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        <title>Ricardo Mazuera</title>
        <link>https://paragraph.com/@ricardo-mazuera</link>
        <description>I'm a Senior Software Engineer 👨🏽‍💻 building Open Source Software in web3 ecosystem ⚒️</description>
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            <title><![CDATA[7 Days, One MVP: From Auditor to Builder]]></title>
            <link>https://paragraph.com/@ricardo-mazuera/7-days-one-mvp-from-auditor-to-builder</link>
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            <pubDate>Wed, 23 Apr 2025 13:09:15 GMT</pubDate>
            <description><![CDATA[Seven days ago, I decided to shift gears. I went from auditing smart contracts to building one of my own. I knew I didn’t have much time, but I had a clear goal: ship a working MVP. Here’s what I learned in the process.1. Clarity beats chaos From day oneI had a finish line in mind. Limited time forces clarity. It makes you ruthless about scope, and that&apos;s a good thing—until it isn&apos;t. A few times I over-engineered and paid the price: lost hours, unnecessary code, dead ends. Lesson le...]]></description>
            <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Seven days ago, I decided to shift gears. <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow ugc" class="dont-break-out" href="https://mirror.xyz/0x890cF2E3e1a413aDa74B237D2B8c8d5832B65656/XxDHGU2IP66M_irlNmd39kYUopK3aohwcLd1mRh8XCQ">I went from auditing smart contracts to building one of my own</a>. I knew I didn’t have much time, but I had a clear goal: <strong>ship a working MVP</strong>.</p><p>Here’s what I learned in the process.</p><h3 id="h-1-clarity-beats-chaos-from-day-one" class="text-2xl font-header !mt-6 !mb-4 first:!mt-0 first:!mb-0">1. Clarity beats chaos From day one</h3><p>I had a finish line in mind. Limited time forces clarity. It makes you ruthless about scope, and that&apos;s a good thing—until it isn&apos;t. A few times I over-engineered and paid the price: lost hours, unnecessary code, dead ends. Lesson learned: <strong>build the simplest version that works.</strong></p><h3 id="h-2-you-dont-need-to-know-frontend-to-build" class="text-2xl font-header !mt-6 !mb-4 first:!mt-0 first:!mb-0">2. You don&apos;t need to &quot;know frontend&quot; to build</h3><p>The entire frontend was written by AI agents. Literally. I wrote zero lines of UI by hand. That’s not a weakness—it’s leverage. We’re entering an era where knowing how to orchestrate code is just as powerful as writing it yourself. And honestly? I had fun with it.</p><h3 id="h-3-copilot-agents-are-insane" class="text-2xl font-header !mt-6 !mb-4 first:!mt-0 first:!mb-0">3. Copilot Agents are insane</h3><p>I finally understood what all the hype around tools like Cursor and Copilot Agents was about. It&apos;s not just code generation—it&apos;s context-aware iteration. It felt like pair programming with a tireless engineer who doesn&apos;t sleep.</p><h3 id="h-4-use-every-lever-youve-got" class="text-2xl font-header !mt-6 !mb-4 first:!mt-0 first:!mb-0">4. Use every lever you&apos;ve got</h3><p>AI, StackOverflow, DMs, Discord servers, random GitHub issues... if it helps move the needle, it&apos;s fair game. One night I hit a roadblock with an authentication provider. I found a better SDK, raised a red flag about something that didn’t feel right, and ended up getting direct access to an improved API. Wild times.</p><h3 id="h-5-deadlines-move-discipline-stays" class="text-2xl font-header !mt-6 !mb-4 first:!mt-0 first:!mb-0">5. Deadlines move — discipline stays</h3><p>Some things took longer than expected. I had to pause, rethink, adjust. But I didn’t ghost the process—I kept showing up every day. That’s what actually matters. You don’t need to ship on day 7. <strong>You just need to keep moving.</strong></p><h3 id="h-6-im-addicted-to-building-now" class="text-2xl font-header !mt-6 !mb-4 first:!mt-0 first:!mb-0">6. I’m addicted to building now</h3><p>There’s no going back. I’m already sitting on over a dozen new product ideas. Some good, some terrible, all worth exploring. That’s the thing about building in public—it generates momentum, clarity, and community.</p><h3 id="h-7-speaking-of-community" class="text-2xl font-header !mt-6 !mb-4 first:!mt-0 first:!mb-0">7. Speaking of community…</h3><p>The best part of this challenge wasn’t the product—it was the people. I received advice, encouragement, support, and real-time feedback just by talking about what I was doing online. That’s the cheat code: share your process, be loud, invite others in. In a remote-first world, visibility is everything.</p><p><strong>What&apos;s next?</strong></p><ul><li><p><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow ugc" class="dont-break-out" href="https://github.com/aura-dapp/monorepo-dapp">Open-sourcing the repo</a> and inviting contributors</p></li><li><p>Shipping the smart contract to Starknet mainnet</p></li><li><p>Fixing Stripe webhooks to make the app fully functional</p></li><li><p>Reviewing code security and database rules</p></li><li><p>Deploying backend + frontend</p></li><li><p>And yes… going after the first 100 paid users</p></li></ul><p>This isn’t just about one app. It’s about showing myself I can go from zero to one—and from idea to execution.</p><blockquote><p>The journey just started. Let&apos;s build 🚀</p></blockquote><p>**<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow ugc" class="dont-break-out" href="https://x.com/ricardomazuera_">Follow me on X</a> to keep up with what I&apos;m building next. **</p><p>I’m sharing everything in public—from experiments to breakdowns to breakthroughs.</p>]]></content:encoded>
            <author>ricardo-mazuera@newsletter.paragraph.com (Ricardo Mazuera)</author>
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            <title><![CDATA[From Auditing Dreams to Builder Reality: My Pivot in Web3]]></title>
            <link>https://paragraph.com/@ricardo-mazuera/from-auditing-dreams-to-builder-reality-my-pivot-in-web3</link>
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            <pubDate>Thu, 17 Apr 2025 19:13:58 GMT</pubDate>
            <description><![CDATA[Since completing the Cairo bootcamp, I became deeply fascinated by the auditing vertical in the Ethereum and Solidity ecosystem. I went all in — learning, sharing posts in X, reading smart contracts, and hunting bugs 🐞. But when I finally got the chance to start auditing, I hit a wall. I felt like a lone wolf… and what’s a wolf without its crew? Yes, I found bugs — but they were already reported. I realized I was missing something, and it wasn’t more theory. What I needed was real, hands-on ...]]></description>
            <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Since completing the Cairo bootcamp, I became deeply fascinated by the auditing vertical in the Ethereum and Solidity ecosystem. I went all in — learning, sharing posts in <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow ugc" class="dont-break-out" href="https://x.com/ricardomazuera_">X</a>, reading smart contracts, and hunting bugs 🐞.</p><p>But when I finally got the chance to start auditing, I hit a wall.</p><p>I felt like a lone wolf… and what’s a wolf without its crew?</p><p>Yes, I found bugs — but they were already reported. I realized I was missing something, and it wasn’t more theory. What I needed was real, hands-on building. I didn’t just need to keep learning — I needed to <strong>do</strong>.</p><p>Around that time, I started wondering if I should pivot. Maybe take a break from auditing and explore a different path — one that would help me understand the ecosystem even deeper before coming back stronger.</p><p>That’s when everything clicked.</p><p>During a recent call, someone mentioned that what the <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow ugc" class="dont-break-out" href="https://medium.com/u/b1d00ec5eedb">Starknet</a> Foundation really wants from grantees is to <strong>bring users into the ecosystem</strong>. That stuck with me. Especially considering the AI-powered era we’re in — building has never been more accessible or exciting.</p><p>The very next day, I had a conversation about open source contributions, becoming a maintainer, and the grant opportunities within the Starknet ecosystem. My mind lit up 🤯. I opened ChatGPT (aka “Gepeto” in my house 😄) and started exploring what I could create.</p><p>The energy I once felt when I discovered the world of auditing… was back.</p><p>I scheduled a call to dive deeper into how grants, hackathons, and product building work in this space. And suddenly, it all made sense — the puzzle pieces fell into place 🧩.</p><p>That’s when I made the decision: <strong>I’m pausing my path as an auditor and starting my journey as a builder.</strong></p><p>My goal? To build <strong>7-day MVPs</strong> in testnet with:</p><ul><li><p>Account Abstraction</p></li><li><p>Web2-friendly UX for non-crypto users</p></li><li><p>A seamless testnet-to-mainnet transition that hides all the Web3 complexity</p></li><li><p>Open Source code</p></li><li><p>A freemium model integrated with Stripe from day one</p></li></ul><p>My main focus is the <strong>wellness industry</strong>, and yesterday I started building the first product. I have exactly <strong>7 days</strong> — after that, I’m heading to minor surgery recovery, so the countdown is real ⏳.</p><p>I’ll be sharing daily build-in-public updates in my <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow ugc" class="dont-break-out" href="https://x.com/ricardomazuera_">X</a> account with progress and the open-source repo. This is the beginning of a new chapter for me in the Web3 space.</p><p>Let’s build 🌱</p>]]></content:encoded>
            <author>ricardo-mazuera@newsletter.paragraph.com (Ricardo Mazuera)</author>
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