, I was still lost upon my return. Thus, I decided to continue trying different jobs: Social media manager, Shopify store owner, and Facebook ad marketing, until I finally encountered Blockchain.
Blockchain was fascinating - constantly changing, demanding lifelong learning. In an instant, I knew this was the field I wanted to delve into. Now, nearly six years have passed.
The concepts involved in blockchain are vast, with various niche sectors emerging in different fields: GameFi, SocialFi, Dex, Lending, PFP, NFT Marketplace, Mining, and more. I was fortunate to join a leading company with room for growth and financial support, managing the marketing for more than ten different projects. As a person who enjoys exploration, I was willing to learn and try anything new or unfamiliar. Although managing so many projects was exhausting, it didn't faze me. During the bear market, I also started a business, covering some unexplored areas in Crypto.
Then, Opside came along, and I became a co-founder and CMO. I love challenges, when I initially chose Opside, I knew the journey ahead would be challenging, but I didn't anticipate just how tough it would be.
Firstly, Opside involved an array of complex aspects: a hybrid PoS & PoW consensus design, modifications to various zkEVMs, the launch of ZK-RaaS Launchbase, and the development of the Opside ZK application ecosystem. Each of these areas required years of experience and perseverance, and they only represent a fraction of the whole picture. Most of the blockchain concepts and methodologies can be found on Opside.
Secondly, Opside wasn't born with a silver spoon. Despite our years of technical and market experience, we lacked top-tier endorsements. During the bear market, most VCs also chose to invest cautiously. The number of initial rejections we received was unimaginable.
However, no one gave up. We chose to do the hard things. The Opside team today is remarkable. It's rare to see a team so unified and determined during a bear market, working towards a common goal without any infighting. Everyone seems to glow, independently driving to achieve seemingly impossible goals.
So now, Opside is taking shape, with the team achieving milestones step by step according to our roadmap:
By the end of March, we secured $4M in funding.
On May 24th, the pre-alpha Testnet went live.
On June 12th, Opside's Twitter followers exceeded 50K.
On June 28th, the Opside Testnet Validator exceeded 10K, independent users exceeded 100K, Tx exceeded 3.5M, plus over 10 ecological projects were deployed.
On July 1st, the Opside Discord community exceeded 60K.
And more...
In conclusion,
"You can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backward. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something - your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life."
I often recall Steve Jobs' speech at Stanford. Truly, on Opside, all of my prior learning, attempts, and experiences have found application and gained further recognition.
Looking back, I am grateful to myself for choosing the difficult path. And Opside, too, continues its forward march without halting.