Mentorship

Having guidance is extremely important to grow as rapidly as possible and make the most effective use of your time. I want to share some of the lessons I have learned over the past four years of researching blockchain development and web3. I don’t want new developers to feel as overwhelmed by the number of possibilities and lack of structured guidance as I did.

In the crypto and broader web3 ecosystems, thought leaders spearhead different missions, values, and goals and drive the industry forward. When you are just starting out, following these leaders and analyzing how they reached their position is an excellent way to understand what you need to do to achieve your own goals within a particular field. If you are interested in creating useful DeFi primitives, then you have to analyze exemplary founders and builders of current as well as the up and coming DeFi protocols; good examples include Hayden Adams (Uniswap), Stani Kulechov (Aave), Robert Leshner (Compound), @scupytrooples (Alchemix), etc.

EthernautDAO

EthernautDAO is a community of builders that tries to convert developers from other fields into blockchain developers through mentorship programs. There are two main types of members in EtheurnautDAO: mentors and mentees (students). Mentors come from different established protocols, DAOs, projects, and companies in the industry and are looking to train and hire skilled developers. The process is relatively simple: a mentor posts an opening for a specific type of mentorship. Students apply. If they get accepted, they get mentorship and often either compensation or the chance to get hired by the company the mentor belongs to.

Twitter

The leading platform for news, discourse, education, and interaction within the web3 space is Twitter. Almost everyone interacts on Twitter, and so as someone looking to learn and get mentorship, it is a great place to try and get hired (take a look at the Getting a job section) and accrue social capital. As you build a portfolio that showcases your skills, it will act as your reputation in the space. You can leverage that reputation on Twitter to start working on different projects (getting a job) or interacting with skilled individuals who are generally very willing to help people learn and become better (great to get mentorship).

Development bootcamps

Another option for getting valuable guidance is finding a community of people going through the same challenges you are. You will gain access to experienced builders, excellent educational materials, and more development bootcamps and e-learning platforms like the ones listed below.

A non-exhaustive list of learning platforms:

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